Opinion

This weekend Jeremy Corbyn was re-elected Labour leader fending off rival Owen Smith by some 119,000 votes with a victory that delivered an even more commanding mandate than when he first took the nation by storm in 2015. But that has done little to appease the media, his co-politicians or the raft of doomsayer commentators. Corbyn is Mr Unelectable, and there’s nothing that grinds our gears more than an unelectable politician getting elected. But “who decided he is unelectable,” political...

It’s Either a Third Runway or No Runway, But Theresa May is on course to do both. The easiest way to spot a failing campaign is to seek out the one that argues the shortcomings of its opponent rather than championing its own merits. After years of deliberation, costly enquiries and even costlier marketing ploys the decision on airport capacity in southeast England, or so I’m reliably informed, is nigh. Rumours are that Theresa May will go ahead with expansion...

I like a drink, probably too much to be honest. I blame my upbringing in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and a mother who self-medicates, all ailments, with Gin. It works…until she starts crying. So the news that a synthetic alcohol could cure hangovers completely is the best thing I have ever heard. It would be as good as Mary Berry moving to Channel 4 to join Paul Hollywood, if I cared about watching people bake. Then I thought about it and realised that...

Here in the UK, we take having reliable electricity and gas for cooking and heating for granted. But even for us the prospect of power failures and ‘not keeping the lights on’ is a worrying one. For a staggering 3 billion people on the planet, however, ‘modern energy’ access and all the things that become easier because of it, remains a distant dream. 2015 was an important year for people seeking to change the situation. Energy access was enshrined in...

Apparently everyone wants London to become a National Park City. 85% of Londoners think it’s a good idea, 203 of London’s wards have declared their support, and hundreds of community groups, businesses, charities and environmental organisations are keen. Not only was it one of Sadiq Khan’s election pledges as Mayor of London, it was an election pledge also made by most of his rivals. In fact, all this support might explain why it hasn’t made the headlines and TV breakfast shows it should...

Yemen Country Director Giorgio Trombatore recently completed his first year managing the International Medical Corps team in Yemen. Based in Sana’a, he is responsible for a country team of more than 150 staff members and for programmes in Aden, Taizz and Sana’a – funded by the European Union - that provide humanitarian assistance to those in need. These are his reflections of the challenges he has faced to direct International Medical efforts to support tens of thousands of civilians caught up...

Alastair Brown, CEO of Lombard Risk and co-chair of Byte Night London, discusses how London's tech community is tackling youth homelessness. I have enjoyed a long career in London’s finance sector – I’m now the CEO of Lombard Risk and previously was with RBS, and I have been lucky enough to never have to experience homelessness. Unlike the 80,000 young people who find themselves in this situation every year in the UK. On 7 October I will be taking part in...

By Titus Alexander As the party conference season starts and David Cameron fades from political memory it is time to draw lessons from his ten years at the top of the Conservative Party and his swift departure after the Brexit vote. His period in power restored Conservative confidence as a natural party of government, but it only has a majority of 17 seats and 37 per cent of the vote. British politics is entering a new, uncertain era. Many more...

By Michael Smith, Initiatives of Change Winston Churchill famously said: “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent vice of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” So if the point of economic systems is to help create personal wealth, you could argue that capitalism is working very well indeed. For some people, at least. But the global economy is all pervasive, affecting the daily lives of all of us in one way or another,...