Perhaps the most exhausted quotation in modern poetry is W.B Yeats: “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the land”. It begins Patrick Cockburn’s book Chaos & the Caliphate. It is woven throughout Thomas Pynchon’s epic Gravity’s Rainbow, and has served title for books on madness to collections of wildlife […]
Theresa May
Boris & The Burka: Free Speech or Dangerous Attack?
Monday 6th August 2018. The Telegraph publishes an article by the former foreign secretary opposing a ban on niqabs and burkas in the UK. In that same article, Boris Johnson goes on to refer to Muslim women wearing such headwear as looking like “letter boxes” and “bank robbers” – comments which, since the article’s release […]
Stuck on Mount Brexit
Theresa May likes her walking holidays. She reportedly decided to call last year’s general election on one such venture in Snowdonia. She may not have visited her other favourite (the Swiss Alps) this year because it seems as though she is there already- climbing a huge mountain, with little grip, and rather a big crevasse […]
‘Wrong then, and wrong now’ – The Legacy of Britain’s Anti-Gay Laws in the Commonwealth
After winning gold in the 10m synchronised diving event at Australia’s Commonwealth Games last month, diver Tom Daley took the opportunity to bring to light the fact that homosexuality is still illegal in nearly forty Commonwealth countries. Though he has been criticised for speaking out against countries formally under British rule whilst competing for Britain, […]
Some Vague Utopia – A Brexit Update
Just before Christmas, Theresa May returned from Brussels a hero. In the space of a week she had seemingly salvaged a process that appeared on the brink of collapse, as the Democratic Unionist Party – her government’s only lifeline in the House of Commons – had refused to endorse the preliminary deal on the Irish […]
Exeter research influences Government blueprint for environment
The University of Exeter’s research helped shape a 25-year strategy to improve the UK’s landscapes and habitats. Prime Minister Theresa May spoke of this plan to ensure a “cleaner, greener country for all” in an 11 January speech. The Government report linked to the Prime Minister’s speech, called ‘A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve […]
The iconic #bluepassport: Powerfully patriotic or just petty?
In the week before Christmas, Theresa May tweeted to the world that “The UK passport is an expression of our independence and sovereignty – symbolising our citizenship of a proud, great nation. That’s why we have announced that the iconic #bluepassport will return after we leave the European Union in 2019.” This was sent with […]
Brexit negotiations continue to falter
The Message was simple: ‘Brexit means Brexit’. One year following the referendum that divided the nation, the most epic divorce of the century is finally set to commence. The thesis of Brexit. All humans want to live better than we do. Adam Smith acknowledged our plight to become bigger and better: ‘a certain propensity of […]
Tories cap tuition fees in attempt to attract youth vote
Theresa May, in a move designed to attract youth voters, revealed plans to cap tuition fees as they currently stand at £9,250 going forward. She announced the move in a Telegraph exclusive on Saturday September 30th, the day before the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. The policy locks student fees at their current level, but […]
How to ‘win’ elections and alienate people
The Prime Minister stands triumphant in the House of Commons, a majority larger than Margaret Thatcher’s stacked up behind her. The opposition benches are noticeably emptier. Over half of Labour MPs lost their seats in the Tory tsunami. The SNP collapsed as Scotland’s electoral map turned blue for the first time in decades. You can […]