Politics

When Hunter S. Thompson was writing the article series for Rolling Stone that became the book Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, for my money still the best book ever written on US politics, he combined factual reporting, interviews and out-and-out hallucinatory fantasies to give both the facts and atmosphere of the events that led to both the re-election and resignation of Richard Nixon. Hunter has been dead now for twelve years, having blown his brains out in...

Mental health jobs will only scratch the surface of the problem, according to union GMB. The Conservatives today announced that 21,000 new jobs in mental health will be created in the NHS. But continued staff shortages, overstretched and stressed out workers and overcrowded hospitals will undoubtedly see people die unnecessarily, the union believes. The Government claims it will recruit enough nurses, therapists and consultants to treat an extra one million patients by 2020-21. Even though the NHS has lost 5,161 specialist...

Donald Trump has landed himself in hot water once again after announcing that transgender people will not be allowed to serve in the US military. The President cited analysis carried out last year that care for transgender people in the military would add $8.4 million to the total medical costs of all active duty service member. He said the US military "cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs" of transgender service members, even though it's about 0.0014 percent of...

Police are currently investigating possible Tory breaches of electoral law relating to the June general election uncovered by a Channel 4 News investigation. Labour MP for Caerphilly Wayne David announced that the Electoral Commission had written to him confirming that police were "formally considering the allegations". Wales Online confirmed that South Wales Police are looking into claims that “the Conservative Party broke the law in the run up to the General Election by using a Neath call centre to canvas...

Brexit could risk the hard fought sovereignty of the Falklands Islands, Westminster has been warned by the Falklands Islands Government. European members such as Spain could end up siding with Argentina over the Falklands dispute after Brexit, if Britain is not in the EU, the island's government has warned. Roger Edwards, a Member of Legislative Assembly, pointed out that with the UK a signatory of the Treaty of Rome, all the rest of the EU are obliged to recognise and accept...

Twitter abuse of politicians piked after the Manchester and London terror attacks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn singled out for the most vitriol. Abusive tweets doubled following the murderous attacks after the Ariana Grande concert and London Bridge - but the rants were targeted at a relatively small number of prominent politicians. Jeremy Corbyn received the most and together with Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Sadiq Khan they received over half of the total abusive tweets sent to politicians. Others...

A new working paper from Oxford University's Martin School has provided the first evidence that automation was the key to Donald Trump's election victory. Data revealed that the share of votes for Trump increased by roughly ten percentage points in areas highest hit by job loss through automation, causing anxiety amongst voters and favouring candidates with more reformist manifestos. The study, dubbed Political Machinery: Automation Anxiety and the 2016 US Presidential Election, found victims of the Computer Revolution were more likely...

The short answer is, we don't know. Fox was asked about whether he would eat chlorine-washed chicken after a UK-US trade deal was agreed. The international trade secretary, had just finished his speech on trade in Washington, when he was asked if he fancied eating some of this chemically treated poultry. He said: "In a debate which should be about how we make our contribution to global liberalisation and the increased prosperity of both the UK, the US and our trading...

A drunk man broke into his partner's home and attacked her because she had voted 'voted Labour at the election' days before. The shocking attack led to jail time for the perpetrator. Prosecuting Stephen Parker said Cochrane slapped and punched Ms Greenwood and squeezed her cheek before saying: "That's what you get for voting Labour." Ms Greenwood tried to leave the house but Cochrane blocked her path to the front door and said: "I am going to kill you." Burnley...