Monthly Archives: August 2010

That didn’t take long

by maxattacks

I know it’s a bit late but it’s worth noting that that last week the coalition’s approval ratings entered negative for the first time yet (-2, 39 approve, 41 disapprove) in a YouGov Daily Tracker poll (http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/2786). Admittedly this may be a fluke result and also there are evidently a lot of “don’t knows”.  But, given the government have still yet to enact any spending cuts, things are going to get very bad, electorally, for the coalition soon. It’s safe to say this is a rather quick fall from grace and probably the first of many many more negative ratings to come.

Max

Middle Britain

by maxattacks

It is regarded as the key electoral necessity to winning any general election. Ever since the mid-1980s, “Middle Britain” has been the focus point for most political parties. “Middle Britain” was certainly the focus of ‘New’ Labour throughout its existence, 1997 and 2001 were victories brought upon this wave. Now this does lead onto somewhere if you bear with me….in this case the Labour leadership contest.As George (BULS Treasurer) pointed out in a previous post, the race is indeed between the two Miliband brothers each of which are offering different alternatives on what the Labour party should reach out to. D. Miliband has argued for this aforementioned “Middle Britain” pointing out the lack of Labour seats in the south outside London, while E. Miliband has proposed to reach out to a centre-left coalition. Out of the two, it is D. Miliband that has David Cameron (DC) the most worried http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/aug/27/cameron-david-miliband-labour-leadership. 

However, since 1997 Labour has lost 5 million voters, but only a million to the Tories, the rest didn’t bother to vote, turned to minor parties or primarily, the Liberal Democrats. What happened in the 2010 general election was that Labour allowed the Lib Dems to represent (and in some cases even become) the radical left/progressives of British politics. While yes, this ethos has been quite destroyed by the coalition with Cleggy abandoning near enough all the policies the Lib Dems stood for at the election, but, there were many areas where people turned to them due to an apparent progressive dominance. Primarily, ID cards, scrapping SATS, scrapping Trident, opposing Iraq War and raising the tax threshold to £10k (which is a policy Labour should’ve introduced years ago). 

Logically (almost), it can be seen that Britain does retain a left leaning tendency, while certainly not socialist or social democratic, but rather Britain can be seen as at least on the whole, progressive. Logically (again), it is E. Miliband’s form of electoral base that would be best suited to bringing back those 4 million voters who left Labour for the Lib Dems and apathy. 

Max

The lady doth protest too much

by suzannahrobinson

Wearing a headscarf can and has been construed in many ways. Here in İstanbul, as in Birmingham, women can receive a lot of unwanted attention from lascivious observers for venturing out without one, especially in some areas of the city, and especially at night. In terms of keeping conservative parents happy, covering the hair seems a small concession to make for many teenage girls. For casual muslims, it`s nice to be ready to pop into mosque whenever the mood takes them.

So for scarved women who date, or have close male friends, or don`t fast during ramadan, or wear sexy underwear for their husbands, it`s a blow to be labelled hypocrites as lightly as they often are. The visibility of the scarf makes it impossible to disguise seemingly contradictory behaviour, and the woman in question must resign herself to even more unwanted attention. As with nuns and priests, people find it funny to catch scarved women out.

There is another problem with this attitude, that casual hypocrites like myself  notice – as imperfect humankind can never hope to follow all the rules all of the time, isn`t it better to at least try to adhere some of the rules laid down by whichever holy book you profess to follow? And is it really unethical to put a scarf to start with just because it`s the most obvious symbol?

Suzy 

Royal approval

by suzannahrobinson

The swedish royal family is significantly less extensive, overfunded and ridden with controversy than our own. Hoever the recent opinion polls from the SOM institute show support decreasing to an overall low of 56 % despite the recent bounce in popularity created by the wedding of Crown Princess (and 197th in line to the British throne) Victoria.

The opposition is well-organised and highly politicised, with most left-wing parties and groups featuring desposing the royal family on their agendas, and the Republican Association growing in membership.

The Daily Mail, perhaps in an effort to undermine the republican movement, or perhaps in an effort to feature lots of pictures of women in gowns, focussed chiefly on Stockholm joining in the fun of the wedding, relegating campaigners to outsider status.  

The New York Times took a different approach, ending by speculating on the fate of the king if a Swedish republic is ever declared.

Could this be the start of a European-wide (or world-wide, if we`re including Australasia) movement to oust the royals?

Suzy

Need we say more…

by maxattacks

Chancellor George Osborne speaking at Bloomberg headquarters 17/08/2010

Boy George (Osborne), DC (Cameron) and Cleggy have all ardently claimed that the recent “emergency budget” was hardwired into being a “progressive” budget and that the poor would be shielded from the upcoming years of austerity and that in the words of DC, “we are all in this together”…….what he forgot to add was “…unless you’re rich but you’re particularly in if you’re poor”.

A recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), Britain’s leading independent tax organisations completely destroyed the coalitions claims that the budget is “progressive” but rather describing it as “clearly regressive as, on average, they hit the poorest households more than those in the upper middle of the income distribution in cash, let alone percentage, terms.”. Yes, you read the quote correctly; it hits the poorest harder in cash never mind percentage terms!

The IFS also said the poorest 10% of families would lose over 5% of their income as a result of the budget compared with a loss of less than 1% for non-pensioner households without children in the richest 10% of households. It added that the budget contrasted with the “progressive” plans for 2010-14 inherited from Labour, under which the richest 10% of households bore the brunt of the cuts.

Leaving aside whether it is a right or wrong descision to attempt to remove the structural deficit within 5 years, I can assure you know that the coalition will turn round and you use one of the oldest tricks in the books, blame the predecessors. Well let me say, don’t you even dare, don’t even dare, this is now totally the coalition’s doing. This is what happens when you have severe changes to housing benefit, disability allowances, tax credits and a deficit reduction plan that is totally out of balance in terms of cuts to taxation.

We all knew the Tories where bulling when DC stated that “we are all in this together” and that the Lib Dems had sold themselves out on economic policy, but now we have conclusive proof from a well respected independent body, all we can say now is, need we say more…

Max

A-levels and beyond

by maxattacks

This coming Thursday will see the first A-level results to feature the newly added A* grade. I noticed in the Observer the other day (sorry Sean but I don’t choose what newspaper we get while at home) that if the A* grade had been in place last year the Independent Schools Council (ISC) said 16.5% of Private school A-level entries would achieved an A* compared to a mere 5% with state school candidates.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are certainly a fair few BULS members from Private Schools so I state my opinion with the greatest degree of respect (and caution), but given that the Private sector receives a mere 7% of all the pupils this is clearly is a disproportionate imbalance. This clearly noticeable at Birmingham Uni where I have yet to meet a substantial number of students from non-grammar state schools. This all leads into background of the pupil given that bright children from the poorest homes are seven times less likely to go to a top university than their richer peers, according to the Office for Fair Access (Offa), an education watchdog.

Now don’t get me wrong, Labour in 13 years did have some great achievements with education, but redressing the balance between the private and state sectors is something we did not do enough of. It’s just a matter of time now to see what difference the new A* grade makes.

Max

In Praise of Gordon Brown

by maxattacks

Sorry these two blogs were not up sooner, the committee email accounts password has been changed, Max.

The Shakespearean tragedy that was the premiership of Gordon Brown was both frustrating and depressing for many a Labour member. The return of the Prince of Darkness; the eerily coincidental timing of Gordon’s entry into number ten, almost exactly at the moment the Western economy went tumbling off a cliff; the cringe-worthy youtube attempt at reaching out to ordinary voters; the desperate Hoon-Hewitt plot and, of course, Bigotgate. All of these made me want to hug our leader and offer him warm words of encouragement, but also simultaneously slap him on the back and say “Hey, Gordon, do you think maybe this just isn’t your day?”
 
So I was uplifted and proud when I came across an interview with Gordon by Christina Patterson in The Independent on Monday which showed him to be a dignified, modest man who can see his own faults but is also proud of his roots and his values, and has the neediest and poorest in society in mind - both home and abroad - now that he is a full time constituency MP.
 
He seemed to be on a non-stop tour of Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath, leaving the reporter breathless as he dashed between an industrial estate, a youth project and the home of his beloved Raith Rovers football club. He seemed disappointed but resolute when discussing both his future and the shameful termination of the Future Jobs Fund by the Coalition government (apparently all of these people will magically gain new jobs in the resurgent and dynamic voluntary and private sectors, which the government hopes will bounce back within five years at a similar rate to China or India). Although he would not be drawn on his intimate feelings on no longer being in charge, was evasive on domestic issues, and seemed to want to give a history lecture (which betrayed his forensic knowledge of Fife), he proved that he is determined to stand up for both those from the declining industries of this working class constituency in the face of savage Thatcherite cuts and the ‘Big Society’, and those in far away lands who have probably never even heard of him. The recent announcement that the proceeds from his next book will go to charities bears a stark contrast with the arrogant and self-indulgent memoirs of Mandelson and Blair.
 
Gordon Brown re-enforces the belief in me that you need to know what it is like to live in these forgotten but resolute communities with high unemployment and derelict industry in order to deliver the best policies for them. He re-enforces the belief in me that although we are all far from perfect we can make small but significant improvements to ordinary people’s lives by intervening, even in the depths of recession. He re-enforces in me the belief that years from now he may not be regarded by historians as one of the best PMs but that his greatest achievement amongst many was saving the economy both in Britain and globally from a 1930s-style catastrophe.
 
It is no wonder that in some cases the disregarded communities of Britain feel compelled to apathy, extremist politics or even in extreme circumstances sympathy for those who have ‘defied the authorities’ like the murderer Raoul Moat. Let us not be too hasty in rejecting the previous leader of the Labour party and everything about his style and policies as we elect the next one.
 
By Luke Jones, BULS member

Ideological dogma, and nothing less

by maxattacks

19.07.2010: Martin Rowson on the Tory spending cut sideshow

David Cameron (DC) was today in none other than good ol’ Brum at a “PM direct” session (where I think BCF where present). Reading in the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/aug/03/david-cameron-public-sector-cuts-permanent (sorry Sean but I saw it on Facebook) recently DC pledged at the session that once the deficit has been dealt with, funding will not be restored to public services.

Now to put this in perspective, DC (and recently Cleggy) have been arguing that the savage cuts they are going to make to the public sector are apparently “necessary”, leaving aside whether the ideas are right or wrong it is this key argument of “necessity” that has prevailed through. What we have seen here from DC is that no, the rate in which they are cutting is not in fact necessary but rather a pre-text for petty ideological goals and dogma.Essentially, what DC is saying is that once the deficit has been dealt with, the state will not return to help those in need, it won’t increase investment in the primary areas of the NHS, Police (which protect the health, safety and wellbeing of people) and Education which are three most important tiers of the public sector and social benefits to those truly in need them in any future troubles will also be stuck at their austerity levels.DC states that “How can we do things differently and better to give value for money?” which is understandably fair enough, if you’re going to spend money, it has to be at the best value for money, but there is a distinct line between “value for money” and downright underinvestment. I hope DC will have the humility one day to feel remorse for the pain he is about to cause for mere ideological dogma.

Max