Refreshingly Independent Politics – smerconish.com is to create a clearinghouse for non-ideological thinking. We want to give people a chance to contribute to, and consume media that isn’t predicated on the usual, extreme talking points of the polarized media. Instead, we aim to promote independent thinking and diversity of thought.
Tag: politics
theintercept.com
The Intercept is an award-winning news organization dedicated to holding mainstream views and misinformation.
DOGE Cuts “Unexpectedly and Significantly Impacted” Critical Pentagon Unit
19 January 2026 @ 11:00 am
Staffing problems caused by DOGE resulted in the Defense Information Systems Agency warning of “extreme risk for loss of service” across the military.
The post DOGE Cuts “Unexpectedly and Significantly Impacted” Critical Pentagon Unit appeared first on The Intercept.
“Abolish ICE” Is More Popular Than Ever. How Will Democrats Drop the Ball This Time?
18 January 2026 @ 11:00 am
Establishment Democrats are rejecting an increasingly popular position by refusing to take a bold stance that happens to be good politics.
The post “Abolish ICE” Is More Popular Than Ever. How Will Democrats Drop the Ball This Time? appeared first on The Intercept.
Inside the Somali-Led Resistance to Trump’s Assault on Minneapolis
17 January 2026 @ 11:00 am
Somalis are fighting back, from homemade sambusas for protesters to foot patrols on the lookout for ICE.
The post Inside the Somali-Led Resistance to Trump’s Assault on Minneapolis appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump Is Helping Right-Wing Groups Target Chicago Teachers Union
16 January 2026 @ 7:22 pm
Dark-money groups want a look at the Chicago Teachers Union’s finances. The Trump administration could help them get it.
The post Trump Is Helping Right-Wing Groups Target Chicago Teachers Union appeared first on The Intercept.
ICE Agents Are Even Worse At Being Cops Than You Think
16 January 2026 @ 4:02 pm
Videos of agents falling down and dropping their guns feel beyond parody. But under-trained law enforcement officers are a real danger to the public.
The post ICE Agents Are Even Worse At Being Cops Than You Think appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump’s War on America
16 January 2026 @ 11:00 am
“It’s not just clashes between protesters and ICE; it’s an attack on basic rights that we’ve taken for granted,” says Minnesota Public Radio reporter Jon Collins.
The post Trump’s War on America appeared first on The Intercept.
Despite Court Ruling, ICE Can’t Detain Mahmoud Khalil — For Now
15 January 2026 @ 9:48 pm
Khalil has 45 days to appeal Thursday’s court decision, his attorney told The Intercept.
The post Despite Court Ruling, ICE Can’t Detain Mahmoud Khalil — For Now appeared first on The Intercept.
FBI Raid on WaPo Reporter’s Home Was Based on Sham Pretext
15 January 2026 @ 5:50 pm
Pam Bondi’s decision to rescind rules to protect journalists is being used as a cudgel to attack the First Amendment.
The post FBI Raid on WaPo Reporter’s Home Was Based on Sham Pretext appeared first on The Intercept.
New Bill Would Put Basic Limits on ICE Use of Force After Minneapolis Killing
15 January 2026 @ 4:00 pm
Rep. Delia Ramirez called her bill “the bare minimum” to rein in ICE while Democratic leadership remains resistant to abolishing the agency.
The post New Bill Would Put Basic Limits on ICE Use of Force After Minneapolis Killing appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump Bullies Flip-Flopping Senators Into Defeating Vote to Block Venezuela War
14 January 2026 @ 11:51 pm
Five Republican senators had voted to advance a war powers resolution on Venezuela. After Trump went berserk, the final vote narrowly failed.
The post Trump Bullies Flip-Flopping Senators Into Defeating Vote to Block Venezuela War appeared first on The Intercept.
questioneverything.io
To critically evaluate the global response to COVID-19 and present a series of responsible pandemic exit strategies to help ensure that total harms are minimised.
thefreedomcycle.com
THE PEOPLE’S UNION OF BRITAIN
Taking back sovereignty through common law.
goodlawproject.org
The Good Law Project is a not-for-profit campaign organisation that uses the law to protect the interests of the public. Also a bit woke, and does not protect womens sports.
whocanivotefor.co.uk
An updated list of candidates you can vote for the up and coming UK elections.
politics.co.uk
Politics news from the UK.
Reform isn’t building a party of government. It’s building a retirement home
19 January 2026 @ 7:00 am
Reform’s decision to welcome Robert Jenrick tells us far more about what kind of political project it really is than any speech, slogan or rally ever could. This is not the behaviour of a serious insurgent movement preparing for government. It is the behaviour of a party more interested in Punch and Judy politics than... Read more »
The post Reform isn’t building a party of government. It’s building a retirement home appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Nadhim Zahawi and the pitfalls in Farage’s defection strategy
12 January 2026 @ 5:39 pm
The first reaction to Nadhim Zahawi’s defection to Reform UK revolves around the political baggage he brings with him. The former chancellor’s political career was inextricably intertwined with the Conservative Party’s spiral toward electoral disaster at the 2024 general election. Zahawi, whose prominence in the Conservative psychodrama elevated him to ‘big beast’ status, did not... Read more »
The post Nadhim Zahawi and the pitfalls in Farage’s defection strategy appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
The rush to panic tells us more about Westminster than Starmer
22 December 2025 @ 9:47 am
There is a particular kind of panic that takes hold in British politics roughly a year into a Parliament. It is the panic of people who have discovered that governing is harder than campaigning, and begun to wonder whether the problem might be the person at the top. We are there again now, and the... Read more »
The post The rush to panic tells us more about Westminster than Starmer appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Pippa Heylings MP: ‘Is the Treasury sabotaging Britain’s climate leadership?’
22 December 2025 @ 8:00 am
Although it may have been lost amid the doom-laden headlines emerging after COP30 in Brazil, something genuinely hopeful did emerge from the UN Climate Conference: a game-changing global plan to safeguard the planet’s remaining tropical forests. The Tropical Forests Forever Facility, or TFFF, is an innovative finance mechanism that would become one of the largest... Read more »
The post Pippa Heylings MP: ‘Is the Treasury sabotaging Britain’s climate leadership?’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Peter Dowd: ‘Together, MPs can build a parliament that understands grief’
2 December 2025 @ 8:00 am
Grief is something every one of us will experience. It does not discriminate against any social class, profession, or walk of life and yet, despite being part of life, so many still struggle to talk about it openly. I know this from my own personal experience. My daughter Jennie was the victim of a hit... Read more »
The post Peter Dowd: ‘Together, MPs can build a parliament that understands grief’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Sonia Kumar MP: ‘How Britain’s leaky loos waste over a billion litres every day’
25 November 2025 @ 3:49 pm
Water has been at the forefront of political debate for some time in this country. We can all recall the scandalous headlines: record levels of raw sewage being pumped into our waterways alongside rising water bills. These issues (quite rightly) garner significant attention – but they have also overshadowed another, quieter scandal that is wasting... Read more »
The post Sonia Kumar MP: ‘How Britain’s leaky loos waste over a billion litres every day’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Andy McDonald MP: ‘The system is failing spinal cord injury patients – we need a national strategy now’
21 November 2025 @ 8:00 am
The UK has a proud legacy in spinal cord injury (SCI) care. It was here, at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, that professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann pioneered a model of rehabilitation that placed the patient at the centre of care – a legacy that helped launch the Paralympic movement and shaped global standards. But today, that legacy... Read more »
The post Andy McDonald MP: ‘The system is failing spinal cord injury patients – we need a national strategy now’ appeared first on
Cost of living is top priority for voters ahead of autumn budget, mega poll finds
18 November 2025 @ 7:45 am
The cost of living has been identified as the top priority for the government to address in the autumn budget. A new poll of over 7,400 people has found that 59% of voters are demanding action on the cost of living and the economy. This figure was higher than the number of voters who ranked... Read more »
The post Cost of living is top priority for voters ahead of autumn budget, mega poll finds appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Beccy Cooper MP: ‘The UK’s Global Fund pledge is a missed opportunity’
17 November 2025 @ 8:15 am
I’ll admit, I haven’t always been the Global Fund’s biggest fan. As a public health consultant working in international development, I used to worry it was too narrowly focused on individual diseases. But over time, I’ve seen the great work it has done – taking large amounts of donor funding and putting it to excellent... Read more »
The post Beccy Cooper MP: ‘The UK’s Global Fund pledge is a missed opportunity’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Jerome Mayhew MP: ‘Nationalising our best railway early is the wrong priority’
13 November 2025 @ 8:15 am
The government’s decision to nationalise Greater Anglia, the best-performing operator in the country, shows mistaken priorities. Instead of focusing on failing services, ministers are risking disruption to a railway that has been transformed and is paying money back to the exchequer. Meanwhile, passengers suffering the worst services are told to wait their turn. Greater Anglia... Read more »
The post Jerome Mayhew MP: ‘Nationalising our best railway early is the wrong priority’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
artsparty.org.uk
Introducing arts thinking into politics and promoting creative, scientific and evidence based ideas that improve the lives of as many people as possible, while mindful of the few.
Arts Party Conference 2019
16 August 2019 @ 9:30 am
The Arts Party welcomes it’s first party conference from the heart of where water meets dirt, Brighton. We will be hosting debates for purposes of socialising, conversation and recreation. Located in Camelford Street, Brighton, BN2 1TQ, United Kingdom. All are welcome to attend, please use the contact form below to register your interest. [Fully booked]
The post Arts Party Conference 2019 appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Dinner for few
9 June 2019 @ 12:41 pm
A short and stark reminder of the state of play in politics today/yesterday. Thanks to a Dinner for a few, award winner from Nassos Vakalis. DINNER FOR FEW from Nassos Vakalis on Vimeo.
The post Dinner for few appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Scotland takes steps to put culture at the forefront of policy-making
6 July 2018 @ 9:31 am
A CULTURE STRATEGY FOR SCOTLAND – reflecting the past, challenging the present, shaping the future . The strategy seeks to stimulate a step change that will bring about a shift in how society and government view and value culture. It aims to build collaborative alliances that will help to realise the full potential of culture …
Continue reading "Scotland takes steps to put culture at the forefront of policy-making"
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Arts teachers in decline
5 July 2018 @ 9:35 am
As well as a fall in teaching hours, the arts has lost almost a quarter (9000) of teachers working in secondary schools in England since 2011. Sourced from https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/arts-teacher-numbers-plummet-almost-quarter
The post Arts teachers in decline appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Why the Arts Matter
12 May 2018 @ 7:11 am
We’ve come across a great graphic that really sums up why the Arts matter – enjoy!
The post Why the Arts Matter appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Creativity and politics
17 April 2018 @ 11:19 am
Heather McGhee talks about the influence that music, film, and other arts can have on social change. https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/heather-mcghee-on-creativity-and-politics/
The post Creativity and politics appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Why is creativity the most important political concept of the 21st century?
17 April 2018 @ 11:15 am
There is no concept more politically important today than creativity. I’ll give four reasons why but first a definition. ‘Creative’ has narrow, broader and even broader connotations in English. It’s the last of these we should be most interested in. The narrow meaning immediately leads one to think of activities directly associated with the arts. …
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The post Why is creativity the most important political concept of the 21st century? appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Arts can help children avoid a lifetime of gang crime
14 April 2018 @ 11:05 am
Andria Zafirakou, who won the $1million title in Dubai last month, said subjects such as art, music and drama can transform the lives of vulnerable young people and give them the confidence to walk away from gangs. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/arts-can-help-children-avoid-a-lifetime-of-gang-crime-says-1m-prizewinning-teacher-a3813071.html
The post Arts can help children avoid a lifetime of gang crime appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Creativity and the arts in decline
1 February 2018 @ 11:34 am
Creative arts subjects are being cut back in many secondary schools in England, a BBC survey suggests. More than 1,200 schools responded – over 40% of secondary schools. Of the schools that responded, nine in every 10 said they had cut back on lesson time, staff or facilities in at least one creative arts subject. …
Continue reading "Creativity and the arts in decline"
The post Creativity and the arts in decline appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
Drawing the Future
20 January 2018 @ 10:34 am
A report launched by Education and Employers and found that children’s career aspirations only marginally differ from age 7 to age 17. It also showed that some sectors vital for economic health look set to be badly under-resourced in future. In the biggest survey of its kind, primary school children aged seven to 11 were …
Continue reading "Drawing the Future"
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theyworkforyou.com
Keeping tabs on the UK’s parliaments & assemblies
A tribute to Mark Longair
15 January 2026 @ 4:15 pm
It was with immense sadness that the mySociety team learned of the death of our much loved ex-colleague Mark Longair. Mark first came to mySociety as a volunteer, contributing his time and coding knowledge to build scrapers and parsers that brought Scottish Parliament data into TheyWorkForYou. Knowing a good developer when we saw one, we…
Leaky Pipes: What’s wrong with donations data
15 January 2026 @ 9:00 am
As part of our WhoFundsThem work we want to make better information available about money in politics. Last year we released a report Beyond Transparency – looking at the UK Parliament’s register of financial interests, and wider arguments about how we fund politics. Today we’re releasing a follow-up report: Leaky Pipes (read online or download…
“From the Scorecards, we learned that transparency and accessibility are key to accelerating local climate progress”
19 December 2025 @ 10:50 am
When we consider the impacts of a project like the Council Climate Action Scorecards, the obvious benefits are those we see in UK councils as they step up their efforts to decarbonise. On this blog, we’ve also frequently noted tangential effects too, such as better understanding and communication between local authorities and residents. There’s a…
What we’ve learned about building datasets with FOI
16 December 2025 @ 12:27 pm
At the beginning of the year, we set ourselves an ambitious goal: to help a group of small organisations working with marginalised communities to run Freedom of Information–based campaigns using WhatDoTheyKnow Pro’s batch-request and project features. We recruited groups working in areas as varied as domestic abuse, arts funding, youth health, SEND provision, parental leave,…
New research report: Supporting good communication
16 December 2025 @ 9:06 am
With WriteToThem.com we want to run a service that helps people write the right message to the right place. That means helping users express themselves effectively and keeping the service a constructive channel between constituents and representatives by deterring abusive messages. Abuse and intimidation aimed at elected representatives does not just harm the person receiving…
New report: WriteToThem Insights
11 December 2025 @ 9:00 am
Understanding more about constituent communication We’ve released a new report exploring insights from WriteToThem about the content of constituent communication – you can read the whole report online or a summary below. WriteToThem.com is a long-running mySociety service that enables people across the UK to contact their elected representatives by entering their postcode and sending…
Use the Council Climate Action Scorecards to bring change
27 November 2025 @ 10:18 am
Campaigning organisation and lobbying group the RBWM Climate Emergency Coalition (CEC), located in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, have been putting the Council Climate Action Scorecards to really good use. Overall, 14 separate groups make up the CEC, who convene with a shared interest in mitigating climate change and/or protecting and restoring nature.…
We prototyped a data hub for the VAWG sector, and it’s already raising important questions
25 November 2025 @ 11:33 am
Around the world today, organisations and communities are recognising the 26th International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This is a moment to reflect on one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world – but it’s also a call to action. As one small action in that continued…
What can we learn from a clock that’s stopped?
24 November 2025 @ 11:02 am
Do you live somewhere that boasts a magnificent municipal clock — a timepiece that anyone passing by can look up to, and check that they’re nicely on time for their next appointment? A vast clockface on the side of the town hall, perhaps; or a golden clocktower standing tall above the shopping streets…a landmark under…
Mayoral scrutiny: building an ecosystem of accountability
18 November 2025 @ 10:03 am
Mayors and combined authorities are the future of devolution in England, but the ways in which citizens can understand, scrutinise, or influence them remain unclear. Our latest report, Mayoral scrutiny: supporting an ecosystem of accountability organisations, argues that devolution will not deliver on its promises unless we also invest in new forms of civic and…