Politics

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Before I start, I’ll level with you, I’m a pacifist. In a perfect world we would be able to end conflict with dialogue and restraint rather than bombs and bullets. However, I know that this isn’t the world we live in, and states need weaponry to defend themselves, and they have to get them from somewhere. With that in mind I did some filming for Al Jazeera at the DESI 2015 Defence and Security Equipment...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  Edward Snowden, the man responsible for the biggest leak of top secret intelligence files the world has ever seen, lives in James Bond-esque secrecy in Russia. Ahead of tonight’s BBC Panorama documentary Peter Taylor has had no direct communication with the man responsible for rising the debate over privacy and national security to a new level – framing the agenda for this autumn’s parliamentary debate over controversial new legislation previously criticised as “the snoopers’ charter”....

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor He wore a suit and tie (more Matalan than Moschino, but smart nonetheless) and was greeted with rapturous applause. “Any chance we can start?” he asked, not aware he was still clapping himself. Corbyn had an autocue, which made his speech less rambling than previous efforts and there was no uplifting music as he walked in; so no royalties for Snow Patrol, but relief for everyone else. Jeremy will never win over the right wing...

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...