Politics

Richard Masefield, author of a new book set at the time of the Third Crusade to free Jerusalem from Islamic occupation, questions the Prime Minister’s use of crusading rhetoric in his recent comments about the Middle East. Isil poses a direct and deadly threat to Britain, David Cameron tells us. But although he seems at first to rule out military intervention – "I agree that we should avoid sending armies to fight or occupy" – he goes on to say that...

By Gregory Taylor Reports of the Ebola outbreak have been rife of late. Some 8,399 probable or suspected cases have been confirmed by The World Heath Organisation (WHO) causing a media frenzy around the outbreak, a frenzy that perhaps clouded Friday's Mental Health Day that shines the spotlight on a suspected 450 million people worldwide who have mental health problems. The Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity report found that one in four British adults experience at least one diagnosable mental health problem in any one...

By Daniele Bassi Muslims have another reason to be apologetic. After feeling guilty about inventing algebra and astronomy and much more, now the Islamic world has to come to terms with the fact that Malala Yousafzai has just won the Nobel Peace Prize. For those blaming Islam for the violence the world is sunk into, accepting that a 17-year-old Muslim girl received such recognition isn’t going to be easy. The anti-Muslim bigots will definitely have to change the rhetoric contained in their...

Jack Peat reviews Urinetown and a new wave of dystopia created by the conflict of human rights and resource management.  Science and economic observers of India have been confronted by some puzzling statistics of late. Despite certain areas of the country enjoying sustained economic growth there are still vast numbers of children who are malnourished and stunted leaving them with mental and physical deficits typical of deprived, food-scarce regions. On closer examination it was found that a lack of food wasn’t the...

Nathan Lee’s satirical report of Nick Clegg’s Party Conference Speech. Nick Clegg is expected to deliver a tearjerker of a speech at the Liberal Democrats Party Conference this afternoon, responding to the number of times Cameron has been “nasty” to him by promising to raise the capital gains tax for the wealthiest and increase the personal allowance to “see how he likes it”. After spending years playing political mistress to Cameron it would seem Clegg is at the end of...

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...