At the end of a week when BP were fined $4.5 billion for the Deepwater Horizon disaster, attention should turn to avoiding the continuation of another waste of natural resources; human potential. Because every day thousands more barrels are being wasted by the promotion of a pursuit of happiness through synthetic means. Plugging this leak is a task for us all.

Beware analyses of mid-term by-elections (including this one, if you like). They are prone either to exaggerate or understate their meaning.

The three newest MPs in the Commons came together on Saturday to campaign for Labour ahead of the forthcoming Rotherham by-election. Corby by-elect...

Here's Barack Obama showing his 'not impressed' face with Olympic gold medallist McKayla Maroney, courtesy of the White House Flickr feed. Maro...

Independent candidates have won 12 of the 41 posts in the first elections for crime commissioners, with many shunning bigger political candidates in t...

It is now clear that the PCC elections are on track for the lowest turnout in British history. Yesterday many polling stations stood empty. And when we say, 'stood empty' that is - in few cases - the literal truth.

An in-depth investigation into dire voter turnout at the polls for police and crime commissioners is being launched by an elections watchdog. The E...

As low turnouts continue to be recorded across the country, Conservative MP Conor Burns has said that he believes the Tory Party will "regret" creatin...

The Police and Crime Commissioner elections have drawn shockingly low turnouts across the country and in some extreme cases, polling stations failed t...

While these low turnouts will be debated and analysed, one thing is clear: they should sound the death knell for the ludicrously shrill cries from some quarters of the Tory party and their supporters for greater restrictions on trade union ballots.

This weeks' protest outside the Irish Embassy in London over the death of Savita Halappanavar was a first for me. I've been to dozens of pro-choice protests before but this was the first time I've attended one with no sign whatsoever of a counter-protest. I guess it's hard to claim to be 'pro-life' when someone is actually dead.

David Cameron appears to have strong support from the British people for taking a tough line on the EU budget. It's far from being a black and white picture however.

They may not have received the blanket coverage of the US election, but the presidential election in Ecuador is in full swing. And it's weird. A bu...

Gaza has been under siege since January 2006, after its residents dared to elect a Hamas goverment. The subsequent economic blockade imposed upon the Strip by the Israeli government at one stage prevented the residents of Gaza from importing, among other things, coriander, ginger, nutmeg and, even, newspapers.

Disgraced peer Lord Hanningfield spent more than £286,000 on a council credit card over a five-year period. Essex County Council published a full ...

It's easy for politicians to look tough by asking questions, it's harder for them to stand up and take action. The challenge for campaigners now is how to turn this surge of interest in tax avoidance into people-powered pressure that forces a genuine, tangible result.

The international community must be clear in its call for an immediate ceasefire - that means telling friends that they must stop as well as making the demand on enemies.

Voting for England and Wales's first police and crime commissioners begins on Thursday under the most radical shake-up of the service in half a centur...

Barnardo's believes that the scandal of child poverty in this country will only be tackled when action is taken to improve both the income and the access to services that the poorest families have. We know that money matters to the poorest families - especially when rising living costs, stagnating wages, a weak labour market and spending cuts are placing more pressure on them than ever before. Many families in poverty in the UK live on just £12 per person per day after housing costs. That £12 has to stretch to cover everything: food, electricity, water, gas, bus fares.