Politics

By James Emslie We're off. Another scramble to be Britain's most powerful man. This time round, we are faced with quite a choice, largely because we haven't got one. A power sharing deal between the Conservatives and UKIP? An 11th hour Lib/Lab covenant? Labour buoyed up by Alex and his band of Scottish Nationals with help from what remains of Cleggmania? The potential combinations, mergers and alliances is all MP's, pollsters and theorists can think about these days. Cabinet ministers,...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  If the outcome of the 2015 General Election was left up to social media to decide, Facebook users would vote for a right-wing coalition and Twitter a left-wing coalition. That is according to new research by 72Point which calculates the outcome of the election based on Facebook likes and Twitter followers. The study found that if Facebook likes were votes in this year’s General Election the result would be a Conservative/ UKIP coalition, but if votes...

By Jacob Flannery Questions over why young people don't vote have become a customary part of the run-up to the General Election. "People fought and died to get the right to vote and I would encourage anyone at the age of voting to use their vote" says Emma McClarkin, Conservative MEP for the East Midlands region. Yet with less than half of those between the ages of 18 and 24 turning out to vote in the last General Election, it is a plea that...

“Spain is different” was a slogan composed by Spanish minister Manuel Fraga in the 1960s to persuade the first planeloads of tourists to visit the sun-kissed nation. Spain at the time was under the rule Franco, a former ally of Hitler and Mussolini who won power with their help in a bloody civil war and cemented his grip on it for the next four decades through brutal repression of political opponents. While Britain enjoyed the swinging sixties and French students...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic I'm not a betting man, but if I were I'd put half my mortgage on a Tory minority in this year’s General Election. I'd put the other half on a Tory majority hoping that a party I despise might turn my modest flat into a mansion with 5/1 returns. It’ll never happen. The bookies, like the pollsters, are adamant that ‘No Overall Majority’ is the most likely outcome come May, with a...

By Dan Gleabals Apparently sacking somebody who lays into their producer for half an hour, calling them a "Lazy Irish C**t”, threatens to end their career, then punches them in the face splitting their lip because they haven't got the meal they quite wanted is POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD. Internet political mischief maker Guido Fawkes' Bring Back Clarkson petition has reached the dizzying total of 1,043,555 when we last checked.  I’m just praying all these numskulls aren’t allowed to drive or operate complicated...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor It was a raucous affair, like the last day of term at school before the summer hols, but without Hungry Hippos, Connect Four and any form of discipline. Over at the BBC, news of the tragic air disaster had been dropped, the BBC said it was a decision they had not taken lightly, but a car enthusiast with a decent right hook had been sacked. So it was a momentous day, “remember where you were...

By Max Bluer The sweeping presidential powers, the detention of political opponents, even the troop mobilisations are empty gestures. President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela's main goal is now to distract his people, and the world, from his country's problems.   Highly dangerous. A power grab. A smokescreen. The response from internal opponents and the international community to the Venezuelan Congress' decision to grant President Nicolás Maduro new decree powers has been overwhelmingly critical. The law, which in its preamble specifies its...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Unlike every other PMQs, this one was a quiet affair. The MPs kept their shrieks and cries for the budget that followed, but there was still plenty of time for kitchen “jokes” aimed at Miliband, which (bacon) rolled - see anyone can do it - into the Chancellor’s statement as well. The one-liners were universally terrible, but at least Cameron carries his off in a smug way, that I can handle. But Gideon’s delivery is...