News

A homogenization of business looks set to envelop our economy after new research by Reed Commercial found more than one in five Brits are more likely to choose a service or shop if it is part of a franchise. the research revealed 53 per cent of Brits now use franchises one to five time during a typical month, a trend that is exacerbated at Christmas when 28 per cent of Brits say they are likely to use franchises when buying gifts for...

Last weekend, Callum Towler went to watch Clapton FC play at home to FC Romania. Famous for their left-wing anti-fascist fanbase, he wanted to see if politics and football had collided again in spectacular fashion, to plug a wistful hole in his heart left empty when Joey Barton withdrew his services as a political firebrand and man of the people.  I thought Joey Barton reached the zenith. The very apex of credibility in the often messy evasion of footballer into...

Anti-Muslim rhetoric is reaching dangerous levels on both sides of the Atlantic. US Republican politicians have suggested databases for Muslims, closing mosques, interning Muslims and depriving them of constitutional rights. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán claims leftists are playing into the hands of a Muslim plot to take over Europe and the anti-Islamic Pegida movement is growing, with a former EDL leader opening a branch in the UK. We’ve seen all this before. Europe’s Jews were subjected to the same...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The world climate conference in Paris hopes to move global energy from fossil fuel to renewable energy, but one country in South America has already achieved this aim. In under a decade, Uruguay has manage to combat its carbon footprint without the need for government subsidies or rising costs to the general population. Uruguay uses renewable energy to provide 94.5% of their electricity and prices are now lower. As if that wasn't enough good news,...

By Leeson Medhurst, Workplace Consultant for The Fourfront Group Sweden’s example and adopting a 6-hour working week would be beneficial for UK output and productivity levels, not to mention staff morale. If we give our workforces the option of working less hours (but with the expectation that the original workload can still be maintained), then employees will automatically have a greater level of focus when it comes to effectively utilising their time. A six-hour working day will do wonders when...

By Denise Hatton, Chief Executive at YMCA England Youth homelessness in London is a problem; and unfortunately for our current and future client base, it's a growing one. If you look at that statistics* alone, 871 people aged 18 to 25-years-old slept rough in the capital for at least one night in 2014-15. This should be an alarming statistic to anyone who counts London as their home, but it becomes even more acute when combined with the fact it also...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  London commuters were given a scare this morning as two chilling Victorian sisters appeared dressed in period costume and wearing creepy doll masks. The sightings, at Charing Cross Tube Station, Oxford Street, Regent’s Street and Hamleys, prompted a big social reaction with commuters turning to social media to express their shock and intrigue.  A passer-by at Oxford Circus said, ‘Creepy dolls spotted at Oxford circus tube. And they move. My nightmares have become a reality. #CreepyDolls’ The...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Today the PM repeatedly refused to apologise after he had branded MPs opposed to air strikes in Syria  "terrorist sympathisers". Cameron faced twelve requests during a debate on military action to retract his comments, which he failed to do. It has been claimed that yesterday he had told waivering Tory MPs they would be set to "walk through the lobbies with Corbyn and a bunch of terrorist sympathisers". Labour MP Caroline Flint asked, "will he...

1. Air strikes achieve nothing without sufficient ground support Everyone agrees Isis must be destroyed and driven out of their strongholds. But air strikes in isolation will never achieve this. Military experts are certain that coordinated ground support is needed to recapture cities like Raqqa. Cameron knows this; which is why his strategy before parliament contained the spurious figure of 70,000 Syrian moderates willing to fight our cause. First, this mystery army is not united. It’s made up of 100-120 different groups,...