By David Thomson I am going to take you back to around ten days before voting day for the Referendum on Scottish Independence. A poll by YouGov/Sunday Times taken between the 2nd and 5th September that showed for the first time that the Yes camp have a lead of two per cent. This panicked the so called “Westminster elite” that David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg missed PMQs to campaign in Scotland for Better Together. At the same time, former...

By Professor Christopher H. Bovis, Professor of International and European Business Law, University of Hull Inevitably, the question of UK membership of the European Union will be centred on two issues: The need for reform of EU institutions and the way the EU is governed The ability of the UK to influence EU decisions Reform is badly needed The European Union is malfunctioning. It has lost the zest of the “common market”,becoming instead a self-fulfilling prophesy of political union with disproportionally...

By Elsa Buchanan, International Politics Correspondent  In a bid to fight the recrudescence of radicalisation on its territory, the French government is launching its own “anti-propaganda” online platform under the hashtag #StopDjihadism. “Search for paradise and find hell: the jihadist propaganda wants to convince by describing a misleading " ideal world “. Recruiters deceive people by promising them a future, an ideal or a cause to defend, where they the only thing they will encounter is manipulation, barbarism and death,”...

By Daniel Mackenzie (@EkcaLiena) Cafe Oto, 23/01/15 Walking through the early Friday night mess-about-to-happen of Dalston, I'm listening to a French black metal (ish) band so at odds with Room40's curatorial style it's almost amusing. This band deal in truly hellish atmospheres that sit awkwardly above brutal drum and guitar noise attacks. They really aren't so different. If you swap out hell for heaven and pull the aggression out so that it jettisons transients, things seem to overlap. It may...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor @TLE_Food As S. Pellegrino’s hunt for the World’s best young chef progresses, spanning across 20 worldwide destinations, the ten UK semi-finalists have been announced. Two of the ten young cooks (Alberton Fluttero and Antonio Sanzone) are London-based, while the other eight accomplished culinary masterminds are scattered out across the UK and Ireland. The full list of the regional semi-finalists can be found here: https://www.finedininglovers.com/special/sanpellegrinoyoungchef2015/blog/spellegrino-young-chef-2015-the-candidates/ So leading up to the competition’s finale in June, which will...

By Helen Duff An instinct we’ve all felt at some time, whether tripping over the flat-as-a-pancake pavement – “must be something wrong with my shoes. No, seriously, these shoes have been playing me up for ages. It’s got nothing to do with the way I walk; I walk well, better than most, in fact. These shoes are just clinically defective” – to revealing something far too personal to the family dentist – I’ll let you fill that gap in for...

"I've got 99 problems but my beach ain't one". Every summer the social media world is subdued with holiday  Tweets, airport check-ins on Facebook and Instagrammed flutes of Champagne with the mandatory "see you in two weeks" strapline. It's enough to drive you mad, until of course you're the one with their feet up on the beach on a Monday morning and the temptation to tell your mates about it becomes too much. Social media has become a boast magnet and is attracting...

By Laura Heads, Food Writer With the current weather making summer feel like an eternity ago and like it may never come again, it is very easy to find yourself pining for that sunshine fun, and more importantly, food. Now to me, summer means BBQs, beer, friends and any place I can get that outside of usual operating hours is gratefully received. Grillstock allows you to do just that. Walking through the door of the small, intimate restaurant you are...

By Corrina Antrobus @CorrinaCorrina  Aardman is back with a delightfully silly story of how a little sheep herds himself around the big city and uses  friendship and teamwork to get home sweet home. Shaun, who’s now got a little more wool on his chin after ageing-up from his 1995 appearance in Wallace And Gromit - A Close Shave, finds that his life is starting to feel a little like Groundhog day. The creature comforts of his familiar farm and the...