Bringing our buses into public control has been a key issue in the race to elect West Yorkshire’s first mayor, with coverage in the BBC election debate and many identifying it as a top priority. That’s thanks to local people who have made the case for change. Buses will be key to building back better […]
Dr Stella Perrott reviews the latest plans by the government to reform immigration: once again they ignore the actual failings of our immigration system and focus instead on a false narrative perpetrated by the Home Office.
Ahead of the elections this week, Alex Toal speaks with Councillor Andrew Cooper, the Green Party candidate to be the first mayor of West Yorkshire.
The big question is – will our Yorkshire MPs be at the EveryDoctor press briefing on the growing privatisation of the NHS tomorrow at 11 am tomorrow? The EveryDoctor campaign group and its supporters have sent out some 2,400 emails inviting all 650 of our MPs to attend. So far only just over 90 have signed up, including Hull East’s Labour MP, Karl Turner.
Alex Toal links past with present as Eric Pickles is brought back into the public spotlight over the Greensill scandal.
Andy Leach comments on the impact of Grenfell on cladding, the fact that inflammable cladding is still a choice for constructionists, and the government and Robert Jenrick’s slow response to improve cladding standards.
Jack Blythe draws to light the phenomena of ‘the blob’, or in Gove’s head, ‘Marxist teachers’. It has been revealed that bloggers have had significant influence over the Department for Education. Populism within policy is a dangerous path.
Conservative MPs flying the flag in their spare rooms don’t seem to be using it in a civic-minded display of national pride, but as ammunition to fight the UK’s culture war.
Jack Walker, for the Biden 100 series, lays out Biden’s new infrastructure plan. The policy will hopefully pull America out of recession and boost the economy.
Mhairi Snowden, director at the Human Rights Consortium Scotland, says that almost 100 days since the end of the Brexit transition period, what we’re seeing about the potential impact on human rights is concerning
David Goff points out that vast amounts of money have been spent on a Track and Trace system which doesn’t even work, and was set up in the name of the NHS. Billions have been spent on an app which could have been spent on food parcels, surgical gowns and PPE. Can we have our money back?
Andy Brown asks why the government is so keen to look to expanding its nuclear arsenal, while it cuts its aid budget and army size. The nuclear option has not helped us in recent conflicts, building strong alliances and looking to the warfare of the future is the answer.
Rachel Trafford, from the Immigration Advice Service, details why the immigration and asylum system is broken due to the unworkable bureaucracy of the system itself and its operational failures
Racial disparities within our healthcare system are a virus that plagues the NHS. People from minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK face worse outcomes personally and professionally, as both patients and healthcare staff. The Covid-19 pandemic has only served to highlight these longstanding injustices.
On the day that he became prime minster, Boris Johnson declared, “We will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared”. Eighteen months later nothing has been seen of this ‘clear plan’, with no mention of social care financing in the recent budget.
Marc Limon explains the significance of the right to protest. The UK government’s attempt to pass a bill which will curb protests and give police more power, is a direct threat to democracy and human rights.
Kerry Pearson explains the signifiance of recent legislation in America which will grant immigrants, Dreamers and farmers with citizenship and residency. A triumph for Dreamers who have waited decades for recognition of their status.
Alex Toal asks, are young people left as citizens of nowhere by our system which prioritises the politics of place over the politics of the nation? With young people more mobile than any generation before them, their politics is increasingly focused on national issues rather than local ones. Our system still fails them.
Juliet Lodge reviews the EU’s covid certificate programme, how will it work in reality, and what future steps could be. The covid certificate programme will be free for all EU citizens, and will help enable travel across the continent.
Dr Hywel Ceri Jones, one of the founders of the Erasmus scheme, shows why Erasmus’ replacement, Turing, is not up to scratch. With less generous provisions and less support for the less well-off, Turing is not as good as Erasmus.
Democracy and the right to protest. This week the government set out its plans for new police powers that will limit the ability to take part in peaceful protests. This is a move recently witnessed in fascist states and is the latest in a series of actions that the government has taken to reduce the rights of British citizens.
Kerry Pearson lays out the foreign policy challenge that Biden faces in the Middle East. He will have to grapple with ISIS, Saudi Arabia, and the sale of arms. At the same time, he will attempt to pivot to Asia and the rising power of China.
Andy Brown breaks down the problems with the Chancellor, looking at its impact on care, education, waste management, and the government’s use of back room deals, cheap tricks, and pork barrel politics.
Steve and Tim discuss the magic money tree that can fund a £37 billion failed test and trace programme, but can’t fund a proper pay rise for nurses.
Dr Stella Perrott digs into a report by the Home Office about the dreadful state of accommodation for asylum seekers. “The Home Office has put vulnerable and traumatised refugees into decrepit, squalid and dangerous accommodation and has, effectively, imprisoned them there.”
The big con – that public sector cuts offer the only effective route to debt and deficit reduction, through cutting wages and services – has done immeasurable harm to our country. It is not and never has been about fiscal consolidation, but instead serves a hidden libertarian, right-wing agenda that seeks to shrink government and cut worker rights and protections in the name of illusory and bogus freedoms.
Historic structural and cultural barriers within the NHS, the ‘one size fits all’ mentality of Whitehall, and the ‘blame-game’ culture of politics, were several factors that stifled innovation and success.
Sue Wilson explains about the £2.5 million the government has committed to remove the limit that British expats face when voting. Will they reward the government for allowing them to vote or punish them for their lack of voice in the Brexit referendum?
The chancellor’s ability to understand economics and read a simple spreadsheet has been brought into serious question. This follows his announcement on Wednesday that the rich and leafy Richmondshire in North Yorkshire is a more deserving case for levelling up money than Barnsley or Sheffield.
Reanna Smith, in her first article for Yorkshire Bylines, explains how 2020 saw a rise in myths and misconceptions around asylum seekers, namely that they are economic migrants and that there is ‘no room’ for them in the UK.