Andy Burnham’s honeymoon period as Prime Minister has encountered its first serious challenge. Labour’s attempt to ease pressure on England and Wales’s overcrowded prisons through the early release of thousands of offenders has provoked fierce opposition, particularly after it emerged that two of the men convicted of killing PC Andrew Harper could benefit. Burnham has already excluded some more serious offenders from the scheme, but political pressure to go further is growing

By Jack Keen Pointless, Counterproductive, and Disastrous. The only ways to describe Trump-Iranian Foreign Policy. In his first term, President Trump withdrew from a functioning The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement negotiated by President Barack Obama. Iran subsequently expanded its enrichment programme. Then, more recently, on 28 February 2026, the US and Israel began a new war by striking Iran and its senior leadership. The latest development, 16

By Stephen Dowse It would not be an exaggeration to say that Reform UK has been the ghost haunting Keir Starmer’s premiership and, unfortunately for Labour, that ghost materialised during the recent 2026 English local elections, with Reform UK winning over 1450 council seats while Labour lost over 1200 council seats. It’s very easy to assume that the people who are voting for Reform UK are disillusioned Conservative Party voters and right-wing political activists; however, th

By Jack Keen This evening, I find myself reflecting on the last few prime ministers. It is easy to point to different failures or different weaknesses in personality and political fibre. But fundamentally, moderate world leaders have failed to do one thing. Communicate. Communication in the new era of modern technology is vital to our politics. No matter how good your policies are, perceptions can be different. Politicians look to other politicians for inspiration on this. Of