Its long been thought that if you do not vote in an election, you're throwing away your right to have an opinion on certain subjects. I've long thought that this is true. I voted in the last general election, I voted blue as it happens. It is for this reason I believe, I am able to moan about decisions made by the new coalition government should I need to, I moan about promises never kept, I moan about the lack of a European referendum when Mr. Cameron promised there would be one. It might not feel like it at times, but we live in a democratic country and I see the vote as a privilege. Something that thousands of men and women have died for throughout history to secure, that's why whenever I get the chance I mark my 'X'.
Last night I was watching a DVD at home with my girlfriend. It was a stand up comedy show by the nations favourite pub landlord Al Murray. He might appear to be the voice of the everyday working class British person, but actually, Murray is a very intelligent man. The Oxford history graduate is a performer, who happens to know what hes talking about. He starts the show by picking on various terrified audience members, asking them their names, their occupations etc the usual stuff. He is famed for one of his opinions though, which becomes evident when he asks "what do you do for a living pal?" and receives the answer "I'm a student" back. His face twists up as if hes sucking on a wasp marinaded in lemon; naturally the audience find it hilarious. I understand that he is in character when he responds like this but I really do think that it represents the view of a large cross section of British citizens. When did your right to an opinion depend on so many factors in your life?
There are certain points that supposedly justify this opinion of students. For example, the majority of them receive vast sums of government money in the form of student loans. This is a large investment for a government, no doubt there, but the majority of this money will be paid back. The fact that a monthly subscription to 'OK' magazine would cost me more than my loan repayments is irrelevant. The point is, when I'm 84 the government will have received my entire loan back, with interest. Students also pay less or often no tax, but plenty of other people avoid this too and receive less stick in the process.
Students have always had various tags attached to them, 'dosser' 'scrounger' and 'tax dodger' to name a few, in many ways this is correct. Surely though, it isn't hard to look a few years into the future and see what a lot of these people will become. Lawyers, Doctors, Pilots, Engineers, Journalists, Vets, Politicians, Actors and Call Centre Operatives. Give us all a break.
The problem is, throughout the British population one outdated view remains. If I had a penny for every time I've heard a sentence started with "When I was your age..." I'd be a millionaire. Throughout British history there is a common theme; when you are old enough, you go to work. That could be 14 down the mines, 12 on the farm or 13 in the mill; sometimes even younger. This is obviously no longer the case, you're educated till 16 and before that point will struggle to find any employment other than a paper round. At 16 there are pretty much three options available to you; A-Levels, apprenticeship or sitting on your arse. More and more people are choosing A-Levels and why shouldn't they? The employment figures in this country are terrible. What harm is another set of qualifications going to do to a (less face it) basic CV? Times are constantly changing and not so long ago if you wanted to go to the toilet you had to go into the back yard. No one ever complains about the new 'cushy' indoor toilets of today, nor do they complain about the shops and pubs staying up longer or mobile phones. More and more people are going to University now and I wish that the older generations would accept it. They don't have to like it, just acknowledge it. Maybe once this happens we might be cut some slack and they'll give us our right to an opinion back.
If you vote, you can moan, it's as simple as that.
Monday 15 August 2011
Wednesday 10 August 2011
Keep Calm and Carry on Looting
As I sit in my bedroom in Salford, a poster I bought when I first moved in 12 months ago still constantly attracts my attention. In the style of the fashionable ‘Keep Calm and Carry on’ war time nostalgia. The poster bares the St. Georges Cross and the phrase ‘Lie Back and Think of England.’
This is quite easy to someone like myself, someone who is intensely proud of the country in which they were born. After all, England is an incredible country; a country that boasts some of the most breathtaking scenery and gave the world some of the finest sports and culture. Football, William Shakespeare, Rugby, Charles Dickens, Cricket, Oscar Wilde, The British Royal Family, Sir Isaac Newton, Edgar, Isambard Kingdom Brunel are all products of English society and that list could go on.
Geographically we are a tiny insignificant island nation but yet so significant in other ways; economically, socially and politically. I mean we won two world wars (and one world cup)
A hand full of people from around the world have visited England. They have seen it for themselves. They’ve been to the Lake District, the white cliffs, the Yorkshire dales, the new forest. They’ve seen our cities and our culture, they’ve eaten our food and met our fantastic people. But what about the rest?
I have a fear that when the world switches their televisions or radios on they can only see a tiny aspect of what we’re about, what we have to offer and this upsets me. They only see our alliance with the United States of America, the resulting conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and even Libya. They’ve seen our banks collapse, our cities attacked by terrorist organisations and now they’re watching our cities attacked by their own. At least we had the Royal Wedding this year.
We’ve all seen the news, so I’m not going to spend hours informing you what has been going on in England these past four days. Basically though, at the moment, I’m struggling to differentiate between the news and the television advert for the new ‘Planet of the Apes’ film.
There are several ways that you can look at this rioting, looting and general mindless criminality. You can take the sides of the fools doing it and say that it was inevitable, that the government cuts are the devils work and that the looting, arson, vandalism and police abuse must continue until George Osborne puts his hands up, admits he was wrong and re-thinks his budget including a 300% increase in housing allowance.
Personally, I wouldn’t though. You see, the fact that seven different excuses have been offered for the behaviour in seven different cities suggest that in fact, there is no real reason for this and that the local thieves, hooligans and generally unintelligent people have all came out to have what they would call a party, started in Tottenham last Sunday. The riots ‘cause’, the death of Mark Duggan in London has been forgotten, buried under a pile of smashed glass and ash. This stopped being a protest around an hour after it began, the riots started, the cause was lost. Greed, anger and impunity took over and the ‘copycats’ around the country followed suit.
I am proud of my Newcastle roots and although the riots didn’t make it that far up north I have still lived in Manchester for 2 years, it’s like a second home to me and watching people who were born here smashing the place up baffles me as much as it angers me. I wouldn’t dream of doing it in the North East, nor would I dream of doing it here. These people are damaging (often beyond repair) and looting their own local amenities, places that themselves and their families have previously shopped in and relied on; their own back garden. This is clearly the work of the uneducated masses.
The arrest and charge figures, the speed of the CPS in processing the court cases and the ‘togetherness’ the affected communities have shown in the aftermath of these antics have impressed me. The attacks in Manchester/Salford started last night and already around 75 have been charged following raids on properties and people identifying them from CCTV images. Greater Manchester Police were even updating their twitter page throughout the night one post stating “Lots of CCTV images, we will identify you and will be coming for you.” I have to admit I wasn’t so sure at first but they have proved me wrong. The police have been exceptional.
David Cameron has got everything right so far too. He’s cut his holiday short and rushed back to the UK, he’s re-called Parliament, he’s sent Nick Clegg to Wolverhampton to be boo’d and sent the right, stern message out to those people responsible for these crimes. I will be watching tomorrow with great interest to see the result is of the latest emergency commons meeting tomorrow. So long as Mr. Speaker can keep them from yelling and sticking their fingers up at each other for long enough; and if they treat it with half the passion they did with the ‘News of the World’ phone hacking scandal we’ll most likely see police officers up and down the country blowing the dust off the stocks and gallows, and we’ll probably see the ‘Queen Mary 2’ temporarily brought out of commercial service for a few voyages to Australia. If this doesn’t happen, some lengthy sentences for the worst offenders and the maximum amount of offenders given the strongest, most ruining convictions will suit me fine and I think you’ll agree.
As for the next few days? I say leave the rioters to the police and the aftermath with government and the crown prosecution service. If you feel useless pick up a broom, get on the bus and head for the city centre and help the clean up operation. My plan? Sit at home watching the news and the helicopter circling above whilst writing shit blog posts like this one that no one will end up reading.
Thanks to Hannah my girlfriend for the help on this one.
This is quite easy to someone like myself, someone who is intensely proud of the country in which they were born. After all, England is an incredible country; a country that boasts some of the most breathtaking scenery and gave the world some of the finest sports and culture. Football, William Shakespeare, Rugby, Charles Dickens, Cricket, Oscar Wilde, The British Royal Family, Sir Isaac Newton, Edgar, Isambard Kingdom Brunel are all products of English society and that list could go on.
Geographically we are a tiny insignificant island nation but yet so significant in other ways; economically, socially and politically. I mean we won two world wars (and one world cup)
A hand full of people from around the world have visited England. They have seen it for themselves. They’ve been to the Lake District, the white cliffs, the Yorkshire dales, the new forest. They’ve seen our cities and our culture, they’ve eaten our food and met our fantastic people. But what about the rest?
I have a fear that when the world switches their televisions or radios on they can only see a tiny aspect of what we’re about, what we have to offer and this upsets me. They only see our alliance with the United States of America, the resulting conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and even Libya. They’ve seen our banks collapse, our cities attacked by terrorist organisations and now they’re watching our cities attacked by their own. At least we had the Royal Wedding this year.
We’ve all seen the news, so I’m not going to spend hours informing you what has been going on in England these past four days. Basically though, at the moment, I’m struggling to differentiate between the news and the television advert for the new ‘Planet of the Apes’ film.
There are several ways that you can look at this rioting, looting and general mindless criminality. You can take the sides of the fools doing it and say that it was inevitable, that the government cuts are the devils work and that the looting, arson, vandalism and police abuse must continue until George Osborne puts his hands up, admits he was wrong and re-thinks his budget including a 300% increase in housing allowance.
Personally, I wouldn’t though. You see, the fact that seven different excuses have been offered for the behaviour in seven different cities suggest that in fact, there is no real reason for this and that the local thieves, hooligans and generally unintelligent people have all came out to have what they would call a party, started in Tottenham last Sunday. The riots ‘cause’, the death of Mark Duggan in London has been forgotten, buried under a pile of smashed glass and ash. This stopped being a protest around an hour after it began, the riots started, the cause was lost. Greed, anger and impunity took over and the ‘copycats’ around the country followed suit.
I am proud of my Newcastle roots and although the riots didn’t make it that far up north I have still lived in Manchester for 2 years, it’s like a second home to me and watching people who were born here smashing the place up baffles me as much as it angers me. I wouldn’t dream of doing it in the North East, nor would I dream of doing it here. These people are damaging (often beyond repair) and looting their own local amenities, places that themselves and their families have previously shopped in and relied on; their own back garden. This is clearly the work of the uneducated masses.
The arrest and charge figures, the speed of the CPS in processing the court cases and the ‘togetherness’ the affected communities have shown in the aftermath of these antics have impressed me. The attacks in Manchester/Salford started last night and already around 75 have been charged following raids on properties and people identifying them from CCTV images. Greater Manchester Police were even updating their twitter page throughout the night one post stating “Lots of CCTV images, we will identify you and will be coming for you.” I have to admit I wasn’t so sure at first but they have proved me wrong. The police have been exceptional.
David Cameron has got everything right so far too. He’s cut his holiday short and rushed back to the UK, he’s re-called Parliament, he’s sent Nick Clegg to Wolverhampton to be boo’d and sent the right, stern message out to those people responsible for these crimes. I will be watching tomorrow with great interest to see the result is of the latest emergency commons meeting tomorrow. So long as Mr. Speaker can keep them from yelling and sticking their fingers up at each other for long enough; and if they treat it with half the passion they did with the ‘News of the World’ phone hacking scandal we’ll most likely see police officers up and down the country blowing the dust off the stocks and gallows, and we’ll probably see the ‘Queen Mary 2’ temporarily brought out of commercial service for a few voyages to Australia. If this doesn’t happen, some lengthy sentences for the worst offenders and the maximum amount of offenders given the strongest, most ruining convictions will suit me fine and I think you’ll agree.
As for the next few days? I say leave the rioters to the police and the aftermath with government and the crown prosecution service. If you feel useless pick up a broom, get on the bus and head for the city centre and help the clean up operation. My plan? Sit at home watching the news and the helicopter circling above whilst writing shit blog posts like this one that no one will end up reading.
Thanks to Hannah my girlfriend for the help on this one.
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