Increased reliance on grassroots organisations has largely been driven by local authority cuts
When we think of local charities, the image that springs to mind is often that of the village pump preservation society and their creaky wooden tombola. However, the reality is that local charities now provide the last, and often the only, line of support to many of our most marginalised people and communities. Over the last decade grassroots charities and community groups have increasingly taken on responsibility for addressing society’s basic needs, soaking up the pressure created by cuts in...
Far-right & radical-right political parties have crashed & burned in spectacular fashion at yesterday’s local elections
It has been a disastrous night for UKIP, which has lurched to the extremes of crude anti-Muslim rhetoric under Gerard Batten, its fourth leader since Nigel Farage. Winning just two seats in the council elections across England yesterday, the party has lost 92 councillors so far. Other far-right parties – such as the British National Party and Anne Marie Waters’ For Britain Movement – have also failed across the board, too. Yet as they are beaten at the ballot box,...
Film Review: The Young Karl Marx
The Young Karl Marx is directed by Haitian film-maker, Raoul Peck, whose previous work, I Am Not Your Negro - a documentary focusing on James Baldwin - earned him an Oscar nomination. His latest effort is an intense period drama of the early life and work of Karl Marx. The film does not make any concessions to the audience in presenting the subject matter from an intellectual point of view rather than an emotional one. This does not mean the film...
Film Review: The Strangers – Prey At Night
What do you come to horror cinema for? For me it’s generally to be scared, to be unnerved, to be thrilled. For that to happen there have to be certain ingredients in place. Most importantly I have to care. The ability to be truly concerned about what happens to a character - whether it be that I want them want them to escape, or that I’m rooting for them to meet an especially gruesome end - means that I’m invested....
Post punks Protomartyr announce Consolation EP
A new Protomartyr EP is coming. The Detroit post punk posse have announced the new release, titled Consolation E.P., which they recorded in part with friend Kelley Deal and will be released June 15th via Domino. Two of the four songs feature Deal on vocals alongside singer Joe Casey, including ‘Wheel of Fortune’, which receives a video today directed by Yoonha Park (who directed the band's video for ‘Don't Go To Anacita’). The EP was recorded by Deal's R.Ring bandmate Mike Montgomery. Joe Casey and Kelley Deal had...
Our favourite dogs at pollings stations
It's polling day for councils around the country and the definite winner for the nation's favourite story on social media is #dogsatpollingstations! These are some of our favourite dogs at polling stations that you have plastered all over Twitter. And don't forget, if you want to to see an actual dog at a polling station, or take your dog to the polling station or indeed exercise your democratic right to vote, they are open until 10pm tonight. You can find...
Do you have the entrepreneurial bug?
How many times in your life have you muttered the words ‘I think I want to start my own business...’? Almost all of us have said it, and if not, we’ve most definitely thought it. For those of us, who never actually went ahead with the plan, what was it stopping us? Did something stand in the way of our business ambitions? Or was it simply an underestimation of what it really takes to launch a successful venture? Financial comparison...
Nigel Farage calls for new referendum – on the abolition of the House of Lords
Nigel Farage is calling for a new referendum on the abolition of the House of Lords after the Government suffered set-backs on the Brexit process. Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Farage blasted the Lords for its intervention and suggested the House had "signed its own death warrant". He said: "By defying Brexit, the Lords shows what a travesty British democracy has become. "Ever since the great battles which led to the Parliament Act 1911, debates about the composition and power...
Fox hunt investigation dropped due to lack of evidence despite police having this video of fox being chased
A police investigation into a hunt has been dropped by the CPS - despite being given this video of a fox being chased by a pack of dogs followed by huntsmen. The CPS was handed footage of a fox fleeing for its life, chased by hounds across fields in Cheshire - followed by terriermen on quads and hunt members on horses. Cheshire Monitors - a group of hunt saboteurs - captured the chase from two different locations and gave the...