Nigel Farage, the former leader of the quasi-fascist UK Independence Party (UKIP) will be forever known as the man who helped ensure his country left the European Union, then ran away when the shit hit the fan. Literally days after the referendum results were released, the ...read more
Apparently, British politicians are determined to return their country to the dark ages with one of the most regressive pieces of legislation in the nation's history. The Psychoactive Substances Bill passed its third reading in the Commons yesterday, and looks to go into effect ...read more
In a stunning victory, 100-1 underdog and old school leftie Jeremy Corbyn has won the Labour party leadership contest with an astonishing 59% of the vote. It was the biggest electoral mandate of any political party leader in British history, and a clear endorsement of Corbyn's ...read more
(Pictured above: Conservative Ian Duncan Smith, the architect of Britain's welfare reform) If you want a very good example of how destructive conservative economics can be, look no further than Great Britain and the huge economic revolution the Tory government has foisted upon ...read more
There are roughly 700,000 British expats living in the United States right now -- many of whom will be uncomfortably celebrating American Independence on the Fourth of July. As an Englishman who has lived in the States for over 10 years, I've learned a few things about ...read more
Britain and America are both sports proud nations. Their national identities are built partly on the sports they created, and every weekday and weekend millions of citizens sit glued to their television sets watching their favorite athletes compete against each other. Americans ...read more
A black British woman from Yorkshire whose business was struggling due to racism decided to do something about it, posting a sign on her cafe door telling customers who were “allergic” to black people not to come in. From the Independent Martha-Renee Kolleh, who lives in the ...read more
The fourth of July means different things to different people. To Americans, it is a celebration of their independence from the British Empire. To Brits, it is a day of sorrow at the loss of a very big pot of money. The team here at The Daily Banter are a mix of Americans and ...read more
In the wake of the murder of British soldier Drummer Lee Rigby earlier this week in London, there have been numerous public discussions about the use of the word 'Terrorist' in reference to the killers. Kojo Koram wrote an excellent piece on the Banter, arguing that the term ...read more
There's a big hullabaloo going on in Britain about Margaret Thatcher's death and the subsequent celebrations in pockets around the nation. In Glasgow's George Square (where protest about Thatcher's poll tax took place in 1989), hundreds of people gathered wearing hats, opened ...read more
I grew up in London during the 1980's -- a Thatcher child if you will. My memories of the first female Prime Minister are not fond ones. When I started going to school we used to get fresh milk during break time -- a result of the government's effort to help poor children get ...read more
Taking it easy around here at The Daily Banter for a couple of days during the Thanks Giving holiday - back up to full speed next week. In the mean time, check out George Monbiot's fascinating piece on the growing trend of children growing up detached from their natural ...read more
By Ben Cohen: If you know anyone affected by mental illness, you can appreciate just how serious it can be, not only for the person suffering but for the family and friends connected to them. Mental illness is a taboo topic that has forced many people afflicted by depression, ...read more
By Ben Cohen: The banking crisis in 2008 should have resulted in prison sentences for hundreds of Wall St executive and regulators responsible for decimating the global economy. Thus far, no major executive or government official has been carted of to jail - a horrifying ...read more
By Ben Cohen: Predictably, elites in finance, business and the media have resoundingly condemned the Leftist uprising in Europe, complaining that the populist economic policies they are proposing will ruin the global economy. Take for example David Brook's latest piece in the ...read more
By Ben Cohen: After enacting extreme austerity measure in the UK with the promise that cutting spending would solve the economic crisis, the Conservative government has a lot of explaining to do after it was announced last week that Britain was falling back into recession again. ...read more
By Ben Cohen: The field of economics is often referred to as a 'junk science', mostly because it tries to explain human behavior in mathematical terms. This is almost impossible - humans are emotional and irrational, thus predicting their behavior accurately is harder than ...read more
The Prime Minister will warn that Britain’s road network is “falling behind” the rest of the world as he suggests that private companies should run motorways and A-roads. Under the plans, the companies will receive a portion of the annual vehicle licence fee to maintain and ...read more
Lord Peter Mandelson has penned an interesting article published in the NewStatesman on the European Left's need to intelligently reform its agenda to become more in tune with globalization. It's interesting because it gives an insight into a politician who thrived in an era of ...read more
From the Independent: Chancellor George Osborne defended the Government's austerity package today after Britain was threatened with the loss of its AAA credit rating amid fears over weaker growth prospects and potential shocks from the eurozone crisis. Ratings agency Moody's ...read more
Margaret Thatcher stated the following after the war with Argentina in 1982: The spirit of the South Atlantic was the spirit of Britain at her best. It has been said that we surprised the world, that British patriotism was rediscovered in those spring days. It was never really ...read more
From the Guardian: The mother of Stephen Lawrence accused the police of putting her through 18 years of grief and uncertainty after witnessing the conviction of two of her son's killers for his racist murder nearly a generation ago. Outside a grey and rainswept central ...read more
I have long argued with friends of mine that voting for the Conservative Party in Britain (or the Republicans in America) basically means voting to help rig the government to benefit the rich. The political parties in both countries are two wings of a business party. One side ...read more
Another nail in the coffin for neo liberalism in Britain (from the Guardian): An extra £5bn of capital investment, funded by spending cuts elsewhere, will form the centrepiece of an overall £30bn national infrastructure programme due to be announced by George Osborne on ...read more
(Bank of England) Britain woke up to the following news today: Sir Mervyn King expressed fears that Britain is in the grip of the world's worst ever financial crisis after the Bank of England announced it was injecting £75bn into the ailing economy. The Bank's governor said the ...read more
