Politics

As Holland is about to go to the polls Dutch PM Mark Rutte has declared that anyone who doesn’t agree with Holland’s values can “leave.” His remarks could be seen as a reaction to the anti-immigration Freedom party, who are possible winners of the election. Rutte also added that people who live in Holland should "act normal, or go away.” Both main political parties are taking a hardline approach to any citizens who are not prepared to adhere to the...

Struggling mum Michelle Dorrell became famous overnight after she cried about Tax Credits cuts on BBC’s Question Time, after feeling cheated after voting for the Tories. Now she has now been elected to chairwoman of Momentum in South East Kent. It is a huge shift in only 15 months since her TV appearance and her admission that she voted Conservative hoping they would help her family, but instead left her on the breadline. The planned cuts to tax credits would...

When the dolphins departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, that was it. No tearful goodbyes and they wouldn’t be keeping in touch, partly as we were about to be destroyed. Theresa May seemed to have the same approach yesterday when she announced even though we were leaving the single market and customs union, don’t panic. It wrong-footed a number of members of the house, and the light seemed to have gone out a...

The Prime Minister has changed the landscape for business following today's defining Brexit speech, according to the Confederation of British Industry. Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said "ruling out membership of the Single Market has reduced options for maintaining a barrier-free trading relationship between the UK and the EU", but added that "businesses will welcome the greater clarity and the ambition to create a more prosperous, open and global Britain". Theresa May's today said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single...

Phillip Hammond's comments this week that Britain could change its economic model after Brexit negotiations have confirmed once and for all that we made the vote to leave the European Union completely blind. Talking to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag he unleashed a thinly veiled threat that Britain could use its corporate tax as a form of leverage in Brexit negotiations, possibly becoming the tax haven of Europe if it is shut out of the EU’s single market. But is that really the...

As world leaders gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum, Dr Richard Dodgson, Lecturer in International Politics at Newcastle University, is warning that the gap between rich and poor will only be reduced if political leaders are willing to challenge the status quo. He says: “As the World Economic Forum kicks off, the eyes of the world are on Davos. This gathering of the great and the good from across the globe is positioned as an opportunity for the world’s...

UKIP could pull off a surprise election win in Stoke-on-Trent if party leader Paul Nuttall throws his hat into the ring. Odds of UKIP winning the seat, which was recently vacated by Tristram Hunt, have been slashed from 11/4 to 9/4, with Nuttall is 15/8 to be UKIP’s name on the ballot paper, close up in the betting to market leader Mick Harold at 13/8 and Tariq Mahmood at 7/4. Labour remain favourites at 4/6 to retain the traditionally left-leaning constituency, with the...

Back in 2005 Dr Cliff Arnall calculated that today, 16th Jan, is the most depressing day of the year, due to bills coming in, rubbish weather and the xmas buzz wearing off. I can say that I am definitely in that camp today, with a combination of traditional illness and self-inflicted pain from the weekend festivities adding to the malaise. Now Mr Arnall has said that this year is even worse due to Trump and Brexit, unless of course you...

Think the UK has a free press? You're sadly mistaken, and what's happening to journalism right now should worry you... Whilst the threat of litigation is silencing real journalists and publications, an even darker threat, fake news, is putting them clean out of business. Politicians, climate change deniers, corporations and even countries have been funding fake news to create confusion and division, dilute facts, and pursue agendas. Now they are using 'fake news' as their default denial against allegations. The digital revolution was...