Politics

By Jack Peat, TLE Editor  How subjective ‘value for money’ must be. The man who has wasted £600 million during office thanks to a collection of poor decisions, ideological dogma and vanity schemes yesterday pulled the plug on the Tour de France Grand Depart because £35 million is an “awful lot to spend” on “one event”. Loosely translated, Boris didn’t see the ego boost in an event which would be presided over by a future Mayor and has instead opted...

By Ben Morris  On a London street a few months ago, I got chatting to a girl from Gaza City named Nour Nafez. Last summer, the offices which housed her brother’s media company, were destroyed by the Israeli Defence Force. Following the destruction of his livelihood, Sajed left his homeland, family and friends to forge a new life in Europe. This is his story. Sajed Nafez lived close to the Islamic University of Gaza, where he had read social studies. He...

By David Binder So, apparently the ‘unthinkable’ has happened. In shock news, the polls (and YouGov in particular) were absolutely spot on and Jeremy Corbyn, maverick socialist, was by some distance elected leader of the Labour Party. It's clear, given the massive margin of victory, that his views and general way of ‘doing politics’ resonate with many. It’s also obvious that a number of others, not least in his own party, do not see things his way. Yet I want...

By Joe Mellor Deputy Editor A laugh is good, it’s good to laugh, I don’t think we laugh enough. I’m all for laughing, I don’t even mind being laughed at, I’m from Newcastle where we laugh at each other remorselessly. So I hope I have made myself clear/laboured the point, I like a laugh. But is it ever okay not to laugh? Well today we got a prime (minister’s) example. This was the PMQs everyone wanted to see, would Corbyn...

By Joe Mellor Deputy Editor In April 2005, Fair Finance opened its doors as a solution to tackle loan sharks and money lenders on a council estate in the heart of East London’s Stepney. Fast forward 10 years and they are now a thriving social business offering a range of financial products and services designed to meet the needs of individuals and businesses. On 2 July the Dalston based not-for-profit celebrated its 10 year anniversary with the whole Fair Finance family. During...

By Jack Peat, TLE Editor  Jeremy Corbyn. A man of principal, a man with a vision for the Labour party and a man with a huge mandate to achieve it, but ultimately, a man who is considered to be unelectable come the General Election in 2020. That is the general consensus. Corbyn is seen as being left of left, anti-capitalism, anti-wealth creation, anti-monarchy, anti-British and out to disrupt the 21st century bubble in which banks are a force for the...

By Sarah Green  "A new dawn has broken, has it not" was uttered with irony across the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre following the emphatic anointment of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Leader. This famous line from  a victorious Tony Blair in 1997, reappropriated by Corbynista's in their finest hour, surely now closes the chapter on New Labour forever. The result had been trailed for weeks but if final confirmation of the 59.5 per cent victory was still needed it came in the...

By Dr Robin Andrews @squigglyvolcano A new non-partisan study reveals that, in the United States, Republicans and Democrats show very distinct neurological activity when presented with risk and opportunity. Full disclosure: I am utterly convinced that the modern-day Republican politician is almost certainly a divisive, hateful, fearful individual. The fact that Donald Trump of all people is leading in the polls at the moment is surely only because selfish, ignorant people believe that just because he’s shouting the loudest –...

By Noy Shani The American public is starting to wake up to the fact that the current refugee crisis is not just a European problem. The civil war in Syria has caused four million to flee their homes in the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. Following an enthusiastic and supportive reception in Germany, which promised to take in 800,000 refugees, the American public are urging their government to act quickly. Kathleen Newland, co-founder and Board of Trustees member of the...