Yearly Archives: 2010

Take off thy sandals, for thou art on holy ground

by suzannahrobinson

The tragedy of 9/11 does not mean that capitalism is now synonymous with freedom. The World Trade Centre was not a symbol of liberty or Christian morals but of great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. The ground where it once stood is special because of the innocent lives lost there, but these lives were not exclusively those of white American Christians.

Ground Zero must not to be earmarked by a group of hysterically patriotic Islamophobes who believe it belongs inherently to them and their values. The so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” – a cultural centre proposed for two blocks away – is about as far away from al-Qaeda as it is possible to get. The Cordoba Initiative is a moderate, diplomatic Muslim group which aims to improve relations with America and the West, and reconcile us to Islam.

The latest report that 4% of Republicans and 49% of Democrats support the centre includes the incredible statistic that 21% of Republicans would prefer a strip club. This gets right to the heart of the problem, because it shows that it’s not really about morals at all.

Last Sunday the church I attend in Berlin had two visitors from a charitable US Christian Organisation, which helps those who are affected by the new immigration laws in Canada and at the Mexico border. Problems faced by immigrants to Canada are exacerbated if the applicant is Muslim, even if they are also an American citizen. The congregation heard about a project  where immigrants in need of support are accommodated in houses owned by the charity in typical suburban neighbourhoods, and effectively flat-share with Christian volunteers. The spokeswoman testified that she has become a better Christian through living with Muslims, and has learnt a lot about their shared values and how to live a holy and respectful life.

In this land of true liberty and capitalism such a piece of prime real estate should simply belong to the highest bidder. I hope the centre does go ahead, so that all those Muslims who suffer from the effects of everyday prejudice can be remember too.

Suzy

Do the right thing Vince!

by suzannahrobinson
*Tenuous analogy coming up*
Just as King Canute (probably) once stood on the beach at Southampton and tried to turn back the tide, so Vince Cable, if he really possesses the social conscience and belief in fairness for which he gets so much credit, will battle this month against the rising tide that threatens to drown Britain in Murdoch-owned media.
News Corporation has proposed to buy up the remaining 60% of Sky in order to gain full control over the company.  As Business Secretary Cable has the mandate to legislate on grounds of free competition, and is being called on to do so by nearly every other British media company, Slaughter & May, and the European Union.
This could be a chance for the Lib Dems to claw back a bit of credibility by sticking to their guns. The pre-coalition speeches of Clegg and Huhne on millionaire tax avoiders and the phone-tapping scandal suggest that the party’s core would agree with Cable’s views of laissez-faire capitalism killing competition by creating monopoly. On the other hand it’s sure to cause further coalition cracks, considering The Sun’s and the News of the World’s powerful pro-Tory stance, as well as Cameron’s links with Andy Coulson.
It’ll take a brave politician to do it since, as Neil Kinnock discovered to his cost, making an enemy out of News Corporation is not going to win you any elections.
Suzy

Why it still matters

by suzannahrobinson

The month is April 2010. The location is Joe’s Bar in the Guild. A lively debate is taking place over four pints of beer.

“So you’re trying to tell me that the Conservatives are anti-poor, anti-gay, anti-women, anti-public services.”

“Basically, yeah.”

“Well then you’re full of **** because I heard Cameron’s speech on the NHS and he says he’s gonna protect it! They haven’t mentioned anything about punishing the poor either, you’re just making that up, cos we’re all in this together. And they have gay front-benchers, and JUST in case you’ve forgotten Thatcher was a woman.”

How many times have we experienced this rebuttal? This battle for hearts and minds, with us hungover in scruffy jeans on one side and Cameron’s big air-brushed face on the other?

And how many people came back to us over the following months and said “Mate, I’m sorry, if I’d known they were gonna cut my cousin’s benefits I wouldn’t have voted for them.”

But by then it’s too late. We need a shorthand, to unpick all the rhetoric, all the speeches, all the elaborate policies with questionable motives. Left and Right.

To say that a party is right wing is to know its history. Its history of opposing measures for the greater equality of gender, race and sexuality. Its financial backers in big business, its think tanks and advisers comprising the bigoted, the religiously extreme, the regressive. Its instincts to offload responsibility, make a profit, and favour choice over health and happiness. How it will respond in a crisis, where its priorities will lie, what it wants to achieve and the kind of country it’ll leave behind as its legacy.

Right wing and left wing speak for themselves.

And once you understand the divide you can read between the lines of speeches, because you know the place they are coming from in the first place. Ed Miliband declaring that he’s not in the pockets of Unite isn’t going to scare the Unions because they also know that they share a common, left wing, goal with Ed to defend workers against cuts. Whereas Cameron promising not to include the NHS in his cuts was a plea to those old enough to remember the last Tory government for another chance.

Right wing and left wing are more important than election promises. Years after everyone has forgotten that speech that leader made at conference the backbone of the party is still the same, and will react to each new problem in an essentially typical way. Giving credit to the Tories for cutting child benefit for the relatively wealthy is to silently acknowledge that it’s a surprise, that it’s essentially out of character, that it’s even a little bit left wing, because the true right-wing instinct would be to just scrap it altogether.

But that would make them unelectable.

Suzy

The new party of students

by maxattacks

“I feel sorry for the Lib Dems now as they are completely rendundant”-Dan Harrison on Radio 4. As of an hour ago I couldn’t agree more. Vice Cable has now dropped his graduate tax plans for England. The once cherished held belief of nearly all Lib Dems, the abolition of Tuition fees has all but evaporated. It is now Labour’s job to pick up this mantle and now become the true party of students as we now campaign for a graduate tax (and hopefully one day, in the not too distant future, the abolition of tuition fees).

Max

National fame

by maxattacks

During the Freshers Stall none other than Dan Harrison, our very own Fresher’s Officer (till next Wednesday) was interviewed by radio 4 on the “Beyond Westminster” programme http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00v698v/Beyond_Westminster_09_10_2010/ . You will find he is interviewed 4.50 into the programme and clearly gave the most direct answer to the question the reporter. While the Lib Dem Chair and BUC”F” Vice-Chair skirted around and failed to answer the question on whether, ideology of left or right means something to people of our age. Good on you Dan!

Max

Ever heard that one about the lesbian on the front bench?

by suzannahrobinson



Well now you have. Angela Eagle, one of only two out lesbians in the House of Commons (the other one being Margot James, vice-chairman of the Conservative Party),  has been appointed to the role of shadow secretary to the treasury. Being a woman, being gay, being out… these are all difficult things in the House. The Independent’s pink list this year contained about a dozen LGBT politicians. And they are gradually increasing in number and prominence, with MPs on both sides of the house getting civil partnerships.

But being openly gay is still not easy. Last month’s survey of the number of LGB people in the UK showed 1.5% of people classifying themselves as LGB, but the massive success of gay dating websites such as Gaydar suggest 6.7% is closer to the real figure. So many people are terrified to admit it to themselves or their families and friends, and this is partly down to a lack of prominent, successful role models, and partly to the fear of a hostile reaction, or simply of being misunderstood and drawing unwanted attention.

This is exactly why it is essential that public figures bite the bullet and come out – no more sham marriages or “landlord” situations, no more reluctant admissions following media scoops, no more “don’t ask don’t tell”. Successful, prominent and respected people declaring themselves to be LGBT really can broaden the public’s perception of what it means to be gay.

The most effective way of changing public opinion is to introduce everyone to a gay person. And if it’s 6.7% of us, that’s already happened to everyone already. They just don’t know it yet. This generation is growing up with equal rights, with gay cabinet ministers and peers, with gay millionaires. We’re the ones who are gonna change things. And if we don’t, we’re the ones who are gonna have to live with it.

Suzy

I can’t say I’m not quite surprised

by maxattacks

Well the results are in for the Shadow Cabinet and to be fair, the appointments have had their surprises. Former Home, Health and Education Secretary Alan Johnson is to take the role as Shadow Chancellor. Now I doubt many were expecting this move from Ed, but if you think about it logically, it is rather a good move. Johnson regards himself as a loyalist by nature (so wont cause much in the way of infighting the Blair-Brown era saw) and given he was a strong supporter of Miliband the Elder during the Leadership campaign this appointment by Ed keeps to his word that he wishes to use all areas of Labour whoever they supported. This also has the added bonus of “balancing” the Shadow Cabinet out as there’s certainly no way anyone is going to call Johnson “Red”, despite being a former Trade Union leader. And to anyone who says Johnson can’t possibly apart of Ed’s “new generation”, think again and remember the “new generation” is not defined by age, but rather your mindset.

Here’s the full Shadow Cabinet results:

Leader of the Opposition: Ed Miliband

Deputy Leader and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development: Harriet Harman

Shadow Chancellor: Alan Johnson

Shadow Foreign Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities: Yvette Cooper

Shadow Home Secretary: Ed Balls

Chief Whip: Rosie Winterton

Shadow Education Secretary: Andy Burnham

Shadow Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary (with responsibility for political and constitutional reform): Sadiq Khan

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary: Douglas Alexander

Shadow Business Secretary: John Denham

Shadow Health Secretary: John Healey

Shadow Secretary Communities and Local Government Secretary: Caroline Flint

Shadow Defence Secretary: Jim Murphy

Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary: Meg Hillier

Shadow Commons Leader: Hilary Benn

Shadow Transport Secretary: Maria Eagle

Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary: Mary Creagh

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Angela Eagle

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary: Shaun Woodward

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland: Ann McKechin

Shadow Welsh Secretary: Peter Hain

Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary: Ivan Lewis

Shadow Lords Leader: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon

Shadow Olympics Minister: Tessa Jowell

Shadow Cabinet Office Minister: Liam Byrne

Lords Chief Whip: Lord Bassam of Brighton

Shadow Attorney-General: Baroness Scotland

(Note the red to point out that we are all “Reds” as I know I certainly wouldn’t whant a “Blue” or “Yellow” Shadow Member of the Cabinet……and the simple fact that “Red” Ed isn’t insulting at all but rather, quite funny that many in the likes of BUC”F” think it is)

Max

It’s short-sighted to slam the lib dems now

by Eriic

Let’s be clear this is a Conservative lead government implementing predominately Tory policy bar a few half-hearted attempts at Lib Dem fig leaves, such as the referendum on AV. Recently there has been a lot of anti Lib Dem rhetoric thrown about by the Labour leadership candidates, especially by Ed Miliband who I support incidentally. This kind of rhetoric against the Lib Dems in government, in my opinion is short sighted, too tribal and ignores the true architects of the cuts regime: the Tories.

It will get a loud cheer from the Labour party faithful and applause from the gallery but anti liberal democrat rhetoric places the Labour party in permanent opposition if it continues on this path. As a party we have to be ready to talk and work with other parties on the left as most of the wider public now like coalitions and politicians working together. Of course as a party we should focus on winning a majority at the next general election but after such a heavy defeat in the spring and the way this has election panned out I believe that will be difficult to achieve in only one term. However we should be ready, unlike in May, for a coalition government, we should be looking to work with the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and others on the pluralistic left to make sure a Tory government is a thing of the past. With a progressive alliance we can place the Tory’s in opposition indefinitely.

As well as Labour swallowing its tribal instincts, this kind of politics is very much dependant on the electoral system. I would be in favour of a more proportional system possibly in the form of AV+ however this is not on the referendum ballot paper although I hear Caroline Lucas is mounting an amendment to add it on. Despite the A.V referendum being placed alongside the gerrymandering of constituencies in the same bill, the next leader, whoever it is, should campaign for a ‘yes’ vote. The alternative vote would make coalitions governments more likely and be a step in the right direction to making parliament more representative and go a way to gaining lost trust in the political system. In May as a Labour party we should show the public we are grown up politicians, ready to be an effective opposition but more importantly a credible government. That means as Martin Kettle states in his draft Labour leader speech in Friday’s Guardian, and I paraphrase ‘I will stand shoulder to shoulder with Nick Clegg on this issue’

Come May 2015 the electoral map will look very different, and a Lab-Lib coalition might be very much on the cards. The Labour party has to swallow its tribal instincts and be ready for coalition. Coalitions are here to stay; the country and the labour party can’t afford to be prevented from going into government because it can’t accept a pluralistic vision of politics. Labour needs to not retreat into the introverted tribalism that has marked some of the last five years of power. To avoid a prolonged spell in the wilderness, Labour must look to the wider public and move to a more pluralistic form of doing politics.

Sam Murphy @Murphys_Law19

Student and Labour party activist, South Staffordshire District council candidate in May.

We are NOT all in this together…..and even they know it

by maxattacks

“We are all in this together” is the famous six worded sentence announced by George Osborne at the time of the emergency budget. However, this declaration has taken yet another blow. Despite the budget already being proved to hit women, ethnic minorities and the north disproportionally more, it is now revealed that the Scotland’s, Wales’ and Northern Ireland’s First, Deputy and Finance Ministers also concur that we are indeed not all in this together. An extract from the joint statement can be found here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11493001 and so proves that no, it isn’t Labour in denial over the figures, in this declaration we have the DUP, Sinn Fein, SNP and Plaid Cymru as well. And no, they aren’t doing this to gain popularity with a “tussle” with the government in London; they are doing this because what the Coalition is doing in regards to the structural deficit is in fact not in the national interest. But rather a backdrop for ideological dogma, as placed extremely well by the columnist Polly Toynbee, “Blue ideology comes well disguised at a time when all cuts, however extreme, can be disguised as necessity.”.

This is also reflected recently on the daily politics show recently where it was revealed that since David Cameron became leader in 2005 Tory party membership has dropped by a third(!) in the space of five years, yes Labour’s dropped throughout 13 years in government, but this is something quite phenomenal and while in opposition too. This is in direct contrast to Labour membership which has shot up since May 6th with what I’m proud to announce, 65 new fully fledged members of BULS at the fresher’s stall and a further 150 added to the emailing list.

Max

Modern bullying, homophobia and self-esteem among the young

by suzannahrobinson

Tyler Clementi – the victim of murder? Involuntary manslaughter? His own low self esteem, thin skin and inability to take a joke? Gravity?

Livestreamed by his room mate from a hidden camera, Tyler was exposed on the internet having sex with another man. His subsequent suicide, declared in his final facebook status, is a tragedy for him, for his family and for our generation. The media is labelling this as just another instance of cyber bullying, but the perpetrator could get several years in prison.

So what’s the problem here? The easy access to publicity that makes total humiliation simple? The latent homophobia that made it an even better scoop for his room mate? Or original low self esteem and a feeling of isolation that affects so many freshers and other young people? Our generation needs to prove that we’re better than this.

Suzy

Osborne’s vision for the future

by suzannahrobinson

Contrary to the pre-election promises of both the Tories and the LibDems that child benefits were not to be called into question, they are now to be cut to all those individuals earning over the 40% tax rate. Obviously these middle to high earners won’t miss the hundreds or thousands of pounds they should have been entitled to as much as lower earners. This child benefits cut is therefore “not as bad as it could have been”, as opposed to those that will follow it, which I fear will be bad, worse and ugly.

While this policy compares favourably with Victorian conservatism, when the lower classes were discouraged from having children in order to leave greater space and resources for the “better quality” middle class offspring, it doesn’t show much of a departure fro recent Tory policy. It still manages to hit women hardest, especially by discriminating against single mothers. The massive loophole meanwhile, maintained for purposes of “simplicity”, allows for high earning couples to benefit, as long as each partner earns less than 44 thousand alone.

It also leaves the coalition sending the public yet another mixed message – marriage is good, raising children is bad. I’d be excited to find out the rest of Gideon’s plans for our families, if I wasn’t too busy quaking in my boots.

Suzy

Unity is Essential

by Eriic

“Oh, who would ever wanna be King?” Chris Martin of Coldplay wailed out over the Labour conference after Ed Miliband’s acceptance speech as the new leader of our party. And as his elder brother David may now testify, he has a point. After creeping home thanks to our system for electing the leader (the Alternative Vote, which we will probably have to sell to the wider electorate in a referendum), Ed arguably has a far more difficult task ahead of him than his brother would have had, thanks to our hostile media which takes the Blair view that only “a millimetre to the left of new Labour” would spell doom for our electoral prospects.

However, if he is savvy and true to his instincts, Ed can reconcile the interests of working people who face losing their jobs in the eye-watering Con-Dem cuts and charm the “squeezed middle” voters (according to the BBC this week, a wage of £78,000 per annum is somehow middle class) by using the charge that “it was the unions wot won it” to his advantage. If it was indeed the unions who pushed Ed over the fifty per cent threshold rather than there merely being a majority of Labour members who would have preferred him to David – as was the case, when second preferences for the other defeated candidates are accounted for – then Ed can rightly say that the unions cannot rebel against the line he is taking, because they backed him above everyone else after all. This would allow him to present himself as a credible alternative to the coalition; a mature politician who appreciates that there needs to be cuts and it is wrong to oppose for its own sake, but that the way the coalition is going about them is appallingly unfair and regressive in the extreme.

As for the shadow cabinet, it would be a shame and a disaster for the country if recent history were allowed to repeat itself and we ended up with another feud at the top of the party, where the man who assumed he was headed for the top job was usurped at the last minute by a charismatic young contender. I hope that David can stay in the shadow cabinet and serve under his brother, as he is clearly talented and formidable. I hope his backers can live with that and keep quiet.

However, enough post-match analysis. After all, there are jobs and livelihoods at stake; there is a realistic prospect of a market in universities; the NHS is being practically privatised and the police is about to be run by partial and elected commissioners, in an ideological crusade against the welfare state and a sense of community. It is imperative, more than it has ever been since the 1980s, that Labour unites as a party – not old, not new, not next, not anything – and goes on to win the next election. It has the leader, with charm, insight and a sense of social justice; it has the unions on side, most of whom appreciate that strikes unless absolutely necessary get us nowhere; it has an increasing membership and of course the Liberal Democrats, who make life much easier for us by spitting in the face of most of their core supporters. We must not pander to the media and their absurd analysis of “Red Ed” and fraternal hatred, and instead pander to the people.

Luke Jones

Not so top of the mornin’

by maxattacks

As you may be aware the IMF recently endorsed the Coalition’s deficit reduction plans, much to the glee of those in BUC”F”, etc. However, similar compliments were said to that of the Irish Government’s austerity actions two years ago. Now no one is saying that the UK and Irish economies and their features are the same (unlike the DC, Gideon and Cleggy who hopelessly used Greece and Canada as examples to justify their austerity measures in a downright scare campaign), but it does give a tell tale sign of what MAY happen if you slash spending, force thousands more to the unemployed register and consequently lowers tax receipts.

Also, if you were watching tonight’s Question Time, the IMF’s credibility was absolutely decimated. Given it was pointed out by members of the audience and the panel that they are totally inept at understanding the social impacts of any real policy they support and how little progress they’ve made with child poverty in Africa.

Max

An inevitable outcome, but, not an inevitable result

by maxattacks

In tomorrow’s Sun is published a significant result for the Labour party. For the first time in three years the Labour party is ahead in the polls http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/2814 at Lab-40%, Con-39%, LD-12%. Yes, it is the tiniest of margins and yes it may be even a freak poll, but it is as significant as the Coalition’s approval ratings slipping into negative for the first time and the public disapproving of the Government’s austerity measures for also the first time last month.

However, do not get complacent! While we may be ahead in the polls a large amount over the next five years, it is certainly no guarantee of victory. Just look at Thatcher’s first term in office, hugely unpopular for most of her term and then went onto win a landslide (though admittedly it is unlikely the Coalition will have any Falkands War to help save them). Labour must be the clear, viable alternative to the Coalition, or else who knows how big the “Big Society” will be or how long will the new age of austerity last as nothing in Politics is inevitable or definite.

Max

Pre-Thatcher media rules

by suzannahrobinson

Following the election of the new leader the Fabian Society has invited us to offer him some “miligrams” – special pieces of advice. Polly Toynbee and David Walker have taken up the challenge in their open letter to Ed in today’s Guardian. Among many other wise, considered and well-researched ideas they suggested “restricting multiple ownership [of the press] and disallow non-British taxpayers [from owning papers and TV channels]“.

And why not? As with many other aspects of the British economy the press has only been a “free market” since Thatcher’s reforms. Higher state involvement in other countries leads to higher quality journalism as there is less need for a “race to the bottom” – the bottom being low-brow sensationalism. Better funding, better research, more original material are all desperately to be desired in a highly-educated but largely tabloid-consuming country.

We’re all in thrall to the moguls, particularly Murdoch. Parties, policies and individuals can all be spun by one of the many branches of News Corporation, and it is chilling that there seems no way out.  But we are free to make our own laws. If he wants to go elsewhere, let him coerce ad terrorise the citizens of America or Australia, and welcome if they’ll have him. To buy up US enterprises he had to take American citizenship, but the Conservative government’s reforms allowed him, as a non-domicile tax exile, to seize a large fraction of our media outlets.

The Daily Mail was bought by the first Viscount Rothermere, and in a family history that could have come straight out of a Jonathan Coe novel, has been inherited by his son, grandson and great-grandson respectively. The family is related by marriage to the Thatchers, and surprisingly enough, is openly Tory supporting.  The Barclay twins, owners of the Telegraph, are notorious millionaire tax avoiders, and they have a zero-tolerance policy towards criticism. Like the Murdoch and Rothermere enterprises their business is characterised by hypocrisy and nepotism.

Whereas the Guardian, Private Eye and other left-wing, relatively independent publications are making huge losses every year. The founder of Wikileaks is subject to libelous claims and has little power to refute them.

Kicking up a fuss about nobility and millionaires in the cabinet is all very well, but the fourth estate is monopolised by them in a far less transparent sense. If “Red Ed” is the man I hope he is then heads, one day, will roll.

Suzy

That was it and now this will be it…

by maxattacks

010267563-1

Ed Miliband, former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and MP for Doncaster North has been elected leader of the Labour Party and is now also leader of the Official (and truly only) Opposition. I’d be lying if I didn’t say the media mobbing Ed and also seeing him make his victory speech was rather surreal and even a bit odd (though not in any bad way). His victory was won by the narrowest of margins, 1.3%(!) over his brother, but whatever the system and whatever the margin, a victory is still a victory and is now vital that despite whoever you wanted leader, we all  back him.

Special commiserations for his brother, for being tipped for the last three years as the obvious successor to Brown and then to come so close must be almost heart breaking, but he was mature (and loving) enough to claim that “this is Ed’s day”, so I do hope he can keep his role as Shadow Foreign Secretary.

One thing I did notice, was the apparent glee from the Tory ranks. Apparently, Ed is somehow a return to the 1980s, a “Red Ed” and handing the Coalition electoral success on a platter. Really? For one Ed served Gordon Brown for 13 years as a policy adviser, he’s certainly a far flung from the militancy from that era. And also, they underestimate him at their own peril, hell; 3 years ago barely anyone had even heard of Ed, to turn everything around against all expectations (and his own brother) are something to be taken seriously.

It’s safe to say “New” Labour is truly at end, it is time for Labour to move on from the Blair-Brown era and let the new progressive era dawn very soon. Now bring on the real change and 2015!

Max

This is it…

by maxattacks

At 4.15pm on Saturday the 25th September 2010, the Labour party will have a new leader. They will be someone who will have to take on the Con-Dem coalition and lead the party back to government. Irrelevant to whoever you wanted to be Labour leader out of Abbott, Burnham, Balls, Miliband and Miliband, it is vital that we all rally behind whoever wins (though the bookies are now favouring Miliband the Younger), as what ever differences you may have with them, they can be nothing compared to those with DC, Gideon and Cleggy. And if you’re really sad, they’ve even set up at countdown for announcement of the results http://www2.labour.org.uk/leadership-countdown …..as you do.

Max

Stateside

by maxattacks

Sorry for the lack of activity recently, I have indeed been away stateside so I thought it’d be relevant to blog on events that have been unfolding across ocean while I’ve been there.

Recent polling has been shown that the Republicans have been set to win the House of Representatives and the Senate. But both have had a setback, the infamous Tea Party movement that proved so successful in attempting to derail Obama’s Health Care reforms has now, despite opposition from the Republican party itself, had major successes in the Republican primaries. Famously evangelical right-winger Christine O’Donnell who had the backing of the Tea Party Movement recently won the Delaware primary for the Republican Senate Candidacy against the more moderate conservative Mike Castle. Castle was predicted to beat his Democratic opponent but because of O’Donnell’s victory her Democratic opponent is storming ahead by 11 points.

This pattern is repeated (though to a lesser extent) for Senate candidates in seven states, including Florida, Nevada, Colorado, Kentucky, Alaska and even the Republican candidate for the New York governor. Yes it seems that while the Tea Party are an extremely useful protest branch of the GOP, they are certainly no help what so ever in the wider electoral races. Many pollsters are now predicting the Republicans will at least fail to take the Senate out of the two houses in Congress. 

Mentioning the Tea Part movement, I saw an article in the Observer on a “Million Moderate March”. Organised by Arch-liberal news satirist Jon Stewart in a “Rally to Restore Sanity” from what he regards as the 15-20% of the population that seemed to shout a hell of a lot louder than the other 80%. Banners are being planned to have “I Disagree With You, But I’m Pretty Sure You’re Not Hitler” which is probably the best way to tackle up the flared and angry populist Tea Party movement, simple humour. This will in turn be counter-balanced by a spoof “extremist conservative” rally.Ah, if only I’d stayed a bit longer.

Max

I’m not sorry

by suzannahrobinson

The personal is political, and never more so than on the issue of abortions. What can be more political than a debate which includes facilitates the inclusion of gender, religion, age, class, nationality and health? And, not to put too fine a point on it, what can be more personal than what goes on inside a womb?

I’m so pro-choice that I’m literally incensed about having to describe myself as such, with the alternative implied by the term. And I’m sick of a moral case being made by the “pro life” side which is supposed to have all sexually active women cowering in shame.

In a society that sets great store by scientists that show us exactly how to make perfect babies, and politicians that tell us exactly how to have stable families, surely the biggest pre-requisite for producing healthy children is for the mother to want it in the first place, because no amount of scientific development or government programme can ever supercede parental love.

In the 21st century quality of life is to be favoured over quantity. Rather than having more babies we should be spending more time and attention on the ones that are born, and the ones that we want to have. Choosing the time and father are essential, unquestionable rights for women. The most moral thing to do is to defend abortion rights.

But the coalition is making very worrying noises….

Suzy

The future is in your hands

by maxattacks

Yesterday saw the sending out ballot papers to all Labour MPs, MEPs, Party Members and affiliated Society Members. Who will it be as Labour’s next leader, Abbott, Balls, Burnham, Miliband the Elder or Miliband the Younger? This blog is not here to suggest who you should vote for *cough* Ed Miliband *cough*, but rather to think long and hard, as we are now the sole progressive party with any chance of power in Britain (the Lib Dems are now a bigger sell out than “New” Labour with the coalition agreement and the Tories….well, just ask the IFS) and your vote will count to shaping the future of true British progressiveness (if that’s even a word).

Max

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

“making headlines”

by maxattacks

“making headlines” was David Miliband’s take upon David Cameron’s (DC) accusation at Pakistan apparently exporting terror to Afghanistan. Consequently because of DC’s “frankness” Pakistani intelligence officials have cancelled a visit to the UK while opposition politicians in Pakistan urged their President, Mr Zardari to call off his trip, while demonstrators burnt an effigy of DC on the streets of Karachi. It seems that DC has still yet to make the transition from politician to statesman.

It’s as David Miliband pointed out, while yes aspects of Pakistan have exported terrorism DC seems to forget that not only do Pakistan officials play a major role in the stemming of terrorism but Pakistan and its people have been victims of terrorism coming from Afghanistan. International diplomacy is all about making friends so you can influence your friends. Yes, stand up for your values but there is a fine line between “frankness” and making enemies. Thankfully though President Zardari is still set to visit the UK but the Pakistan intelligence service cancelled their visit in direct response to DC inability to understand both sides of the story.

Max

153, jellyfish, Trident, dolphins and a seal

by maxattacks

Chris Riddell 11.07.2010

Firstly, apologies for the lack of blogging recently. Been away in north Wales for the past week surrounded by a seal, dolphins (yes you heard me actual dolphins in north Wales!) and what seemed to be the world’s largest gathering of jellyfish, but that unfortunately is a different story.

Moving on swiftly, Education Secretary Michael Gove promised one of the greatest revolutionary reforms to the education system of all time. This was hoped to be achieved through the expansion of the academy programme which was started by Tony Blair’s Labour government. The Academy school programme was initially targeted at underperforming areas, now I don’t know if they were successful or not, but it seemed a good….ish idea at the time.

But now Gove has began rushing through legislation to allow any school the right to become an academy, independent from the local council (even though they already hold a large degree of autonomy). Gove claimed that around a 1100 schools had already signed up to become academies within a week, however, it was recently revealed a mere 153 have done so since the coalition took office. 153! Ed Balls has accused Gove of railroading the bill given only a mere 10% of the claimed schools have applied. Personally, I’m really not well aware of the pros and cons of the academy programme, but for a coalition that is supposed to represent “new” politics, it certainly shows a lot of the “old” brand by preventing Parliament from doing their job of proper scrutiny of bills.

Moving on again, it has been revealed that there is an apparent schism between the MoD and the Treasury over who should foot the bill for the renewal of Trident. The renewal of Trident is predicted to cost around £20 billion, the MoD budget is £40 billion and there is a large budget deficit, already you can see a slight problem. Personally, I’d love to see the back of Trident, but in the name of compromise here’s an idea that will kill two birds with one stone. How about keeping Trident but not renewing until the deficit is well and truly dealt with? Britain’s nuclear defence system is still very capable of wiping out numerous major cities across the globe, a slight upgrade that would increase the range of the submarines and the blast radius of the missiles a bit would surely not go to miss if its lifespan is prolonged. Just a thought.

Max

London Calling

by suzannahrobinson

Soundbites from BULS members on leadership:

Ken Livingstone wants to push through money-making and environmental reforms that local councils across the country could benefit from.

I don`t live in London, so I don`t care as long as the mayor is Labour. (thanks Ben)

Oona King is a faux labour, über Blairite, war supporting opportunist. And being a Blairite IS a bad thing because he`s a war criminal and didn`t stay true to Labour`s values.

King is the Labour of the future, Ken is the past. Blair never lost an election, and you can`t get anywhere on ideology alone (see: the 1980s). Also let`s wait for the report to conclude on whether or not he`s a criminal.

Blair had a time and place, but now the public want a fresh, more ideological Labour. Go Ed Miliband!

Suzy

It`s all relative

by suzannahrobinson

Yesterday evening an unknown man was buzzed into our building, entered our apartment through the door we often leave open and offered my flatmate money for sex. After a clear refusal in Turkish, English and Spanish, a violent struggle and threats to call the police he eventually went home, and we were left feeling terrified and dirty.  

The consensus about the event among my Turkish friends is as follows: that it is known in the neighbourhood that our apartment is occupied by young foreign women, who are probably not Muslim and definitely without the support of a large family bent on avenging insults to its women. Our brothers, fathers and uncles are far away, and we probably act like the American women in gossip magazines anyway, so will welcome advances. And if we don`t like it we can go back to where we came from.

Other things I find difficult to adjust to in İstanbul are the poor record on women`s liberation, the high birthrates, the tradition of the hostess never sitting down during a meal but continuing to serve throughout, the constant and indiscriminate leering by men of all ages and the incredible statistic that only 10% of Turkish women are in employment.   

It all makes the Ed/Yvette leadership issue look very, very trivial.

Suzy

The last gift of the Labour government

by maxattacks

In the second quarter of 2010 the UK economy grew by 1.1%. This is clearly the result of the actions taken by the Labour government in their final months and it would’ve been higher were it not for the Volcanic Ash cloud.

However, to say “oh, economy already back on track, it’s clearly secure to swiftly slash the deficit” is wrong! The Chancellor, Boy George, summed it up himself “Today’s figures show the private sector contributing all but 0.1% of the growth in the second quarter,” which consequently means that if you are going to “cut” your way out of the deficit that remaining 1% is going to disappear rather quickly. Add this to the fact that most economists are saying that the recovery is not secured meaning that to savage public services rather than a carefully planned programmed to halve the deficit in 4 years would plunge the country back into deep recession and this time, there will be no plan B.

Max

Before we miss the sparkly bandwagon…

by suzannahrobinson

Stephanie Meyer`s Twilight Saga, heaven knows, gets its fair bit of exposure. Precisely because of this I want to give it some space on our own venerable blog. The amount of impressionable people worldwide hopelessly in love with its characters or  ideas make it worth taking seriously.

The ”twilight is sexist” debate can be argued convincingly from either side. While Bella replaces her absent mother in exclusively performing traditionally female chores for her father, suffers from a lack of professional ambition in terms of a career outside the home, is perpetually in need of rescuing and puts up with an emotionally abusive boyfriend who also supervises her every move 24/7, bruises her during sex and prevents her from seeing her friends; there is plenty of objectification of the male characters to counterbalance it, from lingering descriptions of male beauty in the books to many many minutes dedicated to the sight of muscly topless men in the films. By the fourth book Bella is strong enough to stand up for herself, and becomes a protector instead of a victim, albeit mainly in the role of a wife and mother. Also the author, screenplay writer and director are all women, the audience is predominantly female and there is some attempt at a reversal of the Adam and Eve story in terms of who is tempting whom into sexual maturity.

So much for gender.

What I`m concerned with is the heteronormativity of it all.

In the world of Twilight borderline inter-species sexuality, necrophilia, paedophilia and sado-masochism are allowable and more or less practised. Nothing is off limits but the same sex. Werewolves undergo a process of “imprinting” when they find their soulmate, and whenever it is discussed the subject is represented as “he” and the object as “she”. Vampires never seem to bite a human of the same gender, and following in the footsteps of Buffy there is a certain devotion developed towards to the one who changed you. There is no exploration of sexual identity, all the characters are introduced in ready-made boy-girl pairings, in fact there is no possibility, in this world of societal outcasts, counter-culture and misunderstood teenagers, of any LGBT experience.

Suzy

Why nobody, not even on the left, should read the Guardian

by maxattacks

I write this, as you all by now are probaby well aware, as a left of centre, card carrying member of the Labour party. And I write this because I am, quite frankly, sick of fellow minded folks trusting this diabolical rag despite it being a paper that is inconsistent, hypocritical and simply, makes no sense whatsoever. Let me take the liberty to explain this to you.

This is, after all, a paper, that after years of supporting the Labour Party decided a week before the last election to support the Liberal Democrats. This it did citing as its motive the Liberal Democrats support for proportional representation (P.R). Yet immediately after the formation of the Con-Dem coalition, some ten days later, this ‘news’paper decides to renounce that support.

That to me does not make sense. Firstly and most simplistically, why drop a party immediately after it gains power for the first time in 60 years, just because it goes into coalition with a party you don’t like. Moreover, The Guardian’s switch is more staggering considering its support for PR (which as I said earlier, was the reason it publically gave for switching its allegiance from Labour to the Lib Dems.) Proportional Representation almost universally leads to the formation of coalitions, so for The Guardian to declare its support for the Lib Dems because of their support for PR, then weeks later to renounce that support because of the Lib Dems going into a coalition, which would be more, not less, likely to occur with PR, is frankly bonkers logic. If the Guardian’s support for the Lib Dems was based on them winning the election outright then it did so contrary to the vast majority of the evidence from polls, most political analysis and was reliant upon a swing that was unlikely even to the most ardent and politically naive Liberal Democrat.

I say this not because I am annoyed at the Guardian switching its support from Labour to the Lib Dems. That genuinely is not my problem. My problem is that the Guardian is repeatedly held up and used by members of the Labour Party or people on the left or in the centre as this beacon for sensible left of centre reporting and analysis. But in reality, this paper is just as unprincipled and flippy floppy in its nature, as any of the red tops or Murdoch press engine. But at least the red tops do not pretend to be sensible.

I don’t like the coalition. I dislike most of its policies, I don’t trust its underlying (largely Conservative) principles and I also don’t believe it is actually as stable and unified in purpose and compromise as is said (though I do not, myself, think this will become apparent for a number of years). But these are politically based, and I would argue very rational reservations for the coalition. My reasoning, even if you do not agree with it, is consistent. The Guardian’s scepticism of the coalition is not sound, consistent or based on anything other than rather politically naive and ill-considered malice. Yet despite this people on the left continue to quote it and rely upon it ad nauseum, believing, as I said, it to be a principled and consistent proponent of the ‘progressive’ wing of politics.

So I implore any self-respecting left or centrist person with an interest in political journalism which is not sensationalist but fair, sensible not senseless, to read the Independent, not the Guardian. Even the Telegraph, though a right-wing paper with which I have many disagreements, is at least consistent and sensible in what it says, even if I disagree with it. If you want a challenge, rather than mindless spouting, read that. But do not quote the Guardian pretending that it is anything other than TWADDLE!

By Sean Woodcock

Lord Mandy

by maxattacks

Lord Mandelson speaks 

In BULS, we’re mature enough to dole out criticism and praise where it is due and with the recent release of Lord Mandelson’s Memoirs “The Third Man”, it seems both are present here to one of the founding architectures of ‘New’ Labour. As business secretary, I personally believe Mandy did a brilliant job, the car scrappage scheme was one of the most successful parts of the economic stimulus package brought in after the wake of the financial crisis. His emphasis on a new high tech industries and manufacturing and his ardent support of the Regional Development Agency were just what the country needed in times of economic hardship.

However, Brown’s former adviser Charlie Whelan said “Peter ran the worst general campaign in Labour’s history,” Whelan told the Sunday Telegraph, “Nobody knew what the message was at all. It was a disaster from beginning to end.”. In this instance, how right he was. Now admittedly, I haven’t paid much attention to previous election campaigns, but the 2010 campaign was abysmal. Yes, we were just emerging from a recession and had a leader with a “radio face”, but frankly the campaign did not help. The press-conferences completely lacked any excitement and it seemed Brown was held back by Mandy. The latter we know given Brown’s firebrand speech near the end of the campaign, after Mandy was relinquished of some duties.

To be frank, there was no clear message, let us hope this is not the case in 2015. 

Max

This time for Africa?

by suzannahrobinson

It`s been a disappointing world cup, and I don`t just mean for England. The 2004 announcement of South Africa winning the bid to host led to predictions of a massive leap forward for the whole continent, as the World Cup was expected to raise Africa`s profile, increase levels of tourism, bring in revenue in prize money and foreign currency, provide investment and give it a greater sense of pride and identity.

Six years and sixty (?) matches later we have two anthems sung by a Somali-Canadian and a Columbian, a tournament dominated by European teams with Ghana the sole African representative past the group stage, inter-African xenophobia in Johannesburg… Time will tell but I think it`s already safe to say that hosting the World Cup was not South Africa`s holy grail.

Suzy

Two cents…

by suzannahrobinson

Having a bad feminist time of it in Turkey in terms of female employment,  roles in the home and freedom of clothing, but am really thrilled about Gillard! A bit of progressive news in traditional times ^_^

Interestingly it is forbidden for Turkish women to be scarved at uni, as it damages the precious separation of church and state. The really orthodox wear wigs to hide their hair all the same.

Thought I’d understand Islam more after a fortnight living in Istanbul, but the variety of practice here is bewildering! Hope to educated myself over the next few months and I’ll blog if I can think of anything good.

Suzy

How to lose a PM in 30 days

by Chris Nash

Observing recent political events in West Island from across the ditch, I have been struck by both the swiftness and the apparent brutality of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s removal by his own party in favour of his second-in-command Julia Gillard. The justification for his removal apparently a decline in Labor support in the polls during an election year; for which he as leader was deemed responsible. To a UK political observer the initial comparison is inevitable (and Martin Kettle at the Guardian milks it for all its worth).

But UK Labour is not Australian Labor, and we should be glad of this. Firstly Australian Labor is institutionally factionalised in a way which makes Blairite-Brownite “rifts” look like trivial squabbles over soccer team affiliation. Rudd had no core faction behind him, hence when the challenge came they swung behind Gillard. In addition, Rudd had probably alienated the powerful union factors with miner membership though his proposals for a new supertax on mining profits. The plan to reinvest these profits to the benefit of all Australians is in principle a sound idea, but one which threatened the interests of mine workers. Consequent hostile advertising from this sector likely cost a few points in the opinion polls and encouraged Rudd’s colleagues (with union backing) to act. Some of us in English circles may smile wryly at the thought that there is somewhere in the west where miners can still bring down a PM.

It is also much easier to stage a coup when only MPs have a say in their party’s choice of leader. Much of the action happened overnight in this time zone – talk of speculation coming around midnight followed by the news of Rudd’s resignation when I woke up on the floor the next morning. By teatime Gillard was meeting the Governor-General. Had Milliband, D. ever followed through on his many threats to stick the knife in we’d have gone through the whole nominations, campaigning, and membership ballots palaver. Arguably this grants the incumbent a significant advantage, but if it saves us the undignified spectacle of a brutal internal coup whilst being notionally more democratic then I for one am grateful.

Rudd had been in office for just under two and a half years, after a landslide victory in ’07. He had brought the Labor party back into power after 13 years of opposition. He’d initially taken a bold stand on global warming in a country with a deeply sceptical (and Murdoch-tainted) media, and at least attempted to redress historical grievances with the indigenous peoples. Until a matter of months ago he had polled as the 2nd most popular Australian PM in history – now he becomes the only to be ousted from office in a single term. 3-year term limits mean that an election was likely before the end of this year; with a change at the top it will likely come about even sooner (as Gillard herself has stated). We shall see if the Labor party’s gamble pays off. If it does, there may well be many a forlorn “what-if?” in the Milliband camp (though Labor’s defeat is not as likely, let alone as certain, as ours appeared in ‘09). I’m not sure which reflects worse on a party – regicide against a successful election winner, or the prospect of changing leaders twice in one term. “Unelected Prime Minister” rhetoric is disingenuous yet potent amongst the electorate, especially when there is very little to hide the naked ambition of those who make it to the top. I’ve seen identity politics used already to justify the outcome; a seemingly desperate spin. On this note it may be worth considering the success of other welsh redheaded Labo(u)r leaders.

I’m glad this undignified spectacle never befell Gordon. Rudd gave a gracious albeit tearful resignation speech, worth watching if only for his parting joke of “I’m still Prime Minister for another 30 minutes… I’m no longer leader of the Labor Party but I am Prime Minister… anything could happen folks”. To an outsider he seems a decent, honourable and principled man – I only hope his party don’t wind up regretting what they’ve done.

Comrade Nash

- BULS Southern Hemisphere correspondent

Poor poor Vince

by maxattacks

Chris Riddell on Nick Clegg

I was watching question time last Thursday (yes I know this might be a bit late) and was pained to see none other than Vince Cable (the only Liberal Democrat I have a great degree of respect for) being effectively made to eat his own words from the general election campaign. It was quite clear that he hated every moment on the show and half of what he said he obviously did not personally believe.

Now the coalition was the best option open for the Liberal Democrats after the election, better to influence events on the inside than shout from the sidelines. But, one of their major failings is that they have for the time being, failed to give the coalition a distinct progressive edge. They failed to shift the burden of the Tory cuts onto the rich but rather onto the poor as argued by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2010%2Fjun%2F23%2Fbudget-welfare-poor-ifs-report&h=94854p2-JAX6pOiaLB95ROte4HA and humiliatingly had to u-turn over a rise of VAT which topped the Tories era of austerity.

These failures are being noticed by the electorate, with support in a YouGov poll on the 5th May at a high 28%, while on the 25th June it was shown to have been decimated to a mere 16%. Another poll showed that 48% of people who voted for the Liberal Democrats at the last election are less inclined to do so again, primarily over the rise in VAT.

The future doesn’t look bright for Vince and his fellow Liberal Democrats, if the coalition does succeed the Tories will gain credit, being the dominant partner and if it fails, the Liberal Democrats will never again be able to regard themselves as a progressive force.

Max

The axe falls

by maxattacks

Chris Riddell 20.06.10

Today saw George Osborne’s first ever budget as Chancellor in which Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats showed how much they had sold themselves out. Despite accusing Cameron of threatening to raise VAT with a re-run of the famous Tory poster of “Labour’s tax bombshell” have now agreed with their coalition partners to indeed raise VAT to 20% in which the house was in uproar! The thing with the VAT is that it is generic, it targets no specific group, so in other words, rather than taxing higher earners, it is those on middle to lower incomes who will suffer from this “tax bombshell”. Here is a rundown of the main aspects of the budget:

  1. VAT will rise from 17.5% to 20% from January 4, 2011 (already touched upon but still rather ironic)
  2. Councils which propose low council tax increases will be offered extra funds to allow them to freeze the tax for one year from April 2011 (would be great if we had the money)
  3. Capital Gains Tax remains at 18% for low and middle-income savers but from midnight, higher rate taxpayers will pay 28% (now that I can agree with)
  4. The capital gains tax “entrepreneurs relief” rate of 10% on the first £2m of gains will be extended to the first £5m (frankly if they earn that much they deserve a level of taxation, especially now)
  5. No raise to alcohol, cigarettes and fuel (pity it wasn’t raised on cigarettes)
  6. Low income families will get more Child Tax Credit – the amount per child will rise by £150 above the rate of inflation next year (again, I can agree with that)
  7. Sure Start maternity grant will be restricted to the first child (kind of stupid, better have it the other way around as you will have more mouths to feed)
  8. Corporation Tax will be cut next year to 27%, and by 1% annually for the next three years, until it reaches 24% (should be raised for bigger businesses in my eyes)
  9. Average real terms budget cuts of 25% over four years – except for health and international aid (there goes my local bobby and half of the state sector teachers
  10. Personal income tax allowance to be increased by £1,000 in April to £7,475 – worth £170 a year to basic rate taxpayers (the sole thing in this budget I would commend, obviously the Lib Dems managed to get A concession out).

VAT rise which will hit the poorest hardest and corporation tax cuts…….in the words of J. K. Rowling, “I’ve never voted Tory before, and they keep reminding me why.”

Max

The End of the Affair

by suzannahrobinson

After a very long final session of Guild Council, in the immortal words of Fabian, I’ll try to keep this brief…

Each of the officers made a leaving speech looking back on the year and offering advice to the new team. These are some of the highlights.

VPSAD Emma “pacman” Packham has effectively showcased student groups to the Uni administration (the Vice Chancellor’s dad nows wants to join BUDS  dance soc) and worked hard to make herself known and approachable. She said that despite the Guild’s under resourcing, few staff and erstwhile joke status among the students it achieves incredible things. She made the point that professional relationships are crucial; and gratitude and banter are useful to grease the cogs.

VPEA Brigid “remarkable” Jones: widely regarded as a model representative of students due to her commitment and dedication she was yesterday awarded honorary life membership of the Guild. Fabian asserted that this “girl, sorry, woman” has been patronised by the bigwigs up at the Uni during her massive campaign against the closure of the sociology department.

VPHC Ed “the smallest man that I look up to” Sparkes has worked hard to calm the housing terrors among first years by making everyone feel included in halls and pushing back the housing rush til after Christmas. He thinks that fun is the most important element in life, and that we should all change something if we’re not having enough of it, and to that end he’s run for nearly every position possible within the Guild.

VPW Johnny “idiotic but popular” Davis is the first ever re-elected officer, he’s determined, innovative to the point of requesting a condom cannon and a penis-shaped bucking bronco for AIDS awareness, and wants to encourage anyone who doesn’t think they’re “political” enough to get involved anyway, because all you really need is the desire to make things better. He’s proud of U of B’s record of supporting student parents, the “hidden gems” of our community, and is excited about carrying on next year, reminding us all to protect our welfare with a Johnny.

VPS Katie “fordy fail” Ford had a hard time splitting commitments and was initially a guild outsider, but has managed to conquer the laddish element of the Sports teams with tact and skill and embed the Guild in the minds of our sportspeople. The Lion sports pull-out in RedBrick, a successful healthy living campaign, a brilliant Sports Ball, increased involvement in Sports Forums and inclusion of Sports RAs are just some of her many achievements.

VPDR Tom “comrade” Guise has come a long way but never forgotten his BULS roots, wearing a rose on his lanyard at all times. He’s delivered Joe’s Bar, not on time but on budget, and been a supportive friend to the rest of the team. He also had a serious message of support for everyone involved in student politics and a warning for the naysayers who ignore the historic importance of our institutions.

President Fabian “that geeky Austrian guy” Neuner has managed to develop from an inexperienced cynical outsider into a positive, passionate, diplomatic, reliable and genuine leader. Following a jibe from Lynne Jones he’s been spending a lot of time convincing outsiders that students do care about politics, has been active in the Vote4Students campaign and wishes to further reform the Guild Council procedure to improve transparency. Among his many other achievements he recently won a game of Lash of the Titans, wearing Johnny Davis’ underwear on his head in victory.

The motion to express GC support for wheelchair ramps in the law library was passed unanimously, which is apparently a first!

Further…

Everyone decried the lack of recognition given to the non-sabb team and then carried on ignoring them…shout outs and praise were given to the guild staff, housemates and girlfriends, Carnival Rag, RedBrick, the notorious Ed Bauer, Tom Marley and Wes Streeting as well as all of the new officers…there used to be an official bar crawl called “Chamberlain Chunderfest”… that once you’ve been elected you have to do your best both for those who elected you but also for your rivals…the library WILL be open longer next year…Ed Sparkes is the best person to bring you tea when you’ve fallen asleep on your desk…

Apologies and Gaza flotilla thoughts

by maxattacks

First of all can I say that sorry for the lack of blogs lately, exams have been a pain in the rear backside and then last few days been working all day, but anyways as Lawsgate had already been tackled I thought it’d be good to tackle the Gaza flotilla incident.

 Chris Riddell cartoon, 04.01.09

I can easily understand and to a degree, sympathise with Israel’s position, quite evidently if you are attacked with knives and chairs you would naturally defend yourself, though killing around 10 activists kind of shows that the soldiers acted disproportionately to the situation. There are also numerous eye witness accounts from the activists that many were shot with non-lethal rubber bullets or physically assaulted if they were slow to follow Israeli orders. Israel also stormed the ship in international waters which in my view is down-right piracy in itself.

It is also important to note that some activists did indeed assault Israeli soldiers but frankly if you are confronted with a potentially dangerous situation, humans usually choose one of two options. Either, hide in a corner in fear (probably what I would do) or fight back and in this case some did. In some eye witness accounts the activists were the violent aggressors which certainly cannot be condoned.

I can understand the reasoning behind Israel’s blockade of Gaza, a militant regime is dangerous thing to have on your border, but whether you are a friend of Israel or Palestine it is clear that the blockade is clearly strengthening Hamas’ grip. The blockade also prevents fertiliser from being imported, which when basic commodities as mentioned are unavailable it is no doubt that Gaza’s economy is in ruins leaving many to a life of destitute, or the alternative of joining Hamas to throw off the “hated Israelis”. It is hugely aggravating to the world community who wish to see an end to the conflict when Israel rejects an international inquiry into the incident despite it taking place in international waters and the flotilla having a multi-national ship, does Israel have something to hide?

However, while Israel’s actions are disproportionate, I can very easily understand their intent, surrounded by hostile nations they have been at war on and off for the past 50 years it is clear the Israelis are a little jittery. A movement that wishes to eradicate Israel, such as Hamas, is obviously going incite more fear in Israel, but, it does not excuse their actions.

Max

Lawsgate – some thoughts

by suzannahrobinson

Paraphrased from a facebook conversation between Sean Woodcock and Oliver Jackson:

SW: Whilst I can sympathise with him having issues regarding his Catholic family it does not justify using taxpayers money to hide his sexuality. I don’t think he did it out of greed (he is already a millionaire) and I don’t think it necessarily makes him a bad person. But what he did was wrong and he absolutely deserved to go. Not to mention that he was naive to assume that he would not be found out for it.

OJ: He was one of the best men for the job, and his transgression was not by any stretch of the imagination the most serious offence in the whole sorry episode of the expenses scandal. “Had he been just another MP, his position would surely have been secure. Sympathy for the awkwardness he clearly felt about his sexuality would have overridden anger at the breach of the rules.” However, he had an exceptionally important position in the new government, a government wishing to at least be seen to be breaking away from the “old politics” in a position that would necessitate him having to explain harsh and deeply divisive austerity measures where not a shade of scandal can be had.

The other issue of course is the Telegraph itself, a newspaper not particularly interested in the public good but in sensationalism, controversy and making the greatest possible profits. If they had any significant level of decency they would not have published the story. But of course with the self serving Press Complaints Commission (we should have learned by now that self regulation doesn’t work!) there is no chance of even the beginnings of a discussion into whether or not the story should have been allowed. A story that came dangerously close to forcing a man out of his job because he felt himself unable to reveal his sexuality. The fact that people are still forced to think this way is a highly disturbing indictment on our society, though that is a slightly separate issue. His privacy has been shattered and he’s been pushed out of the highest position of his life for which was eminently qualified for. And for what? Very little good has come out of all of this. And why now? Why didn’t the Telegraph reveal Laws’ expenses with all the rest a year ago? I sense malevolent intent here…
SW: The only party that claimed to be whiter than white during the election were the Liberal Democrats, as David Cameron (in one of his highlights) told Clegg off for in the TV debates. It is not ideal that he came out in this way, but he has been living with this man for over 5 years. I would argue that if David Laws had made the (admittedly difficult) decision to come out earlier, then this issue would not have arisen. It shows poor judgement on his part. I also think a lot of gay people will find it insulting to hear a politician justifying doing something improper by saying he did it because of difficulty regarding coming out. This is not about homosexuality or homophobia and should not be made out to be an issue as such. I feel that he is being unfairly lauded as massive loss to the country despite the fact that up until 18 days ago he was a virtual unknown in a fairly minor (in terms of Parliamentary influence) political party.
When you stand for power, you do not lose a right to privacy, but you at the same time must expect that you will be under public scrutiny. In assuming that he would not be, he was at best naive. His defence, also confuses me – ‘My motive throughout has not been to maximise profit but to protect our privacy”
If he had followed procedure, he would not have been outed in the way he has been by the Telegraph. It is as simple as that. At the end of the day, you can’t avoid the conclusion that without the fraudulent claim, there would have been no story.

Jim Garner

by suzannahrobinson

Recently elected to the new constituency of South Luxton and Wetfield,  Jim Garner is the latest candidate to join the Labour leadership race.

He’s running a hi-tech grass-roots campaign, with a website, twitter and facebook groups already up and running.

Jim brushes aside those who question his maturity and experience, saying that he is “Secretary of State for Understanding Normal People in the Cabinet of Life”.

Without criticising the others who are running he declares himself to be the “choice candidate”, on friendly terms with Ed Balls but disagreeing with David Miliband over favourite snacks.

Thanks to Jim the contest should be getting a whole lot more interesting.

Suzy

All time high

by maxattacks

As I realised I haven’t done a blog in nearly 2 weeks but am still revising for my last 2 exams, I thought it’d be good to point out (with little time spent) that the BULS website has seen its highest number of views since February 2009, a 16 month high! I’ll be properly back into blogging over the summer from about the 6th!

Max

Islam, women and FGM

by suzannahrobinson

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been making the news recently, as a Muslim woman who ran away from home in Somalia in order to escape an arrange marriage. She has since become an atheist and an outspoken critic of Islam.

“Here are a number of principles within your religion [Islam] which are not compatible with liberalism and democracy”

“To extremist Muslims it is not acceptable that Jews now have their own homeland”

She is impatient of moral relativism, and decrys the tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation by the Western world as “just one of those cultural things”. She says that these are the real issues of feminism, and that feminism in Europe and North America is just a luxury.

The levels of oppression women suffer in Britain do seem laughably small in comparison with the situations in countries like Burkina Faso. If cliteral reconstructive surgery was given to all those who have undergone FGM in Burkina Faso alone the total cost would be 23 billion euros.

http://clitoraid.org/

Suzy

BCF AGM

by maxattacks

For those of you who don’t know, Birmingham Conservative Future (BCF) held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) today. I don’t have all the results but here we are:

President: Sophie Shrubsole

Vice-President: Adam Jenner (Internal) & Tim Hasker (External)

Blog Editor: Max Genoni

Publicity Officer: Owen V. Williams

We congratulate everyone who stood and welcome the new committee and hope BCF will rejoin the Guild and become BUCF once more!

Max

Lest we forget

by maxattacks

David Miliband said the ‘New’ Labour era is over. This may well be true and I know a few BULS members are glad of it, but we shall never forget ‘New’ Labour’s achievements and should never fail to build upon them, so I’ll leave you with a section from Gordon Brown’s final conference speech.

Max

Where have all the women gone?

by suzannahrobinson

The new ConDem cabinet is 26% female. I didn’t really expect any better, especially since Gordon Brown’s cabinet after the expenses cull was reduced to the same poor proportions.

But why are no women running for the Labour leadership?

Yvette Cooper recently stated her intention not to stand due to the demands of juggling such a responsible job with the demands of a young family of three children.

Q. Where is the father of these children?

A. Running for leadership

I think the women in the party could learn a thing or two from BULS, and especially from Louise, Dora, Pippa and Brigid. Maybe things will change when we get to Westminster in a couple of years time!

In the meantime, I’ll not be supporting Ed Balls.

Suzy

Goodbye Brown

by suzannahrobinson

Bowing to the judgement of the electorate, and in a dignified and timely manner, Gordon Brown has resigned as PM. As he refused to back a candidate for the Party leadership, so he refused to mention Clegg or Cameron, instead telling the waiting cameras how much he has enjoyed the opportunity to do good that his job has offered, and how much he’s looking forward to focussing on being a husband and father.

BULS pays tribute to his many years of devoted service, his economic prowess and his honest and heartfelt efforts to improve the lot of the British people and the world’s poorest.

As for the new coalition government, my feelings are summed up in this pithy poem:

Roses are red,

Labour are too

We were right when we warned them

Vote yellow get blue

But here’s to making the most of opposition. Here’s to laughing in the face of compromise and putting our Labour values first. Here’s to spending more time and effort in constituencies and local government. Here’s to doing everything we can to make this time count. And here’s to getting back in as soon as the electorate deems us worthy.

Suzy

Something else to be proud of…

by suzannahrobinson

Labour had 191 women PPCs prior to this election, which has translated into 81 women MPs – 31% of Labour MPs.

For comparison:

Labour had 101 women MPs in 1997, 24% of the total.

And the tories in 2010?

48 women MPs. 15% of the total.

Labour have also provided parliament with its first 3 muslim women MPs – Rushanara Ali of Bethnal Green and Bow, Yasmin Qureshi of Bolton South East and Shabana Mahmood of our very own Birmingham Ladywood!

And 12 other black or ethnic minority MPs – Diane Abbott kept Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Keith Vaz kept Leicester East, Marsha Singh of Bradford West, Sharma Virendra of Ealing Southall, Gavin Shuker of Luton South, Khalid Mahmood of our own Birmingham Perry Barr, the great David Lammy of Tottenham, Sadiq Khan of “yes we Khan” fame and Tooting, Mark Hendrick of Preston, Anas Sarwar of Glasgow Central, Chuka Umunna of Streatham and Dr Chinyelu Susan Onwurah of Newcastle Central.

That’s 5.8% of Labour MPs. We’re almost there on representation, at least as regards sex and ethnicity!

So proud to be Labour. Our party prioritises equality. You can’t say fairer than that.

Suzy

The result

by maxattacks

Last night saw many BULS members watching the results as they came in the new Joe’s Bar. Whatever you thought of the results, it was a great atmosphere. BUCF were nowhere to be found, but it was heard they were in a Suite in the Radisson Hotel, down with the students of course.

Anyways, the results were rather mixed as BULS members were met with as many disappointments as well as reliefs. Unfortunately, the likes of Jacqui Smith, Charles Clark and that Labour is no longer the single largest party were disappointments, but the fact that no seat in Birmingham turned blue and the likes of Ed Balls didn’t lose his seat is a huge conciliation. Yes, it’s not Labour best night but with so many local MPs staying red and given 9 months ago the Tories were heading for a landslide meant that this hung Parliament was a huge improvement.

BULS can also draw comfort from Wales where Labour only lost a handful of seats, in Scotland Labour’s share of the vote even rose by 3%, loosing not a single seat and containing the Tories to their sole seat and Labour has marge large gains in the local elections that were held on the same day.

In other words, disappointing but it could have been far worse.

Max

Vote Labour!

by maxattacks

This is it, the final crunch…and push. If you wish to secure the recovery, protect frontline services and clean up politics, vote Labour. If you want dangerous dogma to cause a double dip recession, a DIY public service system and a slashing of the schools budget and police numbers, then vote Tory. So please today, don’t be swayed by flashy posters and airbrushed leaders, vote for substance and experience with Labour and together we can fight for your future.

Max