I often think that when it comes to providing a clear, arresting picture of human progress, no history textbooks, journal articles or playlists of informative YouTube videos come close to a high-contrast view of the Earth at night. The clusters of light tell a story. Europe is covered with a faint but distinctive mesh of…
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Mother Teresa canonisation: playing devil’s advocate
In the waning years of the twentieth century, the Catholic Church was in the midst of a crisis that one could describe as existential. Even leaving aside its association with some of the vilest dictatorships that this century produced, or their then-unrecanted denunciations of human-kind’s greatest scientific accomplishments, or the scandalous way in which excuses…
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The UK is better off in the EU
If there’s an factor that’s sure to throw even the most convinced advocate of EU membership, its the Union’s intimate involvement in pushing for the introduction of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Why would any self-respecting anti-corporatist wish their nation to be connected with such a terrifying leap towards a neoliberal global economy? Well,…
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Is the government’s drive to increase the number of academies coming at the detriment of students’ education?
Ever since Tony Blair’s government established the first string of academies with the Learning and Skills Act of 2000, and particularly since the Conservative party’s return to government in the 2010 election, the shift towards academisation of England’s schools has proceeded at a startling rate. Almost two thirds of the country’s secondary schools now either…
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Politicians: often ridiculous, not always a joke
Broadly speaking, it is fair to say that the defining theme of democratic politics in 2015 was that of protest. From the decisive victory won by Alexis Tsipras’s hard-left Syriza party in Greece and the four million votes accrued by Nigel Farage’s Ukip in the UK general election, to the enormous grassroots support generated by…
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Is military intervention against Isis in Syria the right way to respond to the Paris attacks?
Our writers argue the cases both for and against military intervention in Syria as a response to the recent terror attacks in Paris. YES The strategic use of ground troops must be considered as an option if we are to achieve stability The Paris attacks on 13th November, in which 130 people were killed, represent…
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The NUS and its history of student activism
The main point of contention in the NUS’ decision to throw its considerable weight behind the In campaign is the assertion that, as a body which claims to represent every student in the UK, the union should not choose sides in a debate as potentially divisive as this one. In fairness, the logic of this…
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Welcome to a new kind of politics
After a remarkably successful summer of campaigning, Jeremy Corbyn, a man who for thirty years existed only as an obscure stalwart of the backbenches, claimed the Labour leadership in an overwhelmingly decisive victory. Though the veteran’s appeal to the progressive electorate is a topic which deserves far more attention than a passing mention in an…
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