Opinion

Even Abraham Maslow missed the most important human point. When that renowned American psychologist, studied by virtually every social sciences student ever since he published his 1943 paper ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’, listed his pyramid of human needs he stated that at its base the edifice was founded upon the physiological. Every single one of us requires air, food, water, sleep, clothing and shelter. All the other attributes or desires that we seek to collect in order to fulfil...

Amid the furore that is the Royal Wedding of 2018 this is undoubtedly an article that will get drowned out. As the country gears up to watch Windsor Castle host the event of the year the subjects dominating today’s press revolve around wedding details that would be considered banal in most instances, but not quite so here. What colour hat will the bride groom’s grandmother wear to his nuptials? Has become a theme of daily contention between papers such as...

Calls for the East Coast Main Line to be re-nationalised have finally been met by the government after it announced the route is to be stripped from Virgin and Stagecoach. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling told Parliament that temporary state ownership would provide the smoothest transition to a new operator. The new service is being renamed London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), in a nod to the railway company created by the Railways Act 1921 that brought about passenger services operated by...

As a criminologist who specialises in the study of organised crime, gangs and homicide, the ongoing atrocities in Gaza go beyond my areas of expertise. However, after yesterday’s tensions, I feel compelled to share my thoughts based on some observations. This piece should be viewed a critical thought piece – one that aims to chart the different types of ‘denial’ that emerge when conflict is officially addressed. Over 50 years of (illegal) occupation and a decade of blockades have made...

In April 2000, I read the extraordinary story of hungry American, Kenneth Payne, who was given a 16 year jail term for stealing a one dollar Snickers bar. The American legal system saw him as a serial food thief. The American District Attorney tried Payne as a habitual offender, increasing the severity of a shoplifting charge, which should, in the usual process of law, been seen as a misdemeanour, to felony theft, making him eligible for up to 20 years in jail. Shockingly, at no point were his...

Last August writer David Wilson wrote movingly when the Disability Living Allowance his son Ben had always relied on to live independently was stripped and he was left having to fight a cruel Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment by the Department of Work and Pensions that left him struggling to cope. Ben's income was cut drastically.  This is what happened next:  My son lives in Cornwall and, aged 45, has been disabled since he was six months old after a vaccination precipitated Salaam...

By Anicée Van Engeland, Senior Lecturer, Center for International Security & Resilience When he came to address the public at Chatham House in February 2018, HE Abbas Araghchi, the Deputy for Political Affairs of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs who served as chief nuclear negotiator, was quite clear about the Iranian position on the agreement: Iranian authorities consider they have signed a contract and expect each party to abide by the contractual terms. He lamented the lack of respect...

The President chose cheers over tears by stepping into the warm embrace of the NRA rather than tackling gun crime - a decision he should be made to rue  Donald Trump’s address to the National Rifle Association convention on Friday was a thoughtless move from a President who has routinely failed to address the rise of violent crime in America, and should come as a call to arms for young people in the country. The President was met by cheers in Dallas by...

When we think of local charities, the image that springs to mind is often that of the village pump preservation society and their creaky wooden tombola. However, the reality is that local charities now provide the last, and often the only, line of support to many of our most marginalised people and communities. Over the last decade grassroots charities and community groups have increasingly taken on responsibility for addressing society’s basic needs, soaking up the pressure created by cuts in...