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By Denise Hatton, Chief Executive at YMCA England Youth homelessness in London is a problem; and unfortunately for our current and future client base, it's a growing one. If you look at that statistics* alone, 871 people aged 18 to 25-years-old slept rough in the capital for at least one night in 2014-15. This should be an alarming statistic to anyone who counts London as their home, but it becomes even more acute when combined with the fact it also...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  London commuters were given a scare this morning as two chilling Victorian sisters appeared dressed in period costume and wearing creepy doll masks. The sightings, at Charing Cross Tube Station, Oxford Street, Regent’s Street and Hamleys, prompted a big social reaction with commuters turning to social media to express their shock and intrigue.  A passer-by at Oxford Circus said, ‘Creepy dolls spotted at Oxford circus tube. And they move. My nightmares have become a reality. #CreepyDolls’ The...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Today the PM repeatedly refused to apologise after he had branded MPs opposed to air strikes in Syria  "terrorist sympathisers". Cameron faced twelve requests during a debate on military action to retract his comments, which he failed to do. It has been claimed that yesterday he had told waivering Tory MPs they would be set to "walk through the lobbies with Corbyn and a bunch of terrorist sympathisers". Labour MP Caroline Flint asked, "will he...

1. Air strikes achieve nothing without sufficient ground support Everyone agrees Isis must be destroyed and driven out of their strongholds. But air strikes in isolation will never achieve this. Military experts are certain that coordinated ground support is needed to recapture cities like Raqqa. Cameron knows this; which is why his strategy before parliament contained the spurious figure of 70,000 Syrian moderates willing to fight our cause. First, this mystery army is not united. It’s made up of 100-120 different groups,...

Christmas; the time of giving. A time of family, love and gratitude. Unless of course you happen to not get on with your family and have invited them to spend every waking moment with you in the confined surroundings of your home. For many, using Christmas as a magical time to attempt to bring the family closer together, is an endearing social thought. For psychologists and behaviourists, however, it is the perfect recipe for disaster! If you’ve already made plans...

On the economy, it’s clear why the right claim the left have run out of ideas. Under Miliband, Labour were more like a lost battalion playing catch up than real opposition, unanimous in support for austerity (although of the lighter variety) and feeble in refuting the ludicrous assertion that Brown’s fiscal policy somehow contributed to the global meltdown that enveloped international markets. The crash exposed neoliberalism as crisis-ridden, and in the vacuum where alternative, progressive ideas should have emerged, British...

Working poor will be Cameron’s legacy Everyone from Labour to the Sun claimed victory when Chancellor George Osborne reversed his plan to scrap tax credits for working families. But as the Independent reported, the poorest in Britain are still getting poorer. The Conservative government’s planned cuts to welfare will see working families lose up to £1,600 a year by 2020, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Meanwhile, 1.2 million Londoners are now “in-work poor”, meaning they fall below the...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  Investors have been warned to expect the unexpected in 2016 with several key events on the horizon that could significantly impact the market environment. The Multi-Asset Research team at Source, who look at the the likelihood of the unexpected happening in 2016, found the economic and market environment for next year should favour equities, particularly in Japan and the Eurozone due to the low interest rate policies being adopted by their central banks. The team’s latest publication also...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  Political activist Abby Tomlinson, famed for her online campaign 'Milifandom' in the last General Election, has caused another social stir after she claimed there's no love for Labour on the doorstep. After campaigning in Oldham, a traditional Labour heartland, she took to Twitter to say that Corbyn isn't doing enough to persuade non-voters to vote and encourage old Labour voters to support the party. However, she didn't expect the backlash that followed, with a social storm being developed by...