Opinion

I’m 35 and I’m constantly skint, and I have been to university, got a masters etc etc. I should be part of the golden generation in a developed nation; five holidays a year, penthouse on the Thames, Gucci nightwear. I don’t have any of these things, I don’t think I actually want the posh PJs though to be fair. So news that people in their early 30’s (I’m counting myself as early 30s, I don’t care what you say) have...

Millions face financial ruin to afford surgery. Mercy Ships is helping to implement the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in Africa. Lea Milligan, Executive Director of Mercy Ships UK, knows such projects will mean the difference between a life of poverty and a life with hope. Mercy Ships is an international charity, running a state of the art hospital ship which offers free medical care and humanitarian aid to some of the world’s poorest people. Since the charity’s creation in 1978...

By Ali Ryland Today is World School Milk Day, a day to celebrate and raise awareness of free and subsidised school milk programmes, which exist in over 34 countries across the world. Unsurprisingly, none of these schemes include alternatives to dairy milk. This was quite understandable 70 years ago when Britain passed the School Milk Act, mandating free school milk for all children under the age of 18: it was a time of rationing, there were limited viable plant-based options...

In a recent article for The London Economic, Robert Owens challenged readers that if they thought Jeremy Corbyn was a loser, they had probably been brainwashed. Basically, the point of the article was that Jeremy is a hard-working MP who works very hard for social justice but since he threatens the privileges of billionaire newspaper owners, those newspaper barons have drenched the public in negative propaganda. Without this propaganda, Robert claims, we would have a much more favourable view of...

This weekend Jeremy Corbyn was re-elected Labour leader fending off rival Owen Smith by some 119,000 votes with a victory that delivered an even more commanding mandate than when he first took the nation by storm in 2015. But that has done little to appease the media, his co-politicians or the raft of doomsayer commentators. Corbyn is Mr Unelectable, and there’s nothing that grinds our gears more than an unelectable politician getting elected. But “who decided he is unelectable,” political...

It’s Either a Third Runway or No Runway, But Theresa May is on course to do both. The easiest way to spot a failing campaign is to seek out the one that argues the shortcomings of its opponent rather than championing its own merits. After years of deliberation, costly enquiries and even costlier marketing ploys the decision on airport capacity in southeast England, or so I’m reliably informed, is nigh. Rumours are that Theresa May will go ahead with expansion...

I like a drink, probably too much to be honest. I blame my upbringing in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and a mother who self-medicates, all ailments, with Gin. It works…until she starts crying. So the news that a synthetic alcohol could cure hangovers completely is the best thing I have ever heard. It would be as good as Mary Berry moving to Channel 4 to join Paul Hollywood, if I cared about watching people bake. Then I thought about it and realised that...

Here in the UK, we take having reliable electricity and gas for cooking and heating for granted. But even for us the prospect of power failures and ‘not keeping the lights on’ is a worrying one. For a staggering 3 billion people on the planet, however, ‘modern energy’ access and all the things that become easier because of it, remains a distant dream. 2015 was an important year for people seeking to change the situation. Energy access was enshrined in...

Apparently everyone wants London to become a National Park City. 85% of Londoners think it’s a good idea, 203 of London’s wards have declared their support, and hundreds of community groups, businesses, charities and environmental organisations are keen. Not only was it one of Sadiq Khan’s election pledges as Mayor of London, it was an election pledge also made by most of his rivals. In fact, all this support might explain why it hasn’t made the headlines and TV breakfast shows it should...