There was a moment of brief dismay during this year’s Oscar ceremony, when it suddenly looked as if a brutish form of populism would once again break our optimism. For many, the awards were already a foregone conclusion, the early momentum swinging, as expected, towards Damien Chazelle’s delightful La La Land & Barry Jenkins’ compelling Moonlight. So when Mel Gibson’s barbarous wartime blockbuster Hacksaw Ridge earned a surprise win for Best Editing, it momentarily planted a thought that – despite...

It may seem like a distant memory now, but there was a time before the UK voted itself out of Europe and the US voted in a celebrity halfwit that things had started to look up for the progressive, liberal left. Bernie Sanders had roused public appetite by advertising a new brand of politics which favours the many rather than the few, and at one point Jeremy Corbyn emptied nearly every house in Llandudno with the same message as crowds spilled out of the...

Land Securities NAV slips as markets pause for breath For the year ended 31 March 2017, Land Securities NAV slipped as it said that its markets are pausing for breath. The chairman says that “In the London office market, we expected the occupational balance to shift from demand to supply during the course of 2017. The Brexit vote brought that inflexion point forward“…”Over the next 12 months, we’re unlikely to see rental values grow in London unless we have more certainty...

I have a pen-pal in the Shadow Cabinet, a bond having been forged during the upheavals of the PLP's failed rising against Jeremy Corbyn. Ever since, on a irregular basis I have shared observations drawn from the experience of years spent fighting elections as a Liberal Party apparatchik in Canada. Please do not try playing 'guess the pol.' I am calling my friend Jane, but that is neither a hint as to name or gender. The following began as an...

The ‘cruel’ cap on public servants’ pay is set to cost the East of England economy £1.2 billion by 2020, GMB has revealed. With public sector workers currently subjected to a one per cent pay cap – meaning that their earnings are kept below inflation - the East of England is in line to miss out on billions in lost wages, highlighting how self-defeating the policy is. Between 2017 and 2020, each worker will be an average of £3,300 out of pocket....

Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs are at risk of extinction thanks to the soaring popularity of a rival breed which starred in Downton Abbey, according to a top breeder. Millions of viewers watched Lady Mary take up the 'unladylike' hobby of pig breeding during the final series of the hit BBC drama in 2015. Her pig of choice was the Oxford Sandy and Black - and since then the number of breeding Gloucestershire Old Spot sows has halved. There are now...

A taxi driver who takes pictures of his passengers is set to release a book and exhibition to showcase his work. Ryan Walls began his project after deciding he wanted to combine his love of arts with his work. The Edinburgh-based driver then started taking pictures of his passengers - who signed waivers - and posted the pictures online. He said: "I love taking pictures and I also love interacting and talking to people. I really wanted to find a...

Anarchy! Chaos! Confusion, sex, and booze. Dancing, singing, shouting, swearing, drinking. Subterfuge! Brawls! Danger, and iambic pentameter. I'm either talking about the original Globe Theatre or Shit-faced Shakespeare, and the two are arguably interchangeable; I doubt you'll see a more historically accurate rendition of Elizabethan theatre without a time machine. Shit-faced Shakespeare is a simple concept. Take one abridged play by the bard, marinade one of the actors in a vat of booze, then let them loose in front of...

An international coalition of lawyers are set to draft the first ever legal manual of space warfare. The manual, which will set out the legal parameters for military uses of outer space, will provide guidance on issues such as the legality of attacking satellites and firing lasers from space in time of war. International lawyers from the University of Exeter’s Law School are to join scientists, government representatives and academics to strengthen the rule of law in outer space –...