What We Saved For With Austerity Cuts
With the near certainty With austerity the hot topic of a ‘new’ Conservative government, lets look at what cuts bought us first time round and the way it impacts people on a day-to-day basis
A Frozen Game of Politics
UK politics is badly broken today. How many new leaders, ministers, and party members does it take to fix the system?
Why Yes #2
Looking at one more reason to vote yes for Scottish Independence at the next available opportunity. An escape from incompetent corruption and a chance for forward progress.
Roe V Wade is Far From a Distant Battle
The rollback of personal freedoms and government intrusion into healthcare that fell on the U.S in June was watched with regret and condemnation worldwide, but it’s not a battle being fought solely within the United States.
Spotify’s Misinformation Dilemma
In the wake of high-profile departures and heated discussion, Spotify have now announced their plans to combat misinformation on their streaming platform. On Monday, the company announced the addition of advisory labels on programming that discusses topics of health, policy, and science with some controversial viewpoints. Arriving late to the party—Spotify are far from the first platform to have to deal with the issue. Amongst the many problems of the pandemic, one of its more arguably positive benefits has been…
The Things We can(‘t) Afford
The economy is a bizarre thing. The word alone is as useful as a magic spell is to a movie franchise superhero. It’s brought into action by politicians and pundits to justify everything from the atrocious to the strange. Stick on a channel, any channel, and you’ll very often hear—we simply can’t afford adequate (one week) foodbank stocks right now. We just don’t have the money. Healthcare, justice, policing, and education have been wrung-dry for over the last decade for…
A New Model
During a particularly strange period of unusual and unprecedented measures, perhaps the strangest of all is the shift of the newspaper industry to begin self-censoring its data. The industry dedicated to frequent fact publishing very suddenly decided to stop. In an era that should be defined by transparent and open media, the centuries-old institution has gone suddenly coy on its own facts and figures. In the final weeks of 2019, the last published figures revealed a freefall in distribution numbers….
Building Our Own Disasters
The government has a literal never-ending list of things to do. When they go on summer and winter break, it’s not because the country has been ‘sorted’ and all the work of governing is done with for the time being. Within their, typically four day week, members often handle evergreen topics such as education, health, employment, business, and international relations. Occasionally members debate urgent crises such as the climate change emergency or acute disasters. Most sane individuals recognise that tackling…
How Far Exactly Do we ‘Back Brexit’
The consequences of Brexit are becoming clearer and clearer by the day. The impact and damage to be done, previously theoretical, are being actively prepared for now. Yesterday, the Government released its Brexit planning documents by court order. Dubbed ‘Operation Yellowhammer’ (a small bird which freely migrates throughout Europe) the report outlines the ‘reasonable worst-case planning assumptions’ associated with a sudden break from the EU. The controversial paper outlines delays and shortages which can be expected to hit the country…
The 30 Something Voter
As the country considers the threat of a third general election in four years, it’s interesting to consider how voters might lean the next time they the ballot booth. Brexit will of course be the single issue which makes and breaks votes in a 2019 ‘surprise’ election. Whether the UK has withdrawn or not, Brexit will define the next parliament. Conservative and Brexit/UKIP parties will sweep up the majority of the leave vote while remain splits primarily through SNP, Lib…