Politics

By Haridos Apostolides, US Correspondent The end of April saw the proposed federal minimum wage increase to $10.10 per hour defeated by a Republican-led filibuster in the United States’ Senate, all because it is claimed not to be the job of the federal government to decide salaries. The vote, however, wasn’t about giving millions of working Americans a pay raise but rather to decide if the Senate should merely discuss whether they deserve one. Democrats and Republicans live for divisive, partisan...

By J T Coombes www.globalmagnacarta.com @GMagnaCarta The problem is all in the title. Fracking is all about ‘hydraulic fracturing’ to give it its full title. Simply put it’s a procedure that creates fractures in rocks and their formations deep under the earth, by injecting sand water and chemicals into cracks to force them to open further. This allows more oil and gas to come out of the rock formation where it can be extracted. In essence it is putting underground...

By Gregory Taylor Election time is almost upon us once again, and with the election comes the endless opinion polls. Of course reading an opinion poll is good idea to work out what’s going on in the country and it gives the parties an idea of how well things are going, but people should not read too much into them. Often you hear people talk about how UKIP is polling very high and the decline in support for the Lib...

By Marcus Hunt On the 12th of July 2013, for the first time, the Ligoniel Combine of the Orange Order was prevented from completing its return march past the Ardoyne area. The decision was made by the controversial Parades Commission, a quasi-judicial body established in 1998.  Since July the Ligoniel Combine has attempted to march along the disputed street on dozens of occasions, and continues to do so, but each time is prevented by a police line. The reason the...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  A pint glass is an excessive, unduly measure. Have you ever drunk a pint and thought, “I really enjoyed that last drop”? The so-called ‘dregs’ is defined both as the remnants of a liquid left in a container and the most worthless part or parts of something, which is fitting. I’ve seldom reached that part of the pint where you tip your head and see the glaze of the pub through the...

By Alex Murtagh As we find ourselves four years into David Cameron’s premiership with no sign of a coalition collapse it appears that the government’s neglect of the poor is seriously beginning to take its toll. Reports published by the Trussell Trust just last week show that the use of food banks has risen by 163 per cent in the last year alone with no sign of a halt. But how have we allowed this absurd scenario to develop? I fear...

By Rohan Chatterjee A year on from the death of Venezuela’s controversial socialist leader Hugo Chavez the country still find itself in the grip of political uncertainty (well, more so than usual). In recent months opposition groups have regularly taken to the streets in some cities to protest high inflation, insecurity and scarcity of basic goods, leaving 40 dead and many more injured. One unifying belief for many in this mobilisation is that of struggle against an authoritarian regime. But, is...

By Dani Schaefer Williams Cast your minds back to 2012, to the British event of the current decade. When all of the UK was bathed in glory and 15 year-old girls were frantically replacing posters of boy-bands with their favourite Olympic heroes. These champions were revered the world over for their skill, commitment and bravery, and none less than the Bladerunner himself, Oscar Pistorius. The combination of good looks and humility seemed too good to be true. Fast forward to...

By Dr Katy Shaw The UK miners’ strike of 1984-5 was a defining moment in the history of the United Kingdom, one that not only illuminates the country’s near-history, but functions as a prism through which to understand the social, political and economic challenges of the twenty-first century. Despite promises of reduction rather than extinction, the 1984-5 miners’ strike was the beginning of the end for British coal. As remaining mines continued to close, national demand for fuel was increasingly met...