The Spoon Drawer

With the awesome weather blessing the UK, it is most definitely calling for a staycation. Often less stressful and cheaper than going abroad, these locations are bursting at the seams with attractions for you to fill your time with! London Source: Bendavisual on Unsplash Why fly yourself to Venice, Italy this Summer, when you could visit Little Venice in London at a fraction of the price? Take a trip in a water taxi which resembles the traditional gondolas in the Italian city. Enjoy waterside cafes, pubs and restaurants during the summer months. Whilst enjoying the air of Italy around London, you can also enjoy the extravagant Georgian architecture and great outside spaces. If you are from out of the UK, you simply cannot leave without a taste of a British delicacy — pie and mash. This classic dish should be enjoyed in the East End for authenticity or in a higher end restaurant for a gastronomic rendition of the delicious dish! Manchester This City is home to some amazi...

Source At the beginning of May the UK marked its support for the teaching community with national teacher appreciation day , a day dedicated to sharing affection, both online and offline for the role that teachers undertake in society.   Conversely in the subsequent weeks, newspapers have been rife with stories of a growing crisis in the industry. Between unmanageable workloads, growing class sizes or an inability to recruit qualified staff, it is difficult to see how sincere or heartfelt this appreciation really is. Crisis The sense of crisis is supported by some recent stats. The department of education outlined that just under 40,000 teachers quit the profession in 2016, representing around 9% of the workforce. These departures have not been offset by a highly publicised recruiting drive, as there remains a shortfall of 30,000. This shortfall results in a negative knock on effect for the schools. Less teachers results in classes being combined. These large...

Source It has been over 6 years since Labour were ousted from power in the UK, bringing their 13-year reign to a rather abrupt end. Despite the fact that Labour oversaw one of the most successful economies in the UK’s history, Blair’s decision to take the country to war in Iraq proved to be too much for some voters, allowing the Conservatives to profit from a swing of 3.7%. However, this swing did not prove to be decisive enough, with the Labour party coming in second, only 1.2 million votes ahead of the third placed, Liberal Democrats. Since then we have heard a variety of bizarre statements from Tory and UKIP voters and politicians, ranging from: “Gordon Brown caused the Credit Crunch” to “Labour have ruined the economy forever”. It remains to be seen just how Labour inflicted a worldwide recession on the rest of the world, but why let facts and reason get in the way of a good old uneducated rant? The truth is that over the last 6 years we have seen Nick Clegg and the ...

After the big Scotland in/out referendum last year and the general election back in May, attentions have now firmly turned towards the next massive vote to impact upon the UK - that of EU membership. One of David Cameron's election pledges was that he'd open the debate on EU membership to the electorate, promising us a referendum before the end of 2017 to decide on whether we stay or leave. https://www.flickr.com/photos/124913477@N08/ Now of course just because the bigoted liar promised us a referendum as part of his election campaign that doesn't guarantee it has to happen. After all Cameron famously claimed he'd not be reducing tax credits and yet that's exactly what the party have tried to do this week, although thankfully they've so far failed to get the cuts past the House of Lords, but that's another issue! So Cameron's promises aren't worth the paper they're printed on however in this instance the backlash he'd face from his...

Opportunities for young people are in abundance in London. The capital has loads to offer in terms of education, internships and careers, with offices and connections to hundreds of internationally recognised brands; but only if you can afford it. London is becoming increasingly autonomous from the rest of the UK due to its inflated cost of living, the result of highly concentrated spending in London which has left other major cities in the country wanting the same treatment. Governments have been highly criticised for focusing growth in London, which has resulted in families being priced out of the area. Students and young professionals in London must be resilient, cost effective and efficient about their living situations if they are going to survive the high price-tag of the enviable London lifestyle. Here are some tips for living comfortably on a low income in the capital. Accommodation Housing is very expensive in London, especially if you’re in a highly popular p...