Opinion

We live increasingly, it seems, in an age of protest. Sales of cardboard and marker pens must surely be at an all-time high, as the public laces up it boots and takes to the streets in favour of, or, more commonly, against any number of causes. Fracking being proposed in your area? Have a march. Don’t like the new US President? Organise a protest. So it was on 4 March that some 250,000 people took to the streets to demonstrate...

As anyone who has been gripped by the Netflix series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story will attest, in certain cases power and influence is all you need to get a "not guilty" verdict. The trial was a case of hard evidence on the side of the State versus a heavily bankrolled legal team batting for the defendant. OJ's blood was found at the crime scene, the DNA was a direct match, strands of hair consistent with Simpson's were found on...

Of all the smug upper class perks one is afforded in London I bet few compare to the thrill of looking over a copy of the Financial Times to see the nose of a regular commuter smudged up against the partition door. Home to one of the most congested transport systems in the world it is beggar's belief that a class system still operates across London's commuter belt. Figures from the Department of Transport recently revealed rail passengers in the capital...

By Dr Nigel Mellor Discussing consciousness is entering a dangerous swamp with lots of traps, dead ends and scary monsters. Scientists can’t even agree on a definition. The whole shebang can also get very mystical. So let’s lighten up. We’ll start with a few things we can agree on, even though the first topic, emergence, itself can be a bit of a puzzle. “Mind” will get some in apoplectic rage. But we’ll finish off with a whiff of basic Buddhism,...

1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer. Shocked? Me too. But even with those statistics, it won’t affect me right? I’m fit and healthy, I dance for a living! Of course not. In 2015 these were my thoughts. And then I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was going for regular blood tests and had a medical before a new job with a theatre company, which I thought would be completely normal. However, suddenly everything wasn’t completely normal. The blood test that measures prostate specific antigen (PSA) showed that my PSA levels were very high – an indication that...

By Martina Kane, Senior Policy Officer at Alzheimer’s Society We all know that a sticking plaster doesn’t heal a wound. This is why the announcement today of a Green Paper, to sort out long-term funding of social care, could be a much needed ray of hope in what has been a dark time. If we’re optimistic, it is a sign of much needed leadership, though long overdue, from national Government on this issue. But they must follow through and deliver change...

By Tara Carey, Equality Now Be Bold for Change. That is today’s International Women’s Day theme, and around the world we’re seeing it in action as increasing numbers of people are calling on governments to bring an end to discrimination against women and girls once and for all. Human rights organisations and individuals are harnessing “women power” and inspiring change through everyday activism. Here are just five examples of how people pressure has helped bring positive change in the last...

By Shari Hofer, VP marketing, Rosetta Stone As high-profile female leaders continue to infiltrate the boardroom and even lead our country, there’s a welcome shift in the way women are being perceived. Indeed, International Women’s Day (IWD) certainly highlights progress in changing attitudes towards strong females, however a level of inequality still exists. In 2016, 33 percent of global businesses had no women senior management, with women occupying just 22 percent of senior roles in G7 countries. There are also...

A Freedom of Information request has revealed there has been a massive rise in the number of London’s hungry who have been criminalised and jailed for stealing in order to eat, with the majority of cases pertain to the hungry and homeless taking waste food from supermarket bins. Where will this end? It is only a matter of time before the homeless are jailed and criminalised for their failure to find a home and for causing an offence by sleeping on...