News

In a year when police conduct at Orgreave came under renewed scrutiny and the families of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster learned the real "truth", it is with a certain sense of dismay that Scotland Yard has today come under criticism for destroying the evidence needed for an inquiry into state sponsored spying on trade unions and blacklisting operations, despite a court order to the contrary. The Pitchford Inquiry into undercover policing has failed to secure potentially crucial documents central...

Climate change is seldom deemed to be a cause for celebration, but for wildlife lovers it offers up the exciting prospect that the natural world is changing before our eyes. As a Countryside Ranger in the North West of England I am fortunate to be able to see the various changes of the seasons whilst out and about at work. Having spotted my first long tailed tits, weasels and stoats over the previous few weeks, I remain ever optimistic to...

A scheme set up by the Government to tackle illegal immigration has led to racism against BME groups, according to new research. To deter illegal immigrants from settling in Britain, the Government launched “right to rent” which means landlords can be imprisoned or face hefty fines if they don’t ensure their tenants are not illegal citizens. Landlords are worried that they could be jailed for renting to illegal immigrants, they are shying away from anyone who could possibly be breaking...

Evidence that man-made pollutants have reached the furthest corners of the planet has come to light after cancer-causing chemicals banned since the 1970s were discovered in the world's deepest ocean - almost seven miles beneath the surface. Extremely high levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants - or POPs - were found in the fatty tissue of tiny crustaceans that live in the western Pacific's Mariana Trench. The same discovery was made in the Kermadec trench - the world's fifth deepest just off...

It seems that if you are beneath retirement age you are now worse off in modern Britain. They say never get old, but that might not apply anymore, especially if you want a few more quid in your pocket. Research by the Resolution Foundation found that pensioner incomes dwarf those of working-age, who are struggling to make ends meet. Retired people are more likely to own their own home and have substantial pension pots. Weak economic growth has, for working-age...

Prime Minister Theresa May has appointed former Daily Mail political editor James Slack as her official spokesperson just days after Wikipedia banned the publication after deeming the news group “generally unreliable”. Last week the online encyclopedia imposed a blanket ban on the Daily Mail with editors saying the move “centred on the Daily Mail’s reputation for poor fact checking, sensationalism and flat-out fabrication” But the official response has been somewhat to the contrary, with May appointing their political editor into a senior position within...

A woman who is house-bound with a flesh-eating disease and cannot tolerate sunlight says her disability benefit has been cut – after she was deemed fit to work. CeaJay Clem claims her Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was cut this month following an assessment. The 59-year-old says she has received the benefit after being diagnosed with Discoid Lupus Erythematosus – a form of skin rash made worse by sunlight in 2002. The condition means CeaJay cannot go outside for more...

Unless you have been living in a ‘content free’ cave (maybe those avoiding Brexit or Trump), it’ll come as no surprise that search significantly drives the buying decision making process. Search marketing, in the context of online searching via sites like Google, is a dominant touchpoint for researching and reviewing everything from cars to cats. According to ‘Search Engine Land’, Google handles at least 2 trillion searches annually. As search is so accessible (with rise to mobile) in providing a...

“Aliens pouring into our country”. “The Swarm on our streets.” The first is a Daily Mail headline from 1938 and the second is from the same newspaper in 2016. Following two visits to the Calais 'jungle' last year I was struck by the numbers of unaccompanied children and young people I saw there. They were a part of the ninety thousand lone children assessed to be among the refugee population across Europe (a figure regarded as understated by Save the Children). These children were at the mercy of hostile authorities, people smugglers...