The JSPrice Perception

Muslims descend to Mecca for Eid al-Adha (Image: The Telegraph) I woke up yesterday morning disappointed in The Times newspaper. I don't often act this way towards a publication which I've proudly subscribed to for nearly five years. However, splashed on their Bank Holiday front cover read 'Christian child forced into Muslim foster care'. While any child forced into doing something they don't want is disturbing to say the least, I thought for them to explicitly include religion was a cheap shot. The story itself was an investigative piece. It describes a five year old girl's six month foster journey, living with a family which their second language is English. The family happened to also follow the Islamic faith and obeyed the rules the religion apparently follows. The girl was reportedly banned from eating a bacon carbonara, had a cross necklace removed and was encouraged to learn Arabic. The local authority, in Tower Hamlets in east London, refused to...

Princess Diana on her wedding day, 1981 (Image: Royal Fans) Death is tragic. Losing someone close can be painful beyond comprehension. In an ideal situation, following the funeral and memorial, you'd expect - and hope - that the individual who has passed to rest in peace. When I say 'rest in peace', I mean the person is laid to rest, be remembered and reminisced every now and then - without any need to gossip or speculate constantly about their past. Sadly, more often than not, this isn't the case. This 31st August marks exactly 20 years since the sudden departure of Diana, Princess of Wales and it seems as if anything is being done to build her public profile. Diana's death in 1997 shocked the world. Many adults who I talk to knew exactly where they were when they discovered her passing. Even as a six-year-old, I have some vivid memories of news broadcasts about it. Reading about how the news was reported during my time as a journalism student in my late te...

BBC Broadcasting House, Central London (Image: BBC) When growing up, I was often advised never to ask these two questions: How old are you, and how much do you get a year? I'm not sure if anyone were raised this way too, but you wouldn't have thought so judging by the mass' latest attempt to discredit the BBC. Before I go on, I want to say that I'm massively pro-BBC. Their entertainment value, their unbiased news coverage, their globally respected content, their fantastic presenters and their impressive diverse reflection on national and international society. I can't doubt the Corporation and believe it deserves its proud 'British Institution' status. The BBC isn't perfect, but which large organisation doesn't have baggage? Indeed, there are certain avenues which require reforming, but I'll explain where I feel these need to take place later. But recent weeks has seen the BBC witness to seriously damaging backlash. It's arguably th...

Corbyn a day after the 8th June 2017 general election Jeremy Corbyn has exceeded many people's expectations. He wrote off every commentator who predicted a dramatic defeat for the Labour Party he led in the general election last month. Since then, his fame has risen beyond his wildest dreams with praise aimed at his positive campaigning and the empathetic handling of the recent attack in Manchester and the tragedy at Grenfell Tower. And who can forget his performance at Glastonbury, worthy of a Grammy nomination? Because of all this, Labour now leads the Conservatives in some polls, should there be an election right now. That said, I feel Corbyn-fever must be contained. 'Our Jezza' has a long way to go to convince the majority of the public that he is the right man to lead a government and the country. It is really difficult to clearly view his chances of walking into 10 Downing Street with a mandate simply because of the current Prime Minister, Theresa May'...

Grenfell Tower after blaze (Image: BBC) For those reading from abroad and unfamiliar with the UK's housing policy, the country is enduring a 'crisis'. To be honest, this has been branded about by media commentators, politicians and property experts for decades. Those living abroad may have been oblivious to this in the past, they were surely given a taster to the problem UK's housing industry is facing after the events surrounding Grenfell Tower. On Wednesday 14th June, Grenfell Tower, located in north Kensington, west London became the central focus in the global news agenda after the block of apartments was set ablaze. It happened very early in the day - shortly before 1am, when many of the residents were asleep. But the time between the fires starting on the fourth floor to its spread to the top of the building was too quick for people to react and escape. This tragedy, as I write this, hasn't a final death toll but regardless of its number, it's b...

UK Border Control (Image: fullfact.org) The Conservative Party's pledge that net migration will be reduced to tens of thousands is soon becoming a reality - well, sort of. This may sound like a bold statement, but think of this as a prediction for what is to come in the next 5-7 years for European Union (EU) citizens in particular. Yet, this will not be thanks to the Tories vision, neither would it really be down to the reported increased levels of 'hate crimes' aimed at Eastern Europeans over the past year. The reason I'm arguing here is purely economic. This aspect of the immigration debate is rarely discussed. Immigration is a highly emotive topic in which both sides of the argument will often agree to disagree. You'll often hear someone state there are 'too many' immigrants coming to the UK while another would counter that by stating that they're a total asset, performing employment duties no Brit would want to do. Both sides of the debat...

Solidarity in Manchester : CBS News) What happened in Manchester on Monday 22nd May was horrifying beyond comprehension. 22 people, the youngest of which being eight years of age, died in circumstances nobody should endure. How can anyone cause an atrocity of this scale at a very innocent event? How can anyone want to cause an atrocity of any scale? To me, it's impossible to even consider doing such a thing and I find it hard to find the true reason behind anyone thinking about causing tragic disruption. Sadly, this isn't the first attack with multiple casualties the UK had witnessed this year. It's only been two months since a man drove into dozens in Westminster. Before the government even considered strategising and deliver proposals regarding security, they called for a general election. Technically, as I write this, we have no Parliament. So strategy is put on hold until Friday 9th June when MPs are elected. As a short term solution, Prime Minister Theresa May...