By Stephen Angus Peter Junor China’s urbanisation plan is designed to boost the economy by increasing domestic consumption and connecting more people to the global workplace. The government also hope to improve living standards for everyone, but urbanisation can have drastic and irreversible effects on the environment while also reshaping the cultural fabric of the country which has historically been very rural. The last couple of years have seen the urban population outnumber the rural population for the first time in...

By Tomás McGoldrick, Ireland Correspondent The recent Vision Critical poll of people in what could be known as ‘rest of the UK’ found that 62 per cent wanted Scotland to stay in the Union and 38 per cent are happy to see Scotland go it alone. It would have been interesting to see results from Northern Ireland separately as politicians and the public there have started to wake up to the possible ramifications of Scottish independence. Some unionists have called Alex Salmond...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor As Viktor Yanukovych became the world’s most wanted man, the US declares Ukraine is “under new management.” But could this inflammatory language further damage relations with a wounded Russia? Ukraine's interim President Olexander Turchynov has warned of the dangers of separatism following the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych. Many in Ukraine's Russian-speaking regions oppose his overthrow and the installation of a more European-leaning interim administration. Yanukovych, like recently unseated Egyptian leader, Mohamed Morsi, was democratically...

By Luca Foschi “Plain living and high thinking,” declared Italy’s incoming Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, quoting William Wordsworth during his speech at the Democratic Party’s (PD) national assembly on February the 13th. He entered the rooms of Via del Nazareno in Rome as Mayor of Florence and Secretary General of the government’s ruling party, a position he gained with a landslide victory in December’s primary elections. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by”,...

By Adam Walker, Economics Correspondent The Digital-Savvy Generation Rises To Power Facebook has acquired mobile phone messaging app WhatsApp for a total of $19 billion, giving them a bigger corporate value than giants such as American Airlines, Ralph Lauren and Tiffany. Launched in 2009 the app was based on a £0.79 subscription model for all of its users. Following the explosive growth of smartphone ownership and the immense popularity of the application it became one of the most prominent pieces of software...

By Pieter Cranenbroek, International Politics Blogger Margaret Thatcher may be dead but her legacy lives on. Good for her, bad for us. When she rose to power 35 years ago she was determined to reverse “the corrosive and corrupting effects of socialism”. However, it has become abundantly clear that her policies were the start of a liberal society that is exactly that: corrosive and corrupting. If we want to live in a fairer society, it is not just our political system...

By Nathan Lee, Politics and Finance writer  Was Margaret Thatcher demonised for the right reasons, why did people hate her, and to what extent did the unions warp our perception of the long-standing politician? Margaret Thatcher was born of a working class family, but died the most victimised member of its society in living memory. It is difficult to assess whether the recently deceased Baroness Thatcher was unfairly demonised throughout her time in Westminster. A Durham University research paper has...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor  “Thatcher, Thatcher life snatcher” might have been a more apt rhyme for the Iron Lady after research from Durham University revealed that Mrs T’s policies caused “unjust premature death”. Just to clear things up, she didn’t wield her own weapons against the general population (she had the police for that) but due to unnecessary unemployment, welfare cuts and damaging housing policy she forced people into early graves. The research shows that there was a massive...

By Nishad Sanzagiri The Aam Aadmi Party should stop playing ‘Aam Aadmi’ Politics It is all over national and international news: Arvind Kejriwal, the founder of the popular Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), resigned from his post as Chief Minister of Delhi as a result of the state assembly blocking an anti-corruption bill (Jan Lokpal), ending his short term of 49 days. Kejriwal had earlier mentioned that, if the bill wasn’t passed in the state assembly, then he’d resign. It can...