Labour announced that Jeremy Corbyn will be speaking at the anti-trump rally today in London.
Corbyn has long been a vocal critic of the US President and has notably refused to attend the royal banquet in his honour.
Corbyn has pointed towards the Presidents attack on Mayor Of London Sadiq Khan as one of the reasons as to why he is not attending the dinner.
Tomorrow's protest against Donald Trump's state visit is an opportunity to stand in solidarity with those he's attacked in America, around the world and in our own country – including, just this morning, @SadiqKhan.
Outgoing leader of the Liberal Democrats, Vince Cables, has also indicated that he will not be attending the state dinner, refusing to allow himself to be “hobnobbing” with a “misogynist”
I will not attend the state banquet with Donald Trump when he visits.
We should not be beguiled by pomp and circumstance into hobnobbing with a man who is on record as a misogynist and a racist. Rolling out the red carpet to Trump is a shameful stain on this government #BBCQTpic.twitter.com/LJzRc8Vo5t
Vince Cable made his feelings towards the US President clear in his article for the Financial Times:
President Trump will not be the first or last nasty piece of work to enjoy a state visit, but he is among the most dangerous.
His attitudes to women and to race are abhorrent. And his crude protectionism has placed the world on the brink of trade war between the US and China, with an exposed Brexit Britain stuck in the crossfire. No amount of pomp, circumstance and royal regalia can disguise the fact that Mr Trump poses a real risk to the world, and to Britain.
Vince Cable, Financial Times
While Sadiq Khan has yet to respond to Trumps tweets regarding him, he today launched a campaign with Elle targeted at promoting Women’s Rights – which has been scaled back by state governments under Trump’s administration.
Women have the right to autonomy over their own bodies and their reproductive rights should be protected – in London, the USA, everywhere. pic.twitter.com/5M04P5LKdE
— Mayor of London (gov.uk/coronavirus) (@MayorofLondon) June 3, 2019
While many prominent MPs and poltical leaders chastise Trump, and the British Government for hosting him, Kate Hoey has been a prominent defender of the red carpet reception held for Trump.
She takes the view that as the democratically elected head of our closest ally, “he should be welcomed whether we agree with his views or not”.
Saddened by the hysterical reaction to visit of @POTUS by some Labour colleagues A democratically elected President of our closest ally should be welcomed whether we agree with his views or not. HM the Queen shows the world the nature of the U.K. @USAmbUK
Love Island returns to our screens THIS MONDAY the 3rd of June (9pm, ITV2). If you’re anything like me, this date sparks joy in your heart. You (and a few million others) cannot even fathom that you’ve been gifted the show yet again – pure unadulterated fun! Sexy, hot singles gracing our screens for weeks on end, what could there be to complain about?
What makes our shared attitude so confusing, however, is whether the fun really is unadulterated. Love Island show cases exactly the type of people many of us lived in fear of at school; vain, conceited lookers dripping in self-confidence, are these the people we should be giving airtime to?
Aside from the characters on the show, the premise of ‘looking for love’ no longer just feels a bit silly, but is arguably now a downright lie. That is unless love can be found in post-exposure sponsored Instagram posts, exemplified by Georgia Steel recently outdoing herself with a promotional car air freshener post.
Most ‘couplings’ either split in a dramatic prosecco glass being thrown, or in a media splashed feud a few months after. All bar one of the smitten winning couples of the show have all ended up breaking up, only Series 2’s Cara and Nathan eventually reuniting after parenting a child together.
On the other hand, there are some couples that have gone the distance. 2017’s Camilla and Jamie, potentially the classiest couple formed on the show, are continuing their wholesome relationship by buying a new home this year. Olivia and Alex of S2 are married. These are undeniable success stories and probably a pretty accurate statistical representation of how many relationships go the distance. Let’s be honest, most people form short lived and/or meaningless romances at some point in their youth.
Jamie Jewitt and Camilla Thurlow, who completes humanitarian work (Source: Heat Magazine)
Maybe our disapproval of the contestants really stems from jealousy. Comedian Romesh Raganathan has made this point before, stating “We don’t want Love Island to be popular because all the contestants are hot.” There is an assumption that contestants are vapid and unintelligent, when in actuality many have been successful in legitimate careers (yes, personal trainer does count) as doctors, engineers and even humanitarians. *Surprise surprise* people entering a highly watched reality show might want fame, and use the opportunity to form a minor celebrity career, instead of just seeking love. Our demeaning view of participants is perhaps just unfounded snobbery. Raganathan goes on to comment “It is always interesting to see what the cultural elite deem appropriate for consumption by the masses, while simultaneously dismissing the masses as savages”.
There are a few problems with the show which are impossible to brush aside. Tragically, Series 3’s Mike Thalassitis hanged himself earlier this year, aged just 26 years old. Critics argue that contestants are plunged into temporary fame without being equipped on how to deal with it, nor the financial peaks and troughs that will occur with such an unstable income.
Mike Thalassitis (Source: BBC)
Previous contestant Sophie Gradon also committed suicide last year, after battling depression. The Guardian reports that “ITV has pledged to increase the level of support and advice it provides to Love Island contestants.” Fellow 2017 participants suggested that Thalassistis’s portrayal as an arrogant player on Love Island and Celebs Go Dating was inaccurate, Montana Brown giving a poignant interview on This Morning:
With the recent cancelling of The Jeremy Kyle Show following lack of mental health support similarly resulting in suicides, it is imperative that ITV make changes in their reality participants’ support to justify the continuation of Love Island on our screens.
His name wasn’t Muggy Mike. Please stop brandishing that. His name was Mike Thalassitis, and every inch of my heart goes out to his family & friends. A good guy, taken far, far to soon. ?
In addition to the lack of mental health support, the lack of diversity on our screens is also highly problematic. It is something that ITV have made meagre attempts to address. New face in our 2019 batch of bidding love seekers Anna Vakili was falsely labelled as ‘plus size’ by Jameela Jamil, but on the whole the show reinforces traditional notions of beauty and body shape ideals. Creative director Richard Cowles counteracted criticism of this, telling The Radio Times, “it’s an entertainment show and it’s about people wanting to watch who you’ve got on screen falling in love with one another(…) Yes, we want to be as representative as possible but we also want them to be attracted to one another”.
Cowles’ excuse might seem feasible if we look at it from Raganathan’s perspective, but there is no excuse for the lack of racial diversity that 2019’s cohort looks no closer to solving. Last year, gal-dem social media editor Paula Akpan commented that racial diversity on Love Island is “severely lacking”. The show continues to tokenise BAME entrants, with many viewers finding Samira Mighty’s 2018 experience difficult to watch. The men she was interested did not seem to like her back, Habiba Katsha observing that “It would be simplistic to say that all the men who entered the villa didn’t find Samira attractive because she was black. But it would also be foolish to ignore how race plays a huge role in the dating world”. Samira, a beautiful, witty and talented West End performer, suffered an experience of rejection which did not reflect her character, arguably down to race.
Samira Mighty (Source: Radio Times)
Georgia Steel labelled her type as ‘mixed race’ boys, her flippancy rightfully leading to discussions on what is appropriate in the way we describe race and desirability. If the main stars of a show about hot people are all white, this can only wrongly reinforce notions of a racial hierarchy in beauty standards. Furthermore, there needs to be increased diversity to truly represent the cultural makeup of Britain; there has never been a woman of South Asian descent on the show, for example.
We cannot demonise a programme just because it showcases incredibly attractive people who embark on meaningless relationships. However, criticising the lack of racial inclusivity and mental health crises that reality television has contributed to is not only justified, but essential. I am excited to watch Love Island this Monday, but I will be disappointed if ITV does not pull through on its promises of increased diversity and mental health support.
Chelsea were crowned Europa League champions earlier in the week and Liverpool were last night crowned champions of Europe for the sixth time after beating Tottenham 2-0 in Madrid.
A Premier League season to remember not reflected in the finals
This Premier League campaign was nothing short of a blockbuster with Manchester City and Liverpool trading blows until the very last day, City taking the title with only a single point. The battle for top four certainly lost it’s steam towards the end, but not it’s entertainment factor with relegated Cardiff City heaping more embarrassment on a struggling United side, beating them 2-0 at home on the last day.
Liverpool were toe-to-toe with Man City all season. Source: FourFourTwo
For all the drama of the Premier League, sports fans across the globe were expecting an exhilarating final filled with goals galore, upsets and all the rest. If the Champions League semi-finals were anything to go by ,can you blame them? Tottenham came from a goal down to beat Ajax 3-2 at home, Lucas Moura miraculously stroking in a last gasp shot to book Spurs a place in Madrid.
Liverpool also stole a comeback of their own much to the upset of former Reds, Luis Sanchez and Philippe Coutinho. Liverpool booked their place in the final with an emphatic 4-0 win against the Catalan Giants that shocked the world.
Suarez in shock after losing to his former club. Source: Irish Mirror
So what happened in the final?
There was no question of media hype around the Champions Final. The scene was set in Madrid’s Wanada Metropolitano Stadium: England stars in Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Dele Alli were all out rearing to go and fans were buzzing all around Madrid; Liverpool’s second minute penalty even gave all the signs of a box office final, but thereafter the game went flat.
Liverpool only managed three shots on target all game and Harry Kane in his first game since April, failed to make an impact for the Spurs. Tottenham struggled to give Liverpool any real trouble, with Van Dijk in stellar form once again to shut Tottenham out.
Harry Kane and Pochettino visibly upset after losing to Liverpool. Source: Evening Standard
Origi’s 87th minute goal did little more than add insult to injury for Tottenham. The comparatively stale final is the first where not a single card was shown, which speaks volume of the low intensity game the world witnessed last night.
Chelsea leave Arsenal without a response
The Europa League, unanimously recognised as the second tier tournament in European football, saw a lot more goals but was far from competitive. Arsenal capitulated after Chelsea’s first goal at 48 minutes, and it was all downhill from there.
The biggest highlight of that game was ironically off the pitch in Eden Hazard’s comments all but confirming his exit from Chelsea. Hazard told BT Sport after the game, “I think it is a goodbye, but in football you never know”.
"I think it is a goodbye, but in football you never know." ?
— ?? Ja! Watch the Bundesliga live on BT Sport?? (@btsportfootball) May 29, 2019
What were the European Finals missing?
In the last five years, we’ve seen Spanish team dominate the Champions League, most prominently Real Madrid. We’re used to seeing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos inflicting searing heartbreak on opposition, much to the entertainment of football fans everywhere.
In last years final we saw Sergio Ramos ‘accidentally’ get in a tangle with Mo Salah that left the Egyptian unable to finish the game. Ramos was instantly made a villain and Real Madrid were out and out antagonists of a nail biting story line. Liverpool equalised from a goal down only to lose the game to a stunning goal from Gareth Bale and a horrible Loris Karius error. It was a final to remember filled with excitement, tears and good football.
Sergio Ramos’s suspicious tangle with Mo Salah. Source: Pedestrian.tv
This years finals did lack some of the level of drama and football quality that you get from the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus, but should that take away from the overall campaign performance of Liverpool and Tottenham?
Klopp finally sees gold
Klopp finally wins a trophy for Liverpool since joining in 2015 and after his Champions League final heartbreak last year and back in 2013 with Borussia Dortmund, this is a final that both Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp should be over the moon about despite their finals performance.
Klopp was seen grinning from ear to ear, hugging all of his players and staff whilst Liverpool players celebrated with fans, friends and family. There was also the absolute sheer emotion of the experience. Jordan Henderson was seen lovingly embracing his dad after the final whistle. You can see what this game meant for the Liverpool captain and his family.
Jordan Henderson with his dad after Liverpool's win ❤️
The all English finals may have not lived up to the hype but both Liverpool and Tottenham gave us Champions League nights to remember in their respective semi-final legs. Eden Hazard may have had his last dance with the Blues and Jurgen Klopp finally comes good and delivers some silverware to Anfield – we’ll certainly look back and remember these moments from the first all English European Cup finals.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments, did the finals live up to the hype? Follow The Common Sense Network for all the latest news and updates.
After making it to their first NBA Finals in franchise history, and now leading it 1-0, we discuss whether Raptors impulsive decision to trade DeMar DeRozan has actually paid off.
Did Masai’s impulsive bet pay off?
The NBA 2019 Final is now underway and Toronto are continuing to shock the world after taking a convincing 118-109 win against the Golden State Warriors in their NBA Finals debut. It is also Nick Nurse’s first trip to the Finals. What a historic run its been from a team only founded in 1995.
The manner and style of their wins have been entertaining, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round in a 7 game series winning the game with the shot seen around the world to going 2 games down in the conference finals against the heavily favourites Milwaukee Bucks and MVP candidate Giannis Atentetokumpo to beating them in 4 straight games. Which in itself is remarkable because the Bucks had only lot 2 games in a row in the regular season just once before this series.
All eyes have fallen on the Toronto Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri. A year ago he made the trade possible for Toronto’s beloved DeMar DeRozan to go to the San Antontio Spurs receiving Kawhi Leonard in return who hadn’t played all last season due to what the doctors are calling a thigh concussion.
DeRozan was traded for Kawhi Leonard last off-season. Source: ClutchPoints
Many fans were upset at trading away their star player but not many could question the GM’s commitment to the vision as Kawhi is a much better player than DeRozan.
Whilst DeMar was bounced out of the first round in the players by the Denver Nuggets, Kawhi has managed to drag the formerly known Lebronto Raptors to an NBA Finals. There have been times where his teammates haven’t showed up like Kyle Lowry, Siakem and Gasol but Kawhi still managed to pull the team through or get them close. Truly, he’s the King of the North and is currently making Ujiri look like an absolute genius.
The reason many thought this trade was impulsive is because Leonard will become a free agent this year, and there’s a good chance that he could be heading for the exit. Numerous sources have reported that Leonard, a Los Angeles native, is seeking a return to Tinsel Town with the possibility of joining The Clippers.
It’s a bet that paid off if you asked the general NBA fan on first glance. Even if Kawhi leaves it will have been a very successful season for the Raptors which they cant deny. Drake would attest to that with the energetic output of his celebrations and showboating at courtside in the Scotiabank Arena.
Can Toronto pull off an upset?
Toronto currently lead the series 1-0, with help from an inspired Pascal Siakam who had 32 points on the night on 14/17 shooting. The Raptors have an entire nation behind them led by Drake, and if they can keep this same energy, they could really give The Warriors trouble.
In their first ever managerial appointments, and with both facing testing circumstances off the pitch, Campbell and Bowyer are proving that sometimes the most unlikely figures can make great managers.
If you asked anyone the significance of the 2nd March 2014, or 2nd April nine years earlier, the majority would just stare back at you blankly. For Sol Campbell and Lee Bowyer however, these are arguably the two dates around which the public perception of their respective careers is formed. Campbell; a powerful and imposing central defender throughout his playing career was reduced to caricature by some, for his proclamation that if he was white he would have given the England captaincy for a decade. The legitimacy of this claim makes for interesting conversation, but the knee jerk reaction within much of the online football community was that Campbell was clutching at straws. Further bizarre comments have followed since and upon becoming Macclesfield Town manager back in November, Campbell had garnered a difficult reputation within footballing circles.
Bowyer meanwhile, while also a truly fantastic and underrated footballer, was involved in a whole host of controversies throughout his playing days. There is one however, that all these years later seems to stick in peoples’ minds more than some of his other worse offences (more on that later). Instead, what’s followed him his whole career was that unforgettable day at St James’ Park when Bowyer was sent off for an on-pitch fight with Kieron Dyer; his own team mate.
Always a volatile personality, Bowyer has brought this passion with him in managing Charlton Athletic, and by guiding them back to the Championship this season, he has added to Campbell’s equally outstanding first season as a manager. At the opposite end of the EFL, the ex-Arsenal man has done wonders to keep Macclesfield in the football league this season. Both Bowyer and Campbell’s achievements have come against an unwelcome back drop too.
Chaos breeds character?
Campbell’s achievements with Macclesfield must be tinged with an element of sadness, as he and the fans will know that the real work may not begin until next season. The club have faced considerable financial troubles throughout the year, paying players late on multiple occasions, with even Campbell himself facing two months without pay at one point. Set to appear back in front of a high court judge at the end of the season, this has been pushed back until 26 June, but you just feel it is delaying the inevitable. With this inevitable being a likely points deduction, Macclesfield could find themselves starting next season with a 12 point deficit.
Campbell’s final day celebrations. Source: BBC Sport
It must be a sickening feeling to know all their hard work could have been for nothing, especially considering the emotive way the players cancelled boycott plans this season through a ‘duty to supporters‘. Yet within all this turmoil, Campbell stood strong and somehow managed to keep the club in the Football League. He’s been praised for this yes, but he simply hasn’t been given the credit he deserves. Even taking the off-field troubles out of the equation, Macclesfield were cut 7 points adrift when he took over. By the final day they were 3 points safe. Added to that, Campbell showed a pragmatism beyond his level of experience in a managerial role. With his shrewd appointments of top level ex-pros Andy Cole and Shaun Goater, and with an emphasis on strong home form, he put everything you would want into a team fighting relegation. Yet besides a few congratulatory pieces, the media response has been rather subdued. He should be a candidate for LMA Manager of the Year.
For Bowyer, it’s been more of a rebuilding job than saving the club from the brink, but he’s had to face what can only be described as a farcical situation in the boardroom. Branded ‘the worst owner in the country‘, Roland Duchatelet’s reign at Charlton since 2014 has caused a number of fan protests. From not paying staff bonuses, to refusing to provide the youth teams with bottled water and even warning staff against eating crisps as he had scrapped the cleaning budget, it is fair to say Duchatelet is not a popular figure at the Valley. Fan protests have included throwing beach balls, plastic pigs and even packets of the aforementioned crisps on to the pitch.
The infamous pig protest Source: Coventry Telegraph
Yet once more, by some sort of footballing chaos theory, Bowyer has managed to get the best out of his players in his time there. He only even became permanent manager in September, meaning he still hasn’t managed a full season at the helm and yet has guided them back into the Championship for the first time in 4 years. Two young English managers then, outperforming expectations, all whilst shaking off their skewed reputations. Cause for raucous celebrations right? Well, not entirely.
Differing standards
One of a number of controversies Source: BBC News
I said earlier that Bowyer’s career involved far greater misdemeanours than just his fight with Kieron Dyer. In 2001, he allegedly chased and assaulted an Asian man down a street in Leeds with a group of men including team mate Jonathan Woodgate. Although Bowyer was acquitted of any charges, Woodgate was charged with affray and another man received 6 years jail time for grievous bodily harm. Since this acquittal, Bowyer has publicly insisted “I’m no racist“, yet what some people forget is that this was not a standalone incident. Five years earlier, Bowyer was charged £4500 after an incident in a McDonald’s where he threw chairs at counter staff and said “I don’t want to be served by a Paki”.
People will say that this all happened a long time ago, that standards of public scrutiny are higher now, or that he may well be a reformed character, but that is not the point here. Bowyer’s route into management was via one coaching job offered up by ex-team mate Harry Kewell, before becoming Assistant Manager at Charlton and working his way up from there. Sol Campbell meanwhile, faced numerous rejections and even offered to work for free before finally being given a chance at the EFL’s bottom club; a decision which many fans took pleasure in ridiculing at the time. This is disconcerting on so many levels.
Bowyer has done a fantastic job, there is no argument to be had here and I am not going to start one now. What does it say about British society though when a white player with a track record of violence and racism can make the transition to manager so quickly, while a black man whose only crime is that he comes across as a bit of an arrogant oddball is forced to scrape the barrel? Campbell’s claim that he would have been captain if he was white still sticks in English footballing brains all these years later for the simple fact that it makes people feel uncomfortable. Maybe it’s time to admit that he had a point?
Violence against women in Australia continues to shock nation as homeless woman is murdered in Melbourne.
The murder of a homeless woman in Melbourne has raised questions over women’s safety in Australia.
25-year-old Courtney Herron had experienced both mental health and drug abuse problems. Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper stated that “she died as a result of a horrendous bashing – that’s the only way to describe it.” Her body was found by dog walkers on the morning of the 25thMay in Royal Park, in the suburban Parksville district.
Courtney Herron (Source: Daily Mail)
Henry Richard Hammond has faced court on Monday 27thMay charged with her murder. The 27-year-old man is homeless and has a past history of mental illness.
Herron is the twentieth woman to have been murdered in Australia this so far this year, with young women frequently becoming targets of unfounded violence.Women in Melbourne seem to be particularly vulnerable, Herron being the fourth woman to be murdered in a public place in the city in the past 12 months.
Shockingly, comedian Eurydice Dixon was raped and murdered in the same park last year, at just 22 years old. For many, Herron’s death signifies a wider problem of violence towards women in Australia. In a 2017 UN report, Dubravka Šimonović wrote that “violence towards women is disturbingly common and continues to have a significant negative impact on women”.The increasing statistics of violence against women in Australia calls into question whether the ‘developed’ world is as close to gender equality as we are led to believe.
Courtney Herron (Source: ABC)
The brutal nature of Herron’s death has sparked fear in women in Melbourne who feel there is nothing they can do to feel safe. Jenna Price, of Counting Dead Women Australia, told SBS News in this video that “Courtney Herron’s case is one many parts of the same picture of violence against women”.
The Australian Minister for Women Marise Payne told ABC radio that “We have been only too tragically reminded in the last couple of days, again in Melbourne with the appalling murder of Courtney Herron, that the safety of women is something that must concern us all.” It is clear that further serious action needs to take place in Australia to put an end to continuing violent crime.
Despite the terrible infliction of violence of this case, one positive can be drawn in the police handling of the homicide, which has been praised for criticising men’s attitudes towards women rather than shaming the victim.
Victoria police assistant commissioner Luke Cornelius addressed media stating “Certainly there have been instances in our recent past where women have been attacked and they have been attacked by men. The key point is this is about men’s behaviour, it’s not about women’s behaviour.”
Luke Cornelius (Source: SBS News)
It is refreshing for the police response to avoid blaming women for outfit choices, behaviours or lifestyles as has been common in previous rape cases. Cornelius went on to say “Women, and men, are absolutely entitled [to] and should feel safe to go about their normal day-to-day activities.”
As a homeless woman, Courtney Herron found herself extremely vulnerable to violence. The unimaginable pain she must have suffered in the moments before her death were undeserved and inexcusable. A vigil will be held in her honour on Friday at Royal Park.
The SNP wins three out of 6 seats within the EU Parliament, after this years EU elections, with Alyn Smith, Aileen McLeod, and Christian Allard as SNP MEPs. After the collective Scottish council results were counted, the support for the SNP has risen from 29% in the 2014 EU elections to a whopping 37.7% this year.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon attends a polling place for the EU elections
This would be the party’s largest victory ever, with every council area except Orkney and the Shetland Islands having a majority vote in favour of the SNP. Noted that these two have been fans of the Liberal-Democrats party for a while.
Scotland’s Labour party, on the other hand, has lost the two seats they initially held, due to no solid stance on the Brexit crisis. Falling from 26% in 2014 to a measly 10%. Whereas the Brexit party, Liberal-Democrats and Conservatives each respectively attained a seat each.
It is important to point out that the turnout for this election in Scotland was only 40%, however not all votes were truly counted, many EU citizens within the UK were denied the opportunity to vote, an outrage as a present EU nation.
Another point of interest is that this EU election has shown us that the classic two-party choices (Labour and the Conservatives) have been chucked out and people are starting to truly polarize when it comes to politics. Either by going to more pro-EU, left-leaning parties like the SNP, or being drawn to more anti-EU, right-leaning parties like the Brexit party. This also brings forth the possibility of more proportional representative politics in governance, giving the people more options in voting.
These results depict Scotland as Pro-EU in comparison to the victory the Brexit party achieved in England, with the Liberal-Democrats coming in second place, with Labour and the Conservative party falling behind badly. With Scotland being more for remaining in the European Union, and England being more pro-Brexit, this election has divided the two nations politically, and perhaps even literally with time.
Brexit is a closing door for the UK, with the EU being on one side, and Scotland is keeping their foot in the door, thanks to the SNP’s Pro-EU stance. With the SNP receiving a majority of the vote, Scotland shows us yet again that Brexit is not for them, with the first showing of this being the 62% remain vote in the 2016 EU Referendum.
Additionally, with a majority of Scotland’s Government being pro-independence and holding the most seats in the EU parliament, a second independence referendum may not seem too far away. Especially if a no-deal Brexit/hard Brexit comes to be, which will solidify the idea that the UK Government do not respect Scotland’s wishes. The percentage for a YES vote for independence would need to be above 50% however, which could very well be the case if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.
For now, at least, Scotland has shown it is for Europe.
The recent extinction of the Blue Spix Macaw is a jarring reminder of the detrimental consequences of climate change. In 2015 Greenhouse Gas emissions from textile productions alone, produced an extortionate 1.2 billion tonnes of Carbon Dioxide. China’s target of reducing emissions from the textile industry by 1651 million tonnes (in order to cut the production of greenhouse gases per unit of GDP by 2020), has proven futile in countervailing global warming, and has since added to these numbers. It is not difficult therefore, to form a link between the fashion industry and the deterioration of our planet. However the discussion can be further extended by considering how the vogue for ‘speedy style’ originates from the rolling hills of Hollywood itself. The most recent examples of this are the Cannes Film Festival and the Met Gala.
The Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival, is an exclusive 2 week affair in which films from all genres as well as documentaries are previewed on the French Riviera, South- East France. The Met Gala, similarly exclusive, is a themed costume ball held annually on the first Monday of May at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City. Both events host the most sought after stars on the planet who showcase their designer gear on the red carpet. Although it is difficult to see how these two events are linked to the environmental damage we are experiencing today, their underlying effects on retailers and fashion businesses around the world can help explain the matter.
The above image is of Ariana Grande at last year’s Met sporting a silk organza Ball gown designed by Vera Wang, depicting Michelangelo’s ‘The last Judgement’ painting as seen in the Sistine Chapel altar wall. A mouthful to say but a delight to look at, I’m sure most of us (myself included) can’t help but gush over this extravagant fit. That being said, it is responses such as these that encourage our high street retailers to emulate said designs and make them affordable for the everyday consumer.
The image above is a suspiciously similar more casual rendition of the cherub-inspired garment, that is now available literally everywhere. The use of social media has further enhanced the Hollywood influence as online platforms such as Instagram, Youtube and Twitter make coverage of these annual jamborees more accessible and interactive.
People have taken to social media to express opinions and engage with the most talked of events of the year.
Our insatiable demand for new clothing and designs, is derived from unconsciously being influenced by the stars on the big screen. This is obviously not a ground breaking conclusion – for decades now the entertainment industry has been a major contributor to fluctuating trends. However, the underlying issue revolves around the sheer amount of damage our unending consumerism is causing. Fashion, a dispensable luxury, is amongst Petroleum, Mineral Transformation, Transport and Agriculture as one of the most prominent suppliers of surplus Greenhouse emissions. Whilst sustainable alternatives are being researched and introduced for the latter, it is unclear how we can temper the effects of the fashion industry on our planet. Perhaps this lack of initiative is due to our own jaded disposition as passive consumers – who show little to no rage at the deteriorating condition of our Earth when it comes to foregoing our entrenched interests in pop culture. Equally, lack of sustainability in the industry may also stem from a deficit of ideas when it comes to transforming the very nature of an inherently unsustainable business.
The ‘out with the old, in with the new’ mentality is very much inspired by our incessant interest in ongoing trends that have Hollywood origins. Exactly how much damage this is causing is nicely summarised in the video below.
As well as influencing the pace at which textile industries pump out Hollywood inspired clothing, those attending events such as the Met Gala are notoriously high maintenance. The tweet below is just one radical example of this.
To contextualise this, the average private jet burns more greenhouse gases in a single trip than the average American does in a whole year. But at least there is solace in knowing that Kim was able to complete her latex couture look with her press on plastic nails.
The Cannes Film Fare Festival is no better. 1200 additional tonnes of waste is deposited into French landfill throughout the duration of the festival, not including the 200 x 2 metre red carpet that is changed 3 times a day throughout the duration of the 2 weeks. Star studded Hollywood personalities adorned in their unethically sourced designer garments also triple the carbon footprint of the area when the festival is in operation. This is mostly due to the inordinate consumption of vast amounts of fuel by SUVs, Sedans, Rolls Royces and Limousine escorts hat Chauffeur the stars to the venue – adding to the grandeur of their fashionable entrances to the festival. An insight into the aftermath of all this is shown in the below video.
The influence of Hollywood on fashion is causing a major disturbance to ecosystems around the planet and somehow needs to be countered in the upcoming years to stop the impending climate catastrophe. Ways of making landmark events such as Cannes and the Met sustainable in their capacity should also be implemented – if anything, an ethical example needs to be set for the millions that are closely following the coverage.
Hajra is in the first year of her undergraduate Law with Politics degree at the University of Manchester. With an interest in international relations, literature and travelling she aims to hopefully supplement her future career as a city lawyer with pro-bono work and an involvement in civil and human rights.
On Sunday night, as results from the 2019 European Elections came trickling through, there was a clear message: Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party (which was created only six weeks ago) won 31.6% of the overall British vote, with Farage maintaining his role as MEP for the South East. Labour and Conservatives faced huge losses and the newly formed Change UK limped in last place, winning no seats.
The story looks to be the same across most of Europe. Though official results have yet to be fully confirmed, initial projections suggest that voters were divided between far-left and centre/far right parties.
In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (previously known as National Front) dominated with 24% of the vote, beating President Emmanuel Macron.
Italy’s nationalist party Lega also topped their results with 34%. Their leader, Matteo Salvini, has maintained a right-wing populist relationship with Le Pen, the Freedom Party of Austria, and Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom in the Netherlands. Notably, Wilders lost all of his seats in parliament.
Meanwhile, Green parties have swept up votes in Germany (taking 20% of the votes), Portugal and some Nordic countries.
Scotland, who overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU, awarded three of its six MEP seats to SNP candidates: Alyn Smith, Christian Allard and Aileen McLeod. Labour won no seats in Scotland.
Centrist parties in Denmark had a surprisingly good night – possibly as a result of the Danish system of constant coalition in their parliament.
So What Do These Results Tell Us?
It has become clear that people are generally no longer happy to support centrist parties and are seeking to shake up the establishment, in either direction. Support for Green parties clearly derive from environmental concerns and a need to do something about climate change, whilst centre right parties that have positioned themselves as anti-establishment have faired better than those who campaigned on a particularly nationalist or anti-immigration platform.
In the UK, Labour and Conservative have lost a combined total of 23 seats. The Tories are no doubt suffering as a result of delays to Brexit negotiations, mass resignations in May’s cabinet, and the upcoming leadership contest.
Why Labour Lost?
The explanation for Labour’s loss is slightly trickier. Corbyn was elected leader by a huge majority (59.5%) in 2015 and seemed to herald a new radical shift in leftist politics. Momentum, the grassroots campaign founded that same year, mobilised in tactical seats to increase Labour support in areas with small Tory majorities. But since the EU referendum, Labour’s position on Brexit has been less than clear. Whilst the departure of those like Chuka Umunna and Luciana Berger to form Change UK won’t have moved Labour’s younger and more radical supporters, it does speak to a general dissatisfaction at the lack of clarity towards EU membership. Alastair Campbell was even today expelled from the Labour party after admitting to voting for the Liberal Democrats in this week’s European elections. In Scotland, the SNP have shown themselves to be the real opposition to the government and took both of Labour’s MEP seats this week.
We were not supposed to be voting in the European elections; it became necessary when we failed to agree to a deal before the original leave date. For a party to then not campaign for the very issue that put us in this position was incomprehensible.
The results from the European elections show that pro-Remain leftist parties such as the Liberal Democrats have hoovered up votes that Labour has lost. Young people have historically been pro-European membership and this may have won over even those burned by the hike in tuition fees back in 2012. Young people also tend to be more focused on environmental issues which could explain the increase in support for Green parties. The visibility of Extinction Rebellion and the school strikes for climate change have brought this issue to the forefront and may have contributed to more Green support.
But the success of anti-EU parties (including the Brexit Party) also shows a worrying trend towards isolationist and nationalist policies. Nigel Farage, a man who has cosied up to white supremacists like Steve Bannon and Viktor Orban, has positioned himself as a man of the people despite being a former banker. He attempted to distance himself from Tommy Robinson, despite them pushing the same rhetoric of a Britain in danger from immigration. Meanwhile, many high profile Conservatives have publicly announced their disappointment at Theresa May’s failure to achieve anything in regards to Brexit, leading many to join Farage’s new party.
This confirms that the question of EU membership divides deeper than traditional party lines. British politics no longer looks like Labour vs Conservative but pro and anti-EU. Whilst the Brexit Party may have won the majority of seats, a left wing coalition of pro-EU parties (comprising Lib Dem, Greens and SNP) would have pipped them to the post. Parties can no longer rely on the support of their members if they are failing to deliver a clear message on the immediate issue of EU membership. Brexit is clogging up our political system but it shows no sign of leaving any time soon. It’s imperative for parties to make a real effort to convey their stance to the public and explain exactly how they plan to resolve it.
Nigel Farage has fallen victim to milkshake attacks, following Carl Benjamin and Tommy Robinson. Farage is paying the price for milking populist Brexit sentiment.
With voters deserting the major parties, desserts now appear to be making a splash. A straw poll suggested Mr Farage could scoop a victory and cream off votes from the Conservatives. However today, Mr Farage was taken to the cleaners.
But the key take-away, is that Brexit does comes in a variety of flavours and consistencies: from soft to hard. With a plain vanilla Brexit now unpopular with voters, the debate will continue until the cows come home. Whatever the outcome, UK politics has been shaken up.
Enter ‘Milkgate’
Those on the left complain about Farage as a politician
whose rhetoric and vitriol assisted in leading to an MP Jo Cox being shot and
stabbed, while he complains about a milkshake being the wrong flavour. For some,
he is a far-right demagogue and aspiring dictator, desperate to turn the UK
into a carbon copy of the US, replete with privatised healthcare.
Incidentally, we were a reasonable and tolerant society. Note, past tense. We overlooked Liam Fox abusing public expenses to bring his friends on a free holiday while alleging to be on government business. We tolerated other MPs stealing money from the public purse by expense fiddling. Before that we tolerated the government closing factories and mines and leaving millions of people without rehabilitation, retraining or hope. And we tolerate a quarter of UK children living in poverty and 14 million in the country according to the UN Poverty Report for the UK which only 14 MPs debated.
Perhaps some have had enough?
Today Milkshakes, Tomorrow Bike Locks?
Maybe some individuals are not tolerant at all. They may
claim they are. But they are not. And this need not be exclusive to ‘far-right’
activists. It could be applied to those on the ‘far-left’ or religious groups
that brand you a ‘fascist’ or similar for not automatically agreeing with their
worldview or accommodating theirs. You are simply out to stir up discontent and
spread hatred.
If today is milkshakes, then tomorrow is drain cleaner; the
day after battery acid, and then before you know it is terrorism. It’s a
slippery slope, but it should not be taken lightly considering Britain is one
of the few nations on earth that enjoys such high tolerance.
Brits are generally a reasonable bunch. What is curious is that
even when people do lose the plot, the UK’s weapon of choice is egging, cream
pies and now the milkshake. Politicians know the risk they are running, that
from time to time they are likely to be peppered with some soft non-lethal
foodstuff.
Other countries elections involve guns, knives and bombs. Brazilian
President, Jair Bolsonaro’s election campaign saw him stabbed while in a parade
march.
Britain comes from a long history of heckling and clearing
out the kitchen pantry on politicians we disagreed with. Not so long ago, ink
was the projectile of choice. Such visceral discontent with a viewpoint drives
people to resort to such public displays of hostility. Jeremy Corbyn, Labour
leader of the opposition, was egged in a Mosque; through to Tommy Robinson and Conservative
campaigner Colm Lock at the Conservative Party Conference. It doesn’t matter
what the politics is – it is about demonstrating in a physical manner, their
dissent of the views expressed.
Should we be tolerant of this at all? Perhaps we would be
better off being an intolerant society. Intolerant of violence no matter how
seemingly trivial.
Generally, the perpetrators are caught by the various police
overseeing and then serve a short jail spell or community service to ensure
these events don’t go further.
The man who threw the milkshake over Farage in Newcastle,
Paul Crowther, has been charged with common assault and criminal damage for the
incident.
It seems an accord was reached in England after the Battle
of Cable Street in 1936 that violence would not be tolerated on British soil. Oswald
Mosley’s British Union of Fascists had one of their members blinded by being
struck with an iron bar by anti-fascist demonstrators.
The Lactose Intolerant Society – An Exercise in Moral Relativity?
We have already lost Jo Cox and UKIP’s Carl Benjamin has
been talking about raping MP Jess Philips.
Just this week Tory Councillor in Lanarkshire, Scotland, Graeme Campbell and wife Fiona had their BMW firebombed outside their home, destroying some of their house and damaging their neighbour’s home. Were a passer-by not banging on the front door alerting them to the danger, they may have all suffocated or been engulfed by flames. Mr Campbell commented, “Whoever did this is trying to bully me and get me to shut up and back off from a particular case.”
To say “it’s only milkshakes” is to use moral relativity and
self-proclaimed moral superiority to justify aggression by branding opposition
as evil and you as virtuous. Moral relativity believes there is no universal standard
of right and wrong, but judgements are based entirely on the context of time
and place: when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
When you do this, the standards as to how we should all
equally operate in political discourse disintegrates, and all bets are off. It started
with Pim Fortuyn having food thrown at him in 2002. He was later assassinated.
The reality stands that throwing a milkshake at someone is a violation of
personal space and therefore a violence act. The trouble with moral relativity,
is its potential to escalate. One day it is milkshakes, the next it is bike
locks. You give a mouse a cookie, it will want a glass of milk.
There isn’t really a good justification for progressives to
radicalise others against these political bogeymen, all on the basis they have
subjectively deemed all who do not think like them as fascists. Such a strict
stance becomes problematic because it only makes sense if everyone to the right
of them is by default a fascist. Were they to admit none of their opponents are
fascists, or even all that fond of big government (Farage), never mind a
totalitarian one (Robinson), their whole ideology falls apart. Then they would
be faced with the reality that far from being the paragons of virtue they see
themselves as. Instead, they would have to come to terms with the reality of
being a rather unpleasant bunch of people.
Mainstream
Media Polarising Discourse
The irresponsibility of the mainstream media in failing to condemn
these milkshake acts is damaging to the fabric of political discourse and
encourages fundamentalism, polarising those across the political channels.
Tony Blair recognised the disservice it is doing to Remainers, showing they have lost the debate in resorting to such tactics. He commented on Farage’s milkshaking with: “We’ve got to get out of this situation where if you disagree with someone, you stop them speaking, you disrupt their meetings, you throw things over them, it’s ridiculous.”
Asked whether he admired Nigel Farage, Mr Blair responded:
“I think he’s an effective communicator, so I admire that bit of him, but
I disagree with him.”
Ricky Gervais, another Remainer, thinks that they have “run
out of good arguments”.
While mainstream media overlooks these attacks as innocuous,
they also give far too much airtime to individuals like Farage. This leads to a
sense of despair among those with alternative views who feel he is being given
too much media exposure and have little other option but to use milkshakes to
silence or suppress them. Exposure that is hate speech or in the case of Brexit
campaigning lies and misleading the gullible voters astray with false promises.
In so doing, dividing opinion further between Remain and Leave, while also
being accused of spreading xenophobia and nationalist sentiment without rebuke.
Whether or not our great-grandchildren are taught about the
milkshake wars in school in 100 years or not, who knows. What should be
acknowledged is the people that throw milkshakes and then appear shocked they
have been hit in the face several times are the type of people that display
awards for the parent finishing 6th in the parent’s egg and spoon
race on their child’s sports days.
Karl Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance
There is tolerance, and then there is letting foul beliefs
propagate without being challenged adequately so the discourse balance falls
out of equilibrium.
Karl Popper expressed the seemingly paradoxical idea in ‘The
Open Society and its Enemies’ during WWII that, “In order to maintain a
tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of intolerance.”
If a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be
tolerant is eventually seized or destroyed by the intolerant. This can be
animal right’s activists that would force everybody to be vegan, through to
antifa demonstrators committing violent acts to suppress alternative thought,
or nationalists presenting xenophobic speeches and marches. It is not an exclusive
necessary condition they must be right-wing and ‘radical’. Popper believed we
should reserve the right to suppress intolerant individuals if necessary, should
they not meet us with rational argument.
Where we are not adequately prepared to defend against such
an onslaught, for instance, by keeping intolerant individuals in check with
public opinion and rational argument; we will eventually cede in giving them
the freedom to remove tolerance themselves. Then they will dictate the terms of
play and who gets to participate or engage in public discourse. History is
littered with this descent into tyranny, with the fall of the Roman Republic
and the rise of Hitler being two notable examples.
While milkshakes are not very tolerant or respectful of
different viewpoints, many feel it is hard to fight Farage & Co’s
bombardment. This is largely because they are rather well-informed and eloquently
persuasive as Tony Blair points out. They appeal with simple, easily digestible
and memorable attacks that are difficult to counter with debate, especially for
many who struggle to put their thoughts and feelings into such silver-tongued defences.
The danger that arises with giving too much freedom to
intolerant people is radicalisation. Intolerant people spread propaganda,
pseudoscience or brainwash you with religious beliefs to win you over to their
cause. This can take the shape and size of anything from the echo chambers of small
social media threads to terrorist organisations like ISIS.
European Election Campaign Bloodbath
While Mr Farage came back the next day with his suit freshly
dry cleaned, his Brexit party has certainly swept the floor at the European
elections. Whether his party is simply a protest vote against the shameful
gridlock and in-faction bickering in the Tories is unknown. But if the 2016 Brexit
Referendum is anything to go by, there is underlying nationalist sentiment to
protect our small isle from hoards of African or Arabic invaders, including by
those immigrants whose families migrated here after 1945 to help Britain
rebuild.
How we deal
with intolerance?
What is unlikely to go away anytime soon is some protester
who’s prepared to spend some time in a cell for spoiling another politician’s
suit. How we deal with intolerance will continue to plague British society.
Whether it is banning social media access to individuals like Tommy Robinson,
removing their platforms to campaign and effectively put across their message;
through to tackling antifa or nationalist sects. We should take heed in Popper’s
message from his paradox of tolerance. To suppress freedom of speech too much
is a step toward authoritarian rule, and to allow its free rein to go unchecked
may lead to demagogues seizing the microphones and rallying in the streets.
Whatever vision you may have for society, it is an intractable
problem. Every way of thinking that now exists, ever has or ever will, is
lodged deep in the minds of the designers of that way of thinking. There is no
way out of the dilemma. Filter bubbles (echo chambers) from censorship,
selective reporting and as we move further online, algorithms with the sole
purpose of only reinforcing our belief systems; moral relativism is a fact of
human experience that will never be solved. Thereby, to subjectively claim
righteous superiority over another’s differing belief system takes us places we
really don’t want to repeat from history.
Given the level of interaction going on today in cosmopolitan Britain, the moral relativists are signing us all up for WWIII or a more discerning yet seditious politician to pursue their own righteous vision that only they can see for British society, leading to authoritarian rule. The question of how to settle disputes between these cultures remains unanswered bar suggestions of ‘integration’ and ‘inclusivity’. It’s like cranking up the Fahrenheit for the frog in a pan of water being brought to the boil, just tell me when to stop…
Thousands of young people left schools to protest for more action on climate change.
Many adolescences are calling on politicians and corporations to take immediate action. The protests took place all over the world. More than 1,400 cities and more than 110 countries planned to protest. It is said that the protest would top March’s demonstration at 1.4 million people early this year.
Frequent protest are taking place as there is a demand to see action instantly, as time is running out for people change the direction before it’s too late.
The UN’s leading scientists warned that there is just 12 years until climate catastrophe last year. Now in a new report it said the widespread downfall of ecosystems was putting humanity at risk. There are also reports that the Arctic ice is melting quicker that previously feared.
Climate Change Strikes take place across the world
School strikes were inspired by Greta Thunburg, who is a student. She is recognized globally since protesting outside Sweden’s parliament demanding change. She told TIME magazine that “Young people who are in developing countries are sacrificing their education in order to protest against the destruction of their future and world.”
Her action sparked a chain of movements in different counties across Europe, the US, Canada and Australia, branded as Fridays for Future or School Strike for Climate.
Recently Australia has had its hottest summer yet and climate change is seen as the cause, not just there but all over world causing droughts, heatwaves, floods and melted glaciers.
Last month Greta met with Westminster party leaders to highlight the problems we’re facing if we don’t act now.
Noga Levy-Rapoprt, UK Student Climate Network said “In order to properly address the crisis, we need our educational institutions to be hubs of sustainability that provide a space for learning and teaching to prepare today’s students to not only be those that lead a just transition, but to prepare for a changing world.”
As climate change is high on the agenda of politicians as a pressing matter, the Labour party says it would make climate change part of the curriculum from primary school onwards if it gained power following the announcement of school students walking out of schools to protest.
We’re all in this one together. Palestinian and Israeli teens strike together for the #climate.
The curriculum would involve equipping young people with the skills and knowledge needed to deal with the changing environment, in particular renewable energy.
Angela Rayner, shadow education secretary said “We need to equip people with the knowledge to understand the enormous changes we face, and skills to work with the new green technologies that we must develop to deal with them.
“That must be part of a broad education and that prepares pupils for adult life. Climate change should be a core part of the school curriculum, and under a Labour government it will be.”
Joe Brindle, a youth strike movement campaigner, said: “Putting climate change at the forefront of our education system has been one of the core demands of the student climate strikes in the UK, so the announcement from Labour is an important step forward for the climate justice movement.”
Some students have vowed to continue protesting on Fridays until their countries agree/adhere to the 2015 Paris Climate agreement. The agreement aims to prevent global temperatures from rising above pre-industrial levels.
Dolline is a traveller, journalist and blogger who has palate to try new things. She is a very spontaneous person; you might find her skydiving over the Kenyan coast to kayaking in the Lake District. She can be an over thinker who thinks of every outcome but if she doesn’t she welcomes the change that wasn’t planned. However, she is a very simple person who is up for a good laugh or a book and enjoys living the moment. Dolline also writes for her small personal blog called ‘Swatches of Beauty’ and is currently a production journalist trainee at ITV Border.
What better way to enrich one’s knowledge with sophisticated ideas, increase socialisation and learn to take on the role of being an adult than attending university straight out of higher education.
Since the beginning of the new millennium, the number of students that attend university has skyrocketed from 15.3 million in 2000 to 19.9 million in 2018, according to the National Centre for Education statistics. It is evident that university has certainly become a popular choice amongst millennials and Generation Z.
Despite this, many people have also decided against attending a university for a plethora of reasons; wanting to escape the stressful conditions of schooling, accessing opportunities elsewhere through apprenticeships or internships, the list goes on. However, one of the biggest reasons for opting out is to avoid the impending debt a university degree can bring.
In the United States, university fees have been increasing since the 1980s, the average degree per year costing around $19,000 (public university) to almost $40,000 (at a private institution). This rounds up to around $80,000 to $160,000 of debt (before interest) by the end of university education. This is only for a undergraduate degree, we haven’t even added up the figures for further education to higher study such as law school or studying for a masters. The UK has been following a similar trend but has always been slightly under the cost of US fees (depending on whether one is a home or an international student)
Animation of the weight of student debt (SOURCE kickstarter.com)
Some work tirelessly and continuously throughout their
degree whilst juggling classes and coursework, others are given money by
parents who have worked tirelessly to save up enough and a growing number also take
more unorthodox routes, all in the pursuit to dispose of their debts.
But wouldn’t it be great if these debts could just be paid
off by an anonymous benefactor?
Billionaire Robert F. Smith pledges to eradicate the student debts of the Class of 2019
Robert F Smith, the billionaire who pledged to pay off the debts of the Morehouse class of 2019
Not so anonymous Robert F. Smith has done just that. On 19th of May the billionaire and recipient of an honorary doctorate on the campus of the HBCU Morehouse College announced that he would be giving a gift $1.5 million to the university.
The investor surprised an audience of 400 graduating seniors
and staff when he announced that he would eliminate the debt of the 2019 Class
Smith described his investment as “fuel” in the bus which
the graduates will be boarding into the future. A metaphor which alludes to his
belief in the graduating class, that they could go far, but faster and a little
easier with some financial aid. Unlike a loan which might have slowed down
their inevitable success, Smith’s money will eradicate the stress of paying
back interest loaded loans.
Billionaire Robert F. Smith giving a speech at Morehouse College to the graduating class fo 2019 (SOURCE indiaglitz.com)
Actress and Activist Angela Bassett who also received an honorary degree on Sunday, referenced the graduate as Rev. Martin Luther King and suggested that the class of 2019 “emulate him, but take their own path” but also warned them to be wary of the future, ready for its obstacles, as well as thrive in their potential.
There is no say what new benefactors could be attracted to the graduating class of perhaps 2020, if that is even possible or whether this was a once in a lifetime miracle. What is definite is that most people will probably not have to fortune of this kind of generosity.
The UK rarely sees big opportunities like this, bar the extremely generous all-expense paid for university contributions by the rapper Stormzy in 2018 for black students aiming to get into Cambridge.
Long term debt is of course in the minds of all students who
attend university, or at least the ones who have to take out loans in order to
attend university, being the large majority of them.
Is it worth it?
However are degrees really worth what they cost? Today, almost anyone can obtain one and a question of whether we actually develop the skills to be able to succeed as outstanding citizens and prosperously throughout life in university is constantly in question. Due to the staggering number of students attending university, the competition for the best jobs is no longer one between the 1st and 2:1 obtained degrees, university prestige and whether one even has a degree but practical skills.
Animation of the job hiring selection process (SOURCE execunet.com)
This is clear as today thousands of graduates are still finding it extremely difficult to acquire a job especially in the industry or career they have the set skills for from their university subjects.
What is also as important is the things people take part in outside of their degree. Personal projects, extra-curricular activities, internships, volunteering work the list goes on. The job market has become a competition of who has had the most experience in a variety of different environments and has developed transferable skills from them. Statistics show that even most people don’t even directly use their degree in their eventual line of work.
Moreover, it is of course a blessing to have debt eradicated
especially during the stressful time of transitioning from semi adult to full
adult life and the working world. However, to what extent does university education
direct us into a positive further.
The Brexit Party, founded by Nigel Farage January 2019, is the political party that is campaigning for Britain to exit the EU. The Electoral Commission has announced their intention to review the Brexit Party’s financial funding.
This comes following Gordon Brown’s comments at a Labour rally
in Glasgow, where he told the crowd that the commission had the authority to
carry out live investigations into political parties during elections and issue
interim statements where there are concerns regarding a parties funding.
Brown bases this on the current method of donation the Brexit
Party have open for their supporters. The party currently accepts donations via
PayPal, which allows for foreign, untraceable and anonymous donations.
Political gifts under £500.01 do not have to be declared, which opens the door
for illicit or illegal payments to be paid to the party.
Brown proclaimed at the rally that Farage “is not going to be remembered, as he wants, as the man of the people. He’s going to be remembered as the man of the Paypal, because that is where the money is coming from…”
Farage appears to have form for questionable funding
decisions, as two days ago it was revealed that he is being investigated by the
EU parliament for failing to declare that he was receiving benefits from Aron Banks
in the form of travel and accommodation expenses between 2016 and 2017. Such
benefits are estimated to be worth up to £450,000 and were left undeclared on Farage’s
register of interests. If found to have broken EU Parliament rules, he will be
fined up to €10,000.
Brown also called for European Parliament to investigate the
finances of the Brexit Party.
Farage responded, saying that Brown committed an “absolutely
disgusting smear” against his party.
Richard Tice, co-founder and chairman of the Brexit Party, has also defended all payments as legitimate. He tweeted: “The Brexit Party only receives money in [british pound] sterling. The offer stands to send a BBC journalist to come and look at our PayPal account.”
The Brexit Party only receives money in sterling. The offer stands to send a BBC journalist to come and look at our PayPal account. https://t.co/PR8A8nlPVx
It seems that once again, Brexit campaigners are under fire for unlawful practices. Last year the Electoral Commission announced that the Vote Leave Campaign had broken electoral law.
So, it’s happened. After a tenure as Prime Minister categorised by her seemingly unshakeable resistance to resigning, Theresa May has officially declared that she is stepping down on 7th June.
While this move is an undeniably crucial and historic one, it’s been a long time coming, and Tory MPs have been revving their engines for a Tory leadership race for some time now.
Now we don’t know for sure who’s going to win, internal leadership races are characteristically unpredictable. But what we do know is that the next few weeks are going to be pretty bonkers. So while we all brace ourselves for the next onslaught of political dramz, here is your definitive Top Trumps list of who’s in the running so far..
Boris Johnson
Now this one comes as no surprise, he is the bookies’ favourite to be the next PM. Keep in mind, however, that he was the bookies’ favourite in 2016’s leadership elections as well, before he was famously snaked https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36679738by his buddy Michael Gove. You can be sure that Johnson will be making some serious moves over the next few weeks though, he’s been eyeing up Number 10 for years.
Charisma: 9/10 Depending on who you ask. Johnson is arguably one of the most divisive figures in British politics right now, but one thing I think we all can agree on is he makes for a damn good meme.
Experience: 10/10 Not only is this not his first leadership rodeo, but he has held some seriously top level positions over the last few years, including Foreign Secretary and Mayor of London.
Level of ‘Leave-iness’: 7/10 Now this one is debatable. While he was the face of the Leave campaign in 2016, and has been vocal in his support of Brexit since, many suspected that his main cause for taking up this position was to eventually become PM. We’re yet to see if this plan will work.
Penchant for Public Gaffes: 6 bajillion/10 Boris really has covered all bases in terms of public gaffes, and made himself a household name in the process. Whether it’s a little chuckle at him hanging from a zipwire, or actually being pretty racist in his Telegraph column, Boris has done everything from amuse to offend.
Likelihood of actually winning: 7.5/10 Boris divides MPs and people alike. While some believe he has the charisma and bullishness to get Brexit done, others shudder at the thought of someone considered to be a bit of a bumbling fool determining the fate of the country.
Michael Gove
From Boris to ‘betrayer’, Michael Gove famously stabbed Boris in the back by unexpectedly announcing a leadership bid in 2016. This is arguably the raciest thing he’s ever done, however. He’s a bit of a cookie cutter Tory by all counts, i.e. the implementation of Tory austerity being priority number one priority in any cabinet role he is assigned to.
Charisma: 1/10 Now I’m not just being harsh here, he literally said himself: ‘whatever charisma is, I don’t have it’
Experience: 10/10 Like Boris, Gove has stood for leader of the Tory party before, as well as holding high-level roles such as Education and Environment Secretary.
Level of ‘Leave-iness’: 10/10 Since 2016, Gove has been a hardcore Brexiteer, once criticising the ‘invincible arrogance of Europe’s elites’. Now that’s some sass right there.
Penchant for Public Gaffes: 4/10 He came under fire a lot more when he was Education Secretary, but he’s been pretty okay as Environment Secretary so far, other than that his outburst of ambition in 2016 is the most notable political move this guy’s made.
Likelihood of actually winning: 5/10 Gove’s a tricky one, he’s been pally with May for years so could get her backing. His lack of charisma is likely to be his downfall, although some may perceive him to be the largely non-controversial, stable leader that the country needs.
Andrea Leadsom
Following from her dramatic resignation on 22ndMay, just one daybefore the EU Elections, Leadsom has declared that she is ‘seriously considering’ running for PM.
Charisma: 8/10 Unlike most other candidates, Leadsom has gained the respect of MPs across the house. Having spearheaded proxy voting for MPs and improved the House of Commons complaints process, Leadsom has gained the respect, if not always the agreement, from many of her colleagues.
Experience: 10/10 As well as holding previous posts such as Minister of State for Energy and Secretary of State for the Environment, Leadsom has spent the last two years as leader of the House of Commons. Which is basically like being the Beyonce of the Commons.
Level of ‘Leave-iness’: 10/10 She once described our continuing membership of the EU as ‘disgusting’. Ouch.
Penchant for Public Gaffes: 3/10 Leadsom inflicted some minor damage to her reputation of a sensible, straight-up politician in 2016 when she claimed to be a better candidate for PM than May because she had children when May didn’t, costing her a shot at Number 10.
Likelihood of actually winning: 6.5/10 She’s done a good job over the last couple of years and managed not to alienate too many people, she’s in for a decent shot.
Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Hunt has done an expert job of laying pretty low the couple of weeks. Rumour is he’s been rallying his troops…
Charisma: 6/10 I mean, he’s not not charismatic. I was on the same Easy Jet economy flight with him once, it was nice to see the then Health Secretary flying in economy. It’s a shame he was working towards the partial privatisation of the NHS at the time…
Experience: 9/10 Unlike some of his potential competitors, Hunt has never run for the top spot. However, he is currently the Foreign Secretary, a job that he picked up after Boris quit, and is doing remarkably better at it too.
Level of ‘Leave-iness’: 4/10 Hunt opted to Remain in the EU in 2016, and has been relatively measured in his language towards Brexit since. This could be a difficult obstacle to overcome if he goes for the top job – we all know what it’s like to have a once-Remainer at the helm of Brexit negotiations.
Penchant for Public Gaffes: 6/10 Hunt is a sneaky one. On the face of it he doesn’t look all that harmful, but lest we forget the mass medical student protests under his reign as Health Secretary. Oh and also that time that he compared the EU to the Soviet Union…
Likelihood of actually winning: 3/10 Hunt is doing a pretty good job in the Foreign Office right now, and he’s certainly not as inflammatory than some other candidates, but if I were a betting woman I’d say that his Remain-y past will be a skeleton that no closet (or cabinet) is big enough to hide.
Dominic Raab
Raab was the latest resignation in the string of Brexit Secretaries that Theresa May’s government has managed to truck through. Having enjoyed cross-party support for bills such as Prisoner’s rights, the last few years have seen some more polarising language.
Charisma: 7/10 He’s enjoyed some cross-party success before, and he certainly looks the part, although he’s nowhere near the ‘celeb’ status of, say, Boris or Rees-Mogg.
Experience: 7/10 Having only been elected to parliament in 2010, Raab is something of a newbie, although there’s no denying he’s made his mark during his time in Westminster.
Level of ‘Leave-iness’: 9/10 Raab is pretty vocal about his support for leaving the EU, one of his main reasoning for this being the issues that he believed immigration bring into the country, he once claimed immigrants had ‘put house prices up by 20%’, later partially reneging on the claim.
Penchant for Public Gaffes: 4/10 Raab was doing alright you know. That was until he said at a tech conference that he ‘hadn’t quite understood’ the importance of the Dover-Calais trade route…while he was serving as the literalBrexit Secretary. As MP Nicky Morgan tweeted at the time – ‘gulp’.
Likelihood of actually winning: 8/10 Combining Raab’s previous cross-party successes with recent vociferous support for Brexit, it looks like Raab could be in with a very good chance.
Sajid Javid
As a holder of one of the top jobs as Home Secretary, he may well just be gearing up for a leadership bid! His uncompromising leadership during the Shamima Begum scandal certainly suggests so.
Charisma: 5/10 Javid made a distinctive effort to prove that he is ‘one of the people’ recently, stating that he was from ‘one of the most dangerous streets in Britain’ and ‘could have turned out to have a life of crime myself’ when responding to the knife crime crisis. Unfortunately, all of the residents currently living on that street got rather peeved that he was purporting such a negative image of the community they’ve worked hard to improve.
Experience: 7/10 Like Raab, Javid’s only be around Westminster since 2010, but as the first person from an Asian background to hold one of the Great Offices of State, he’s clearly used his time well.
Level of ‘Leave-iness’: 8/10 Javid’s been against EU membership for years, however he shocked everyone when he supported the Remain campaign in 2016. He’s since put this down to concern for the turmoil the country would inevitably go through if we voted leave (well, he wasn’t wrong), and pressure from David Cameron. He’s gone back to his true leave-y self since though.
Penchant for Public Gaffes: 7/10 Since Javid’s time at the Home Office, they have been responsible for losing millions of EU funds meant to be donated to the UK’s most needy because they didn’t fill out an application form on time, and potentially wrongfully deporting international students by claiming they’d cheated on their English exam.
Likelihood of actually winning: 7/10 I mean, as Home Secretary, he’d be loathe not to run really, that very title presents him with a real shot.
Esther McVey
As an ex-TV presenter, many have tried to mock McVey for entering the political sphere but, as can be seen from her staunch voting against LGBT equality and Human Rights in general, this woman is no joke.
Charisma: 9/10 Probably one of the more charismatic Tories going, never mind the fact that she used to co-present GMTV with Eamonn Holmes.
Experience: 6/10 McVey’s not been in the political game all that long, entering the house in the 2010 general election, and taking a couple of years out in between to be Chair of the British Transport Police when she lost her seat.
Level of ‘Leave-iness’: 9/10 McVey proved her dedication to a hard Brexit when she quit as Work and Pensions secretary in November 2018.
Penchant for Gaffes: 6/10 Her time as Work and Pensions secretary was perhaps defined by when she misinformed the house of a judgement by the National Audit Office. She claimed they had argued for speeding up the rollout of Universal Credit, when in fact they had decided it needed to be paused.
Likelihood of actually winning: 6.5/10 In her limited time in Westminster, she’s proved herself a wily politician. And there’s no denying she’s popular with hardcore Brexiteers.
Rory Stewart
Born in Hong Kong, been a tutor to Prince William and Harry, and walking from Turkey to Bangladesh, this man has lived a life. And he has found time to become one of the biggest names in the Tory party over the last year or so.
Charisma: 8/10 Despite his Etonian education, Stewarts done a good job of presenting himself as a more accessible politician who understands the ‘real world’. He’s also argued that Brexit is something we should be ‘energetic and optimistic’ about, which is a welcome change of tune from the usual doomsday rhetoric.
Experience: 10/10 Stewarts had an impressive political career, both in Westminster and further afield. One such position being as an advisor to the Obama administration.
Level of ‘Leave-iness’: 7/10 Stewart was a Remainer in 2016, which could work against his favour, but he’s been admirably committed to the argument of respecting the will of the people ever since.
Penchant for Gaffes: 2/10 Not all that much to report here, Stewart’s done an alright job of flying under the radar whilst still ensuring his voice is heard.
Likelihood of actually winning: 6/10 The deadline of the end of July to reinstate a Tory PM puts time pressure on the race that lends an advantage to those who are big names already. Stewart is less of a big name but he may just be the dark horse in this competition.
Now, it must be remembered that these are eight names from a list that some have estimated to be fifteen/sixteen long. Other big names include ex-Deputy Chair of the European Research Group, Steve Baker, the Tories’ answer to a being insta-famous, Liz Truss, and Priti Patel.
Ultimately, we are on the precipice of the Hunger Games of Tory politics, and to predict what could happen is a futile exercise. I, for one, am pretty excited to watch it all unfold.
Ellie is a recent graduate in History and Politics from the University of Manchester. Originally from Bristol, Ellie moved to Manchester in 2015 but is leaving in September to pursue a journalism career in London.. She spent the final year of her degree as Editor of the university’s only historical publication, The Manchester Historian, and continues to present/produce weekly news videos for Manchester start up, Student Inspire Network. She has dreams of becoming a journalist and hopes to embed her passion for politics and popular culture in all of her work.
