Opinion

Other than sharing the same queen, having social care crossovers, a progressive political outlook and thriving economies, one thing that binds London and Toronto more than anything else is diversity. When Sadiq Khan was first elected mayor he declared the city to be the most diverse in the world, with over 50 non-indigenous communities living here with a population of more than 10,000. London was recently named France's 'sixth biggest city' because of its near 250,000-strong French population, and well over a...

Theresa May has faced new allegations of media cronyism after her interactions at a press conference in Wales. It was in this Wrexham speech, to which only select insiders and media personnel were invited, that May announced adjustments to the social care reforms that had lured such ardent criticism earlier this week. Chanting from a pre-written script, chock-full with carefully-honed soundbites, Mrs May reassured the audience that only her party held the “solution to social care” that doesn’t rely on...

Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has praised the spirit of Manchester following a suicide bomb that killed 22 people and injured 59. The newly elected mayor paid thanks to the people of Manchester, who "even in the minutes after the attack... opened their doors to strangers and drove them away from danger". In his words, "they gave the best possible immediate response to those who seek to divide us. And it will be that spirit of Manchester that will prevail and...

It may seem like a distant memory now, but there was a time before the UK voted itself out of Europe and the US voted in a celebrity halfwit that things had started to look up for the progressive, liberal left. Bernie Sanders had roused public appetite by advertising a new brand of politics which favours the many rather than the few, and at one point Jeremy Corbyn emptied nearly every house in Llandudno with the same message as crowds spilled out of the...

I have a pen-pal in the Shadow Cabinet, a bond having been forged during the upheavals of the PLP's failed rising against Jeremy Corbyn. Ever since, on a irregular basis I have shared observations drawn from the experience of years spent fighting elections as a Liberal Party apparatchik in Canada. Please do not try playing 'guess the pol.' I am calling my friend Jane, but that is neither a hint as to name or gender. The following began as an...

I can recall that when I was about five years of age I would be taken door to door by my Grandmother, clasping her petition clip board, fired up with the latest outrage that had got her off the sofa and on to the streets. She had found brief distraction from wrestling on the telly and was attired in her activism outfit, which included a beret made out of, what looked like, the body of Spit the dog (a hugely popular...

They haven’t been too accurate in recent times, but if the latest polls are to be believed, Jeremy Corbyn’s ratings are on the up. Growing significantly day by day. For a politician that is routinely ridiculed in the mainstream press, it seemed almost unconceivable three weeks ago that the UK would witness anything other than a Conservative whitewash in the forthcoming snap general election. That may still happen. However, there appears to be a groundswell of support building for Labour, and...

Earlier this year Starbucks made a pledge to hire 10,000 refugees globally over the next five years in a publicity-fuelled stunt that hit all the right notes following Donald Trump's inauguration and amidst all the dark clouds hanging over the toxic geopolitical environment. The warm gesture provided a much-needed PR boost for the often beleaguered coffee house chain, but sentiment has little to do with it, the truth is that it makes good business sense. Over the next decade Starbucks is planning to have another 12,000 new stores...

By Mark Brill, senior lecturer in Digital Communication and Future Media at Birmingham City University Social Media has become a key battleground for political campaigning. Ahead of the upcoming UK election the main parties are putting social media at the core of their campaigns. The question is, how will all that activity impact on the final vote on June 8th? The first significant use of social media in elections was Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008. Hiring a team...