Emily Thornberry listens to the personal tales from the Burma Campaign UK

Can people-power curb violent youth gangs?

By Steve Reed

Violent youth gangs are menacing many of Britain’s inner-urban areas, and there’s evidence the problem is moving to the suburbs and smaller towns. Police statistics show that over the past three years violent gangs in London have committed over 6,600 crimes. That includes 24 murders, 28 attempted murders, 170 incidents involving a gun, and 738 involving a knife. For neighbourhoods affected by high levels of youth-gang activity the danger is clear and present and continues to tear communities apart and […]

Further and Higher Education – the keys to boosting our nation’s future

This post is written by Paul Blomfield and Nic Dakin Education, skills and training transform people’s lives, the prospects of communities, and the future of the economy. In government our task will be to energise Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) to collaborate even more successfully, driving innovation and improving skills. To meet the present and future skills challenges we must see FE and HE as equal partners. For too long our aspirations for vocational qualifications have been too low. […]

Government’s disability benefit system has ‘grave’ flaws, report says

A report produced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Select Committee has said that the disability benefit system has ‘grave’ flaws and that government should pay sick and disabled people benefits while they appeal against incorrect ‘Fit for Work’ decisions. As it stands, those people who are unable to work due to ill-health or disability receive Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Under regulation introduced by the coalition, the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is used to decide who is […]

Cameron forced to grovel to peers over Stowell snub

David Cameron has got himself in trouble with the House of Lords. After promoting Baroness Stowell to replace Lord Hill as the Leader of the House of Lords in last week’s reshuffle, he reduced the job from full Cabinet role to that of a minister ‘attending Cabinet’. This includes a significant drop in salary. While Stowell has kept quiet on the issue, it has riled many peers – to the extent that Cameron is now forced to send out grovelling […]

Beware the New, Techno-Nationalist Right

By Jon Wilson

Since being elected Prime Minister of India in May, Narendra Modi’s big idea has been to link every river in India into a massive system of irrigation channels and dams. It’s a deluded project of statist hubris, first dreamt up in the days of the British empire by a government desperate to look like it was doing something to develop India. It won’t make India any richer. India needs to learn to live with less water, not shove the limited […]