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SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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Back of the Class: How Theatre has Become a Game of Youth and Privilege
Tamsin Flower examines why older working-class voices are disappearing from performing arts and theatre
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How a Lack of Support for the International Criminal Court may Have Emboldened Israel and Hamas
‘It may be that Israel was able to believe that pressure on the ICC was working and that its eight years of impunity from international law since 2014 would continue’
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‘David Lammy’s Token Move on Israel Arms Licences is no Answer to Genocide – It’s a Form of Denial’
‘You do not respond to genocide with gestures; you do not continue to treat a state that is suspected of committing genocide as an ally; and cancelling a number of export licences does not cancel Britain’s complicity’
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Labour Needs the Muslim Vote to Stabilise its ‘Sandcastle Majority’
Sufyan Gulam Ismail offers some advice on how Labour can win back British Muslim voters after losing so many over the issue of Gaza
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Keir Starmer’s Partial Israeli Arms Embargo Has Pleased Nobody
The Government’s constant attempts to second guess its critics are only disappointing its supporters and emboldening its opponents
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Oasis ‘Dynamic Pricing’ Row: ‘How a System Meant to Balance Supply and Demand is Being Used to Exploit Consumers Everywhere’
The Government has announced it will include dynamic pricing in a consultation into ticket resale websites after hundreds of complaints over Oasis ticket sales. But that’s just the start
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How Russians Went from Outrage at Putin’s War in Ukraine to Not Caring – and Why Those Feelings will Outlive his Presidency
Denis Zakharov has been monitoring the changing attitudes of Russians to the war in Ukraine on social media. They’ve only got worse
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Everything that is Wrong with the TV Industry and Why No One is Watching the News
Carol Vorderman’s Alternative Mactaggart lecture on how snobbery turned people off TV
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‘The Paralympics not Being Broadcast on the BBC Shows the Underlying Societal Bias Against People With Disabilities’
Examining the ‘lazy framing’ around disability in sport where the focus is often on ‘the accident, the drama, the blood, the pain’ and not the competition
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Smoking Ban: The Conservative Party Suffers a Severe Case of Smoke-Induced Amnesia
From smoking, to taxes, to cronyism, Rishi Sunak’s party is desperate for us to forget everything that happened until just last month
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Explained: The Six Triggers that Spark Civil Unrest
These factors do not exist in isolation but interact and act as force multipliers for each other and are ripe to be manipulated through identity politics
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‘The Doors are Wide Open for Ukraine to Deliver a Devastating Blow to Russia – if Only the West Would Let Them’
There are 245 key Russian facilities Ukraine could strike today. It has the capabilities, but not the permission. Why deny them?
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‘Elon Musk Must Take a Net-Zero Approach to Violent Hate Speech to Save his Businesses and Credibility’
Elon Musk’s relationship with X is a commercial and political disaster. He badly needs an off-ramp
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‘Kamala Harris Casts Herself as the True American Patriot in Barnstorming Democratic Convention Speech’
Where Biden’s campaign erred in building up Trump as a larger-than-life threat to democracy, Harris and other speakers sought to take him down with a series of jabs
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‘The Government Must act now to Bring Down Bills – and Ready our Communities for the Future’
Keir Starmer “must do more to help” families hit by higher energy bills this winter, writes Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer
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What Russia’s Proposed Red Sea Naval Station Could Mean for the Sudan War
Whether the development has an impact on the conflict or not – it seems to represent a diametric shift in the Kremlin’s involvement in Sudan
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‘David Lammy has an Immediate Opportunity to end a Half-Century of Atrocities – and it is Very Straightforward’
Over 50 years ago, the UK and US governments conspired in secret for the UK to hold onto Chagos and expel its entire population
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‘How Lawsuit Against AI Music Will Offer Little Help to Smaller Labels and Independent Artists’
As a lawsuit against music generation startups Udio and Suno makes its way through the courts, an AI song in Germany has already made the Top 50
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Hate Sells: ‘The Spectator Cannot Defend Douglas Murray But It Won’t Sack Him’
Cutting ties with the controversial columnist and the magazine’s Associate Editor would be bad for business – and it is hard not to conclude that it must agree with him, writes Brian Cathcart
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‘How the Conservative Party Helped Cause the Riots and why Their Islamophobic Rhetoric Won’t Change’
Ironically, the riots during a leadership election give the party a unique opportunity to turn a page and turn their back on Farage-type populism. The signs are they will not take that opportunity
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‘Ukraine’s Kursk Offensive is Vladimir Putin’s Emperor Has No Clothes Moment’
It is the first occupation of Russian territory since the Second World War – and it has created a myriad of problems for Putin
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‘Keir Starmer Wants Police to Expand Use of Facial Recognition Technology Across UK – He Should Ban it Altogether’
The PM announced plans for ‘wider deployment’ after the riots – but it is a ‘deeply flawed’ technology ‘technically and legally, and impacts entire communities’
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The UK’s Race Riots: A Trial Run for Another US Insurrection?
Peter Jukes draws out the connections between the violence on Britain’s streets and the Capitol Insurrection
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Anjem Choudary’s Sentencing During Riots is a Timely Reminder of the Media’s Role in Promoting Hatred
Anjem Choudary was not a Muslim cleric as the media loved to present him, but the media’s cleric, a rent-a-gob, drinker and playboy turned cosplay Mullah.
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‘UK Riots Were not Reflective of Working Class People or Working Class Ideals’
Right-wing commentators and politicians were quick to suggest the riots were caused by the working class being ignored – ignoring the fact they were ignited by misinformation spread by the far-right minority
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Riot Act: Unpicking Matthew Goodwin’s Arguments in Defence of ‘White Anger’
The honorary professor attempted to explain why the riots swept across the UK – but did so using information selectively, choosing to emphasise certain details that supported his narrative
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‘Why the Online Safety Act Won’t Stop Type of Misinformation that Sparked Riots – the Government Must Create New Legislation’
When the riots stopped conversation moved to the Online Safety Act with suggestions changes would be made ‘if necessary’. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also pledged to ‘look more broadly’ at social media
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‘Citizens’ Assemblies Could Wake Keir Starmer up to Reversing Brexit ‘
Polls show the public would now vote to rejoin the EU, so why isn’t the Prime Minister listening?
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‘Anti-Muslim’ – Isn’t There a Word for That?
How the media spent days failing to call the far-right riots exactly what they were – Islamophobic
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What the Fight Against Racism in the 1970s Can Teach us About Defeating Fascists in 2024
The events of the past two weeks have been eerily reminiscent of the violent rise of the far-right National Front
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UK Riots: How the Right-Wing Press Fought to Stop Laws to Combat Online Disinformation
The story of how the Conservatives exempted their media supporters from laws against spreading dangerously false information online
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The Real ‘Two Tier’ Politics That Enabled Nigel Farage to Fan the Flames of Hate
The politics of anti-Muslim and anti-migrant hatred pushed by the Reform leader and his supporters has been tolerated for far too long
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‘I Predict A Riot: The Manufacturing of Islamophobic and Anti-Migrant Hate On Our Streets’
We must be honest about the fact that it is not only fringe rabble-rousers who have engaged in this damaging rhetoric, writes Adeeb Ayton
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‘Torture Survivors Terrified to go out as Far-Right Riots Sweep Britain’
The Government must urgently put in place greater security measures for those targeted by far-right hate
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‘UK’s Pursuit of Closer Trade Ties With Israel Risks Rewarding it for War Crimes’
The UK is acting as if the bombing of hospitals, starvation of civilians, and razing of entire neighbourhoods was just a disappointing but ultimately anomalous spell of bad behaviour
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Russia Prisoner Swap: ‘Why the UK Must do More to Help British Citizens in Trouble Overseas’
Following the largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, the UK is being urged to adopt a policy on hostage cases and establish a point of contact for families involved
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‘How Can Northern Ireland’s Education System Still Be Divided Across Religious and Community Lines?
The next generation cannot take forward the peace process if they continue to be subject to segregation and reinforced division that defined previous generations, argues Emma DeSouza
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Lies and Violence: How the Southport Tragedy Turned into a Riot
The independent regulator Impress has called for new legislation to tackle the dangers of social media misinformation
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‘Parents Are Not to Blame for the Cost Demands on a SEND System Under Increasing Pressure’
A recent report was problematic for appearing to place responsibility with ‘demanding parents’ who contribute to local authority financial problems, writes Sharon Smith
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Southport Violence: ‘We All Need To Consider Our Role in the Wild West of Social Media Hypercriminality’
Key elements of misinformation about the Southport killings originated in a social media post by ‘Channel 3 News’
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‘What I Learned Backstage: Tactical Advice for Kamala Harris’
Dan Kaszeta worked at the White House complex between 1996 and 2008 – he shares his key logistical tips for Harris’ campaign
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ULEZ: ‘How the Conservatives Got Air Quality Initiative So Wrong and Why Sadiq Khan Must Go Further’
A supertax is needed on SUVs and a tripling of on-street parking prices.
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A Week After Joe Biden Stepped Aside, Here’s What the Polls Show in the Race Between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris
Polling from many different sources shows a shift towards Harris as America moves into “uncharted territory” that has “no modern historical parallel”
