Politics

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  Bricks have long been a focal part of Shoreditch. The factory red of its industrial past, the distinctive yellow residential stock bricks and post-modern grey office blocks paint the canvas of London’s East End which, when you’re mindful of their presence, display a tapestry of colours tantamount to an autumnal walk in the park. And on this particular Sunday morning I had good reason to be mindful of their existence as I...

By Pieter Cranenbroek ‘Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don’t vote,’ William E. Simon once remarked. Replace ‘Washington’ with ‘Westminster’ and the sentence doesn’t lose its significance. The British left can no longer passively wait for Russell Brand’s revolution and watch with dismay how politics is becoming more and more cynical. A positive, politically active countermovement is needed to end the surge of British politics to the right and bring back the momentum to the progressives....

By Gregory Taylor  It was not the best start for the Conservative Party Conference, but things have gone rather better than some would have thought. On Saturday night we had seen one MP joining UKIP and another minister standing down because of a sex scandal. For political geeks like me, it’s great political news. The Tories came back fighting and managed to avoid just discussing the EU and immigration, although both are very important. Rather, welfare, economic policy, the NHS and education...

Clegg has secured the Lib Dems a permanent fixture in parliament, so long as they don't remember their values.  By Nathan Lee The general election in May 2015 is sure to be a close affair. A country disillusioned by the Tories and still hurting from the harsh bouts of austerity will be wooed by an opposition party that has failed to deliver the punches despite obvious weaknesses in the current political order. There's only one party guaranteed another term in...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  Last night I sat in a Mayfair pub surrounded by Gold Card waving, Bentley driving, suited and booted by-products of a concentrated capitalist hub and accepted a truism that has become so eroded it hardly makes any sense on the streets of London any more; money don’t make the world go round. I’d just received an email from adventure builder Jaimie Mantzel who’s currently constructing a 40ft catamaran on the shores of...

By J T Coombes www.globalmagnacarta.com @GMagnaCarta The Scottish people have decided the fate of their country in a resounding manner that can only be applauded by the rest of the UK and voters in America and the rest of the democratic world. They have demonstrated a fervent desire to connect with the democratic process with a staggering turnout of 84 per cent. This figure has not been surpassed since 1951, or got anywhere near in recent years, and speaks volumes about...

By Nathan Lee Wealth first, Londoners second. That has been the Conservative Mayor of London's policy throughout his tenure in which London house prices have become folly for wealthy overseas investors, pushing house prices to an average of half a million pounds and out of reach of the people that live and work in the capital. A quick look back over the past six years highlights why waving a brick in Birmingham is too little too late. Ney, it shows how out of...

By Ella Vine There's two opposing views on EU migration and the cost of the UK’s membership with the EU. On one side there's the proponents who argue the economic benefits outweigh the cost of membership, on the other there's those who argue we pay out more than we bring in. The problem is that both sides are giving contradicting arguments backed by stats and figures, so which one's right? The EU attracts a wealth of heated debate in the UK, but beside subjective...

By Clare Macnaughton, author of A Modern Military Mother - Tales from the Domestic Frontline My 11 year old son is desperate to play the video game 'Grand Theft Auto'. Some of his mates, of the same age, are allowed to play it. I have strictly forbidden it, for various reasons, but I have specifically stated the main reason is that the game is disrespectful to women. In GTA it is possible for the characters to pistol whip a prostitute. This is...