Politics

By Drew Nicol Britain’s education system is failing thousands of young people every year by neglecting to emphasise the importance of learning a foreign language, according to the British Council. The British Council’s ‘Languages for the Future’ report conclusively states that “it is a widely held – if not undisputed – view that the UK is lacking in the necessary language skills for the future”. The report claims that the increasing numbers of British graduates will struggle to compete in...

By Adam Walker, Economics Correspondent  Follow @adamwalker8715 Last Thursday’s 2013 Autumn Statement heralded a “responsible recovery”. With signs of a brighter economic future in 2013 the chancellor was quick to note that there are still difficult decisions to be made and the UK economy was by no means in the clear. The question left in the minds of the British public was: What can we expect in 2014 and beyond? Working Late Again One of the most controversial points from...

By Joe Mellor, In house Reporter  Nelson Mandela on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth By now everyone in the world should know Mandela died, except maybe Joey Essex regardless of whether he is in the jungle or not. My family were and still are avid political activists and I remember vividly not being allowed to buy South African “Outspan” oranges from the local supermarket. Even at a young age I knew we were trying to do something right. I still haven’t...

By Joe Mellor, In house Reporter  Ol’ Blue eyes himself, Frank Sinatra sung the girl from Ipanema about the allure of the fifth-biggest country in the world and its ample assets. Let’s be honest, he was referring to a scantily clad women rather than its bumper soybean crop. Setting aside Frank’s ignorance of Brazil’s growing economy (which recently jumped above the UK to become the sixth-largest in the world) there are serious concerns of social unrest during next year’s World Cup. Politicians...

By Pieter Cranenbroek, International Politics Blogger Follow @Pinter_13 Living a sheltered life distorts your view of the world. This is not a scientific fact, just an educated guess based on recent comments by David Cameron and Boris Johnson who seem to be fond of creating their own facts. Despite an abundance of evidence pointing at the flaws of British educational policy, the prime minister and London mayor blame the absence of social mobility on poor people’s lack of ambition and intelligence....

By Rachel Wilson, Political Reporter In a rich country such as the UK, there should be certain minimum standards below which no one should fall. In 2010, for the first time ever, the government set itself the target to end childhood poverty for good. Households Below Average Income (HBAI) is the definitive national measure of relative child poverty as set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010 and is based on an annual Family Resources Survey. According to the latest...

By Phil Benton  Follow @paolobento The UK is not a cycling country. Well not yet, at least. In 2012, just two per cent of all journeys were made by bike according to government statistics. In August of this year, David Cameron unveiled ambitious plans to start ‘a cycling revolution’ with the government providing a cash investment of £94 million to help promote cycling in several English cities and national parks. The money is designed to help improve existing cycle routes, fund...

By Joe Mellor, In house Reporter Dangerous immigrants are in this country to sponge from the state, devour royal swans and car jack pensioners.It’s a fact, deal with it.And soon an influx of Bulgarians and Romanians are coming to pester you for change outside your local Pizza Express.But that’s not until January 1st, so in the “mean” time, Home Secretary Theresa May has decided to deport a dying man on hunger strike, after his asylum application failed.What an understanding and caring...

By Pieter Cranenbroek – International Politics Blogger Music has always been a stage used to criticise the political order, but in the past week Morrissey and Billy Bragg both decided to air their grievances on politics and society off stage. Both singers stressed the problem with the lack of accountability in modern society, though they portrayed different views on how such a thing might be rectified. It is refreshing to have entertainers speak out about politics, partly because they can speak...