Politics

It was a disaster waiting to happen. In a highly publicised press conference, Tommy Robinson and Quilliam announced that the former had seen the error of his ways and decided to part with the English Defence League, a hard-line anti Islam group. Many prominent organisations and personalities had expressed scepticism at the time, dismissing it as nothing but a PR stunt to bolster the images of both Quilliam, a counter extremism think tank founded by former members of the radical...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The final PMQs before the New Year had an extra-terrestrial vibe and I don’t mean the Tory backbenchers from Cocoon. It began with the PM praising UK astronaut Tim Peake, and everyone who was watching at home. Well we did Dave, you turned your head 180 degrees, like a lizard, and flicked your tongue at the screen. Corbyn wished everyone a happy Christmas even “Tim who wasn’t on this planet,” which inevitably set the Tories...

Callum Towler, Stephen Adams and Owen Black chat about the worrying rise of far-right politics following the Paris attacks. Should Donald Trump be banned from the UK? Do ISIS thank their lucky stars for characters like Farage and Le Pen? Is western liberalism dying in the face of terror? And how can the left reverse this surge? Alternatively, you can also listen via Soundcloud here  Follow us @callumtowler @stephenjcadams1 @owenblk And please leave your thoughts below.

The government has been blamed for the rise of highly questionable pension  schemes which have led to a £2 billion 'liberation scandal'. A nationwide campaign group  says the government is “ultimately responsible” for the potential loss of billions of pounds of savers’ pensions by refusing to “fix a broken system” that is pushing victims to the brink of suicide.  Since April the over-55s have had the freedom to cash in their retirement pots.  Whilst 25 per cent will be free...

Donald Trump likes Katie Hopkins. This is not a world-changing surprise. Trump discovering Hopkins is like two idiots in Nickelback t-shirts meeting each other at a music festival and instantly getting along. You could say they like each other because they agree on almost everything (Trump will probably denounce fat people at his next rally) but the connection is much simpler than that: Donald and Katie are bullies. Trump and Hopkins are overgrown playground bullies who spend their time mocking...

It makes me feel a bit sick thinking about the celebratory mood in Isis bunkers right now; them flipping open their laptops and delighting as schisms escalate, and Western democracy turns in on itself. Watching on with glee as Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, spews xenophobia from a podium, while Marine Le Pen’s National Front ascends into the mainstream of French politics. Toasting to a job well done now far-right populism grows ever more vehement, and ever more persuasive; as...

Winning the middle class vote has long been seen to be the key to winning a General Election, yet both politically and economically, that demographic is in decline. A new Pew Research study released today found the middle class in America, “after more than four decades of serving as the nation’s economic majority", is now matched in number by those in the economic tiers above and below it. The study found that the share of American adults living in middle-income...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Osborne was expecting an easy ride today; he leaned across the dispatch box like a philanderer in a 1950s diner looking for, well, an easy ride. And why shouldn’t he? His “mojo” is back. Declaring war on a country always gives you better erections. Pele told me all about it. However, it turns out the RAF have flown eleven missions and carried out four strikes on oil wells in Syria, which seems fairly impotent even...

THE EU referendum is the most important vote in Britain in a generation. It will influence the UK for the rest of the century. Everything from Scottish secession to peace in Northern Ireland to the international economy are involved. It is a national disgrace that 16 and 17-year-olds will be denied a vote on their country’s future. It’s no surprise that the Conservative government has opposed votes for young people. They’ve done the electoral arithmetic. Young people are not sympathetic...