Opinion

Alan’s story: I’m from Sunderland. My background is pretty chaotic. My father was put in prison for life. He was absent when I was little and we really only ever saw him in prison. My Nan was lovely and my main carer – she brought up me, my sister and brother and a cousin. My mum has been there throughout my life. She wasn’t a drug user or drinker but she just couldn’t cope with kids. When I look back...

It was a very lively exchange today between the two leaders, they have only been back a week, but they are now off on their jollies for the party conference season, may as well throw the kitchen sink at your opponent. Weirdly Jeremy Corbyn had some corn sticking out from his jacket pocket. I was hoping he was making a joke about Theresa May dancing through fields of wheat, during her Jim Morrison period. However, as ever with Corbyn, it...

Jacob Rees-Mogg proved accusations that he is a “thoroughly modern bigot” to be true this week after defending Boris Johnson’s adultery despite having strong views on abortion and other religious matters. The Conservative MP made an appearance on the Jeremy Vine show this week and was questioned on his hypocritical stance in regards to infidelity given that he has such strong opinions on other matters. He said: “People are individuals and behave in individual ways” in defence of Johnson, before...

The European Research Group, Jacob Rees-Mogg’s hard Brexit think tank, is trying to hide its real views about the UK’s future. The ERG’s 140-page report on post-Brexit Britain has not been published. It was shelved at the last minute because it contains a clear blueprint for the country Rees-Mogg and his fellow travellers want when the UK leaves the EU. It’s a vision familiar to anyone who lived through the 1980s. We know now that Brexit is based on an...

What’s so bad about existing in a fat body? Since I was a teenager I can remember that to be fat was a ‘bad thing’. The people around me, and the media I was exposed to, spoke about it as if it was the worst thing that could ever happen to a woman - right behind being a slag or childless. While opinions may slowly be changing on the latter, it seems to continue to be ingrained in many women’s...

The Liberal Democrats have announced that they are set to launch a new supporters scheme this week in a bid to lure left-leaning Remainers feeling disenfranchised by the two main parties. Dubbed “Momentum for moderates” by leader Vince Cable the initiative will allow nonmembers to vote in a leadership contest which could be contested by non-MPs according to Buzzfeed News. That could allow high-profile figures such as Gina Miller to take over the party and could also appeal to several...

The UK Labour Party's ruling body has this week agreed to adopt in full an international definition of anti-Semitism after being embroiled in a racism crisis since the start of the year. With the media’s cameras primed on yesterday’s meeting in London one wonders how Labour have been left to hose the flames at a time when prominent Tory figures are being openly Islamaphobic and extreme right wing parties continue to foster a hostile culture in Britain. But a brief...

The Prime Minister is a dead woman walking. Her political career is stumbling along like a zombie, getting ever slower and more unsteady. Brexit negotiations are going badly and no-one is happy with the current situation. Theresa May is enduring attacks from her left and her right; her own party sees her as an obstacle and opposition parties are making hay from her failures. Even the shadowy spectre of UKIP has returned and Nigel Farage is once again making a...

By David Rosenberg David Rosenberg is a writer, educator and tour guide, whose family helped faced down fascism as Jewish immigrants in the East End and he now conducts radical historical walks of the East End of London There is a queue of people waiting patiently in line: long forgotten Labour and Conservative figures, one-time respected journalists who have gone sour, barely repentant former racists and warmongers… Now former Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, has reached the front of the queue....