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Why Labour failed in Tower Hamlets

Why Labour failed in Tower Hamlets

So Lutfur Rahman has once again been re-elected as mayor of Tower Hamlets, a borough I have only recently moved to. Since moving from west Berkshire, I have had something of a culture shock, in a good way though. The borough is alive, bustling, young, ethnically diverse and highly politically charged. This feels a thousand miles away from the pleasant, but […]

by · 10th June 2014 · Home Affairs
Nanny rules again: Why are we being smothered with a plastic bag levy?

Nanny rules again: Why are we being smothered with a plastic bag levy?

Last week marked the final Queen’s Speech of the current parliamentary session: the Government has set out its remaining legislative proposals before we all head to the polling stations in May 2015.  Like the proverbial curate’s egg, it is good in parts, but my heart sank when I saw that Her Majesty’s Government has decided to proceed with an idea […]

Hannan: UKIP will cost us a majority

Hannan: UKIP will cost us a majority

After successfully defending Newark and seeing a better than expected result in the European Parliament elections, Conservative activists have every reason to be optimistic about the prospects of a majority in 2015 as they hit the doorsteps over the next 11 months. But with UKIP riding high in the polls, Daniel Hannan is a little more sceptical. It’s difficult to […]

by · 8th June 2014 · Tory Thought, Interviews
How much do Europeans actually know about the EU?

How much do Europeans actually know about the EU?

The Alliance of European Conservatives & Reformists – the political bloc the Conservative Party sits in the European Parliament – has carried out an extensive study of voters from fifteen European countries. The voters and non-voters were asked about the degree of awareness of the political parties and candidates at European level directly after the recent elections. Eurocrats and Brussels functionaries […]

Britain: open for business? Why we shouldn’t fear foreign takeovers à la Pfizer

Britain: open for business? Why we shouldn’t fear foreign takeovers à la Pfizer

The proposed takeover of British-based pharmaceuticals firm, Astra Zeneca, by US rival Pfizer is now off the agenda: the board of the former has rejected Pfizer’s “final” bid of £69bn to buy it up.  This deal has been much in the press in recent weeks—partly due to the size of the would-have-been combined entity—but principally because it would have meant […]

Martin Callanan for UK Commissioner

Martin Callanan for UK Commissioner

One of the Conservative Party’s most loyal stalwarts is the former Member of the European Parliament for the North East of England and Tyneside councillor, Martin Callanan. He’s been the leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament and latterly was the respected and largely successful President of the European Conservatives & Reformists Group (ECR). Before last week, he won […]

Britain should give Kenya support instead of tourist terrorism warnings

Britain should give Kenya support instead of tourist terrorism warnings

The recent spate of terrorist attacks across Africa have shaken the very foundations of several optimistic countries, replacing hope with fear. From the capture of 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria to the latest round of brutal bombings in Kenya’s capital Nairobi killing over a dozen people and wounding 70 more, the pattern is sporadic but the frequency consistent. This atrocity followed […]

by · 25th May 2014 · Foreign Affairs, Blog
Eton mess to bread and butter pudding: A Tory future

Eton mess to bread and butter pudding: A Tory future

The local election results have been met with quiet grumbles from rank and file Conservative Party members, in a result made half-bearable by oddball Ed Miliband’s miserable performance at the ballot box. However the fact remains that Labour made serious and damaging gains into some key Tory bastions including London Boroughs such as Hammersmith and Fulham and my own stomping ground of Croydon. […]

by · 25th May 2014 · Tory Thought
Halal: It’s about animal rights, not religion

Halal: It’s about animal rights, not religion

As a vegetarian and animal rights activist, I was appalled recently to hear that Pizza Express and other food retailers have been selling halal meat to the British Public by stealth, with no labelling whatsoever. We already label whether our meat has been slaughtered in Britain or whether it contains additives, so why not label whether food has been killed […]

by · 24th May 2014 · Home Affairs, frontpage
“A European Ukraine is in Russia’s national interest”

“A European Ukraine is in Russia’s national interest”

Following Parliament Street’s ‘Russia vs the West’ debate in the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday, Paul Nizinskyj speaks to former BBC World Service, now freelance, Ukrainian journalist Bogdan Tsioupin about Putin’s ‘Anschluss’ and why a prosperous Ukraine in NATO and the EU is in Russia’s best interests. As a third generation Ukrainian, I did not at any point tell Mr […]

by · 11th May 2014 · Interviews