Assignment 2 Article 2: Young Politics

The modern youth are not often seen as political creatures; often thought of as apathetic compared to their bra-burning cousins of the seventies, but why is this? What has changed so much in the past thirty years? Why are young people less interested now than they were before?

Two young people I spoke to had their own opinions on why young people weren’t interested in politics. “I really don’t see why I should care about politics, it’s not like it affects me anyway” and the other young man said “The countries gone to hell anyway, not like I can make a difference”. And it seems these views are held by many, but do all people think like this?

Lee Bradshaw, a young man heavily interested in student politics, and politics in general, had this to say.

I checked the social networking website Facebook to see if there were any groups which showed interest, or conversely a lack of interest, in politics. After a quick search I managed to find that there were over 500 groups on politics in the UK, though they don’t have many members. “So what do you think about politics and voting in the UK?” had just 4.

On the other hand, a group named “Votes at 16 (UK)” had 1,128 members, showing that young people really do want to get their voices heard earlier.

A survey done by the Duke of Edinburgh award in 2002 said that “The results suggest there is a level of frustration among many of the young and a degree of fear for their own security in a world where all too often they are the ones blamed when things go wrong.”

This security links in with the politics that young people are most involved with and the politics that too many young people are not given a voice in, 68% of young people do not believe the government listens to their voice. According to the BBC “Only half of those in the survey said they understood how the country is run, the figure falling further among those from poorer backgrounds.”

But why does this discrepancy exist? Why do young people feel that they aren’t being heard? I tried talking to representatives from Young Labour and Conservative Futures however, neither were available for comment.

I have some thoughts on the issue. From what I have seen by speaking to young people and university students, who are stereotypically seen as more politically minded, it seems that Labour are turning them off politics with university fees and unpopular moves like the Iraq war. Young people have tried to get their voices heard with protests, social networking groups and petitions, yet it doesn’t seem to be working.

Why should young people care about politics, when politics no longer seems to care about them?

Assignment 2, article 1: What does your MP thinkof the PM

The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is often up for discussion in pub politics. Every man and his dog seems to have an opinion on what Mr. Brown should (or shouldn’t) be doing.

I’m sure you have your own opinions on what you think of Mr. Brown, good and bad, but we don’t really know the full extent of what is going in within the internal workings of the labour party.

The people who do know tend to be labour MPs… and things aren’t looking so good in that respect. With Gordon Brown attempting to push through unpopular policies like 42 day detention, he is currently receiving a lot of dissent from the back benches.

Gordon Prentice, MP for Pendle has said "A prime minister needs a different set of skills from a chancellor of the exchequer. A prime minister must be able to persuade and enthuse. If not, the message is lost”. Mr. Prentice is just one of several MPs calling for Mr. Brown to step down, and a new leadership challenge to take place.

While Mr. Prentices views are not shared by all backbenchers, claims Tony Lloyd (chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party) however Mr. Lloyd does agree that Mr. Brown does need to sharpen his efforts.

On the other hand, senior cabinet members are rallying around him and saying that they think he is the right man to lead the party, despite the fact he was not the Prime Minister voted for by the electorate.

Home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said in a quote in the Independent that "Gordon Brown is proving himself as a prime minister in difficult times and should have the support of all of us." And other senior politicians like Bill Rammell (Higher Education minister) and Harriet Harman (the deputy leader).

Here is a map showing the different things that have been said by the different MPs:

View Larger Map

But is Mr. Brown unpopular with the electorate? I looked at popular social networking site, Facebook, to find out.

To find out popular opinion I did a search for groups with the term defined as “Gordon Brown”. On the first page of search results I found 7 groups who were against Gordon Brown, and not one in favour. The titles of the groups ranged from “I BET I CAN FIND 1,000,000 PEOPLE WHO DISLIKE GORDON BROWN” which has 15,931 members to “Gordon Brown - throw in the towel and resign” which has 1,140 members.

I did find one or two pro Gordon Brown groups, finding my first one on page four entitled “Gordon Brown for Prime Minister” which had 176 members and was quite old, pre Brown coming to power and the “Gordon Brown Appreciation Society” which has 105 members on page 6. Neither of these groups have the vast number of members that the anti Brown groups have.

So, Gordon Brown, losing popularity amongst his own party, minimal popularity amongst the voters and losing ground to other political parties… Not the best way to handle the growing unrest in this country.

(Picture Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/2297262080/)