perspectives

The Prime Minister holds a press conference in No.9 Downing Street. The room was refurbished after he took office to change the "Tory" blue backdrop, with the Breakfast Room in No.10 used in the interim. Image: Flickr/No.10 “Scumbag journalists” That was how now-Baroness Gray described the media briefing against her to colleagues. The remarks were part of a Whitehall spat that would eventually see her premature departure from Number 10 and as Downing Street Chief of Staff. Sh

By: Lily Hatch On Wednesday, the 3rd December 2025, the Kenyan Parliament’s Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations released a 94-page report into the conduct of the British Army Training Unit of Kenya (BATUK) troops. BATUK is a major British military training facility based in Nanyuki, Kenya; However, as Kenya’s report shows, their presence has increasingly become seen as an occupying force by locals. The Unit faces serious accusations of decad

By Alannah Henry The proscription of pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action earlier this year  was met with a myriad of reactions, with some arguing that this was a reasonable response to the group’s high-profile disruption. However, I echo the popular condemnation of their proscription as an Orwellian attempt to quiet dissent to the UK’s complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The most recent development of eight prisoners, held in prolonged remand related to offences with

By Will Gibson It’s no secret that the UK judicial system is under immense pressure. Cases are entering the system faster than they can be heard, and it’s clear that something must be done to address the seemingly endless backlog of cases awaiting judgment. The BBC notes delays caused by too few prosecutors, defence lawyers, judges and available courtrooms, with over 78,000 cases waiting to be heard in England and Wales alone, and projections suggesting the number could reach

By Charles Wawn Millions of people will be dragged into higher tax brackets for the rest of the decade as Rachel Reeves unveiled her second tax raising budget as Chancellor with a raft of new measures aimed principally at tackling the cost of living, reducing spending on debt interest and encouraging the Bank of England to reduce interest rates. The budget announced many measures – some new, others preexisting – aimed at easing living pressures in very tangible ways. These in

By Adrian Khodavardar  In the lead-up to the UK’s next general election, the spotlight has shifted from televised debates and print media to a newer political arena: short-form videos and algorithmic feeds. At the centre of this shift is Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, using TikTok not as a side project but as a core component of its communication strategy. The question is whether TikTok has created a new populist pipeline for Reform UK or if it merely amplifies frustrations

Spencer Livermore, Baron Livermore. He currently serves as Financial Secretary to the Treasury since July 2024. Photo: HM Treasury/Flickr. Following on from the disastrous local elections in May 2021, Keir Starmer quietly appointed a backbench MP to a key party role. Given the turbulent shadow cabinet reshuffle concurrently underway, her appointment was not widely covered — but she had one task.  She had to save his leadership. Shabana Mahmood now, of course, is one of the La

Thus far, Keir Starmer’s domestic leadership has been defined by caution; however, it is increasingly unclear whether this technocratic approach to steady the ship can hold in the face of Labour’s bleeding electoral support. With Labour’s popularity at record lows, Starmer may have no choice but to embrace a bolder leadership style. His government is capable of such change, with Starmer being a decisive global statesman. However, the question now is whether the Prime Ministe

Over a year into the Labour government, and the two-party system has been wrecked - fragmented into five parties, each arguing for No. 10. However, while claiming that their party is the best because they won a single seat in a council by-election, they all   seem to have forgotten to create any sort of credibility for themselves. Never in the history of UK politics has every party failed so miserably in convincing the public to vote for them. So, from left to right, here’s w

October 2025 saw the most recent Conservative Party conference and, whilst being ridiculed for their poor turnout, it detailed new plans the party had for the future, notably from MP Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary. Whilst brandishing a judge's wig, Jenrick states that "We've got a problem" as he goes on to say how judges have been working with open borders charities and promoting this work on social media. Jenrick uses this idea, whilst promoting the Conservat