Politics

By David Thomson Alex Salmond may have lost the vote for independence and stood down as  leader of the SNP and Scotland's First Minister, but there's still widespread respect for him as a politician. Conservative leader David Cameron and his Labour counterpart reacted to him stepping down with similar expressions of cautious admiration, both praising him for "fighting his corner" while carefully distancing themselves from his stance on independence. “Whatever our disagreements, he always spoke his mind and he has always stood...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor On the surface, today’s PMQs was a battle over the NHS, the PM insisting a strong economy needs a good health service I’m not 100% convinced, Cuba has a pretty decent health service, but a dismal economy. But this was all window dressing; this was a war from all sides to win the hearts of minds of the white van man. They have never had it so good. I half expect the Tories to enshrine...

To what extent is the Mayor of London Boris Johnson a political duplication of our revered war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill? For all the undertones of that question littered across in the mayor’s latest book, The Churchill Factor, it is worth exploring. The first thing to note is that Johnson will be incredibly smug that the question is even on the table, which goes some way in answering whether this is an engineered quandary or viable comparison. It is apparent that...

By Bill Lytton The Rochester and Strood by-election delivered more than a second Ukip MP last week. In fact, the incumbency of former Conservative Mark Reckless was backseat news to other, more telling, political situations. Namely that, in Alberto Nardelli’s words, “Britain has gone from a two-three party system to a six party system,” and that Labour’s very infrastructure is deteriorating. Embarrassment abounded following Ukip’s 2,920 vote majority win. The UK Independence Party scored 42 per cent of the vote,...

By Samuel Fawcett Voter turnout will be a hot topic in the run up to the General Election in May 2015. Disillusionment seems to be the word of the day amongst the politically active in the UK and with public figures such as Russell Brand championing revolution through political inaction, it's clear that something must be done to re-engage the electorate. In his first vlog for The London Economic, Samuel Fawcett discusses whether a Democracy Day could help prompt more people turn...

Vlog from Ellis Palmer  Ellis Palmer's new vlog on Spanish politics for The London Economic this week focuses on the latest insurrectionary force in Spanish politics, the Podemos or 'We Can' party. In this edition of the vlog, he analyses: 1) Who Podemos are? 2) How they came about? 3) The different explanations behind their rise to prominence. 4) What effect they will have on on the future of Spanish politics? He'll be back next week, with an analysis of...

By Philip Benton @paolobento Edward Snowden and his revelations about the NSA’s surveillance activities were one of (if not the) stories of 2013. The first meeting in Snowden’s Hong Kong hotel room with The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald was documented by filmmaker Laura Poitras, which provides the main backdrop for the film. The title ‘Citizenfour’ comes from the username chosen by Snowden to contact Poitras when he raises his initial concerns over what he perceives as the US government spying on...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  Wealth in a capitalist economy knows no bounds. Nor does inequality, which is why when you hear the top one per cent of earners will pay almost third of all income tax you think, well so they should. It’s one of those things you assume to be an axiomatic component of a fair society. Your contributions in tax should be proportional to what you earn, which means that those who are lucky...

By Callum Hunter of Write it Quick  Homosexuality is inconsistent with African values - it threatens children, endangers society and destroys the family. This is what we were told back in 2009 by the MP David Bahati – the author of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. It’s what we continue to be told by many prominent Ugandan lawmakers and religious leaders as a new wave of LGBTI persecution spreads throughout Uganda. Indeed, following the introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, sexual minorities inside and outside of...