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Owen Jones

@OwenJones84

Owen Jones is a columnist for The Independent. He was born in Sheffield and grew up in Stockport. After graduating, he worked as a trade union and parliamentary researcher. His first book, 'Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class', was published in June 2011. He is currently working on his second book, on the British Establishment, for Penguin.

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Socialism’s critics look at Venezuela - We told you so

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Owen Jones: The hypocrisy of the Great Powers is on display

Thatcher as she appeared on Spitting Image
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Owen Jones: Give us Spitting Image back! We're living in a satirical

A new phenomenon of self-unemployment needs investigation
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New phenomenon of self-unemployment needs investigation

This all-too silent pandemic urgently needs to be addressed
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Owen Jones: The drug we ignore that kills thousands every single year

Channel 4’s controversial ‘Benefits Street’ highlights a need for ‘regular reviews of standards’
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Owen Jones: My battle to stop demonising people on benefits

Tristram Hunt parliamentary candidate for the Labour party poses for pictures as he canvasses in Stoke On Trent on April 15, 2010 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
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Owen Jones: Tristram Hunt was bang out of order to cross a picket

Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, arrives to speak at a fringe event to the second day of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester Town Hall on September 30, 2013 in Manchester, England.
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Watch out, Northerners, the Ukip phenomenon is coming!

Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat Chief Treasury Secretary,  has written to Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland (pictured), to warn him about an average £1,000 rise in income tax per person
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Owen Jones: What a fairer Scotland would look like

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Owen Jones: Would you really trust a Met officer to wield a water

Katie Hopkins attacks White Dee, calling her the 'patron saint of druggies and drop-outs'
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The Hopkinsisation of political discourse is set to continue

Social and economic inequality blights Britain. Here's my nine-point manifesto for change
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Owen Jones's 'Agenda for Hope': We want a fairer society – and

Russell Brand, who preached revolution on ‘Newsnight’
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Sorry, David Blunkett – but Russell Brand has a point

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Sorry, David Blunkett – but Russell Brand has a point

Russell Brand, who preached revolution on ‘Newsnight’
Jobbik leader Gabor Vona is coming to London this weekend to host a rally
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Owen Jones: A visit by the leader of Hungary’s poisonous Jobbik

Paul O’Grady, is best known for his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage
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Michael McIntyre? Can’t we give a chat show to Paul O’Grady

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An open letter from Owen Jones to Ukip voters

Fungi and his dog in Channel 4's 'Benefits Street'
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Benefits Street: A healthy media would stand up to the powerful and

Fungi and his dog in Channel 4's 'Benefits Street'
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Benefits Street: A healthy media would stand up to the powerful and

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Owen Jones: Footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger has made a brave and

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Unhappy? Just blame immigrants!

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How Ed Miliband can harness the right's tactics to bring in a wave of

Members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot were given two-year jail terms for protesting against President Vladimir Putin on the altar of Moscow's main cathedral
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Pussy Riot: A beacon of hope in Russia’s dark days

Margaret Thatcher during a visit to her old school, Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ Grammar, in 1982
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Anachronistic and iniquitous, grammar schools are a blot on the

Uruguay's Senate gave final congressional approval to create the world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana, an audacious experiment that will have the government oversee production, sales and consumption of a drug illegal almost everywhere el
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If our politicians were brave enough, or even simply rational, they

Labour MP John Woodcock
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Get well soon, Mr Woodcock. Your bravery should help break the

Several hundred thousand people march past the Westminster Clock Tower (Big Ben) towards Hyde Park to protest against the proposed war in Iraq February 15, 2003 in London
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Patriotism is not the same as spineless adoration of the Establishment

Uruguay's Senate gave final congressional approval to create the world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana, an audacious experiment that will have the government oversee production, sales and consumption of a drug illegal almost everywhere el
Comment

If our politicians were brave enough, or even simply rational, they

Labour MP John Woodcock
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Get well soon, Mr Woodcock. Your bravery should help break the

Several hundred thousand people march past the Westminster Clock Tower (Big Ben) towards Hyde Park to protest against the proposed war in Iraq February 15, 2003 in London
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Patriotism is not the same as spineless adoration of the Establishment

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One day ‘coming out’ won't be a thing - and the reaction to Tom

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One day ‘coming out’ won't be a thing - and the reaction to Tom

Nick Clegg has now swung to support the Tories’ campaign on immigration
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Nick Clegg's scapegoating of immigrants is his most unforgiveable Tory

Christian guesthouse owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull
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Martyrs? Guest-house owners who turned away gay couple on

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These deaths are tragedies, but they won’t stop me cycling in London

Sir Bernard Ingham called the 40 per cent of Northerners who would never vote Tory "demented"
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Bernard Ingham says Northerners who loathe the Tories are

Sir Bernard Ingham called the 40 per cent of Northerners who would never vote Tory "demented"
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Bernard Ingham says Northerners who loathe the Tories are

Troll dolls
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Let me introduce you to my trolls

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Why do private-sector zealots choose to ignore the countless ways

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Plebgate shows the police need reform

Broadcast days: George Orwell
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Why do so many critics of those of us on the left assume we are

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The Grangemouth dispute makes it clear who really runs the country

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Rising energy costs: the bullies at the Big Six must be stood up to

Huhne’s ex-wife Vicky Pryce was released after serving two months and is writing a book entitled Prisonomics, focusing on how the prison system treats women
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Vicky Pryce will do fine. But there are so many other ex-cons who

Owen Jones at Bramhall High School
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Owen Jones goes Back to School: ‘Why do people tell you to imagine

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Ed Miliband isn’t offering socialism – but the Tories are still

The marriage tax allowance is nothing more than an attempt to bribe people into a narrow view of what constitutes a good family.
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We can’t afford welfare for disabled people, but apparently we can

Laura Carmichael, right, as Lady Edith
Reviews

Review: Downton Abbey season 4 premiere - A fascinating insight into

Reviews

Review: Downton Abbey season 4 premiere - A fascinating insight into

Laura Carmichael, right, as Lady Edith
A group of artists enjoyed a month's free residency at a £22.5m property in Clarges Mews, Mayfair, before being evicted
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Labour's plan to eject squatters won't fix Britain's broken housing

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Only a new wave of socialism can end the great squeeze on us all

The Lobbying Bill could have a chilling effect
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Owen Jones: Under the disguise of fixing lobbying, this Bill will

A Syrian rebel tries on a gas mask
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For the Syrians’ sakes and for our own, we must not intervene

A Syrian rebel tries on a gas mask
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For the Syrians’ sakes and for our own, we must not intervene

Muslims gather on the steps of Trafalgar Square to celebrate the end of Ramadan
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Anti-Muslim bigotry is pervasive. Standing up against it is neither

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My message to today’s A-level students: seize the future

Professor Richard Dawkins, 71, best known for being an atheist
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Not in our name: Dawkins dresses up bigotry as non-belief - he cannot

The current figures would give Ed Miliband a majority of 32 at a general election
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I know it’s the summer holidays, Ed, but what is Labour’s message?

Bradley Manning arrives for the start of the sixth week of his court martial trial at Fort Meade
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Cleared of aiding the enemy, Bradley Manning still faces a lifetime in

Abusive online commenters, known as trolls, can hide behind the mask of digital profiles
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Trolls, Caroline Criado-Perez, and how to tackle the dark side of

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The British Library: For aspiring misanthropes, it’s a ripe hunting

British Chancellor George Osborne leaves 11 Downing Street on August 11, 2011 in London, England.
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Owen Jones: Cruel? Certainly. Unforgivable? Beyond doubt. But the

A woman posts a letter in a Royal Mail post box in London on July 10, 2013
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Owen Jones: For Tories, privatisation is still a matter of dogmatic

Leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband addresses TUC members in Hyde Park at the end of a march in protest against the government's austerity measures on October 20, 2012 in London, England.
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This attack on Labour’s union links must not succeed

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What's killing Labour? A thousand failures to oppose the cuts

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What's killing Labour? A thousand failures to oppose the cuts

Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, with his wife Leslie
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When anti-gay bigotry is just another lock on the closet

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The best way to fight the EDL's anti-Muslim bigotry is by showing

The People's Assembly can cohere the Left
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The People's Assembly will cohere the left - and finally give Labour

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The United States should be in the dock, not Bradley Manning

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The United States should be in the dock, not Bradley Manning

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Farewell, Shameless. Your heirs have work to do

The former Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross tried to fend off a storm of criticism on Twitter today after he appeared to claim that rape victims were partly responsible if they were drunk or provocatively dressed, and domestic violence against women was exaggerated.
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Nick Ross, you are dangerous and misguided

Questions: Eric Schmidt is lying low after the PAC branded his firm 'devious'
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The moral case on tax avoidance is overwhelming - and we all know

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London looks on during the presentation ceremony of the Men's T54 Marathon on day 11 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at Olympic Stadium on September 9, 2012 in London, England.
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Britons are lazy? Don’t let Boris get away with that

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A common sense policy to create jobs and combat what ails Britain

An elderly passenger boards a bus at Victoria station on February 20, 2007 in London.
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Don't be fooled: Iain Duncan Smith’s attack on pensioners is really

A woman gestures as she stands in the debris following three near-simultaneous car bombs in Tuz Khurmatu, which lies 175 kilometres (110 miles) north of Baghdad, on April 15, 2013. More than a dozen bombings across Iraq killed at least 19 people in the la
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Our shameful hierarchy - some deaths matter more than others

Members of the Cabinet, alongside former Prime Ministers and members of the opposition on the front row at today's service
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Margaret Thatcher's funeral was a political broadcast

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Our hate figures and heroes are mere surfers on the tide of history

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Thatcherism was a national catastrophe that still poisons us

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Labour cannot win by debating welfare on the Tories' terms

John, 9, Duwayne, 13, Jade, 10, Jayden, 5, Jesse, 6, and Jack Philpott, 7, all died after a blaze was started deliberately at the family's semi-detached house in Allenton, Derby
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Philpott verdict: Blame the man, not his class

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Farewell to the NHS, 1948-2013: a dear and trusted friend finally

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How the People's Assembly can challenge our suffocating political

Liam Byrne MP, Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
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Workfare: Why did so many Labour MPs accept this brutal, unforgivable

Members of the British government shadow cabinet pose for a family photo on February 9, 2010 in central London. (Back row L to R) David Mundell, Lord Strathclyde, Greg Clark, Owen Paterson, Chris Grayling, Jeremy Hunt, Philip Hammond, Nick Herbert, Sir George Young, David Willetts (Middle row L to R) Mark Francois, Lady Anelay, Andrew Mitchell, Francis Maude, Andrew Lansley, Theresa Villiers, Grant Shapps, Caroline Spelman, Oliver Letwin, Patrick McCloughlin (Front row L to R) Cheryl Gillan, Liam Fox, Ken Clarke, Baroness Warsi, William Hague, David Cameron, George Osborne, Theresa May, Eric Pickles, Michael Gove and Baroness Neville-Jones.
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Cameron's days in office may be numbered, but the national agenda is

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How the People's Assembly can challenge our suffocating political

Liam Byrne MP, Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
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Workfare: Why did so many Labour MPs accept this brutal, unforgivable

Members of the British government shadow cabinet pose for a family photo on February 9, 2010 in central London. (Back row L to R) David Mundell, Lord Strathclyde, Greg Clark, Owen Paterson, Chris Grayling, Jeremy Hunt, Philip Hammond, Nick Herbert, Sir George Young, David Willetts (Middle row L to R) Mark Francois, Lady Anelay, Andrew Mitchell, Francis Maude, Andrew Lansley, Theresa Villiers, Grant Shapps, Caroline Spelman, Oliver Letwin, Patrick McCloughlin (Front row L to R) Cheryl Gillan, Liam Fox, Ken Clarke, Baroness Warsi, William Hague, David Cameron, George Osborne, Theresa May, Eric Pickles, Michael Gove and Baroness Neville-Jones.
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Cameron's days in office may be numbered, but the national agenda is

Hugo Chavez at a campaign rally in 2003
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Hugo Chavez was a democrat, not a dictator, and showed a progressive

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The latest front in Operation Divide and Rule sees soldiers used to

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning
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Sacrifice of Bradley Manning's liberty will not have been made in vain

George Osborne in Eastleigh last week
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As Tory austerity inflicts misery on millions, Labour should

Mr Galloway, who is the Respect party MP for Bradford West, had been speaking in the debate organised by Christ Church college in favour of the motion: "Israel should withdraw immediately from the West Bank".
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The Left should learn about plain speaking from George Galloway

Pedestrians pass by anti-war posters during a candlelight protest against the U.S. near the U.S. embassy January 4, 2003 in Seoul, South Korea.
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What a tragedy that we couldn't stop the war in Iraq despite marching

Campaigners celebrate outside Parliament
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Equal marriage: As we celebrate, let's not forget those who fought to

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Equal Marriage: A reminder of historic sacrifices could not calm

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