5 d. ago New call for free train travel for every person over State Pension age to give them ‘true freedom’

An online petition argues that many older people can’t travel by train because fares are too high.

Politics

7 d. ago Albanian lesbian couple win asylum claim to stay in Britain after arguing people in their home country are homophobic

The women had trafficked after being 'abducted by masked men, sexually assaulted by multiple men and subjected to physical and verbal abuse on account of their sexual orientation', a court heard.

Events

2 w. ago New call for tax refunds for people commuting to work by car or public transport

An online petition argues the burden of travelling to work is putting people under more financial pressure.

Economics

2 w. ago Abigail Disney: ‘Every billionaire who can’t live on $999m is kind of a sociopath’

She is one of the heirs to the Walt Disney fortune – and has long argued for rich people like her to pay more tax. Now she is working out how best to meet the challenge of Trump, Musk and the politics of chaosMy conversation with Abigail Disney opens with the kind of bog-standard line that starts most chats. But because she is a left-leaning American, with a record of righteous criticism of the man now once again in charge of her country, I suspect it might invite a very long answer indeed.Still, out it comes: “How are you?” Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago Clutter and mess are the main reason people in relationship argue

Organisation experts have explained how to tackle your mess and psychologists say why it is improtant

Politics

2 w. ago 'People are spending large amounts of money on BILGE': PETER HITCHENS says astrology is 'creepy' and 'keeps people from thinking seriously about the world'

The broadcaster argued there is an irony in the fact people will 'militantly' call themselves atheists while 'spending large amounts of time and money' on types of spiritual ritual.

Economics

3 w. ago What is ‘abundance’ liberalism, and why are people arguing about it?

A new book has sparked debate with its provocative claim that progressive public policy in the US is brokenIs progressive public policy in America broken? Do many left-leaning laws actually make life more expensive for struggling people? Is regulatory red tape hindering growth and innovation? Have Democratic-run cities, such as New York and San Francisco, become giant billboards against liberal governance?These arguments wouldn’t sound out of place in a policy paper from a conservative thinktank. Yet their newest champions are two of America’s best-known left-leaning journalists, the New York Times’ Ezra Klein and the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson – and they believe the left is overdue for a reckoning of sorts. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson review – make America build again

Over-regulation has rendered progressive change impossible, argue the authors of this clear and rigorous book. But what about the tradeoffs?Every political movement has an image of the past that motivates its view of the future. For conservatives, it might be the imaginary suburbia of a 1950s coffee commercial; for liberals, the solidarity of a New Deal-era Works Progress Administration poster. For Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, it is the techno-optimism of the 1964 New York World’s Fair “Futurama” exhibit: a vision of commuter flights to the moon, desalinisation turning deserts into farmland, hotels on the ocean floor. In their book, Abundance, they argue for a new politics that unlocks the potential of the remarkable technologies that already exist, as well as those yet to be invented.But that future is behind schedule – and Abundance holds late 20th‑century liberalism responsible. (Klein and Thompson critique the right, too – they are themselves liberals – but this book spea...

Politics

3 w. ago Driver deliberately drove into three people outside pub after argument

Dean Murray, 29, drove his van into three people in Blackwood town centre after he had previously been bothering women and was told to leave.

Politics