The Winds of Change

Apologies again for the slow blogging speed. I should stop making promises to you! Although, I have been busy with Leeds Festival and the usual blah of life. I has thrown me!

However what I've noticed is how busy and interesting the political scene in Britain has also been.

People's March for the NHS

Firstly on Tuesday (26^th August), I was involved in the People's March to Save the NHS. Essentially the march is a repeat of the 1936 Jarrow Crusade from Jarrow (near Newcastle) to London. I marched the 15 miles from Sheffield to Chesterfield, and carried the Green Party message into the rally at the end. Along the way I met the Labour PPC (Prospective Parliamentary Candidate) for Windsor, Fiona Dent (pictured), and had a very interesting discussion about Ed Milliband, UKIP and British politics in general. This was in addition to the many interesting and passionate individuals who want to preserve the NHS from the current privatisation efforts by the government.

http://blog.windsorlabour.org.uk/p/fiona.html

 

Fiona Dent, the Labour PPC for Windsor before starting the People's March for the NHS.

Sheffield Young Greens

On a more personal level, I have been helping to re-launch the Young Greens in Sheffield. As I don't want to give too much away, further details can be found below:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/shefygsg?fref=ts

Hopefully the group will have the potential to become a significant voice in student and youth politics of Sheffield. So watch this space!

Tory defection to UKIP

Now this is a constantly changing story and may yet continue to develop. A backbench Tory MP, Douglas Carswell (pictured), has defected to UKIP. There has even been talk of further potential defections by MPs from both Labour and the Tories to UKIP.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28977961

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28979447

 

Douglas Carswell at the announcement of his defection to UKIP.

His defection has sparked a by-election in his constituency of Clacton in Essex. If he gets re-elected on a UKIP ticket (once they've sorted out their candidate!), it will be a momentous event in recent British politics. It will have signal the arrival of UKIP into the House of Commons, as the party already have 3 peers in the House of Lords. Until the seat is recontested in the General Election, next May. However, it is important not to ignore how this will be a major moment for UKIP.

It will allow UKIP to further build on their success in the Euros and local elections in May. As well as giving Nigel Farage (pictured) even more credibility when he stands in the seat of South Thanet next May.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28937415

 

 

Nigel Farage, UKIP leader, MEP and UKIP PPC for South Thanet.

Scottish referendum

The independence referendum in Scotland is also hotting up. With the postal ballots under way, the debate between the Yes and No camps is getting more intense.

In their second TV debate, Alex Salmond (First Minster) won convincingly over his challenger Alistair Darling (No Campaign Head/ Former Chancellor) according to a snap poll by 71%-29%.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/25/scottish-independence-debate-alex-salmond-alistair-darling

 

Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling exchange niceties before getting down to the debate.

A very positive result for the Yes campaign indeed! Not so good for the Better Together (No) campaign.

Perhaps that’s why David Cameron (pictured) ventured into that proverbial safari park of Scottish politics. In which as a Tory he is very much an endangered species there!

In the build up to this referendum, I have been trying to get a better understanding of the key issues of the debate. I've been trying to do this in two ways:

1.      Watch loads of political/current affairs documentaries either online or on TV;

 

2.      Meet some Scottish people and discuss the referendum and the underlying issues.

In both aspects I've succeeded!

Firstly, I have been watching all the BBC and YouTube documentaries that I can get my hands on.   A really interesting series for me has been the BBC's Referendum. I highly recommended them. As the series breaks down the referendum into the individual issues and concerns that people have. The programmes then present the issues in an understandable and sometimes humorous way.  A link to the series can be found below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03t7cbs

So do watch!

In meeting the second target has proven both a refreshing and very enlightening experience for me. At Leeds Festival, I met some students from the University of Stirling CND group. They were all pro-Yes and have agreed to help me out with my blog series on the independence referendum. So do keep an eye out for some input from them in my upcoming blogs in the next few weeks!

Winds of Change

Now realising that I have rambled for a while, I will now stop. However, I want to leave you with this quote from Harold Macmillan, Prime Minster from 1957-1963:

"The wind of change is blowing through this continent and, whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it as a fact, and our national policies must take account of it."

Originally he was referring to the process of decolonisation in Africa in the 1950s and 60s. However, I do feel that it is very poignant for British politics at the moment. The outcome of the People's March for the NHS, the Scottish referendum and the by election in Clacton are all still undecided. But, the thing is things will never be the same again…