The French have had a great impact on the way the world has been shaped today.  Heavy influence in many parts of Northern and Western African as well as parts of the Caribbean, have caused great resentment in these Francophone nations, none more so than the Ivory Coast.  A country once heralded as the model French colony, is sliding towards civil war.  President Laurent Gbagbo decided not to follow the result of the election which didn’t turn out in his favour and has been kept in power by force.  The stand-off now between the Mr. Gbagbo and Mr. Alassane Ouattara, the election winner, has been typical of the split between north and south.  With ethnic and racial tensions, youth unemployment, and a slump in cocoa prices thrown into the already bubbling cauldron, you have a recipe for violence and bloodshed in true African-style (do I smell a coup?).

Cynicism aside, French colonisation and its effects are also to be blamed for this.  Over the past 50 years, the British have come to terms with their dwindling influence and have shed their colonial skin, in a way that the French continue to cling to.  Ivory Coast was once seen as France’s “window to West Africa”.  Under the dictatorship of Felix Houphouet-Boigny, the richest Ivorians sent their children to French educational establishments.  Mr. Gbagbo himself is a graduate of Sorbonne University.  With French money constantly being pumped in and invested, this was easy proof that the French system worked off maintaining profits and power while paying lip-service to independence seekers.

Known as the “Francafrique” policy, it kept up relations between France and Francophone africa through personal favours showing so-called close cultural ties.  However, the fact of the matter is, all this meant economic leverage, military and political interference, and under-the-table trading monopolies for Cote d’Ivoire.  For over 40 years, french presidents have propped up tyrant after tyrant in Africa to maintain French credibility as an international power to be reckoned with, while providing African dictators with bank accounts and shopping trips to Paris.  Of course, a safe-haven was provided too when the all-too-familiar coup d’etat turns up on the doorstep.

France has taken 19 military actions in Africa over a three decade period including destroying Ivory Coast’s entire air force when civil war broke out in 2002.  Typically, Mr. Sarkozy has been firing pro-African rhetoric saying that with Africa changing, France must change too, and yet on his first visit to Africa, Mr. Sarkozy makes a point to stop off in Gabon and meet President Omar Bongo (Ah yes, oil interests of course!).  Mr. Bongo put it eloquently, “Gabon without France is like a car without a driver; France without Gabon is like a car without gas”.  This reliance on each other has left France in the rather precarious position of protecting its 600 companies and 13,000 citizens residing in Ivory Coast without physically intervening.  Instead, France is backing sanctions and is pushing the EU in ousting Mr. Gbagbo.

If Mr. Gbagbo can be made to resign through diplomatic methods, then perhaps it would spell a new triumph for the Ivory Coast and a new way for France to handle Africa.  Colonialism is a sad part of both British and French history but for France to exorcise their demons in the way that the British have done, neo-colonialism must be accepted as a big mistake on France’s part and be abandoned altogether.

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The idea of considering one-self a victim brings expectation of self-pity with it. We feel as though our vulnerabilities are being exploited. Sometimes we feel we are victims on the basis of our race, other times religion, and sometimes merely by our physical nature.

When you’re supposedly victimised, you become insecure, and your life becomes one of instability, because your pursuit is not progress, but attaining basic security.

As the media continuously focuses on how religious divides are causing conflict around the world, people of religious beliefs become marginalised, and through that ‘victimised’ and unfortunately, more often than not, inactive. We feel our victimisation has rendered us incapable, and that we’re subordinates in society, where our word is neglected and hence prefer not to express our beliefs.

The key to social and religious cohesion is often the contrary; it is dialogue and discussion of our beliefs which can strengthen the positive bond that society endeavours to promote.

An example that struck me recently, while working with the Three Faiths Forum, on an interfaith project, was how a band came together, with individuals of the 3 major Abrahamic faiths, to promote the idea of unity amongst faiths, and how our similarities are essentially stronger than our differences. Our basic beliefs lie primarily in being ‘good natured’ and promoting ‘good values’. We can work together, quite simply, to promote these values. It amazed me to see how well coordinated the band was, and how they merged their talents to form something extraordinary.

If you really feel like you are being victimised within society, bring your concerns to the surface. If you ignore it, the world will not know it, and your issues will be buried away, and considered insignificant. Bring your concerns forward through dialogue, poetry, articles or any other peaceful form of expression, and realise the power of your word…

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Well firstly, what exactly is a hung parliament?  Well for a party to form a government, they need an absolute majority.  What this means is that they have won more seats in parliament than all the other parties combined.  However, if this doesn’t happen than quite simply, all the other smaller parties can band together and outvote the minority government and this can make things like passing laws very tough.  This scenario is known as a “hung parliament”.  If this were to happen, the current prime minister (Gordon Brown) can go ahead and form a coalition government with a smaller party so that laws can be passed smoothly and easily.

In the past couple of weeks, we have heard a lot of political scare-mongering from plenty of UK papers about how a hung parliament would be detrimental to the UK as a whole.  Personally, I couldn’t disagree more.  Papers like The Sun have been saying that a hung parliament is an ineffective and weak government.  However, this couldn’t be more further from the truth.  There are other countries that have done perfectly well with a coalition government such as Germany and New Zealand, not to mention the Scottish Parliament and Welsh National assembly.  Let’s not forget that during the Second World War, we had a coalition government as well.  Some papers have grumbled that parties such as the Liberal Democrats are not a credible party that should never be in power.  Quite frankly, this is nonsense.  According to a recent YouGov poll, if the Lib Dems had a fair slice of the democratic cake, nearly half of voters would have voted for them.  It is quite clear based on this that people are crying out for electoral reform and lets hope that results tonight will show this.  A lot of people are concerned that a hung parliament might affect our economic recovery and again, this is simply fear-mongering.   According to a recent study by the House of Commons, 7 out of 10 of the largest fiscal consolidations ever carried out were done under coalition governments since 1970.  It is fairly obvious that a coalition government can certainly do it.

For me, I believe that a positive attitude towards our politics is vital.  Far too many people have lost faith in politicians and are no longer interested in UK politics.  With the highly likely event of a Hung Parliament, it would get more people interested in politics, it would bring a more representative government, and certainly bring electoral reform to UK politics.

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Political journalists have certainly been doing their job. We have important facts of Gordon Brown of where he went to school, how many bananas he eats a day (nine) and which of his eyes are made of glass, but now information for the first time is oozing into papers about this “new” man. It is embarrassing to see that first time facts of Mr Clegg are being published two weeks from the elections! Does it only take two weeks for people to decide whether they like this man or not? We know his father is half Russian with a Dutch Mother and a Spanish Wife with a list of three children all with Spanish names – great journalistic research there, you really are a credit to society.

Mr Clegg has been referenced to Barack Obama in their parallel inexperience in politics and people may use the buzzwords of ‘fresh’ and ‘exciting’, but I would like to point out at the welfare war played against the conservatives and specifically David Cameron who was mocked for achieving at Eton whilst in the same way Mr Clegg studied at Westminster, but nobody puts him down? I’m not saying they should, they should in fact be praised for their excellent institutions that they were part of and furthermore they both went on to Oxbridge to read there.

In my honest opinion, I truly believe that Mr Cameron, despite his desperate nature and his over-blushed face in times of confrontation, is the best leader for our nation. Too often, when analyzing policies we look at how they would benefit us, be it tax rates, pensions, student fees et cetera. This is because we are always a fan of someone and that animalistic selfish behavior throws a smokescreen in front of our rational minds. I think, with the current situation of Britain, which is a growing internal racist population, no confidence in the economy and lack of family values, conservative policies fit the solution to solve Britain.

I personally do not benefit from any of the conservative policies such as (deep breath) their family tax break as I am not married, their increased budget on the NHS as I have private health care, their new policies on schools having more power as I am in higher education and went to a public school anyway, or their inheritance tax limit. However, these policies, in my opinion, are the best for this country at this time and that I believe is what people have failed to see in that they look at policies through their eyes of today and not the country’s eyes of tomorrow.

On the other hand, many have slotted themselves as the ideal person to benefit from the Liberal Democrat policies such as the £10,000 income tax allowance which is a great policy but would be offset by a tax on airplanes. Some more ambitious, such as pulling out of Afghanistan in a given time, which is the worst foreign affairs policy to date and to dig them deeper, their immigration policy which allows illegal immigrants to work legally in this country. Some critics have realized these awful policies but the public haven’t. The elephant in the room like question is, can a new party, who have all these outrageous policies actually deliver if they were to come into power?

Despite all this, I propose an experiment. I do like to think of myself as a bit of a scientist so these are my aims. My experiment outlines that in the political game, the public mass vote for the Liberal Democrats. This will as a result, increase their number of seats in parliament and hopefully reduce the number of labour seats because they have way too many and (ideally) the conservative party become victorious. In future, when the Liberal Democrat’s policies are right for the country at that time, which I don’t think is now, they will have enough of a majority in parliament to win the next election and come into power.

If you would like to participate in my experiment, in the name of science, say nothing, but vote on 6th with a tick in the Liberal Democrat’s  box and our results will come through on whether a new party can deliver all its promises.

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If you are as confused as I am about who to vote for on May 6th then I am sure you will appreciate the questions we have asked youth parliament representatives of each of the major parties to answer. We asked them for answer three short questions within a given word count; the first about their leader, the second about their major policies and finally in under 100 words, why we should vote for their party.

Here are links to the articles:

The BNP: http://www.yourtwocents.co.uk/2010/the-british-national-party/

The Conservative Party: http://www.yourtwocents.co.uk/2010/the-conservative-party/

The Green Party: http://www.yourtwocents.co.uk/2010/green-party/

The Labour Party: http://www.yourtwocents.co.uk/2010/the-labour-party/

The Liberal Democrats: http://www.yourtwocents.co.uk/2010/the-liberal-democrats/

And finally IVP (Icelandic Volcano Party): http://www.yourtwocents.co.uk/2010/the-volcanic-ash/

They have done more in the last few days to restrict immigration than any other party in the history of UK politics… (sorry, had to be done)

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Last week we saw United Kingdom’s first television debate between the three main party leaders. Evidently, by inspection and by all opinion polls proceeding it, Nick Clegg swept the nation of their feet with his maturity in politics, his transparency in his manifesto and well, his honesty. David Cameron, an unpolished Tony Blair, focused his camera time on attacking the labour party and with punches being thrown back and forth between him and Mr Brown, Nick Clegg looked like a leader we wanted and held his dignity firm against his counterparts.

This was a shock to the nation and the two parties, as they have now declared to scrutinize the Liberal Democrats in the coming two weeks under their political microscopes. As the remainder two debates approach, excitement builds for journalists, as like The Premier League, it’s going down to the wire. This, if you needed one, is all the more reason to vote in 2010. Not only are we at risk of having a hung parliament and I honestly don’t see these leaders forming an amicable coalition party, but politics is finally a three horse race. For once, it’s not one party and then an anti-party but we have a third to allow the public to give true comparisons in manifestos of all three.

I am not going to dwell into each party and their respective policies and who stole what from whom and when because partly it will take far too long and more importantly, I don’t care who stole what from whom – the best policy should always be in use and should not be allowed to be patented. However, this all does have a point, regardless of which box you may tick on the 6th of May.

Whilst I would not encourage you to buy the “Vote or Die MotherFucker” soundtrack, I think YouTube is sufficient to see the efforts America put in to urge the people to vote. Unfortunately, Britain has taken a slightly different approach in encouraging people of all backgrounds to vote and that’s no approach to all. So this is my effort, on the sixth day of the fifth month of this year – Vote – or the IRA will put fireworks through your letter box.

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British culture holds some of the most extravagant traditions that has separated the classes for years. Traveling abroad highlights what foreign cultures think of the British and visiting New York last year reiterated my opinions on what others thought of us. Immediately, upon revealing where I was from, a joke related to tea and the Queen was posed my way and as they flowed from “afternoon tea and crumpets with the Queen” to wearing “tweed with a barbour and wellies” I could not help notice that the British may come across as pompous twats.

Recently I moved to London, Kings Cross specifically, and I live on the same road as the police horse barns. Now, that last phrase may seem anachronistic, but it is true, the police in London still patrol on their horses. Whilst their sight may be seldom, they certainly leave a trail to let you know where they have been. My street is littered and gifted with the potent smell of horse manure. Even worse, as my road is a main road, it has been flattened into the tarmac not allowing the rain to wash it away. So as I open the curtains in the morning I am blessed with the charming sight of squashed fecal matter.

I have a huge fascination for horses and think they are one of the most majestic of animals and anyone who has ridden a horse would agree with me, but I am also aware that they are afraid of cars to start with and secondly, and most alarmingly, they are not cheap. To purchase a horse it can cost from £2000 but to maintain a horse, depending on its type, it can cost from £6000 to £10000 a year per horse. Now if this country is in billions pounds in debt why are we spending this much money on maintaining police horses just because of an old tradition? To add insult to injury, opposite the police horse barns, on my road, is a homeless shelter where I have seen the bums scramble through rubbish looking for food. I understand that people’s morales have diminished over time but for the police to saddle on their shitting horses whilst looking down on the homeless is taking a bit too far.

Public Poop

When one notices dog-poop that has not been picked up by the owner, we generate a huge rage against the owner and its dog and think “why didn’t they pick it up? Why weren’t these people fined!” but when we see horse-poop on the road it becomes so common that it is accepted. WHY!? If you saw me squatting down with my jeans around my ankles you would say “excuse me, are you mad?” but when we see police vehicles, i.e horses, doing this, it is accepted! What have we lowered ourselves to?

Whilst I accept it is beautiful to see a horse being ridden I cannot accept that money should be spent on an animal over a human being. In addition, the fact that police fine grannies for not picking up their dog’s poop but do not pick up their own horse poop is hugely hypocritical. British traditions are brilliant but police patrolling on horse back can no longer be justified.

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Over the weekend we discovered the latest polls between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. Despite David Cameron’s Obama-esque approach to his campaign and the recent hoax against Gordon Brown’s violent conduct, the Labour Party are in strong position to stay in power after the next general election.

Whilst all this controversy is not the best for our economy as one expects future instability if a hung parliament is drawn, it does create a bit of excitement in the months leading up to the elections – for once. As a result of these latest polls, the Pound Sterling has been drop-kicked in the gentleman’s area to 1.5 against the Dollar and has reduced confidence in the UK economy causing potential foreign investment, a factor our GDP relies greatly on, to think twice before signing their cheque headed towards our nation.

This is all just a small blip in what has been a very strange few years in British politics. No-one voted in Mr Brown and was seen as an anti-Blair figure which everyone thought “Great, anyone but Blair” but now are craving that Blair style and grace in leadership. People have scrawled and ripped Mr Brown to shreds and a simple before and after photograph of the Prime Minister is evidence enough of how stressful a job it is being the leader of this nation. Yet he has pulled through, with his effortless charm and his pervious smile, if the elections were tomorrow, Labour would remain in power.

Mr Brown is that man who is blamed for everything in an instant and isn’t quite sure what happened. One moment he is the hero of removing Mr Blair and is now at fault for almost everything that is wrong in this country. What Mr Brown has shown though and one thing a great leader should show is perseverance of whatever is thrown at him. He still stands in front of that mic at PMQs and takes all the childish, fiendish banter from his fellow MPs and leads our nation forward. He lead us out of recession faster that most EU countries who are evidently suffering still, worse that of America’s flaws in the economy and yet no-one thanks him for bailing out Northern Rock or RBS who are already making profit in some departments.

I am not saying Mr Brown is the best leader this nation has had, Mr Blair is. What I am saying is that he sure isn’t the worst and sure will not be worse than others in terms of his resilience, his personality and his honour. Whenever the elections may be, I hope you show up and vote at minimum but I also hope that you vote for the person you think is best suited for the job and not the man who you think is better looking, a better public speaker, or a man from a more elitist background. So my prayers are with you Team GB that you continue to set an example for the rest of us.

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2. What are your party’s major policies? (300 words)

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3. Why should the public vote for your party? (100 words)

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The Green Party leader is Caroline Lucas, who is standing to be an MP in the Brighton Pavillion constituency this election. The party emerged from the Ecology party in the 1970s, and has not had a figurehead leader until recently (instead having ‘speakers’). Caroline is awesome. She joined the party in 1986 and held various positions, and became leader in 2008. She has been heavily involved in many different campaigns, most notably – but not exclusively – environmental. She served on Oxfordshire county council from 1993-7, and was elected as an MEP in 1999, and re-elected in 2004 and 2009.

2. What are your party’s major policies? (300 words)

The Greens outline a ‘green alternative’ to traditional politics, emphasising fairness. They launched their election manifesto in Brighton yesterday (15/4).They are by no means solely focused on the environment. Their main policies are:

* banking system: community banks and credit unions to provide realistic loans for those who need them + High Pay Commission to prevent failing bankers receiving reward nonetheless.

* health: opposing cuts, closures and most significantly privatisation of health services. Focus on providing free local services (abolish prescription charges, free eye tests etc).#

* transport: trains > public ownership to reduce fares. Divert road-investment into public transport. 160,000 new jobs from this.

* housing: get the 300,000 empty private properties re-occupied, build a new generation of quality council houses

* jobs and living wage: immediate £44 bn investment in training, renewables, public transport, social housing and waste management = new, sustainable jobs. Living wage scheme which would see minimum wage at £8.10/hr.

More information can be found here:
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/policies.html

3. Why should the public vote for your party? (100 words)

You should vote for the Green Party if you are dissatisfied with the current system. They are the only party offering sufficiently radical action on climate change – the greatest problem facing humanity. But they have so many other fantastic policies to create a more equitable society. It’s not pie in the sky – the ‘new green deal’ is a realistic economic alternative to the unsustainable status quo. Admittedly, because we lack proportional representation the Greens are unlikely to win many seats. If you live in Brighton Pavilion, Lewisham Deptford or Norwich South constituency, absolutely vote Green because they have a strong chance of getting their first MPs here. However, there’s something to be said for voting for them regardless – it will boost them for the future.

Article written by a council member at Warwick University.

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