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SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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A Royal Reality Check: How the Prorogation Crisis has Revealed the Queen as the Hollow Heart of the British Constitution
The greatest distinction of the Queen’s realm – that she has always been ‘above’ politics – has led to her historic humiliation and Anthony Barnett to ask: what’s the point of her?
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The Warning of an Empty Lectern: Why Boris Johnson’s Brexit Humiliation is Dangerous for All Europeans
Dutch writer Chris Keulemans reflects on the battering Britain’s standing has taken with the rest of Europe – but warns there is no room for complacency anywhere.
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A Brexit Hard Border in Ireland Threatens a ‘Return to a Murderous Bigotry’
Poet and playwright Frank McGuinness recalls the hard border of his youth in Donegal, and fears for our future under the cruel arrogance of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
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Netanyahu’s Claims of Voter Fraud are Undermining Israel’s Democracy – Not Just Helping him to Another Victory
By accusing Palestinian Israeli voters of trying to steal next week’s election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking a tip out of the Donald Trump playbook
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The Compromising of Our Civil Service with Propagandists Matters Now More than Ever
Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at King’s College London, on why untruthful claims by civil servants in their quest to support government policy must be called out. “A free trade agreement between the US and the UK could increase trade between our two countries three to four times,” US Vice President Mike…
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Judges Cannot Save Us from the No Deal Brexit Cliff Edge
Court reporter James Doleman’s analysis on the role of the courts in Boris Johnson’s Brexit saga.
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Parliament Takes Back Control
This week began the fightback of representative parliamentary democracy against populism.
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The Curious Evangelical Christians Propping Up Trump
The stubborn loyalty white evangelical Christians have shown the US President – despite his moral transgressions – raises questions.
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Boris Johnson Grabbed the Crown he Always Wanted – But it is Falling Apart in his Hands
As the Prime Minister’s Shakespearean comedy rumbles on, there is still a very real risk that it all might turn to tragedy instead.
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THE JUSTICE TRAP: Why the Miscarriages of Justice Watchdog is in Crisis
Jon Robins on the case of Oliver Campbell and what it reveals about our creaking criminal justice system.
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Londoners Need to Pay Less Attention to Sadiq Khan’s Spats with Donald Trump and More on What his Planners Are Up To
The Labour Mayor of London’s plan for the capital makes clear that the spirit of neoliberalism still haunts City Hall.
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Putting Indian and Chinese Soldiers in Charge of Protecting the Rohingya Muslims is No Solution
Anti-Muslim animus within the ranks of India and China’s security forces remains extreme, so how can they be called upon to protect the Muslim minority exiled from Myanmar?
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Boris Johnson’s Rising Crime – The Lie Justifying the Proroguing of Parliament
Why the Prime Minister’s claim that his Government must tackle violent crime urgently by shutting down Parliament doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
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The Vote Leave Wrongdoers are Now in Power and Britain is Under Threat Like Never Before
BeLeave whistleblower Shahmir Sanni named various individuals involved in electoral wrongdoing during the 2016 EU Referendum – now they’re in power.
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‘Brexiters Used Empire in the Mind to Weaponise People’s Prejudices and Fantasies’
A sense of British exceptionalism based on our colonial past is “alive and kicking” in hearts and minds – and we must make ourselves aware of it, warns Lord Victor Adebowale
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The Amazon is Burning in a Right-Wing Backed Corporate Arson Attack
Those handed responsibility for saving our planet are determined to terrorise us into extinction so that their super-rich backers can become ever richer.
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We Should Bury the Likes of Lord Bell Not Praise Them
Iain Overton on the death of advertising tycoon Lord Timothy Bell, an advisor to Margaret Thatcher and co-founder of the controversial firm Bell Pottinger.
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Violence, Drugs, Terror: A Day in Court with our Top Conservatives
Crime writer Duncan Campbell takes his seat in the press bench for a most satisfying trio of cases.
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White Nationalism Is a Global Crisis – It’s Time for Gun Laws Across the West to be Re-Examined
CJ Werleman argues that mass shootings in the US to further a white nationalist agenda could spread to other parts of the Western democratic world – for which it must be prepared.
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What is the Westminster Russia Forum?
Stephen Komarnyckyj on the pro-Kremlin group linked to the Conservative Party – and what it says about Britain.
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Lies, Damned Lies and the Daily Telegraph
Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications at Westminster University, on why broadcasters, academics and members of the public should be careful to trust newspaper coverage of polls and call out bogus claims about public opinion.
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Is White Nationalism how America Ends?
To defeat and eradicate the threat of white nationalist terrorism, the US will be required to wage a war on itself. Is it up to the job?
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A ‘Good Versus Evil’ Narrative Gets Us Nowhere When Our Rights Collide
The polarity in modern debate leads to an over simplification which fails to recognise that humans are multi-dimensional creatures with complex motivations.
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We Must Not Succumb to a Dangerous Hopelessness over Brexit
Henry Porter on why he remains optimistic that Brexit can be stopped and why giving in to pessimism will never be the answer.
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Who in the World Will Stand Up for the Muslims in Kashmir?
CJ Werleman on why India’s revocation of its agreements with Pakistan over Kashmir is so concerning in light of a lack of condemnation from the international community.
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Where are we Going to Build the Council Houses we Desperately Need?
Tom Cordell on why a longer-term strategy of building houses and creating employment in tandem across the UK may be the only way out of the housing crisis.
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The Truth About Trump: Neutrality Gets Us Nowhere
Jonathan Lis argues that the inability to call out Donald Trump’s white supremacism is not impartiality and caution – it’s a dereliction of duty.
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Trick or Treat? Is Halloween the Ominous Date for the Next General Election?
David Hencke speculates on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s limited options as he tries to keep hold of power in the face of a disorderly Brexit and a rebellious Parliament.
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Bannon’s Mexican Wall may be Impossible but the Hate it Creates is Real
As Bannon’s PR stunt near El Paso is swiftly followed by a horrific mass shooting, Hardeep Matharu looks back the Cambridge Analytica origins of ‘Build the Wall’.
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White Supremacist Extremism Can Never Be Curbed in America without Changing its Gun Laws
CJ Werleman on why America must discuss the right to bear arms as the main reason why mass shootings keep happening.
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Cash-Strapped Victims’ Charities Must Be Given a Boost Alongside Extra Police Officers
Years of neglect for groups supporting victims of crime must be rectified by Boris Johnson, argues North West England’s former Chief Prosecutor.
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China Calculates on Turning Economic Power into Military Might
CJ Werleman sees a menacing trend in Beijing’s repression of human rights at home and abroad and its readiness to use military force in alliance with the Kremlin.
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THE JUSTICE TRAP: The Carl Beech Case Reveals the Potential for Injustice with Historical Allegations of Abuse
Jon Robins on what the imprisonment of the fantasist known as ‘Nick’ shows about how false allegations can ruin lives.
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Watch Out Boris Johnson, the Chickens are Coming Home to Roost
Otto English on why the realities of high office are dawning on our new Prime Minister.
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Regeneration Will Only Come by Accepting Our Grief Over a Broken Britain
The first step towards rebuilding our country is to acknowledge the profoundness of the damage symbolised by Boris Johnson’s rise to power.
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Young People Need to Transform Performative Activism on Social Media into Real Action Offline
Molly Greeves on why online platforms should be the beginning, not the end, for those wanting to get involved in the political and social issues of our time.
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How Trump is Using the Myth of the ‘Violent Left’ to Undermine Democracy
In seeking to categorise Antifa as a terrorist organisation, the US President is adding fuel to the fire of right-wing white supremacists.
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Brexit Britain’s Love Affair with its Navy is Rooted in a Foolish and Costly Obsession with the Past
How Brexiteers’ obsession with the sea and Boris Johnson’s promise of more money for ship-building represents a yearning for the days of Empire.
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Russia Didn’t Need to Hack Votes to Help Elect Trump – It Hacked Voters’ Minds Instead
By overstating the threat, or continually pushing the idea, that Russia hacked votes in the 2016 US presidential election, we may be playing right into our adversary’s hands
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Fear and Loathing in Whitehall
Will a cleansing anti-cyclone come and blow the oppressive suspicions and rumours away and re-establish the primacy of public service in the interests of the nation rather than party, and the principle that no one is above the rule of law?
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Cummings, Elliott, Westley – Boris Johnson’s Game of Russian Roulette
Otto English on how the new prime minister’s appointment of the toxic trio Dominic Cummings, Matthew Elliott and Chloe Westley is a massive hostage to fortune.
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Empty Promises: Boris Johnson’s 20,000 New Police Officers won’t Provide a Solution to Britain’s Creaking Justice System
North West England’s former Chief Prosecutor, Nazir Afzal, on why the new Prime Minister does not have a coherent crime and justice strategy – despite his ‘law and order’ rhetoric.
