Politics

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...

An MP has spoken out about how his own father “died in my arms” when he was sent home, as there were not enough beds available. Toby Perkins bravely spoke out about it during a Commons debate on the NHS, which the Red Cross have labelled a humanitarian crisis. PM May fought back at the claim during yesterday’s PMQs, but this was met with widespread derision from all sides of the political divide. Jeremy Corbyn used all of his six...

Mavericks like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage are more trusted by the public because they don't speak like politicians, a leading language expert claims. The political class who start speeches with reassuring phrases such as 'If I'm honest' and 'let me be clear' actually make them appear less honest. Research found "traditional" politicians such as Theresa May and David Cameron, who use cliches such as 'the honest truth is' and 'believe me', are more likely to arouse suspicion from the...

It is fair to say that Corbyn had a turbulent day yesterday and he needed a strong PMQs to focus the attention on the Government’s NHS failings, and he did. It wasn’t hard to be fair, any politician, member of the public, or child for that matter could have asked Theresa May six times why the NHS was crumbling, stood back and watched her squirm. Corbyn said that 485 people had to spent over twelve hours on trolleys waiting for...

Opposition parties have pushed for the PM to disclose her finances and wealth after it was discovered she had set up a “blind trust” to handle her investments. A “blind trust” allows a way for a person to keep a stock and share portfolio away from the public gaze and a private matter. The use of this type of financial arrangement, might feel like a one rule for us and one rule for them, to the general public struggling to...

It didn’t feel great to read about “Fat Cat Wednesday” just as the January depression was about to kick in. To know that UK top bosses earned more in two and a half days than most will make in the whole of 2017, made me want to crawl back into bed, i doubt I was alone. There was a fairly strong public outcry at this shocking statistic, so riding on the back of that Jeremy Corbyn, today, announced he would...

PM May’s first major interview of 2017 sent the pound into free fall after she made comments hinting at a “hard-Brexit.” She told Sky News that the UK will not try and keep “bits of EU membership.” During the interview she said: “Often people talk in terms as if somehow we are leaving the EU but we still want to kind of keep bits of membership of the EU. We are leaving. We are coming out. We are not going...

Remain is down in Scotland, Leave is up in every English region and is unchanged in London. By all accounts, the notion of Brexit buyers' remorse following a rocky and calamitous start to negotiations could be misguided. That's according to a new poll conducted by Saga which shows Brexit support is up two per cent overall among over-50s, as well as being up in every English region. Meanwhile Remain support in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is down. The poll, leaked on political blogsite...