Refreshingly Independent Politics – smerconish.com is to create a clearinghouse for non-ideological thinking. We want to give people a chance to contribute to, and consume media that isn’t predicated on the usual, extreme talking points of the polarized media. Instead, we aim to promote independent thinking and diversity of thought.
Tag: politics
theintercept.com
The Intercept is an award-winning news organization dedicated to holding mainstream views and misinformation.
Americans Stuck in Gaza Sue the U.S. for Leaving Them “Trapped in a War Zone”
20 December 2024 @ 8:04 pm
“I have a fundamental right to be protected by my government, especially in times of war. My children and I deserve to return to the safety of the U.S.”
The post Americans Stuck in Gaza Sue the U.S. for Leaving Them “Trapped in a War Zone” appeared first on The Intercept.
Power of the Pardon
20 December 2024 @ 4:10 pm
Biden is running out of time to stop another Trump execution spree.
The post Power of the Pardon appeared first on The Intercept.
In Waning Senate Days, Kyrsten Sinema Screwed Workers and Spent Campaign Cash on Stay at French Castle
20 December 2024 @ 10:00 am
The Arizona senator's prodigious campaign spending in global wine hotspots can’t possibly be related to the campaign she’s not running, says an ethics complaint.
The post In Waning Senate Days, Kyrsten Sinema Screwed Workers and Spent Campaign Cash on Stay at French Castle appeared first on The Intercept.
Health Insurance Execs Should Live in Fear of Prison, Not Murder
19 December 2024 @ 5:00 pm
The U.S. political system is owned by corporations despised by the American people. Luigi Mangione is the result.
The post Health Insurance Execs Should Live in Fear of Prison, Not Murder appeared first on The Intercept.
EPA Staffers Demand Biden Release Climate Funds Withheld Over Gaza
19 December 2024 @ 3:16 pm
“The funds to CJA are critical for building community resilience against climate change threats.”
The post EPA Staffers Demand Biden Release Climate Funds Withheld Over Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Senate Approves Defense Bill Blocking Health Care for Thousands of Trans Youth
18 December 2024 @ 9:28 pm
Biden appears ready to sign the NDAA, despite objections from advocates and some Democrats about an insidious anti-trans rider.
The post Senate Approves Defense Bill Blocking Health Care for Thousands of Trans Youth appeared first on The Intercept.
Top Senator Warns Sweeping New Surveillance Powers Will “Inevitably Be Misused” by Trump
18 December 2024 @ 11:00 am
Everyone from janitors to the Geek Squad could be forced to help the NSA spy — and Democrats barely put up a fight.
The post Top Senator Warns Sweeping New Surveillance Powers Will “Inevitably Be Misused” by Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
Federal Labor Unions Steel Themselves for Trump and DOGE’s Mass Firings
18 December 2024 @ 10:00 am
Trump wants a bloodbath for the federal employees, but government workers aren’t the only ones who will suffer.
The post Federal Labor Unions Steel Themselves for Trump and DOGE’s Mass Firings appeared first on The Intercept.
Republicans Said the FTC Was Too Politicized. Now Trump’s FTC Pick Says It Should be Politicized — by Trump.
18 December 2024 @ 9:30 am
“When you imagine what the FTC is willing and able to do in the service of an authoritarian Trump administration, that takes you to some really terrifying places.”
The post Republicans Said the FTC Was Too Politicized. Now Trump’s FTC Pick Says It Should be Politicized — by Trump. appeared first on The Intercept.
America Gets a Taste of Its Own Medicine: Drone Terror
18 December 2024 @ 9:00 am
For more than two decades, the U.S. has flown drones over the heads of millions of people — watching, recording, and even killing some of them.
The post America Gets a Taste of Its Own Medicine: Drone Terror appeared first on The Intercept.
questioneverything.io
To critically evaluate the global response to COVID-19 and present a series of responsible pandemic exit strategies to help ensure that total harms are minimised.
thefreedomcycle.com/pub/
THE PEOPLE’S UNION OF BRITAIN
Taking back sovereignty through common law.
goodlawproject.org
The Good Law Project is a not-for-profit campaign organisation that uses the law to protect the interests of the public. The Good Law Project fight cases that defend, define or change the law and we use litigation to engage and educate. The Good Law Project challenge abuses of power, exploitation, inequality, and injustice.
whocanivotefor.co.uk
An updated list of candidates you can vote for the up and coming UK elections.
politics.co.uk
Politics news from the UK.
Year-in-Review, part one: How the sun finally set on Rishi Sunak and Conservative rule
21 December 2024 @ 8:31 am
Rishi Sunak wasn’t merely “bad” at politics — he was mind-bendingly, excruciatingly, captivatingly hopeless at it.
The post Year-in-Review, part one: How the sun finally set on Rishi Sunak and Conservative rule appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Badenoch appoints allies to House of Lords, including former deputy PM Thérèse Coffey
20 December 2024 @ 3:25 pm
Kemi Badenoch has appointed a set of political allies to the House of Lords, including former deputy prime minister Thérèse Coffey. Coffey served as Liz Truss’ number two during the latter’s short stay in Downing Street. She also served as health secretary under Truss and then as environment secretary during Rishi Sunak’s tenure as prime... Read more »
The post Badenoch appoints allies to House of Lords, including former deputy PM Thérèse Coffey appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Sue Gray named among new Labour appointments to House of Lords
20 December 2024 @ 3:05 pm
Keir Starmer has nominated a raft of new Labour peers. Partygate investigator and the prime minister’s former chief of staff, Sue Gray, is among the Labour figures set to be elevated to the House of Lords. Luciana Berger, the former MP for Liverpool Wavertree who resigned from Labour in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership in... Read more »
The post Sue Gray named among new Labour appointments to House of Lords appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
PMQs verdict: Kemi Badenoch’s strategy continues to perplex
18 December 2024 @ 2:07 pm
This was another session of prime minister’s questions that Kemi Badenoch should have won — and won by some distance. The announcement yesterday that the government will not be compensating Waspi women affected by pension changes created a clear opportunity for the Conservative leader to go after Keir Starmer on the grounds of honesty, transparency... Read more »
The post PMQs verdict: Kemi Badenoch’s strategy continues to perplex appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Senior Conservative ‘really worried’ about the economy his party could ‘one day’ inherit
18 December 2024 @ 10:08 am
A senior Conservative has expressed concern about the state of the economy his party “might inherit” following a future general election. Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said he is “not surprised” that inflation has risen once again and pointed to data that suggests a slowdown in hiring activity. Inflation climbed to an annual rate... Read more »
The post Senior Conservative ‘really worried’ about the economy his party could ‘one day’ inherit appeared first on Politics.c
Alleged Chinese spy linked to Prince Andrew is ‘tip of the iceberg’, says Tugendhat
16 December 2024 @ 10:47 am
The alleged Chinese spy (H6) who reportedly befriended Prince Andrew is just the “tip of the iceberg”, a former security minister has said. Tom Tugendhat, who stood in the recent Conservative leadership election, said that we are “seeing a pattern” of attempts to influence or change British policy, and also attempts to steal economic secrets... Read more »
The post Alleged Chinese spy linked to Prince Andrew is ‘tip of the iceberg’, says Tugendhat appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
PMQs verdict: Kemi Badenoch must come to terms with her party’s vulnerabilities
11 December 2024 @ 3:12 pm
The Conservative Party is convincing itself that opposition is going well. It isn’t.
The post PMQs verdict: Kemi Badenoch must come to terms with her party’s vulnerabilities appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Back from the brink: how to rescue local government finance
11 December 2024 @ 11:19 am
England’s local authorities are on the verge of financial collapse. Overburdened by mounting service demand, chronic underfunding, and a stiflingly centralised system, without urgent, radical reform, our public services will crumble. The numbers are stark: some estimate that authorities face a combined deficit of £9.6 billion by 2026-27 and only 14 of 317 authorities expect... Read more »
The post Back from the brink: how to rescue local government finance appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Robert Jenrick: Conservative Party would deport foreign offenders to free up prison spaces
11 December 2024 @ 11:07 am
Robert Jenrick has rubbished the government’s announcement of 14,000 new prison places, and said the Conservative Party would deport foreign national offenders to free up space. The shadow justice secretary said that “no new prisons are being built” under the government’s plans. “All [justice secretary Shabana Mahmood] is doing is finishing up the prisons already... Read more »
The post Robert Jenrick: Conservative Party would deport foreign offenders to free up prison spaces appeared first on Politi
Early signs Kemi Badenoch is failing the Conservative Party’s ‘be normal’ test
10 December 2024 @ 3:16 pm
The below content first appeared in Politics.co.uk’s Politics@Lunch newsletter, sign-up for free and never miss our daily briefing. In a speech last week, Kemi Badenoch definitively declared the reason for the Conservatives’ defeat at the general election and outlined, in detail, her programme to revive the party. The address, curiously, did not get much coverage. Badenoch... Read more »
The post Early signs Kemi Badenoch is failing the Conservative Party’s ‘be normal’ test appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
artsparty.org.uk
Introducing arts thinking into politics and promoting creative, scientific and evidence based ideas that improve the lives of as many people as possible, while mindful of the few.
Arts Party Conference 2019
16 August 2019 @ 9:30 am
The Arts Party welcomes it’s first party conference from the heart of where water meets dirt, Brighton. We will be hosting debates for purposes of socialising, conversation and recreation. Located in Camelford Street, Brighton, BN2 1TQ, United Kingdom. All are welcome to attend, please use the contact form below to register your interest. [Fully booked]
The post Arts Party Conference 2019 appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Dinner for few
9 June 2019 @ 12:41 pm
A short and stark reminder of the state of play in politics today/yesterday. Thanks to a Dinner for a few, award winner from Nassos Vakalis. DINNER FOR FEW from Nassos Vakalis on Vimeo.
The post Dinner for few appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Scotland takes steps to put culture at the forefront of policy-making
6 July 2018 @ 9:31 am
A CULTURE STRATEGY FOR SCOTLAND – reflecting the past, challenging the present, shaping the future . The strategy seeks to stimulate a step change that will bring about a shift in how society and government view and value culture. It aims to build collaborative alliances that will help to realise the full potential of culture …
Continue reading "Scotland takes steps to put culture at the forefront of policy-making"
The post Scotland takes steps to put culture at the forefront of policy-making appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Arts teachers in decline
5 July 2018 @ 9:35 am
As well as a fall in teaching hours, the arts has lost almost a quarter (9000) of teachers working in secondary schools in England since 2011. Sourced from https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/arts-teacher-numbers-plummet-almost-quarter
The post Arts teachers in decline appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Why the Arts Matter
12 May 2018 @ 7:11 am
We’ve come across a great graphic that really sums up why the Arts matter – enjoy!
The post Why the Arts Matter appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Creativity and politics
17 April 2018 @ 11:19 am
Heather McGhee talks about the influence that music, film, and other arts can have on social change. https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/heather-mcghee-on-creativity-and-politics/
The post Creativity and politics appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Why is creativity the most important political concept of the 21st century?
17 April 2018 @ 11:15 am
There is no concept more politically important today than creativity. I’ll give four reasons why but first a definition. ‘Creative’ has narrow, broader and even broader connotations in English. It’s the last of these we should be most interested in. The narrow meaning immediately leads one to think of activities directly associated with the arts. …
Continue reading "Why is creativity the most important political concept of the 21st century?"
The post Why is creativity the most important political concept of the 21st century? appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Arts can help children avoid a lifetime of gang crime
14 April 2018 @ 11:05 am
Andria Zafirakou, who won the $1million title in Dubai last month, said subjects such as art, music and drama can transform the lives of vulnerable young people and give them the confidence to walk away from gangs. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/arts-can-help-children-avoid-a-lifetime-of-gang-crime-says-1m-prizewinning-teacher-a3813071.html
The post Arts can help children avoid a lifetime of gang crime appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Creativity and the arts in decline
1 February 2018 @ 11:34 am
Creative arts subjects are being cut back in many secondary schools in England, a BBC survey suggests. More than 1,200 schools responded – over 40% of secondary schools. Of the schools that responded, nine in every 10 said they had cut back on lesson time, staff or facilities in at least one creative arts subject. …
Continue reading "Creativity and the arts in decline"
The post Creativity and the arts in decline appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Drawing the Future
20 January 2018 @ 10:34 am
A report launched by Education and Employers and found that children’s career aspirations only marginally differ from age 7 to age 17. It also showed that some sectors vital for economic health look set to be badly under-resourced in future. In the biggest survey of its kind, primary school children aged seven to 11 were …
Continue reading "Drawing the Future"
The post Drawing the Future appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
theyworkforyou.com
Keeping tabs on the UK’s parliaments & assemblies
WhoFundsThem Update: December
18 December 2024 @ 11:47 am
WhoFundsThem is our new project looking into MPs’ and APPGs’ financial interests. We want to improve the information available in TheWorkForYou, make better data available, and improve the standard of politics in the UK. We and our volunteers have been doing lots over the last few months – here’s what’s new. New register of interests…
What have we learned about APPGs?
17 December 2024 @ 10:08 am
Our first round of information requests was a mixed bag: here’s what we learned and what we’re trying next. In mid-September we sent an information request to the 34 All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) that had been the first register of APPGs since the election. As we’ve written about before, APPGs can be a source…
Access to Information Network: legal framework masterclass
11 December 2024 @ 2:17 pm
If you’re trying to get the law changed, it can seem like a monumental task: where on earth do you start? One organisation that knows the answer is Access Info Europe: they have a long record of tirelessly working for better rights to information across the continent, and have systematised their approach. This month, their…
The Big Ben rule: reducing Parliamentary jargon
11 December 2024 @ 12:39 pm
The new House of Commons Modernisation Committee has made a call for submissions to reform House of Commons procedures, standards and working practices. We’re going to make a submission to the Committee, focused around a set of practical fixes. But there are also bigger issues that will take longer to work through. Over the next…
Democratic Transparency Organisations – moving beyond PMOs
10 December 2024 @ 3:44 pm
As part of our TICTeC work bringing together civic tech practitioners, we are running a community of practice for Parliamentary Monitoring Organisations (“PMOs”). The other week we ran a session looking at “Subnational PMOs”, and this blog post is to work through what I’ve learned from the speakers, why that was a bad name for…
November 2024 Notes from the ATI network
5 December 2024 @ 11:58 am
As this will be the last monthnotes of 2024 (because on New Years Eve we’ll be looking back at the past year and toasting to the wonderful strides we’ve all made in our work in 2024) we here at mySociety’s transparency team wanted to wish you all a happy holidays and a fantastic new year…
To fix Parliament, fix the Public Ombudsman
4 December 2024 @ 3:13 pm
The new House of Commons Modernisation Committee has made a call for submissions to reform House of Commons procedures, standards and working practices. We’re going to make a submission to the Committee, focused around a set of practical fixes. But there are also bigger issues that will take longer to work through. Over the next…
Call for participants
2 December 2024 @ 11:42 am
mySociety wants to help you use FOI in a campaign or advocacy project mySociety has the capacity to support a limited number of organisations working with marginalised populations in the UK. We’ll help you to make and analyse Freedom of Information (FOI) requests so you can use the data in your campaigning and advocacy. Sounds…
Using citizen assemblies to set standards and support for MPs
28 November 2024 @ 10:18 am
The new House of Commons Modernisation Committee has made a call for submissions to reform House of Commons procedures, standards and working practices. We’re going to make a submission to the Committee, focused around a set of practical fixes. But there are also bigger issues that will take longer to work through. Over the next…
WhoDoesWhat – a great idea we didn’t get funded (but we’ll keep trying)
22 November 2024 @ 9:02 am
A key part of my job is to think about problems that exist in the UK, understand where technical approaches can make a difference, and help make pitches to funders who care about those problems (or who like technical solutions), that we’re a good place to spend their money. A big part of that process…