TheyWorkForYou.com Along with The Public Whip, this is the best site for monitoring your MP's voting record, expenditure and speeches. It also reports the debates and written questions in a more legible format than the official parliament website, together with streamed footage of the debates.

Labour party For historic reasons the Labour Party is inclined towards comprehensive government involvement to help the poor and disadvantaged. It could be said they prefer equality of outcome over equality of opportunity [see Milliband, E. in Giddens & Diamond (2005)].

JStore Like the science version (ScienceDirect) this holds a number of philosophical, maths and arts journals. Like ScienceDirect, you will need access to it via a library, university or subscription.

UK National Statistics The gateway for the statistics compiled by the Office for National Statistics, a department headed by the (impartial) UK Statistics Authority.

Conservative party The Conservatives are traditionally believers in a small state and advocates of the free market, but now condone some state intervention to ensure equality of opportunity.

Project Gutenberg Many of the source material used in these pages (Mill, Hobbes etc) are out of copyright. They can often be found for free on the Project Gutenberg website, which is staffed by volunteers.

UK Parliament Parliament's website contains the Hansard (the official transcript of parliamentary proceedings), and other information about the workings of parliament. It also has full information about the legislation MPs will be voting on, including short summaries.

Liberal Democrats This party's aspirations are explicit in their constitution: to promote 'a fair, free and open society, [with] liberty, equality and community, [but not] poverty, ignorance or conformity.' [Liberal Democrat Federal Constitution, 2009]

Europa The website for the European Union may look like a well thought-out parody of bureaucratic nonsense (when we looked at it, the main headline was 'How safe are your Christmas lights?'), but it does try its best to convey the grudging usefulness of the eu.

ScienceDirect If you are visiting ScienceDirect from a library or university, you may have full access to this website which holds thousands of peer-reviewed papers. If not, you can still see the abstracts.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [oecd] The oecd is a research organisation funded by 30 developed countries with the aim of improving standards of living and economic performance. They publish loads of great research in which the uk can be compared to other countries.

Wikipedia Easily the most useful website in the world, this encyclopaedia has it all.

The UK Statute Law Database Laws in the UK are arrived at in two main ways. One is the statute, a book which contains all the laws passed by government. The Statute Law Database lists these laws. You can search the statute for the relevent acts using the search functions: just type in 'housing' or 'marriage' to get started.

UK Common Law depositories British statute law is not to be confused with British common law, which is law derived from court verdicts, and is notionally supposed to fill in the inevitable gaps in statute law. The Supreme Court, and its predecessor, the Law Lords have online databases of verdicts, as does the Courts Service. There are a number of other common law resources.

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The King's Fund A think-tank dedicated to the improvement of healthcare.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies This think-tank concerns itself with all things monetary and fiscal; it debates the economy, income inequalities, taxes and the budget, among others.

Institute for Public Policy Research ippr covers most policy areas. It describes its work as 'progressive'; being sceptical of the power of unbridled free-markets.

Optimum Population Trust Although it's difficult to say the name out-loud without sounding like an advocate of eugenics, this organisation simply ponders the effects of population growth both in the uk and globally, and campaigns, among other things, for a sustainable population demographic in the uk.

Institute of Economic Affairs This think-tank looks to study and promote the way highly liberalised and unregulated markets can improve society.

Rand Corporation Europe The Rand Corporation isn't a company as its title might suggest, but a large non-profit think-tank that looks into improving the lot of Americans through high-quality research and analysis. Having said this, much of its research is applicable to other countries, and their papers are widely cited around the world.

Adam Smith Institute Like the Institute of Economic Affairs it examines and publicises the usefulness of the free market. Its website is a rare thing - articulate and intelligent, like reading a fun textbook. Start with the blog and the 'students' menu.

Centre for European Reform Although pro-European, this think-tank debates practical reform of the European Union.

Centre For Policy Studies Small-state promoting think-tank. Like IPPR it covers a wide range of policy areas.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation High quality research into all aspects of British social problems including poverty, housing and exclusion.

The Boyd Group An organisation demonstrating the strength of dialogue; it serves as an intermediary between pro-animal testing scientific bodies and anti-vivisection groups.

International Longevity Centre UK The UK branch of a think-tank aiming to study the effect of aging populations.

The Centre for Social Justice The reversal of social breakdown, especially for urban youth, is at the heart of this think-tank. It endeavours to promote ideas from around the UK and from abroad that have worked well.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research Highly respected economics think-tank. It covers subjects as diverse as the value of cataract surgery and the intricacies of competing macroeconomic models.

New Economics Foundation Think-tank aiming to encourage ecological sustainability and human wellbeing by challenging mainstream economic principles. Creative ideas, but sometimes questionable maths.

Radical Statistics Discussing the statistics from UK (and foreign) datasets, the writing is thoughtful, clear and often funny. We especially like its journal, which you can access free of charge.

The Hansard Society Organisation that looks at how government can improve public involvement in politics.

Fabian Society This think-tank is traditionally aligned with the Labour Party. Its research arm looks at issues surrounding things like economic inequality and child poverty.

Policy Exchange Think-tank that publishes a range of clearly written policy-recommendation-type reports, drawing on academic research from around the world.

Policy Studies Institute Research study group examining the context and policy effects surrounding employment, environment and global climate change, and social policy.

The Young Foundation Organisation that looks at a wide range of social issues. More uniquely, it periodically launches a number of 'social enterprises'; famous examples include the phenomenally successful Open University and The Which Report.

Institute for Government This think-tank's research program mainly revolves around the issue of management in government - such as what management structures are effective, how to make best use of IT in government departments, and how performance is measured.

Brookings Institution Think-tank researching the consequences of current and proposed policy changes in a wide variety of areas.

BBC News Still heralded as one of the most wide-ranging and independent of the news agencies, BBC News is one of the best respected news sources.

Al Jazeera Popular and respected Middle-Eastern news outlet. The channel aims to become commercially independent, although it is currently funded by private grants and loans..

Reuters Renowed UK-based news outlet, reporting on global and business news

The Times Broadsheet, with famous letters to the editor feature.

The Guardian Broadsheet, the Guardian's weekly supplements cover the public sector and culture.

The Daily Telegraph The most read broadsheet newspaper.

The Independent Broadsheet with a range of commentators.

The Week A weekly compilation of the best news articles and an overview of how the most important new stories of the week were covered by the British and foreign press.

France24 France's version of BBC News, funded by the French government.

CNN International American based news outlet watched by millions around the world.

Financial Times Mostly dealing in business matters, the Financial Times also covers politics, world events and interviews.

The Economist Strongly pro-free market and liberal, this weekly newspaper takes a reassuring pragmatic and open-minded approach to all current events.