Opinion

@BenGelblum Every time I think of Neil Kinnock’s famous eve of election speech before Margaret Thatcher’s landslide victory in the 1983 General Election it sends a shiver down my spine. Warning of the callous Thatcherism that Britain would suffer if she won, Kinnock’s  voice hoarse from campaigning uttered his most famous lines: "I warn you not to be ordinary, I warn you not to be young, I warn you not to fall ill, and I warn you not to grow old." I was...

This interactive map below features the climate, fracking and environmental issues in your constituency with a breakdown below of where candidates stand on these issues. With the general election upon us, these are the constituencies where candidates’ positions on fracking, energy, air pollution, airport expansion and climate change issues could be decisive if you are looking for an MP who shares your concerns. Research by Mat Hope ,Deputy Editor of Desmog UK.   (View the full interactive map on Google Maps (please note: the link may not...

By Nicholas Figgis Over the past few years the World has taken an unnerving shift to the right. The Brexit vote echoed nationalistic populism not seen since the World Wars and across the pond America voted in a President on the back of promises to build walls, spark wars and eschew crucial environmental deals in order to save low-paid jobs. Russia's President Vladimir Putin recently came to blows with France's newly-elected President Emmanuel Macron over gay rights, chemical weapons and alleged cyberattacks. The...

I am over 70 and my memories go back over many elections. The whole lot were tweedle dum or tweeedle dee choices. OK I mostly gave in to the lesser of the evils and mostly voted Labour's tweedle. This is the first time there are no tweedles. It's them or us. Let's start with the context. Oxfam says about the UK: "the richest one percent of the population now owns more than 20 times more wealth than the poorest 20 percent of...

It was a question we posed in November last year that was to set the tone for the unravelling of the Conservative's election campaign. How, after two terms of crippling austerity cuts, dismantling of the welfare state and a referendum that was used as bait to secure a second term did the Tories ever get such strong public backing in the first place? Coming in to this snap election pollsters were predicting a huge majority for Theresa May on June 8th,...

During an election campaign there are certain politicians that you suspect would do a lot more for their party’s chances of getting elected if they went caravaning in Outer Mongolia for the whole duration rather than appear anywhere the British public can see them. Boris Johnson as he has proved yet again is definitely towards the top of that list. And yet, somehow the most indiscrete man in British public life has been representing Britain on the world stage for almost...

By Audrey Sabatindira It is already fairly well-known that sexual harassment on UK university campuses is at “epidemic” levels. Universities UK has produced a set of recommendations for higher education institutions to implement should they wish to tackle this epidemic. Student activists continue to raise awareness of the issue and hold their universities to account in the implementation of new policies and procedures. So given that we’ve already heard a lot about the issue, what is being done? Many universities have...

Jeremy Corbyn – like him or loathe him - has made politics feel, not only bearable, but exciting to young people.

Today in a packed press conference, Dave Green of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) warned that with 10,000 less firefighters under Theresa May's watch as Home Secretary, "ability to respond is becoming compromised." Cities such as Greater Manchester and London had seen "huge cuts" the former firefighter explained, adding that nationwide after seven years of cuts the fire and rescue services had lost one in six firefighters. "Our members are very much feeling the strain," he warned, adding "at some point or another...