Give MPs age tests, demand voters

There were urgent demands last night for age tests on Members of Parliament as it emerged that some of them were acting strangely in the House of Commons and in government departments. 

The anonymous haters of refugees and migrants

This week The Independent ‘Voices’ section published my article calling on Britain to ‘put a brake’ on the country becoming ‘fundamentally inward-looking and xenophobic’. 

But many of the readers’ comments responding to my article seemed to be just that: inward-looking and xenophobic.

The Great British bunch of migrants (part 1)

• We’re all humans, isn't that what counts?

Last week British Prime Minister, David Cameron, referred to refugees camped in appalling conditions in Calais, France in derogatory terms as “a bunch of migrants”.

Labour front bencher, Chris Bryant, then reminded Mr Cameron in Parliament that his government Cabinet is “a bunch of migrants”.

But of course it goes much further than that. In all of Britain we’re a bunch of migrants – and refugees and migrants here have been responsible for achieving some of this country’s greatest successes.

Is the UK Prime Minister two-faced?

• Remembering yesterday's victims, but forgetting today's?

Yesterday was Holocaust Memorial Day, and UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced in Parliament that a new Holocaust memorial would be built next to Parliament.

Labour leader visits Calais and Dunkirk refugee camps

Yesterday, Britain’s Leader of the Opposition did what the Prime Minister hasn't done – he visited the squalid, dilapidated refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk to see the situation for himself.

Daily Express business model: selling prejudice and bigotry?

• Imagine Richard Desmond, owner of the Daily Express, pitching his business to the Dragons' Den

Imagine an imaginary scene in Dragons' Den, the popular BBC TV programme where millionaires decide if they'd like to invest in the business plans of 'wannabe' entrepreneurs.

And here comes Richard Desmond into the Den with an investment opportunity for his newspaper called the Daily Express. "So what’s your idea, Richard?" asks one of the Dragons.

Calais: Questions the Daily Mail must answer

The Mail on Sunday claimed that hundreds of migrants were 'illegally' entering Britain from Calais and 'being put up in hotels at taxpayers expense'. But was this entirely true? 

Yesterday I phoned the story’s reporter, Brendan Carlin, to ask him.

“I’ve got a plumbing emergency right now,” he responded. “My toilet’s blocked. Send me an email and I’ll try to answer your questions.”