St Patrick’s Day has firmly established itself on the annual calendar in England, with the help of a certain brand of stout, but England’s own patron saint’s day, St George’s Day, is a much more sedate affair. Why isn’t it bigger? What is stopping those in England from celebrating Englishness?

On 20th September the late Rev Dr. Oliver Lyseight was awarded a blue plaque by the Wolverhampton Civic & Historical Society in what marks an important chapter in the history of both Wolverhampton and of integration in the UK.

Another packed fringe event saw shadow justice minister Sadiq Khan MP, former Lib Dem MP Dr Evan Harris, Zoe Williams from the Guardian and David Lammy MP tackle the question What’s the answer to populism?, chaired by British Future’s Sunder Katwala, writes Steve Ballinger.

Local campaigners across the country won a small but important victory last week, as the government agreed to amend a flawed first world war commemoration scheme, writes Steve Ballinger .

On Monday 23rd September, British Future took part in an event at the Labour Party conference entitled What’s the answer to populism? Chaired by British Future director Sunder Katwala, guest speakers Zoe Williams from the Guardian, Sadiq Khan MP, David Lammy MP and Dr Evan Harris presented a plethora of views on the question.

As a practising Muslim I don’t believe that covering a woman’s face is something that Islam requires of her. I also don’t believe it’s fair to say that people who find the face veil threatening or intimidating are simply being racist or Islamophobic I don’t even believe that covering the face is particularly conducive to the country we live in. But then neither is the idea of banning it! writes Rabiha Hannan

The populist challenge comes in response to a political elite that is seen as out of touch and refuses to do what common sense demands. It is an argument about “them and us”. And it demands a response which neither changes nor concedes the argument. That was the message of the ‘Populism: have the politicians got the message?’ fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrat conference earlier this week, writes Steve Ballinger

Since the age of 15, Bernard Keightley, now 71, has worked in shipyards all over the north of England. Life at the docks was hard, mostly because of lack of health and safety measures at the time, and subsequently Keightley’s memories are infused with tales of death.

Retired Wimbledon footballer Vinnie Jones, star of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, has spoken out about England being “past its sell-by date.” In a Radio Times interview, Vinnie says that he would not return to Britain from his current home in Los Angeles as immigration has made the country “unrecognisable”. Steve Ballinger sends him a postcard from England.