Content Warning: sexual themes of inter alia violence In February of this year, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s recommendations in their report into sexual exploitation  and trafficking via adult service websites was met with a nuanced and unemotional response from sex worker-focused charities and organisations, such as National Ugly Mugs . The Commissioner highlighted enduring issues; there were weak verification controls, weak reporting systems, instances of thi

September of last year marked Zack Polanski’s irruption into the highest echelon of British politics. The Green’s new leader, imbued with the gifts of personality, pitch and popularity, bestowed upon the party an attribute they had yet to enjoy – a brand. Polanski has swiftly turned himself into the Greens’ main asset; sharper than his predecessors, more media-savvy, more combative and far less embarrassed by the prospect of harnessing populism for his party’s good. Polanski,

In the aftermath of the Cold War, scholars such as Francis Fukuyama argued that liberal democracy represented the final stage of ideological evolution, famously framing it as “the end of history.”  However, what was celebrated as the final and best form of human government began to buckle under its own contradictions almost as soon as the Berlin Wall fell. “The end” became the starting point for a new political reordering, characterised by the rise of anti-liberal and, eventu

Since October 2023, the passive observer has witnessed seemingly unending cruelty and bloodlust exerted by the Israeli war machine. The state’s obtrusive expansion, retaliation and settlement policies have been in place practically since its inception, of course, but these have happened largely away from the public eye. The American, European or global audience has been aware, perhaps even against the actions of state, yet the public consensus on the Israeli regime has been a

Mexican democracy is the result of a long, complex, and painful historical struggle. It did not emerge overnight, nor was it a generous concession from those in power, but rather the fruit of decades of citizen pressure, political mobilisation, persecution, repression, and, in some cases, bloodshed by those demanding free elections and plural representation. Therefore, the recent attempt at electoral reform promoted by President Claudia Sheinbaum raised alarm bells : it was n