By Pieter Cranenbroek – International Politics Blogger On New Year’s Eve, French President François Hollande announced a series of liberal reforms that meant a move away from socialist thinking. Although the socialist president’s alleged liaison with an actress may have overshadowed his astonishing flirt with liberalism, he would do well to quickly re-join his ideological family. It is Hollande’s profound conviction that France needs to strengthen its economy to keep its influence, but switching to a liberal economic policy will help...

Kerry Lister-Pattinson – 28, founder Making Winter Warmer I'm the type of person who really feels the cold. One especially freezing November night in 2013 a thought popped into my head; 'what must it be like for people living on the streets?' It was that thought that led me on to launch Making Winter Warmer for those Without. My idea was simple, to collect warm clothing that my friends no longer needed and to get them to the people who do....

By Joe Mellor, In house Reporter  “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.” - Nelson Mandela. When the world revisited the great man’s quotes after his death, this one seemed to resonate with a lot of people. Mandela’s words seems pertinent in light of French President Francois Hollande’s alleged sexual antics. However, the French seem to have a different approach when it comes to politicians sinning, especially of the...

Freedom of Information request reveals the cost of failed Boris Island plans.  Despite extensive publicity and substantial resources, Boris Johnson’s grandiose hub island airport failed to land a spot on the Airports Commission’s shortlist for expanding UK airport capacity. The three options earmarked for further consideration included adding a third runway at Heathrow, lengthening an existing runway at Heathrow and a new runway at Gatwick. The Airports Commission stopped short at condemning the ambitious, expensive idea of building an airport...

By Nathan Lee, Finance and Politics Correspondent  Martin Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street rubs salt in the wounds of those most affected by the financial crisis and massages the ego of the bankers who allowed it all to happen.   Five years on from the greatest financial crisis in history and it all seems rather like a pantomime. The mountains of sub-prime debt, spiralling consumerism and fragile economics are staged as the audience screams; IT’S BEHIND YOU! The trouble is, it...

A No Strings Puppet Workshop For Children From Syria By Rosie Waller, No Strings International  No Strings International makes puppet films that bring to life crucial messages for children in disasters, poverty and war around the world, with their current focus on Syria. Here, Rosie Waller, one of the UK team based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, recalls a recent No Strings workshop on the Syrian border for adults tasked with supporting the conflict’s emotional impact on children One man’s son is terrified of...

By Carlotta Stephens, Commercial Director, Maine-Tucker As a corporate member of the REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) I recently attended an event at the House of Lords on the topic of youth employment. Staggeringly there are nearly one million young people in the UK who are neither in work, training or education. Statistics point to the fact that if you have a gap in your career early on, you are far more likely to have gaps in employment later in life....

By Adam Walker, Economics Correspondent Politics & Economics: Two Forces Pulling Against Each Other Following the US Government shutdown in late 2013 there has been speculation surrounding the fragility of global economic wellbeing when it is at the mercy of party politics, in particular when a few idealists manage to halt the entirety of a democratic system through a reluctance to compromise. However, the bigger question is whether politics and economics will ever be a successfully functional partnership in a democratic...

By Jim Colella, freelance journalist and blogger, resident in Turkey since 2005  The epic corruption scandal currently gripping Turkey, not to mention international headlines, is nothing less than the collapse of the entire set on a theatre stage. With that elaborately painted background suddenly gone, so too goes the context for the actors occupying the stage. The illusion is shattered, and in Turkey’s present dire case, the notion of a functioning democracy with rule of law has all but disappeared....