Politics

When David Cameron became PM he talked of the “big society,” imagining armies of citizens carrying out good works for free in their spare time. Unfortunately most people have to work long hours to make ends meet and to appease slave driver bosses. It was a nice idea, but in practice it couldn’t work, especially has Cameron also announced austerity measures, that meant that everyone’s finances were tighter than ever before as public series suffered. After Cameron lost the EU...

Already under fire for having abandoned pledges to bring unaccompanied child refugees to safety in the UK, the UK government this week pulled the rug out from under the feet of tens of thousands of refugees beginning to make new lives for themselves and their families in the UK, leaving them in a perilous situation. The Home Office has implemented a policy announced by Theresa May back when she was Home Secretary, meaning that even after jumping through all the hoops...

This week Barack Obama's former press secretary perfectly summed up President Trumps's simple strategy of how to detract from the sewer-slide of scandals seeping out of the White House on a daily basis. "The bigger the scandal, the more outrageous the tweet" said Josh Earnest, referring to Trump's claims that he was wire tapped by President Obama in the lead up to the Presidential Election. "We know exactly why President Trump tweeted what he tweeted. Because there is one page in...

The crisis in the NHS continues and it is getting worse, hitting historically high levels of patient waiting times. This January, official figures have shown, that A & E department waiting times were the worst the NHS has faced. More people than ever had to sit in emergency departments, for over four hours, before they were seen by medical staff. Over the winter period the Red Cross said the NHS was facing a humanitarian crisis. The Conservative Government said this...

It appears Mhairi Black is at it again, still only 22-year-old but is already a Commons legend, after many speeches that make the hair on back your neck stand on their end, no matter what side of the political divide you are on. When elected in May 2015, she was just 20 years and 237 days old. The youngest MP in the house but her age has been no obstacle to making a name for herself and fighting against Tory...

In today’s Spring Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond made no mention of the Government’s plans to change the way Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is awarded in the future. PIP is awarded to cover the extra costs that disabled people face, and is gradually replacing Disability Living Allowance. Recently the courts ruled that people who find it difficult to leave the house because of psychological distress should be able to receive the higher rate of PIP. But two...

Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget Statement failed to relieve the strain on workers from a further squeeze on living standards as wage growth is on course fall, GMB trade union warned today. Responding to the Chancellor’s Budget statement, the union said he neglected to support workers facing a decade of pay and had failed to provide proper funding for public services or social care. Hammond also raised National Insurance for the self-employed, turning his back on a manifesto pledge to not...

Today’s PMQs was fairly subdued as the Budget followed, it always is in these situations, so I’ll merge the two as seamlessly as the government’s Brexit plan. It is International Women’s Day and the Tories were beaming they have had two female PMs. Thatcher did literally nothing for women’s rights, but that doesn’t matter when you are gloating at the opposition. Victoria Atkins, Con, announced it was 2-0 to the Tories over women PMs. Sometimes results flatter to deceive. Corbyn...

Public sector workers have been slapped with a decade long “pay pinch” and now inflation caused by Brexit has worsened the pay problems for midwives, teaching assistants and refuse collectors amongst others. The GMB union claims the public sector is now suffering from the worst salary squeeze since the Thatcher government The government cap on wages means that full-time workers, in the public sector, now actually face a real terms reduction in income. On average this will be a huge...