Opinion

By Roger Cottrell, PhD Much like the car bomb assassination of Daphne Carvana Galazia in Malta on October 16, 2017, the squalid butchery and dismemberment of Washington Post correspondent Jamal Karshoggi, in a Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 tells us what we already know: namely that there has never been a more dangerous time to be a journalist. According both to the US based Committee for the Protection of Journalists and Reporters without Borders, there is abundant...

I fled war and persecution in Syria to seek safety in the UK. Now, I can’t rebuild my life because I am not allowed to work  By Ahmad I owned a barbershop in Aleppo before the war broke out. It was small and had a few workers, but I made good money from it. I supported my entire family from my business. My wife, my parents, who are old and frail and my younger brother. Life was fantastic in Syria,...

Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of London recently demanding a second vote on Brexit. It seems like a simple request. Things have changed since 2016, and not for the better. People should be allowed to reconsider their position and vote again. For the prime minister, Brexiteer politicians and the right-leaning press, the idea of a second vote is an affront to democracy. “We’ve voted, get over it,” is the constant cry. But there is no good reason to...

I was on my own, fighting a system that was stacked against me

In 2003, the United Kingdom invaded Iraq as part of the ‘coalition of the willing’ led by the United States. Their justification? Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, it was part of the axis of evil, like Al Qaeda, and its people would welcome western troops as liberators. But there were no WMDs, as the whole world knew. UN weapons inspectors had told them so. Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks and far from celebrating liberation,...

Chris Hobbs is a former officer of the Metropolitan Police who served for 32 years including targeting gang crime on Operation Trident Since 2010, police have been constantly denigrated, criticised and abused by politicians, spearheaded by Theresa May, the national press and activists from both the right and the left. Especially prevalent in his criticism of police over recent weeks has been Tottenham’s MP, David Lammy. An examination of his recent quotes in national newspapers including a full Observer article shows unremitting condemnation....

The disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has had a seemingly remarkable effect on Britain’s policy toward the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Even if its response was slow in the beginning, London now sent an explicit warning to Riyadh to “provide a complete and detailed response” to the matter. This was in addition to International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s announcement to boycott a major investment conference in Riyadh hosted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to promote his “Vision 2030” reform...

Care workers, cleaners, cops and cashiers paid more in tax than the owner of Cadbury last year as the Conservative con that we’re all in this together unravels. Despite recording a profit of more than £185 million Cadbury owner Mondelez UK paid no corporation tax in Britain last year, meaning most workers in Britain contributed more to the treasury’s coffers than the new owners of the UK’s historic chocolate brand. Chris Henry wrote on Twitter, “I'm a care worker. I...

The Conservative myth that we are “all in this together” was laid bare today after a government-commissioned review recommended that high court judges should receive a 32 per cent salary hike just weeks after police demands for a 3 per cent pay hike was knocked back. Senior judges could be in line for an annual pay rise of almost £60,000 on top of their already inflated pay packets. It would see annual salaries jump from £181,500 a year to £240,000...