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4 days ago | 
bigissue.com | Charlotte Elton
Politics New data sharing laws will 'drive efficiencies in our public services'. But will humans become a rubber stamp? There will be “meaningful human involvement” in automated decisions, the technology minister has promised – but will it be more than a “rubber stamp”? As the Data (Use and Access) (DUA) Bill becomes law, that is the question plaguing privacy campaigners.
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1 week ago | 
bigissue.com | Charlotte Elton
Politics 'People on benefits didn't tank the economy. People on benefits are not responsible for the situation that the country finds itself in today' Mandy Fox’s disability benefits are up for review – and she is “absolutely terrified”. “It just makes you think I’m going to have to go back,” she tells Big Issue. “I don’t want to go back to what that was before PIP.
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1 week ago | 
bigissue.com | Charlotte Elton
Social Justice A new documentary and book explore the personal and professional life of the model, trans activist and author There’s a clip, in Munroe Bergdorf’s new documentary Love & Rage, in which she is grilled by tabloid titan Piers Morgan. “When you say ‘all white people are racist’, as a white person, I find that offensive!” he thunders across the Good Morning Britain desk.
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1 week ago | 
bigissue.com | Charlotte Elton
Social Justice 'If it's very clear that if this goes ahead, the wider cost to society will be bigger than any money they save' Disability benefit cuts will have a “catastrophic” impact on disabled people, a group of MPs has warned, with some individuals set to lose almost £900 per month. In March, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) proposed sweeping reductions to personal independence payments (PIP) and the health component of universal credit.
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2 weeks ago | 
bigissue.com | Charlotte Elton
Employment The government has two birds to kill: construction vacancies and youth economic inactivity. Apprenticeship reform, it hopes, is the stone High vis, hard hat, can’t lose. The building site photo opportunity is beloved by British politicians – and Keir Starmer is no exception. Since sweeping to power last July, the prime minister has visited his fair share of construction projects, declaring his government’s intention to “get Britain building”.
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2 weeks ago | 
bigissue.com | Charlotte Elton
Health 'From a day-to-day spending perspective, the NHS is the big winner out of this spending review,' experts told Big Issue The NHS received a big budget boost in the spending review – but the cash injection will mean painful cuts to other public services. Day-to-day spending on the free at point of use health service will increase by £29 billion per year until the end of this parliament, chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged.
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2 weeks ago | 
bigissue.com | Charlotte Elton
Social Justice 'I want to be a positive story of what PIP can do,' dad-of-four Mike tells Big Issue Without personal independence payment (PIP), Mike might not be here. “It saved my life,” he tells Big Issue. “It literally saved my life.”The father-of-four relies on the benefit to pay for the therapy that keeps his depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation at bay.
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2 weeks ago | 
bigissue.com | Charlotte Elton
Politics Reeves' spending review will set out just what (and who) the government really prioritises until the end of the decade On Wednesday (June 11), Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver the government’s first multi-year spending review. It’s a big deal. Laying out plans for everything from education and the NHS to prisons and housing, it will shape the political terrain until the end of the decade. In short: the government is about to show us what (and who) it really prioritises.
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3 weeks ago | 
bigissue.com | Charlotte Elton
Sponsored by Wales and West Housing Cardiff’s music scene is close-knit, passionate and bursting with talent. But for venues, it’s still an uphill climb If Rob Toogood didn’t run a rock and metal venue, he’d have nowhere to put his stuff. “All this would have to be in our house,” he tells the Big Issue. “That’s what my partner says.”“This” is no ordinary stash. It’s a shrine to metal: old Metallica touring posters, signed ticket stubs, framed merch tees.
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3 weeks ago | 
bigissue.com | Charlotte Elton
Music Make no mistake: Beyoncé isn’t asking to be let into the country music canon – she wants to remake it Twenty minutes into Beyoncé’s seismic Cowboy Carter show at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, she launches into “The Star-Spangled Banner”. The singer is surrounded by the paraphernalia of Americana: Rodeo kitsch, sequinned red, white and blue, innumerable cowboy hats. But this isn’t your typical moment of patriotism.
