Welcome to Politics


The study of politics is more than learning about how politicians have made decisions in the past or what they are doing in the present, it is about understanding the way in which politicians and the choices they make influence nearly every aspect of our everyday lives.

 You cannot be a successful student of politics without engaging in the wider world and what is happening in it. To that end, this year, we are starting a blogging project with our incoming A-Level students at BISS.

 You will be responsible for following this blog, creating your own using Blogger and your Google account and following and commenting on each other's blogs. You must blog once a week and do this in your time outside of lessons.

 Your participation in our digital discussions will help enhance your understanding of the politicised world we inhabit and better flesh out your ideas and opinions about that world.

 In light of accusations after the Grenfell Tower fire, we are starting with the issue of class and the question: does class still influence decisions we make today in the UK?

 The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party clearly thinks so and his comments about the victims being 'murdered by political decisions' has come under fire. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/26/grenfell-fire-backlash-john-mcdonnell-claims-blaze-victims-murdered/?scrlybrkr=527f7a07

What do you think?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You were only supposed to blow the bl*%dy doors off!

In David Cameron's attempt to keep his divided Conservative Party together and to cling on to power he ignored the advice of others and promised a referendum.  In his arrogance, he assumed that people would think like him and those around them and simply vote to keep the status quo.  Unfortunately, he realised too late that he was clueless and that he was about to lose possibly the most significant public vote in decades.  It quickly became apparent that there was a large contingent of the public who simply did not see any benefits to the EU, from all political persuasions and nothing was going to convince them otherwise especially when the fiendishly clever 'Leave' campaign played on the fears of those who had been left behind in the economic race.  The lack of planning for a negative result and no clear idea of what it would mean to leave meant that when the narrow result was announced would mean that there was no clear mandate and no level of support.  Different groups
Read more

Hypocrisy or simple realism: The double standards on Saudi Arabia and Russia

After the Salisbury poisonings in March 2018 the Conservative Party lined up to condemn Russia for it's 'aggressive actions.  Prime Minister Theresa May suggested that there was  “a backdrop of a well-established pattern of Russian state aggression” (Asthana A  et al: 2018).   Later, in September 2018, as further details emerged about how the 'murder' was carried the Conservative Deputy Chairman,  James Cleverly MP suggested that  “Our response must be both internationally coordinated and robust.” (Drearden 2018)) indicating that sanctions should be imposed against Russia for its actions on British soil. However, when asked on BBC Question Time on the 18th October, on how Britain should respond to Saudi Arabia's actions in relation to Khasoggi, he avoids the question suggesting that 'liberalisation' and 'increasing secularisation' is taking place so that credit should be given to the government. So why the double standards?  In 2017 £5.3 billion
Read more

Do politicians still have a moral responsibility to the public?

Image
Perhaps this should be entitled 'Should we hold political leaders to a higher moral standard?' When we think of role models most of us do not think of politicians but athletes or heroic figures who have overcome adversity to reach some kind of pinnacle. Why don't we think of politicians? Maybe it is because of the sleaze  that is often associated with them. This past week saw the resignation of two high-ranking American politicians from the left of the spectrum following allegations of sexual misconduct while at the same time another would-be American politician was refusing to drop out of a senatorial race despite lurid allegations of sexual misconduct (including misconduct with a minor). Over here in England we had a somewhat quieter political week in terms of scandal but it also was the week in which a woman once embroiled in the biggest political sex scandal died in peaceful but relative obscurity. Christine Keeler - ask people over a certain age who she is or wa
Read more