The recent mainstreaming of wealth taxes as a political tendency in the UK has demonstrated an appetite for solutions to inequality. Although there have been successful debates, won with logic as much as rhetoric, a tangible wealth tax policy is still in its infancy.  The Green Party, the main policy vehicle for the Wealth Tax, is seeking between 1% and 2%  of tax on assets held over £10 million per annum. Yet who exactly pays, and how they pay, remain unanswered questions. W

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

If you follow mainstream Irish and Northern Irish press, you may have noticed an uptick this past year in articles referencing “Irish reunification” or “border poll”. There is a push by aligned Irish nationalist parties , academics , and VCS groups  for a border poll as soon as possible.  Some supporting arguments have been opportunistic – members of the SDLP argued during last year’s “Reform-o-mania” that Northern Ireland needed to exit the UK to escape the prospect of a Far

There is a pervasive sense of societal fracture these days. Politics has become defined by dramatic narratives of battle  between the Greens and Reform UK based on story rather than rooted in reality. Culture seems increasingly guided by a furious rejection of tradition, establishment, and imperialist pasts, or a righteous confabulated nostalgia for them. Compare Kneecap with a far-right AI generated rapper , or indeed the culture of the Oscars with the culture of “Looksmaxxi

I was driving in the suburban Newtownabbey area just north of Belfast recently. I went up past the Ballyduff estate, on my way to Larne or Carnlough, I forget. My attention was drawn to some flags on lampposts, at a crossroads, which I didn’t recognise. I have learnt to tune out the various assortment of flags. The Union Jack, The Ulster Banner, Orange Order flags, flute band flags, State of Israel, or even Danish flags. However, this flag drew my attention. They were four br

Three years on from a sweeping victory  in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Polanski becomes Prime Minister, presiding over an undefeatable Green Party majority in the House of Commons. The people of Britain feel hope and vindication after prolonged stagnation. It is day one in a new era of prosperity and peace. The UK will begin healing, and all will dance happily around a maypole. This is more-or-less the presented vision of Polanski’s Green Party in 2026. It is a kind an

If we were to ask whether the UK Wealth Tax Movement was successful last year, an instructive litmus test might be the frequency with which the topic appeared in BBC headlines. This is undoubtedly a major feat, but only half the battle.  Commentators everywhere, like coiled springs , raised their concerns about how effective and feasible the tax would be, rattling off the list of unintended consequences. The media asserted – the Wealth Tax cannot be introduced until all conce

If the previous decade permitted us at safe distance  to  pontificate  about Polycrisis, 2026 is the junctural year for communities to recognise their need to act. Risks are mounting, their potential impacts are becoming more severe. US users of social media sounded alarms concerning the prospect of a global recession all throughout 2025, particularly over Trump’s trade tariffs  and an alleged AI stock market bubble.  Neither prediction has definitively occurred (yet), but th

Drama in Northern Ireland’s devolved legislature reached a fever pitch in recent weeks. Minister for Education, Paul Givan, lost a symbolic vote of no confidence  in the wake of a “fact-finding mission” to Israel, using his department’s social media to share photos from a school in annexed West Bank territory.  The visit to Israel raises many questions, perhaps chiefly, was it necessary for the Minister of a devolved regional government to go on a so-called fact-finding missi

In Northern Ireland, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly turned down an invitation  to attend the inauguration of Irish President-elect Catherine Connolly. She had cited her attendance at a number of Remembrance Day events. Some nationalists and unionists claimed this rejection was political , rather than anything to do with Remembrance Day taking priority in a scheduling conflict.  It cannot be said definitively one way or the other if they are correct in this asserti