SPOTLIGHT

Labour Economics: Economy in 2020

Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘Economy in 2020’ is admirable for the working class in its principles but ultimately has its flaws. Battered and bruised, with knees rocking after a haymaker, Labour’s current predicament within British politics resembles that of a boxer that has been tactically outclassed for ten rounds, it’s close to a stoppage. Granted, politics has […]

The UK response to the “refugee crisis” is theoretically sound but practically counterproductive

The UK Conservative government has a strategy for tackling the current “refugee crisis” that is theoretically convincing but practically contradictory. The strategy consists of letting as few refugees onto UK soil as it can get away with, whilst increasing efforts to tackle the source of the crisis. The former is implicit in the numbers: until […]

Sport

Athletics’ Quick Fix: How the politics of doping is taking athletics to the brink of ruin

June 2003 As most sport-crazy 9 – 90 year-old boys do, I began reading my copy of the Mail on Sunday from the last page to the first. But on this particular day, my eyes were strangely captivated by the side column rather than the main headline. “World’s Fastest Couple give birth to baby boy”. […]

The fall of oil and the environment


The Fall of Oil and the Environment Bane or Blessing? The recent rapid decline of the price of oil, from around $115 per barrel in mid-2014 to below $50 per barrel by August 2015 (Brent Crude), has prompted widespread concerns about negative impacts of cheap oil on the environment. These concerns can be roughly divided […]

Human Rights

Rufgee crisis: Lessons David Cameron can learn from Lebanon’s example

In the midst of the current refugee crisis it’s easy to get caught up in numbers. Germany is expecting 800,000 by the end of the year – and 500,000 annually for years to come. Australia says they’ll let in 12,000 and David Cameron announced that the UK will accept 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian […]


 
 
 

 

Drugs, video games and mental health: what is and isn’t relevant to the gun control debate

The pro-gun lobby in the United States likes to say “guns don’t kill people; people kill people”.  This is true, but irrelevant: the point is that people who want to kill other people find it much easier to do so when th...
by Richard Scott-Jones
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WATCH: Best Graduation Speech By Far

Let’s be honest graduation ceremonies are hot, boring, sweaty and unnecessarily long. After 3 or 4 years of complicated and arduous study, it feels like some sort of punishment,  rather than the intended purpose of  being a...
by William Oppon
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International Political Forum

Why We Should Encourage U-Turns by Politicians

Conviction politicians are applauded while those who flip flop around issues or commit U-turns are lambasted for not being decisive enough. This second sort are not leaders who inspire confidence in the electorate. But why is t...
by Joe Corry-Roake
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San Juan Copala, Oaxaca: Rich in Natural Resources but Poor in Indigenous Rights

“Aquí nadie se rinde” This was the phrase of many pamphlets of the Triqui indigenous group in the center of Oaxaca, Mexico, who are living in tents next to the Oaxaca’s City Hall in protest at being violently displaced ...
by Danaé Espinoza
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Managing the Hajj: Pilgrimage and the Politics of Race and Class

On Monday I flew from London Heathrow to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a journey I have made countless times. This time around, however, the atmosphere was different. I had chosen to fly during the busiest time of the year in Saudi Ara...
by Miriam Puttick
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The Gambia Quits British Commonwealth, Calling It ‘Extension of Colonialism’

The tiny West African State of The Gambia has announced via state television that it will withdraw from the Commonwealth of Nations, a fellowship of 54 countries that are mainly former colonies of the British Empire. A statemen...
by Demba Kandeh
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