Housing
David Binder
Freelance Writer
United Kingdom
Freelance writer covering society & culture, christianity, politics, social policy, football and more.
United Kingdom
Freelance writer covering society & culture, christianity, politics, social policy, football and more.
Housing
While Ed Miliband's plans this week are welcome, much more needs to be done to ease the increasingly hostile renting and housing conditions faced by a generation...
Mention the word "Peckham" and images of Del Boy, run down flats, and crime, disorder and nuisance behaviour might come to mind. But if such a wild stereotype were ever true, it surely isn't any more....
For those unaware, Trafalgar place is one of the many new housing developments in and around the Elephant & Castle ‘regeneration zone’, an area seemingly pounced upon for development due no doubt to the combination of great location and relatively cheap land (by London zone 1 standards anyway)....
Football
A match report of a friendly between Kettering Town and Southend Manor, including an interview with Kettering Town manager John Beck.
We're approaching the half-way point in this year's football season, and the Christmas and New Year rush may even make the pictures at the top and bottom of various league tables a little clearer than they are at the moment. One division, however, might already be considered to be one division divided into two...
The day was 24 May, 2003, the venue was Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and the occasion was the Division Three play-off final between AFC Bournemouth and my team, Lincoln City. The match itself ended in disappointment with Lincoln City (or the Imps...
Welfare, Tax and Benefits
The UK's Tax Burden (expressed in our report as Income Paid and National Insurance paid and Child Benefit and Tax Credits received) can be imagined as a large pie over which there are many discussions about how to divide it up. Or in other words: who is it that should shoulder the heaviest burden?...
Last week's budget was, if nothing else, rather dramatic. Not least because in the run up and during the speech itself, both David Cameron and George Osborne claimed (not for the first time) that the Conservatives are the party of 'Working Britain' and that under them work really will pay.
David Binder examines new research showing the hardening of public attitudes towards welfare recipients. He argues that the media has, and continues to play a major role in defining perceptions around welfare, making it easier for those in political power to pursue similar language and engage in policies that sit well with such perceptions.
In this article, I argue that a transferable tax allowance for married couples is a progressive measure - helping the poorer half of the population more than the richer. Increasing the personal income tax threshold on the other hand is regressive - helping the richer rather than the poorer.
Alan Milburn, the government’s social mobility ‘tsar’, last week released a report into child poverty and social mobility in which it was warned that, because work can no longer guarantee a way out of poverty, Britain risks seeing social mobility ‘go backwards’. David Binder looks at the findings of the report and examines some of the potential policy responses.
Benefit recipients are often portrayed negatively by politicians and the media. But if 'balancing the books' is the government's primary aim, demonising specific groups is unlikely to be productive. David Binder suggests increasing the housing supply, introducing rent controls and looking into ways to boost incomes to reduce the need for tax credits would be a more effective approach.
My aim in this article is to discuss food bank use, the affordability of essential goods and services and what both tell us about the changing nature of poverty in the UK.
George Osborne was described on Wednesday as the man who wants to have it all. He's a man for all seasons, someone who on the one hand can introduce policies with widescale 'man on the street' appeal, yet on the other be on the side of big business....
Politics
As the May 2015 General Election fast approaches, it appears that we are in the midst of the tightest contest for generations, with both major parties neck and neck and only polling between 30% and 35% of the popular vote. Moreover, most political commentators and academics share the view that ...
Because there haven't been enough articles analysing the aftermath of the general election, here's my 50 pence. What do you think? Feel free to comment below. Social media doesn't represent everyone's point of view, just a predominantly - but not exclusively - young (ish), vocal and left-leaning demographic.
I was in a hotel room just outside Reading when it happened. Watching Later with Jools Holland, a chill went down my spine when out of nowhere the pictures of singing and joviality faded out to be replaced by haunting words along the lines of 'we're now joining the BBC News Channel live.'...
So, apparently the 'unthinkable' has happened. In shock news, the polls (and YouGov in particular) were absolutely spot on and Jeremy Corbyn, maverick socialist, was by some distance elected leader of the Labour Party. It's clear, given the massive margin of victory, that his...
I have a terrible confession to make: I really like meat. I know, I'm a monster. Not literally, like the Loch Ness Monster or Albi the racist dragon, but for liking and consuming my fair share of beef, chicken, pork and lamb et al....
Alongside the more established parties, General Elections usually bring their fair share of serious and not so serious smaller parties, and 2015 is no exception. One party making something of a comeback is the Whig Party. Whilst to some the Whig name will illicit visions....
Christianity
A day is a long time in politics. At 10pm Thursday, 23June, polling stations closed in regard to a UK-wide referendum of the UK's membership of the European Union (EU). In the words of The Clash: Would we stay or would we go?
Deinviduation is a sociological theory which explains the change in behaviour brought about by a combination of loss of responsibility and accountability and an increase in anonymity. More specifically....
Many have argued that the evangelical church in the UK has been largely dominated by the middle class. More should be done to reach those in poorer, working-class areas....
I wonder whether you recognise the following lyrics: "Is it true today, that when people pray, cloudless skies will break, kings and queens will shake.... I'm gonna be, a history maker in this land." For those that don't know or need reminding, the song, History Maker, written by Martin James Smith of Christian supergroup Delirious?
Everyone seems to lead such an exciting life. Hardly a day goes by on my Facebook news feed without somebody announcing they're going to Barbados, they're in Barbados right now having the most amazing time...
Christmas, great! Looking forward to chilling out, spending time away from work, with the family. Christmas, great. Another Christmas having to endure Grandma's farts, trying (but inevitably failing) to avoid arguing with Christina and putting up with Dad's rants about Politics. Christmas, great! Looking forward to eating, drinking and getting Merrah!!
"Increasingly, we live in a world where nothing makes any sense, events come and go like waves of a fever leaving us confused and uncertain. Those in power tell us stories to help us make sense of the complexities of reality..." Bitter Lake , the latest documentary offering from filmmaker, Adam Curtis.
There's an election on! Or at least there will be come May 7th. And as was to be expected I suppose there's been all manner of hype and insufferable tweeting regarding who'll win, who won't, who we should vote for and who we shouldn't. For political nuts like me it's easy to be swept up...
Have you heard about the book about a boy who went to heaven and back? The 'real life' tale reads something like this; a six year old boy called Alex Malarkey is involved in a serious car crash, he is rushed to hospital and goes onto die.
Freedom of Speech
Imagine this, a Western government in the name of wanting to make sure we're not plotting a terrorist atrocity, or 'having our best interests at heart' by ensuring we're adhering to 'British values' introduces legislation to monitor our private lives through our TV's....
What do the "gay cake" case, the same sex marriage referendum in Ireland, university 'no platform' policies and the British government's aspirations for greater surveillance powers all have in common? They all bring into question how we define and uphold equality and liberty.
By David Binder What do the recent 'gay cake' case, the same sex marriage referendum in Ireland and the British government's aspirations for ''snooper's charter' all have in common? The answer lies in the fact that they all bring into question how we define and uphold both equ
By David Binder With the election mere days away, and with all manner of policies, arguments, counter-arguments, slogans, tweets and hashtags swamping us, you could be forgiven for not knowing who to vote for. One way to help navigate this dilemma is to ask 'what matters to me/my family/my dog
Transportation & Travel
The latest instalment of our weekly series , in which we use the Centre for Cities' data tools to crunch some of the numbers on Britain's cities. Last week in this slot, we looked at how the populations of Britain's largest cities had changed between 1981 and 2014.
In this piece, David Binder presents the top 25 Metro's in the world by network length.
At some point a few months ago, I thought it would be a good idea to research how far I could travel from London in a day using trains only....
So, as I come to the end of my time here in Barcelona, I thought now, as I sit in the departure lounge/on the plane on the way home to the UK, would be a good time to share some of my lasting impressions of the city they call.... Barcelona.
Reviews
Last week, the ever popular Louis Theroux returned to our TV screens for a one off documentary exploring the issue of alcoholism. In common with much of his work, Theroux, rather than drawing on statistics and expert evidence chose to explore this topic by talking to those affected themselves - the people experiencing alcoholism and...
If you were to analyse much of the media coverage for this continent, you could be forgiven for assuming that Africa seems far from 'united'. Trying to portray ...
With Christianity being asked to be more and more 'relevant' in the 21st century, it was striking to see an event which celebrated the 400th anniversary of one of the oldest translations of the Bible, the King James's Version (KJV). Armed with just this translation, some classical songs heavily influenced ...