Opinion

By Sammy Russell The EU released its draft exit treaty earlier this week, which formally spelled out the terms of Brexit and what it may mean in practice. It shows just how tricky preserving peace in Northern Ireland will be if the UK wants to stick to the red lines it has given itself. Theresa May has been pushed into swearing by various ‘red lines’ by the pressures of internal Conservative party politics. These are things the UK will simply not...

We are almost at that time of year when the press office teams at the, increasingly corporate, food bank operators pump out the annual reports and latest figures for the millions who were helped by their food bank operation in 2017 .Their figure will give the main stream news the headline for the day. Film crews will be sent to the nation’s establishment food banks to report on the ever increasing numbers. Viewers and listeners will, as they do at...

This week marks six months since the Myanmar military resumed its ruthless crackdown against the country’s Rohingya people. Many women and girls fleeing brutal state sponsored persecution have reported horrific accounts of rape, sexual assault, torture and murder at the hands of government forces. When state institutions orchestrate such human rights violations and allow perpetrators to act with impunity, the international community must unite in taking a strong stand to hold those responsible to account. Violent oppression of Myanmar’s various...

I didn't eat for a day last week. This wasn't due to a bad curry or a particularly good night out on the town. My day of abstinence had a more noble purpose as I joined hundreds of others as part of a day of action organised by Make Votes Matter, a cross-party group campaigning for electoral reform set up in the wake of the 2015 General Election. Many high profile figures took part in the 'Hungry For Democracy' protest...

By Professor Ann Fitz-Gerald Ethiopia’s ruling EPRDF coalition is facing its biggest governance crisis since its rise to power in 1991.  With last week’s resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn many are watching and waiting to see who from the EPRDF’s four major ethnic-based parties will be taking over as Party leader. Depending on how the Ethiopian Government manages this Party matter, the country could be heading for widespread disturbance. Unrest could spill over into an already volatile region into...

Today's labour market statistics have left a lot of people scratching their heads. While new jobs are being created and unemployment has ticked up, real wages have fallen for the tenth month in a row. In short, nothing really adds up. The reality is that under the Conservatives the labour market has changed significantly. The GIG economy has blossomed due to the flexibility afforded by zero-hour contracts, which means the old adage that low unemployment means a stronger and healthier economy no...

In sacking Henry Bolton and choosing Gerard Batten as their new interim leader, UKIP members have sounded the death knell for their party. Known for his extreme anti-Muslim views, UKIP founder member and London MEP Batten inherits an organisation (for the next 90 days at least) that is in debt to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds, lurching ever further to the right and into political irrelevancy. Nick Lowles, chief executive of HOPE not hate, said: “Gerard Batten...

By Robert Seiler As if Europe did not have enough corrupt, charismatic politicians who expertly undermine democratic norms to their own benefit behind a charming facade, Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi is currently enjoying a political renaissance that is bad news for Italians but also for the whole of the European Union – Britain included. Italians may have known better, but the rest of the EU thought it was rid of the “bunga bunga” premier when the crushing global debt crisis forced him from office in 2011. A conviction for tax fraud in 2013 and ouster from parliament later that year, together with a ban...

By Sammy Russell A number of pro-Brexit figures have criticised the transition period for leaving the UK a ‘vassal state’. Granted, the conditions of the transition period are a world away from the ‘take back control’ mantra of the Brexiteers - it leaves the UK a neutered state. But for the Brexiteers, championing a transition has always been their best bet. The UK leaves the EU at the end of the Article 50 period in March 2019 (the point of no...