Politics
Boris Johnson ‘to campaign for Brexit in EU referendum’
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor In huge blow to David Cameron, London Mayor Boris Johnson has decided to back the “Brexit” in the upcoming EU referendum. After a mammoth round of negotiations in Brussels, Cameron hoped his biggest hitters would support the deal he arrived home with. However, in the case of Boris, arguably the biggest personality in the party, this won’t be the case. It is a huge boost to the Leave campaign; Boris had admitted he has sat...
20 million pensions raided by Tories…with low-paid worst hit
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor People on less than £15k a year will be clobbered by the Tory government as increases under Labour are cancelled. Private sector workers, who are low-paid, will be the worst affected as twenty million people are hurt by Tory pension changes. George Osborne said his new flat rate £155.65-a-week pension is “simpler and fairer, and there is no doubt it is vastly larger than the current £115.95 rate. However, there will no longer be additional...
Martin Shkreli maybe a Jerk but is a symptom of what’s wrong with Pharma Industry
By Ben Ramanauskas Martin Shkreli has managed to engender feelings of revulsion in the vast majority of the population. He incurred widespread odium when his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, acquired the drug Daraprim, which is commonly used to treat toxoplasmosis, which kills people with weakened immune systems, such as people suffering from AIDS or undergoing chemotherapy. The parasite which causes toxoplasmosis lives inside of one third of the population, in tiny cysts that go undetected because they are quarantined in our...
The surrealist Twitter art of George Galloway
By Darragh Roche Confession time: I follow George Galloway on Twitter. Like the dozens of political accounts in my newsfeed, Galloway's can usually pass unnoticed in the blur. Recently, however, I was drawn to his page following some posts about the Grassroots Out campaign – a pro-Brexit group that's seen Galloway buddying up with UKIP's Nigel Farage. Scrolling through the former Big Brother contestant's tweets, the surreal beauty of it all revealed itself to me. It was like the moment...
The OECD has called for less Austerity…Will Europe Listen?
By Dean Hochlaf Since the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn, Europe has pursued a course of vigorous austerity, in a desperate attempt to reign in government spending which spiralled after a series of high profile bank bail-outs. In Britain austerity is practically synonymous with Chancellor George Osborne. In Europe, it is Wolfgang Schäuble, the indomitable German Finance Minister who best encapsulates the continents commitment to austerity policies. The fascination with austerity borders on the dogmatic. The Greek economy...
The UK Supreme Court Decision on Joint Enterprise is a Victory for Justice and Equality
By Ben Ramanauskas On the 28th January 1953, 19-year-old Derek Bentley was executed by the State. Despite desperate appeals for clemency from his barrister, politicians, and members of the public, he was hanged at 9am at Wandsworth Prison, London. Bentley had struggled throughout his life with developmental problems and various tests revealed that he had a very low IQ and was judged to be ‘mentally substandard’ and unfit for military service by the the Medical Officers of the British Armed...
Iain Duncan Smith approves cuts to disabled people on assumption “enough will die.”
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Iain Duncan Smith is giving the green light to almost a 20 per cent cut in support for people with disabilities. Funds available for disabled people who used to access the ILF (Independent Living Fund) will be reduced by nearly a fifth over the next four years. Government ministers have said the measures are appropriate as the claimant number will fall, however campaigner Linda Burnip claims this is calculated “based on the hope enough people...
Young Londoners Want UK to Remain in Europe
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor New research has revealed that over seventy per cent of young Londoners want the UK to remain in the EU. The survey by YMCA, the largest youth charity on the planet, showed that 71% of 16 to 24-year-olds polled across London said the UK should remain in the EU. Only 14% said they were in favour of a "Brexit." It appears that youngsters in the capital are much more in tune with European project, than the...
Victims of Bedroom Tax Suffer By £66 More Than DWP Predicted
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Figures that have just been released have revealed that the controversial tax is costing 442,000 poor homes £15.27 a week up from an estimated £14. A lot of money for struggling people living on the breadline. This is a total of £794 a year, £66 higher than the £728 the DWP claimed it would be in the official impact assessment from 2013/14. This is 9 per cent above the original figure. The difference on the...