In what was trailed as one of the “most important speeches” he’ll ever make, the chairman of Arts Council England (ACE), Sir Peter Bazalgette has warned arts venues that they must do more to make their audiences, output and workforce
Dame Janet Suzman, a South African-born Shakespearian actress, has come under fire for saying that black and Asian people don’t visit the theatre as much as white people because it’s not part of their culture to do so. The actress,
Two million Conservatives voters are set to switch to the UK Independence Party at the next election, according to a new survey of 30,000 voters. It found that one in five of the 10 million who voted Tory in 2010
It looks as though Britain’s first new grammar school in 50 years will get the go-ahead. Education secretary Nicky Morgan has said that she is “open to being convinced” ahead of her decision on the foundation of a satellite school
More than one in every three Brits self-censors on topics such as religion and immigration, according to a new poll. And four in ten Brits think that there is not enough freedom of speech in Britain today. The findings have
The BBC spends an astonishing £27,000 every working day on taxi fares alone, new figures have revealed. In total, the taxpayer funded corporation has racked up a mind-boggling £21 million over the last three years merely on ferrying its people
Britain’s active army will be reduced to just a few hundred soldiers on duty over December, as military bosses have sent the vast majority of the 80,000 strong force home to save on heating bills. More than 100 barracks will
Amber Rudd, the Conservative minister for climate change, has apparently been banned from attending the second week of the UN’s climate change conference in Lima by Chief Whip Michael Gove. He has insisted that she stay behind in order to
Tech giants Apple have invented a phone that flips itself around in the air to avoid falling screen side down, thus avoiding the inconvenience and massive expense of a broken screen. Drawing on the way cats always land on their
The spy agency Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) is investing in techniques that will allow it to spy on peoples’ office emails, in an attempt to uncover fifth columnists. It is hoping that, through the use of language analysis, it will
The Archbishop of Canterbury has backed a report calling on the government to spend at least £150 million on food banks. Writing in the Mail on Sunday he has said that “hunger stalks large parts of our country.” However, a
A global poll of more than 6.5million people has placed climate change at the very bottom of a long list of priorities, with the finding being consistent across both genders, almost all age ranges, all education levels and in most
Just one in three schools now hold traditional Christmas nativity plays, despite the majority of parents wanting their children to learn about the birth of Jesus. Instead, more than half of schools have opted for modernised versions, featuring aliens, punk
Conservative Members of Parliament have been accused of attempting to filibuster a Bill set to go through Parliament next Thursday, which seeks to enshrine the commitment to spend 0.7 percent of GDP on aid. Outspoken Tory MP Philip Davies said
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party has hit the headlines for daring to question whether women should ostentatiously breastfeed in public. “Nigel Farage says breastfeeding women should sit in a corner” screamed the Guardian. But closer inspection reveals
South Korea has found a novel and seasonal way of taunting its northern neighbours – by constructing a 30 foot fake Christmas tree which they plan to illuminate on December 23. Pyongyang has warned that doing so would be considered
Australia has refused to pay into the UN’s Green Climate Fund, designed to pay for climate change adaptations for developing nations, preferring to cut out the ‘Green blob’ middleman and finance initiatives directly. The Chinese delegation said that this was
New evidence has emerged showing a marked increase in youth smoking and tobacco smuggling rates in Australia, following the introduction of plain packaging two years ago. Remarkably, the volume of cigarettes sold also went up for the first time in
At least 91 BBC executives earn more than the Prime Minister, raking in close to £90 million a year between themselves. The salaries are on top of the pay-packets handed out to 250+ of the Corporation’s top stars who each
Canon Andrew White, the Vicar of Baghdad, has told of how Christian children in Iraq were beheaded by ISIS forces for refusing to convert to Islam. Around 250,000 Christians have fled northern Iraq in the face of ISIS. They were
Japan has spent about $1 billion of funding earmarked to tackle global warming on three new coal plants in Indonesia. The projects are entirely legal as there are no guidelines or rules on what constitutes climate finance. Japan has argued
A further £2.3 billion has been earmarked for new flood defences across the country, just days after Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne ruled out introducing new tax breaks in his Autumn Statement, due tomorrow, claiming that he had no
The Taliban have enlisted a new type of recruit to their cause: birds. Afghan police shot down a large non-native bird equipped with a specially made suicide vest containing a GPS tracker, explosives and a mobile phone detonator. Sharp eyed
A World Health Organisation report predicting the scale of deaths from global warming in decades to come has exaggerated the threat ten-fold, according to a former US government adviser on climate change. The WHO’s report predicts a quarter of a
Labour have been accused of wanting to “stop mince pies at Christmas”, as the party revealed that it is considering plans to set legal limits on the fat, sugar and salt contents of foods designed for children. Shadow Health Minister
