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The mess left by the Trojan Horse

By Jim Sweetman

The Peter Clarke report into the Trojan Horse allegations in Birmingham schools is an impressive piece of investigative work marred by some wishy-washy recommendations. But it deserved more than it got from the new Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan in the Commons. The overall impression everyone is left with is that something nasty happened in only a handful of schools, and that Birmingham City Council could have done something about it earlier. The City Council has, broadly speaking, taken that on […]

Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, accused of postal ballot fraud

Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, has been accused of engaging in ‘industrial-scale’ postal ballot fraud in the local elections earlier this year. Rahman, who was expelled from the Labour party in 2010 following allegations the he had links to an the Islamic Forum of Europe, was re-elected as Mayor in May. The Telegraph have reported today that John Biggs, who lost out to Rahman in the mayoral contest, has accused Rahman’s supporters of a engaging in a “considerable amount of […]

Douglas Alexander calls for stronger sanctions against Russia

With escalating tensions between Russia and the Ukraine, in particular following the shooting down of flight MH17, shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander has called for an EU Council meeting so that European leaders can discuss tougher sanctions against Russia. He said that this should include a review over whether Fifa should still hold the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He has said: “President Putin’s continued aggression towards Ukraine now requires a stronger and swifter European response. EU leaders know that tougher […]

Why Labour should make energy efficiency their top infrastructure priority

By Sophie Neuburg

 Melting into a sweaty puddle in a boiling hot office it’s easy to forget the winter, and the fact that every year, thousands of people die from living in cold homes. But they do, and it’s a national scandal. Millions more can’t afford to keep their homes warm, and suffer not only from the cold, but from the myriad physical and mental health problems that fuel poverty brings. The UK has some of the worst insulated homes in Europe. So […]

Cameron’s new defence secretary accused of calling female columnist a ‘slut’

This morning, the Mail on Sunday have reported that the new secretary of state for defence, Michael Fallon, allegedly called Telegraph columnist Bryony Gordon a ‘slut’. The story comes after Gordon wrote in the Telegraph earlier in the week that a cabinet minister, who she did not name, had spoken to her in a bar in July 2010 and called her a ‘slut’. Recounting the conversation, she explained, the unnamed minister approached her and asked ‘if you work at the Telegraph, […]