Opinion
Corbyn poll gains the result of groundbreaking new strategy
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...
Study reveals huge economic benefit refugees are having in Germany
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...
The Confirmation Bubble: Social Media and the UK Election
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...
Why Corbyn’s Labour Manifesto Is Well Worth A Read
Though many of the main elements of Labour's 2017 election manifesto and its 'For The Many Not The Few' pitch were leaked last week, the full manifesto is well worth a read as it offers a very different vision for Britain than the Conservatives have given us so far. Some policies here really designed to spread the wealth and happiness while reinvesting in the institutions that make Britain great. Theresa May is expected to publish her manifesto on Thursday -...
Assessing the “economic credibility” of Corbyn’s Labour
By James Clark Despite the hysteric ramblings of the established British press, Jeremy Corbyn is no revolutionary socialist. It takes little consideration to realise that the policies which Corbyn’s Labour propose do not intend to threaten the existence of the capitalist system. The state, money and the wage system still have a role in Corbyn and his follower’s vision for British society. Indeed, Labour’s objective appears to be to manage capitalism in a way that suits the interests of business,...
“We eat only once a day”: An aid worker’s blog from Beledweyne, Somalia
By Mohamed Abdirahaman Saman, International Medical Corps, Somalia emergency response team When I met Nalow Hassan two weeks ago, the 30-year-old wife and mother had already lost two children. Aged six and four, the two youngsters had succumbed to acute watery diarrhoea. Now she is on the brink of losing a third - her youngest, 15-month-old Ahmed Abdi, who is seriously ill and Nalow and her husband Abdi have no money to pay for medical care. Tears streaming down her face,...
The Assonant Rhyme of Richard Nixon and Donald Trump
It was Richard Nixon who got me into politics, and now that he's gone, I feel lonely. He was a giant in his way. As long as Nixon was politically alive -- and he was, all the way to the end -- we could always be sure of finding the enemy on the Low Road. There was no need to look anywhere else for the evil bastard. He had the fighting instincts of a badger trapped by hounds. The badger...
Secret Teacher – “Teachers – Last One Out, Turn The Lights Off”
Education is in crisis. The government don’t want you to know this, just in case you start to doubt that we have a ‘strong and stable’ country. The government has slashed funding for the education of the masses. It doesn’t take someone who’s just aced their Year 6 Maths SATs to realise that more kids due to increasing population = more staff to pay to teach, support and equip these children. Add to that routine inflation each year and the...
This is why we cannot afford not to vote in this General Election
Four years ago, I saw four young men going through the bins on the estate by my office, looking for food. I was staggered to discover that they all had jobs, but had only just started work and had to wait 5 weeks for their first pay cheques. After being on benefits for some time, these young men had got off their backsides and secured work, yet the state was refusing to help out in the period between the stoppage...