Category: Politics

Virtually every day, fresh job loss announcements are made: some national such as EasyJet, Boots, Marks & Spencer and Intu, some local like Nissan and De La Rue.

Remember what the Leave campaign, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and others promised us to win their referendum four years ago? How are these promises turning out?

Even before the transition period comes to an end, the free access to Europe’s services market that Britons currently enjoy across over 30 other countries, is being rapidly curtailed.

many local stories were going unreported in traditional media channels. I decided that by using video and social media these stories could be told in a new and engaging way.

Defining populism is not easy. It is simplistic and doesn’t address complexities. Populists seem to be against everything and for nothing.

Before Covid, I might have been out of a job, but I was secure in the knowledge that the industry supporting me was carrying on existing, producing wonderful work, contributing almost £13 million to the UK economy every hour. I could expect future work. In short, I had hope.

‘Black Lives Matter’ is a response to racial inequality, ‘White Lives Matter’ is the name of an American neo-nazi group, and the phrase is unashamedly racist, and white supremacist.

Residents made cardboard cut-out body shapes, each one representing a company or number of jobs at stake in the event of ‘No Deal’.

The North East would likely have been net recipients in the new EU budget framework as opposed to the Tory government’s that seems to be targeted at seats they want to win rather than need.

Interference by Russia in our democracy must be stopped. If it isn’t, we really will become a vassal state and we will no longer rule Britannia.

I grew up from around the corner of this factory and can just about remember the excitement of it being built here to save the area from economic disaster after the pits closed.

Failure for the UK to get access to the EU crime databases would probably move from a current average of six days to get criminal convictions to 60 days.

The North East Covid-19 Economic Response Group (or ERG), could shift to put wellbeing, tackling inequalities and climate change at our core.

In December 2018, after a period of failed negotiations with the EU, Theresa May’s government issued a press release which confirmed that the UK would not use the European global positioning system ‘Galileo’ for defence or critical national infrastructure after Brexit. Instead, it would explore options to build its own satellite system which would help […]

Brexit era brings rise in holiday insurance costs among many other things.

A group of concerned local residents from the North East are planning a socially distanced protest outside the Nissan factory in Sunderland (Washington). The group will call on the government to reject a No Deal Brexit as members are worried that this would risk jobs and seriously damage the economy. The protest will take place […]

A report published by Tell MAMA, UK Islamophobia Hate Crime Service, and Newcastle University has concluded that the community spirit shown throughout lockdown needs to be retained to improve relations between different groups in the North East. ‘Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim hatred in the North East’ surveyed 111 people of various faiths and backgrounds from the […]

A nation state and its international relations are in many ways as complicated as the workings of our modern mobile phone, perhaps even more so. The interactions of one policy may have far-reaching consequences for other branches of government not directly related to the original policy.

Divergence from Boris Johnson appears to have reduced the number of infections in Scotland As from the 10 July 2020 the wearing of face covering inside shops is mandatory in Scotland. The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has not refrained from being seen wearing a face mask, unlike the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson […]

If someone had told me four months ago that Absolute Cabaret would be putting a show together without actually seeing each other in person until the day of the show, rehearsing everything online and then not being able to get closer than two metres to each other on the day of the show, I would […]

The beginning of lockdown saw a huge number of Covid-19 Mutual Aid groups spring up around the country. One of the first such groups to get started in Newcastle was Byker, an area close to the city centre. I talked to Silvie Fisch, local resident and group member to find out more. “The group was initiated […]

Prior to the 2016 referendum, the National Farmers Union (NFU) recommended their members vote to remain in the European Union. In spite of this, 53% of farmers were more swayed by the Leave campaign and voted to leave the EU. No one really knew exactly what ‘Leave’ meant at that stage.  The talk of complete separation […]

Redcar and Cleveland MP tweets out a joke about his new haircut, and gets back more than he bargained for. It’s turning out to be an entertaining week for Redcar MP Jacob Young. It started last Saturday with him getting his first bought haircut in three months. He was so pleased with it that he […]

The NHS came to life on 5th July 1948. This year’s birthday celebration occurred at a difficult time, just after the first wave of coronavirus. Things are not going to get easier: there is already a huge backlog of elective and cancer care, as well as the risk of a second wave of coronavirus in […]

We simply cannot ignore the greatest threat to us all. A lot has been said and written about humankind-generated, now often called anthropogenic, climate change. While many people are concerned about this, some are sceptical or deny its reality, preferring to think of it as a conspiracy and/or an anti-western/capitalist anarchistic plot. As an astronomer […]

The Westminster government has announced the reopening of more venues, the end of shielding for vulnerable individuals and the reduction of the safe distance from two metres to ‘one metre plus’. Are these the right measures and is this the right time? A recently published study (The Lancet, 1st June 2020) has shown that reducing the […]

We need state leaders from state schools  Sixty-five years ago, Joe Brown a twenty-four-year-old plumber from Manchester, was invited to join the first successful expedition to ascend Kanchenjunga. He was told that all equipment and expenses would be funded by the expedition; all he needed was £20 pocket money. Brown said later: “I couldn’t tell […]

‘New’ Twitter gives voice to the same old bots and trolls I am interested in politics because everything we experience is political. We are living through a pandemic where each government has handled it differently, their politics and priorities determining their choices. Looking at the statistics we can see whose methods have worked well and […]

I don’t know about you, but I have never been too keen on monkeys and apes. I have of course watched them on wildlife documentaries and seen them in zoos, but they have never been my favourites. There is something about them which I find off-putting, quite simply put: they are just a bit too […]

The manufacturing regions of the north of England are particularly vulnerable to the economic effects of the COVID19 lockdown, with thousands of jobs at stake. These very same regions would also suffer the most in the event of failure by the Westminster government to secure a post Brexit deal with the EU before the end of the year. Two simultaneous economic […]