Opinion

The Rt Hon David Lammy MP, head of the recently released Inquiry into Racial Disproportionality and the Criminal Justice System, was among leading speakers at the ‘Ubuntu* Police and Youth Engagement Symposium,’ hosted by the Tutu Foundation UK at the House of Lords on Tuesday 10th October. The event reviewed the interim findings of an external evaluation of the ‘Ubuntu* Police Youth Roundtable Project,’ an initiative aiming to diffuse tensions in high crime areas by encouraging positive dialogue between the...

Last month King Salman of Saudi Arabia lifted the de facto ban on female drivers by decreeing that local authorities will not be able to reject female applications for driving licences – they have 30 days to provide licences after an application has been made. This ought to be seen as a great triumph for women’s rights, and yet on sombre reflection it is merely an unelected old man telling women that they can now drive, which is in itself a...

Prime Minister Theresa May has been consumed by the shadow of Brexit, according to the Deputy Mayor for Wandsworth Talking exclusively to The London Economic Conservative Councillor Ian Lewer reflected on a "deflated" party conference in which the "wild forces" of the Brexit referendum were to be seen in the flesh. Nothing personified that more than the almost "Shakespearean tragedy" of Mrs May’s fall from grace, he says, which has seen her shift from one of the most popular post-war premiers to a...

The call to make the UK’s leadership more representative of the country’s diverse communities has never been louder – or more needed. Whether we’re talking about elected representatives, business boardrooms or role models, both real life and on-screen. Nottingham is on a quest to do something about it – by discovering and nurturing people with the potential to take on future leadership roles from all walks of life; across all sectors, private public and voluntary. The Future Leaders of Nottingham...

By Max Bluer Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has this evening announced that his government will declare independence “in a matter of days”. Puigdemont made the announcement as part of an interview given to the BBC on Tuesday evening, just minutes before King Felipe VI went on national TV to denounce the Catalan regional leadership as “disloyal”, accused them of fracturing Catalan society and threatening the Catalan economy, and denounced the referendum as illegal. The crisis of Catalan secession from Spain deepened...

There’s been a lot of news reports recently about plans by President Trump’s administration to put a stop to the so-called ‘Dreamers Law’. Officially known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, the immigration policy championed by Barack Obama has protected nearly 800,000 young adults without documentation to work legally in America since 2012. It recognises that if they have grown up in America, they should have the chance to build a life – regardless of if they...

A patronising tour of working class culture or a helping hand for community businesses? That is the debate following a recent "safari tour" of London chicken shops organised by the union at Goldsmiths University in Lewisham. According to the Evening Standard around 50 Goldsmiths students attended the Chicken Run event on Monday, visiting fast food outlets in New Cross including PFC, Morleys, Gateway and Chick Chicken. Although organisers say the event was created as a response to gentrification in the local area...

A story of resilience and hope…Liz’s story It was a vicious crime, attracting international condemnation and media outrage across the world. One night in 2013, a 16-year-old girl was gang raped as she returned home from her grandfather’s funeral in Western Kenya. After being brutally assaulted and beaten by six young men that she knew, her attackers threw her into a 12ft-deep pit latrine, leaving her for dead. The victim, referred to as “Liz” in order to protect her identity,...

This World Mental Health Day, Spurgeons Children’s Charity is calling on commissioners in England and Wales to look at alternative solutions to the adolescent mental health crisis in this budget-cut environment. Charity CEO Ross Hendry looks at a new family-based solution being piloted in Birmingham. The facts are harrowing. In secondary schools across the country, at least four young people in every class are self-harmers. Children and young people who have self-harmed once are at high risk of recurrence. And...