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.
The Surprising Reaction Inside Iran to Its War Victory
20 June 2026 @ 6:35 pm
Despite extracting extraordinary concessions, the reaction in Iran isn’t entirely jubilant. Past betrayals are too recent to forget.
The post The Surprising Reaction Inside Iran to Its War Victory appeared first on The Intercept.
FBI Tried to Flip Anti-ICE Protesters Into Informants
20 June 2026 @ 9:00 am
“They were asking me to inform,” said a protester, one of dozens contacted by the feds, who was arrested while playing the cello.
The post FBI Tried to Flip Anti-ICE Protesters Into Informants appeared first on The Intercept.
Chud the Builder Fantasized About “Race War.” Now He’s Charged With Attempted Murder.
19 June 2026 @ 5:46 pm
Dalton Eatherly streams his racist provocations online. It was only a matter of time before the violence rhetoric entered the real world.
The post Chud the Builder Fantasized About “Race War.” Now He’s Charged With Attempted Murder. appeared first on The Intercept.
The Performative Ceasefire in Gaza
19 June 2026 @ 10:00 am
As Iran and the U.S. reach a deal to supposedly end this cycle of war, Tariq Kenney-Shawa and Jonah Valdez discuss what’s happened since Israel’s October 2025 “pseudo-ceasefire” in Gaza.
The post The Performative Ceasefire in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump-Loving Crypto Super PAC Finally Backs a Democrat: Ritchie Torres
19 June 2026 @ 9:09 am
Torres, the only Democrat boosted by cash from the conservative Fellowship PAC, has no serious competition in his House race.
The post Trump-Loving Crypto Super PAC Finally Backs a Democrat: Ritchie Torres appeared first on The Intercept.
Undercover Cops Infiltrated Delaney Hall ICE Protest to Spy and Make Arrest
18 June 2026 @ 4:49 pm
A complaint by Newark police didn’t mention that ICE led the ambush on a protester and made the initial arrest.
The post Undercover Cops Infiltrated Delaney Hall ICE Protest to Spy and Make Arrest appeared first on The Intercept.
Police Chased the Wrong Man, Then Shot Him and Watched as He Bled Out
18 June 2026 @ 1:25 pm
Sheriff’s deputies in Michigan fired 27 shots at John Jenuwine. “He was not the guy that they were supposed to be chasing,” said the victim’s father.
The post Police Chased the Wrong Man, Then Shot Him and Watched as He Bled Out appeared first on The Intercept.
Israel Asked Facebook to Censor Iran War Content, Internal Documents Show
18 June 2026 @ 10:12 am
Company records reviewed by The Intercept show Israel urged Facebook and Instagram to take down posts supportive of Iran.
The post Israel Asked Facebook to Censor Iran War Content, Internal Documents Show appeared first on The Intercept.
ICE’s Unseen Toll in Minneapolis: Suicide Helpline Calls More Than Doubled During Surge
18 June 2026 @ 5:00 am
ICE’s crackdown in Minneapolis left deep scars on the besieged city, says a new Human Rights Watch report.
The post ICE’s Unseen Toll in Minneapolis: Suicide Helpline Calls More Than Doubled During Surge appeared first on The Intercept.
Senate Democrats Aren’t Happy About Trump’s Spy Law Ultimatum
18 June 2026 @ 2:36 am
Before Trump paused Jay Clayton’s nomination, Democrats thought they were on a “glide path” to renewing FISA. Now the president wants to tie domestic surveillance to voter suppression.
The post Senate Democrats Aren’t Happy About Trump’s Spy Law Ultimatum 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.
Andy Burnham and the meaning of Makerfield
20 June 2026 @ 8:45 am
The news that Andy Burnham would stand as the MP for Makerfield was received with some surprise. In the throes of Labour’s May 2026 crisis, following the disastrous local and devolved parliament elections, commentators questioned his choice of constituency. Burnham’s ambition, of course, was never in doubt – nor was the national executive committee’s rapid... Read more »
The post Andy Burnham and the meaning of Makerfield appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Andy Burnham storms to victory in Makerfield by-election
19 June 2026 @ 6:01 am
Andy Burnham has secured a comfortable victory in the highly anticipated Makerfield by-election, winning more than 50% of the vote. Burnham will now return to parliament after months of speculation over his political future and resign his position as mayor of Greater Manchester. The by-election will also pile pressure on Keir Starmer, the prime minister,... Read more »
The post Andy Burnham storms to victory in Makerfield by-election appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
John Healey resigns as defence secretary – letter in full
11 June 2026 @ 11:25 am
John Healey has sensationally resigned as defence secretary over military spending plans. In a letter to the prime minister, Healey said the proposed defence investment plan “falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time”. Read Healey’s letter in full below. This is a letter I never expected... Read more »
The post John Healey resigns as defence secretary – letter in full appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Andy Burnham is right about social care funding. But that’s not the real problem
10 June 2026 @ 7:00 am
Andy Burnham is right to put social care at the heart of the political debate. He’s also right to say politicians shouldn’t “flinch” from difficult conversations about funding. But if social care reform becomes yet another argument about who pays, we’ll miss a much bigger problem hiding in plain sight. The uncomfortable truth is that... Read more »
The post Andy Burnham is right about social care funding. But that’s not the real problem appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Leigh Ingham MP: ‘The government must buy British, build British and back British’
1 June 2026 @ 7:15 am
Forty-eight percent of people in England and Wales live in towns – nearly half the population – and it’s clear to me that the UK will not succeed unless its towns succeed. But for too long we have reached for a cities-first playbook – as though towns exist to serve the economies of nearby cities... Read more »
The post Leigh Ingham MP: ‘The government must buy British, build British and back British’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Patrick Gordon Walker’s 1965 defeat is a cautionary tale for Andy Burnham
15 May 2026 @ 10:00 am
Andy Burnham’s sensational announcement that he will once again seek a return to parliament sealed a day of immense political drama. The move marks Burnham’s second attempt at a parliamentary comeback, after Labour’s national executive committee (NEC), Starmer-in-council, thwarted his prospective candidacy for the February 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election. That contest proceeded without Burnham... Read more »
The post Patrick Gordon Walker’s 1965 defeat is a cautionary tale for Andy Burnham appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Wes Streeting resigns as health secretary – letter in full
14 May 2026 @ 12:17 pm
Wes Streeting has resigned as health secretary, saying it is now clear that Keir Starmer will not “lead the Labour Party into the next general election.” Streeting, who has headed the Department of Health and Social Care since the 2024 general election, described the 2026 local and devolved parliament elections as “unprecedented”. In his resignation... Read more »
The post Wes Streeting resigns as health secretary – letter in full appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Jess Phillips resigns
12 May 2026 @ 12:05 pm
Jess Phillips has resigned as a Home Office minister. In a letter addressed to the prime minister, Phillips called on Keir Starmer to step down, saying she could not “keep waiting around for a crisis to push for faster progress”. Phillips is the second minister to resign from the government since the 2026 local elections... Read more »
The post Jess Phillips resigns appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
First minister to resign says Starmer has lost ‘confidence of the public’
12 May 2026 @ 8:33 am
The first minister to resign from Keir Starmer’s government has called for the prime minister to step down and oversee “an orderly transition” to a new leader. Miatta Fahnbulleh stepped down as minister for devolution, faith and communities on Tuesday morning. In a letter addressed to the prime minister, she said that the government had... Read more »
The post First minister to resign says Starmer has lost ‘confidence of the public’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
Keir Starmer is ‘listening’ to mutinous colleagues, says ‘sad’ cabinet ally
12 May 2026 @ 7:15 am
Keir Starmer is in “listening” mode, a senior cabinet ally has suggested as the prime minister faces a chorus of calls to resign. Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, insisted that Starmer is “getting on with the job” but appeared to confirm that he is now considering his political future. Jones recognised... Read more »
The post Keir Starmer is ‘listening’ to mutinous colleagues, says ‘sad’ cabinet ally 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"
The post Scotland takes steps to put culture at the forefront of policy-making appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
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"
The post Drawing the Future appeared first on ARTS PARTY.
theyworkforyou.com
Keeping tabs on the UK’s parliaments & assemblies
Reading the registers
18 June 2026 @ 8:20 am
Every two weeks there’s a new release of the House of Commons’ Register of Members Financial Interests. As part of the work that went into our Beyond Transparency report, we got together a team of volunteers to go right through the register and understand more about what was in it. From that we learned about…
What we learned making a standards complaint
17 June 2026 @ 2:28 pm
Through Parliamentary written questions, MPs and Peers can ask for information and documents from government departments. But as part of that, they’re supposed to declare if they have any relevant financial interests that relate to the question they’re asking. This provides (incomplete) transparency on where the access they’re given in the public interest is also…
Improving FOI and Parliamentary Questions
16 June 2026 @ 2:39 pm
Back in May, I gave evidence as part of a panel to the UK Parliament’s procedure committee investigation into parliamentary written questions (WQ), with a focus on the overlap with FOI. You can watch the video, or read our written evidence and the transcript of our oral evidence, but in this blog post I’m going…
New report! Supporting Participation: Building an effective European civic tech hub
5 June 2026 @ 3:22 pm
Today we’ve published a new report with Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, exploring how a future European civic tech hub could strengthen democratic participation across Europe. You can read it online, or download as a PDF. Drawing on interviews with 19 civic tech organisations from 12 countries, we’ve wrestled with the opportunities and challenges facing…
Welsh residents now have six MSs, and they all work for you
19 May 2026 @ 12:38 pm
Whether or not you voted, or no matter who you voted for, every person in Wales is now represented by six MSs in the Senedd. And the good news is, we’re here to help you navigate the new system! ✉️ You can find out who your six MSs are, and contact all or some of…
FOI Network 3: hearing from information officers
11 May 2026 @ 10:18 am
For the the third in our series of discovery workshops, we invited people working with FOI in public authorities to discuss how a network might support them — and we had more than 50 attendees joining us from a range of organisations and specialities. Discussion was lively and informative, with many expressing a thirst for…
FOI Network: what we discovered in workshop 2
20 April 2026 @ 11:42 am
We continue with exploratory work that will help shape what the FOI Network will become, and how it will best serve specific types of those who use Freedom Of Information. Last week, in our second workshop of three, we convened journalists and specialist users to help us understand what the barriers are to their use…
Scorecards “create a level of accountability across the whole organisation to play their part”
20 April 2026 @ 8:28 am
Liz Vango-Smith is Sustainability and Climate Change Officer at Hart District Council, where she manages the climate change programme, helping to meet their carbon reduction targets both internally, and across the district. She recently took the time to speak to us about the part that the Council Climate Action Scorecards play in her work. Liz…
How data might help solve the sewage problem (with a little help from WriteToThem)
16 April 2026 @ 8:03 am
Have you visited sewagemap.co.uk? If you care about your local rivers, lakes and seas, you might want to take a look at this very graphic display of where sewage is being discharged across England. If you’re wondering which sense of ‘graphic’ we mean, well, it’s both: first, it’s easy to see the information at a…
Responding to AI-driven demand on public systems
14 April 2026 @ 12:51 pm
LLMs can increase demand on public systems by removing the friction that previously limited access. One potential result of this is new forms of unconsidered rationing that recreate that friction. Instead, we should move away from zero sum systems and aim for technical and policy approaches that turn unscalable private benefits into efficient collective ones. …