Civil serviceDenmarkDonald TrumpLabour PartylatinosNorwayundercurrentsvikings

Latest from the Newsroom

18:30

Les Tories préfèrent Kamala Harris à Donald Trump

18:30

Tories want Kamala Harris over Donald Trump

15:15

Est-ce que Sturgeon et Salmond ont tué le SNP ?
August 20, 2024 - 5:55pm

→ Labour stumbles into another cronyism controversy

In a development that will do little to quell accusations that Whitehall officials are overly politicised, a staffer at a Labour-associated think tank is reportedly taking on a senior role in the Civil Service. Guido Fawkes reports that Jess Sargeant, previously director of constitutional change at Labour Together, is to begin a job at the Cabinet Office’s Propriety and Constitution Group, which acts as an ethics watchdog for Government departments.

Keir Starmer’s government has already received criticism from the Opposition for appointing civil servants who have previously worked for ideologically-aligned think tanks, including Labour Together. Former Downing Street adviser Henry Newman labelled the appointment of Sargeant, who has now locked her social media accounts, “absolutely extraordinary” and “shocking”. In the last hour Politico has reported that Sargeant was “hired to advise on constitutional issues, which is her area of expertise, and not ethics”. All above board, then…

→ Trump’s Latino lead fizzles 

For years, talking heads have heralded a Latino realignment in favour of the GOP. The party has been making gains for years with this demographic, and registered-Republican Latino voters were more likely to plan to vote this year than Latino Democrats by 15 points in July.

That gap, however, has disappeared since Joe Biden exited the race and made way for Kamala Harris. Among Latino voters, 84% of registered Republicans plan to vote, compared to 83% of registered Democrats, according to a Harris Poll survey conducted for Axios. That means the gap in voting intention has narrowed by 14 points in just a month. No wonder Trump is still fixated on Biden.

→ Vikings provide lessons for UK riot response

The growth of central authority — including those that use violence in an official capacity — reduces violence, a new study of skeletal remains found in Norway and Denmark suggests. Remains from Viking-Age Norway were notably more likely to show signs of trauma, and weapons were far more likely to be found in Norway than in Denmark.

Denmark had a far more stratified society compared to Norway during the Viking Age, with more centralised authority, according to the researchers. Official executions were among the most common forms of violence in Denmark, while these were rare in Norway. “Where present, robust centres of authority helped contain violence in Scandinavia,” the researchers found. Has Keir Starmer been taking notes?