Opinion

Today Google has announced a new initiative to rid the internet of fake news. Fifty thousand pounds of seed capital has been offered to the group that can find claims online and determine whether or not they are true. But for such a pitiful amount of start-up cash you’d be better throwing the money down the drain. The problem is that it’s near impossible to fit fake news into an algorithmic solution. It is often more a manipulation of facts...

By Jamie Whear There are 100 million working horses, donkeys and mules in the world. They are the tractors, taxis and engines that power developing economies, working in the construction industry, carrying food and water, and transporting goods to market. It’s estimated that each animal can support a family of six, so around 600 million people’s lives are supported by a working equine - 8% of the world’s population. Without healthy working horses, donkeys and mules, they wouldn’t be able...

In the week Theresa May defiantly delivered her "hard right" stance on the Brexit negotiations and America gets set to inaugurate one of the most "hard right" figures in modern political history the message of 2017 has become quite clear; If 2016 delivered the body blows, the next few years are going to be a series of repeated knock out punches. With them has come a series of worrying undertones about the state of the current social and political climate...

By Selena Drake “A hospital is chasing a £350,000 bill racked up by a Nigerian mother who flew to Britain to give birth to twins.” This was the headline on the front page of the Daily Mail three days ago. A pattern is emerging that seems to be accompanying the rapid rise in immigration. The prioritisation of news stories of this nature is a typical example of scare-mongering. It is not uncommon for right-wing newspapers to try to increase readership...

It is the time of the year where we reflect on the past and consider what we will do differently in the future – how we will make this year better than the last. Britain entered 2017 with a colossal hangover, entangled in divorce proceedings with the EU, and with a clear incentive to put its existing relationships in order. As Trump takes the podium on 20 January 2017, one of the United Kingdom’s first concerns will be how quickly...

The case of Anders Breivik against the Norwegian government has ruffled a lot of feathers this week. The man who massacred 77 people in 2011 may not only have a case about "inhuman and degrading" treatment under the European Convention of Human Rights, but could also force the government to pay his legal costs of 331,000 kroner (£32,000). That, on top of his cushy cell that houses a flatscreen TV, PlayStation, internet, his own gym and a study, will surely leave a bitter taste in the...

Sam Smith pubs are a bit like Marmite – you either can’t live with them or can’t live without them. And so, it would seem, is the owner. I use ‘owner’ loosely because Humphrey Smith is a man who wields incredible power and influence across his inherited Sam Smiths empire. Along with his brother, Oliver, he controls over 300 pubs, a brewery (or perhaps two), owns most of Tadcaster and the surrounding agricultural land and swathes of commercial land in...

It was once said that the causes which destroyed the ancient republics were numerous, but in the case of Rome, one principal reason was the vast inequality of fortunes. The extent of inequality in Britain has been laid bare today in Fat Cat Wednesday - the day in which top bosses out-earn what the typical worker will earn all year. Executives will pass the average salary of £28,200 by midday, the High Pay Centre revealed, with figures confirming how pay differs “dramatically”...

As a new captain takes the helm of the richest and most powerful country in the world, it is time to take stock and analyse the position of the United States relative to its two largest adversaries: China and Russia. There’s been lots of loose talk of a so-called “underclass” which made Trump’s election possible. Columnists stuffed their columns with the same trite commentary about a “discontented” section of society in at least some respect. These sort of columns write...