The Road to Recovery

Yesterday’s figures are a double dose of good news for the British economy.
The economy is growing strongly – the strongest growth in this part of the year for ten years. And Britain’s credit rating has been secured, after it had been put at risk by the previous Government.

In an uncertain global economy this will help to underpin confidence in the recovery. And it is a vote of confidence in the Coalition Government’s economic policy.

If we listened to Labour, our debt would be almost £100 billion higher by the end of the Parliament and we would be paying £4 billion more in debt interest alone by the time of the next election – money that goes to foreign creditors to help pay for their schools and hospitals rather than our own. Their approach would take us back to the brink of bankruptcy – that would mean less growth, less investment and fewer jobs.

Business Leaders across Great Britain have already backed the Coalitions economic policy, its high time that society started to do the same thing. After all this deficit is Labour's Legacy, why are we being punished for it?

Erewash Conservative Association Annual Dinner

Last night I was deeply honoured and priveledged to be present at the first ECA Annual Dinner in 13 years with a sitting conservative MP.

It was indeed a great occasion with speakers Jessica Lee MP, Member of parliament for Erewash and John Hayes MP, Minister of State for further Education, Skills & lifelong learning.

Our hosts, Cllr. Geoffery Smith, Assoc. Chairman, Mrs. Annette Noskwith CBE. Associaton President and Cllr. Robert Parkinson BSc, His worship the Mayor, welcomed guests warmly and Cllr. Smith ended the evening with a rousing speech welcoming the new council candidates.

All in all a great evening and a proud night in my conservative career.

National Conservative Future Elections

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Councillor Ben Howlett to his new post as National Conservative Future Chairman. Ben is joined on the National Executive by Newly Elected Deputy Chairman (political) Alexandra Swann and Newly Elected Deputy Chairman (Membership) Clare Hilley, the New appointed officer is James Deighton.

I am delighted to pass on my congratulations to the new National Executive and all of the new regional chairmen.

Bring on the Area Chairmen elections next month...

Are young People really apathetic towards politics?

As chairman of Erewash Conservative Future, I am seen, by the Erewash Conservative Association and indeed by Jessica Lee as the figure head and sign post for all young people who join the party. But the herculean task of engaging with young people in the first place will always be a barrier that we need to beat down.

I am ashamed to say that at the last Erewash Association event, I was the only member of Conservative Future there. Not one of the members turned up. Now this may be the type of event that we are running, but talking to the membership individually, I get the feeling that it is more along the lines of the people that go to these events.

But I simply refuse to believe that young people are just apathetic about politics as a whole.

I understand that in this modern era of hung parliament's and coalition governments, people may become disenfranchised by the political system or even by individual political party politics. But then it could also be the fact that we no longer educate our children about politics. Throughout Derbyshire, there are only two secondary schools that still teach any form of politics and even then it is only at KS5 level. This only happens at private schools and not at comprehensive state schools.

Memories

Today marks the beginning of Freshers Fayre at many Universities across the United Kingdom and is the first Freshers Fayre in three years that I am not involved in.

This week brings back many fond memories from the last few years but from last year in particular brings back the memories of me splitting my freshers between UDSU Liberation and the Conservative Party. It also marked my new found affiliation with High Peak Conservatives and we won't remind ourselves about the unfortunate turn of events that lead on from that...

It makes me so proud to look back though.

Keeping Up Appearances

As I look for a final selection for the Erewash Borough Council Elections in 2011, I spent the day at the Erewash Conservative Association BBQ yesterday in my role as chief cook and bottle washer...

I, this morning, stink of BBQ smoke, as if I were on 40 a day... :-( but all in all it was a very pleasant afternoon, and a fantastic networking event.

Congratulations, by the way, to Jessica Lee MP, honorable member for Erewash, on becoming Private Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney General. Your constituents are all extremely proud.

Unemployment

My oppinion of the unemployed state of this country has altered somewhat in recent weeks. The majority of the country would blame migrant workers for unemployment.

I personally would blame the elitest attitude of the british middle classes for the migrant workers. So in fact it was the fault of the unemployed. Therefore coalition's welfare reform policy of cutting benefits if the recipiant turns down work, gets my full backing.

But the unemployed population of this country get a little more sympathy. I recently went for a job interview. Out of 6 candidates 4 were in employment. The successful candidate was one of the employed candidates. I ask you, if we give jobs to people who already have jobs, how do we reduce unemployment?

Graduates are finding it increasingly more difficult to gain employment to suit their skills. But what is the answer?

We simply need to stop giving jobs to people who already have jobs.

The political Diary

I never realized how hectic and strategic a political calendar can be.

I mean I was told for ages that council meetings can go on late into the night, but before I have even been selected as a councillor, my CF calendar is almost as full as that of an MP.

Society, Society, Society!

In the wake of the Coalition Government's 100 Day point, do we need to bolster the Big Society Agenda in the Constituencies and in our council's?

As I am preparing for my Council Selection Interview, I think what is it that I want to do and achieve, if I am selected and elected?

This may sound very political and buzz wordy... But can we really get young people to engage in politics? Can we really get the Youth of today interested in Politics? The answer is... YES WE CAN!

I have described before the time that I was engaging 16 year old girls in conversations about politics and government.

and Now for the buzz word... Co-producer...

I have a vision to get the society actively participating and engaging in politics and co-producing their local government. and to get Young People in particular engaging in politics and co-producing in society.

I believe, whole heartedly, that the young people of this country, the young people of this constituency and the young people of this borough are the future of the country, similarly, the young people of the conservative party are the future of the party and the future of politics as we know it.

Why do we enter politics in the first place?

As I have illuded in previous blog posts, I am a seasoned Student Union Politician. But thinking back, it began before University, before UDSU and certainly before NUS.

I had completely forgotten my time spent as a rep on the sixth form council at Friesland back in 2003/2004. It was a single 1 year term but it bore the foundations and the basis to my student politics career.

I believe I have also illuded to the troubled time in 2009, when I was almost on the verge of resigning my UDSU office. Well a few close friends and the UDSU president helped me to realise why I became a Union Officer and why I entered into politics in the first place.

I was told back then basically that I needed to be the calm level headed "cool cat" for the disabled students. The nail had been hit right on the head there. I was there to lead and represent the disabled students.

I entered into student politics and political activism aswell, to serve and work with my community. I quite famously said that its not about what I can get out of UDSU, its about what I can give back.

As I await my council selection interview, I bear the same ideology in mind. I want to educate and engage the next generation of voters.

Thats why im a Tory activist and politician!

Responsibility!

Responsibility, the most important word in politics. Thats all I'm going to say!...

Do MP's who defect really hold any values?

In the wake of reports that 3 Lib-Dem MP's are to defect to Labour, it has been questioned, do they hold Labour values.

I ask, if they are defecting, do they hold any values at all?

Votes at 16 and electoral reform

Now most people will recognise me as a hardcore Tory. I am not a "con-dem" I am a Tory.

It will therefore come as no suprise that I am not in support of AV or electoral reform, in the sense of changing the voting system.

I do, however, support the idea of lowering the voting age. I mean at 16, you can have sex, get married, join the army and fight for your country, you can buy a lottery ticket, pay taxes and a whole host of other things, but you cannot vote!

All of these things are decided upon by the government. Yet you cannot decide who makes those decisions until you turn 18.

Ask yourselves why? Is this fair?

I, as yet, have not tracked down the party stance on this...

Changing the voting system would change the country

I know this is the third blog post today, but I decided to check the papers and blogs before bed...

This excercise opened up a thought process in my mind. If we change the voting system, would the british political environment change?

The answer is probably yes! In Britain we have a distinct party political system. This is a deep set historical system. Yet the 2010 election delivered a hung parliament, possibly contributed to by the televised debates. The coalition of the conservatives and lib dems was subsequently formed.

Under AV the lib dems would have gained a further 22 seats. Throwing the election even more wide open.

So will AV replace single party governance with coalition governance forever?

Political Education...

If we don't actually teach politics as a curricular subject, how and when do we teach it?

History would appear to be the common one. But is that with the war and conflict link? However, there is a political link to most historical events...

Citizenship, where it is explicitly taught is another common one, with a little inclusion in PSHCE.

Then at post 16 level, there may be a little politics wedged, implicitly, into sociology and within the cultural and social domain papers in general studies.

I fully believe that we need to be educating our children about politics to ensure that the next generation first time voters are a voting generation.

Obviously my priority is to gain as many conservative votes as possible, but my message on may 5th was go out and use your vote, regardless.

To continue that message, we need to get the next generation to believe in politics and vote!

U Turn if you want to...

But the party is not for turning...

Cliche, as it may be, it is one of Maggie's most famous and iconic speeches. It is also a phrase that has been used and paraphrased by Tory's for many years and will be for many years to come.

In this instance, however, I would like to apply it to the milk fiasco. Now I have read many different political commentary blogs this morning, from the great Iain Dale, John Redwood and Guido Fawkes to the inclusive Conservative Home. They all seek to mention the so called "milk snatching" apparent "U-Turn" of yesterday.

Having done my own research into the Milk Snatching fiasco, I am inclined to agree with John Redwood in the fact that all three parties that have shared power at some point between 1968 and 2010, have in some way contributed to the removal of free milk in schools, presumably as an economy saving measure.

The media's biased outlook on politics is off on its own little tangent again, as we will now have another history lesson from the world on how bad the Tory's have been in the past. One history lesson that is getting particularly boring. But now we will have to delve into the chapter on Baroness Thatcher removing milk from schools for 5-7 year olds. The world has obviously forgotten or just conveniently overlooked the fact that Edward Short, in 1968, was the first education minister to remove free milk for 11-18 year olds. Edward Short was a Labour minister.

This all stems from a policy that was being mooted around the cabinet office at junior level, but was subsequently dropped.

Which brings me back to my original point... Discussing a policy and then subsequently dropping it in favor of something better is not doing a so called Policy U-turn. Its democracy and common sense.

The one where the liberation activist became a Tory activist

The big question of 2009/10 was "How can you be such a committed and passionate disabled activist and be a Tory?"

Bigger outrage came when an LGBT activist announced his Blue affiliation.

Well, I am a realist, a cynic, and I believe in welfare, ofcourse I do, but I also believe in society. I want benefits for those in need of benefits but opportunity to work, if you can, must be priority.

The truth is that liberation, unlike the labour election campaign, goes much further than section 28.

Theresa May and Iain Duncan Smith have plans for an improved benefit system that puts a stop to fraudulant claims and looks after those who need it.

So yes it is possible to be a Tory Liberation activist, I'm living proof

CF objectives and political engagement

Amidst the hustings and policy of the CF National Chairman Candidates, I had a thought that got me thinking... What is the purpose of CF?

Well my first point of interest was obviously the CF constitution. The objectives that are cited there are pretty generic and the usual suspects show up in the objectives section:

3 OBJECTS OF CF

The Objects of CF are:-

3.1.1 to advance the principles and policies of the Party amongst people:-

under the age of 30; and/or studying at institutions of higher and further education within the

Nation;

3.1.2 to recruit members to the Party;

3.1.3 to advise and provide assistance to the Party on all matters where the

particular expertise of CF may be of value;

3.1.4 to represent and promote the interests and profile of Party members under

the age of 30;

3.1.5 to encourage and develop among its Members the formation, organisation

and operation of branches;

3.1.6 to work for the election of Conservative Candidates in local, regional, national

and European elections.

Well that provoked another thought, how, exactly, do we recruit members to the Party? More importantly, how do we keep our current members active and retain membership?

Indeed, why do people join political parties? One would assume that this is because a person feels a connection, either ideologically or otherwise to that party. In which case, they would possess the want and desire to get involved and be an active member of that party.

Therefore an active involvement or perhaps even a committee position or officer's role in the local association would keep the membership satisfied and active. But realistically this is not always enough for younger members. Which is why the vast majority of conservative future branches are based around and built upon social activity and dare I say it? Alcohol.

So how do we recruit members? Is it possible to sustain political interest in young people? The answer is, YES...

I was on a student union trip to our far flung campus in Buxton, prime rich pickings for a High Peak Conservative Future branch at the outset. We were trying to get some two way engagement going with the Union's democracy campaign. Now a strong FE base would normally cause a look of horror to be struck at the hint of the word politics, but, I was surprised at the amount of knowledge and engagement that I witnessed in a bunch of 16 & 17 year olds.

I even got a young lad to talk himself round from voting BNP to voting Tory, by his unknowing hatred for Nick Griffin outweighing his hatred for foreign migrants and immigrants. But by sitting and chatting with them, its easy to show them that their everyday lives are governed by politics.

It is upsetting, however, to learn that there are very few FE institutions left that teach politics.

I leave you with the question, then, is it time to bring politics back to the curriculum, and would those gaining academy status and the subsequent autonomy, include politics as part of their curriculum?

End of an era

It is with great pride and honour that I hand over my office with UDSU tommorrow after 2 long, happy and successful years.

I am confident that I can move on, safe in the knowledge that I leave UDSU as a more accepting, more accessible and more inclusive organization.

It may come as a suprise to some of you, that in September 2009, I almost gave it all up. Internal politics forced me to reconsider my position as my integrity and intentions had been questioned. But I was reminded by a couple of close friends, why I entered union politics in the first place. I'm here to campaign for and with the students, to represent the students, but most of all I am here to "Defend and extend the rights of my fellow students, by creating and maximising opportunity".

I would like to thank a few people now, James Chick & Mike Duckworth can claim the credit for dragging me into this mess in the first place...

I would like to thank jack Clemson for being there to provide a great rivalry for many months, but more so for the great mutual respect we have formed since March.

Can I thank Sally Cunningham for being a rock to us all. Ami Lewis for always smiling, Peter, Sukhi and Dan for obvious reasons.

Last but definately not least, Leoni "Rottweiler" Sullivan. The most committed Disabled Students activist outside of... Well... Me! I owe Leoni so much. For her campaign support, professional and close personal friendship and just for being Leoni... My campaign would not be what it was without her. I know that Barney is leaving UDSU Societies, media and the Sabb office in good hands.

UDSU, its been an honour, a pleasure and a priveledge.

Thanks for the memories

I love you all

Richard "Bull by the Horns" Harris

Voting reform?

My "political" career began in 2008 in bottom line student union politics. We had just undertaken a governance change at UDSU at the time and with it came an alteration in the way in which we voted in student union elections.

Under the new system we were using single transferable voting, a form of alternative voting, as opposed to the traditional first past the post system.

Although, 2 years on, the majority of Student Politics uses STV, certain corners of the NUS are only just getting used to the idea. The problem is that even for single seat elections, only a hand full of people understand how to count it, but with multiple seat elections, it really is a nightmare.

I will try to explain the way in which STV works.

The idea is of course that each voter, rather than crossing the box of the person you want to elect, numbers the candidates in order of preference. So if I was voting today, I might put a 1 in the box next to the Conservative Party Candidate, a 2 in the box next to the Liberal Democrat Candidate a 3 in the box next to the Green Party etc.

The votes are then counted by taking all of the first preference votes first until a candidate has met the quota of votes needed to win. The quota is usually devised, in the case of STV, by taking the number of voters and dividing that by the number of seats. If nobody meets the quota in the first round, then the person with the lowest amount of votes is eliminated and their second preference votes are then distributed out amongst the remaining candidates. The process is then repeated until somebody has met the quota and been elected.

AV is almost the same except the quota is 50% of the votes.

But given the average turnout that we currently experience on polling days in Britain at the present time, is it a good idea to alter the way that we cast our vote?

Are we going to disengage thousand of voters by altering the voting system? The young first time voters often find first past the post confusing and disengaging enough, without complicating it even more. I mean the idea of having a commons seat quota is alien to the majority of young voters who are probably used to the idea of simple majority.

So how will the country's older generation react to a new system, Its difficult enough to manage change in life as it is, but this would be a seemingly needless change.

Without wishing to be controversial, it was the Liberal Democrats who wanted to propose this system in the first place, and statistics have shown that under the alternate proportional voting system, the Lib Dem's would have gained a further 22 seats during the 2010 General Election.

Would it not make more sense to try to increase the amount of voters, turning out at the polling station, rather than altering the voting system, which could potentially disengage voters rather than recruiting them?

I am skeptical about altering the voting system. But then I am an IT technician and an instinctive Conservative, so skepticism is in my nature.

I don't think that NUS and student politics has made a very good job of STV. So therefore, if change didn't happen all that well at student level, where change management is relatively simple, I don't see the change being a good one at a national parliamentary level.

response to scope press release

In response to the press release by scope on the DWP figures on employment.

http://tinyurl.com/35eysr4

The whole ethos behind the UDSU Disabled Students Campaign under my control and indeed the ethos of the social model of disability in general is and has been the empowerment of the disabled people.

Therefore it is society as a whole that makes us disabled.

I haven't seen the criteria on the medical re-assessment tests for ESA. BUT in light of the social model, which is the model by which we live and breath, there does need to be strict guidelines and criteria for a person to be deemed unfit to work.

Maybe the question should exist on the other side...

Is the place of work fit for me to work in?

Marching on Together

As with many political blogs I will add a spot of football to the mix.

Many followers will know that I am an avid Leeds United Fan.

I will begin by celebrating a 3-1 victory for the whites over SK Brann.

It was good to play against former United defender, Gunner Halle.

Stay tuned for political/disability/football related commentary.

Benefits or Employability?

A few weeks after the 2010 UDSU Sabbatical Elections, I was asked a political/welfare question.

Is it more important to support those who can work, but don't, back into work or pay the benefits to those who can't work?

Well with much deliberation I returned the answer, and I'm sure many of my colleagues to the centre right would agree, that it is equally important to do both, but it is more of a priority to people who are out of work, but can work, back into employment. The proceeds of the income tax that these people pay back to the state, will ease the financial pressure of the benefits paid to those who cannot work.

This question, of course refers to the Perkins report, and has provoked many debates through my campaign over the past few months.

Funnily enough, it was the only issue that provoked cross party debate and agreement within UDSU.

Disabled Student (with disabilities)?

Disabled Student or Student with a disability?

Its the question that has plagued my life in E&D...

Its a confusion point alright... but what is the correct terminology and why?

Well before we can answer the question in hand, we need to answer a different question...

The question is, what is Disability?

well, under social model of disability, disability is nothing but a perception, an idea, a label that society imposes on a person.

So what makes me disabled? the answer is simply, PEOPLE!

So the answer to the question, Disabled student or student with a disability is, Disabled Student.

But Why, I hear you ask?

Well the real answer is, that the term student with a disability implies that the student owns their disability and thus they can use it to their own advantage. The simple answer is that the term disabled student infers that society is disabling the student. Which fits perfectly with the social model of disability.

good for politics?

Since the General Election, I have been asked on many occasions, "Do you think the coalition has been good for British Politics"?

The answer, I have to confess is yes, its good for British Politics, but I have to ask the question, Is it good for democracy?

The answer to that I am afraid is No...

I don't think it is a good move for democracy, in the same vein that I thought the hung parliament, although being good for British politics, was a bad thing for british democracy.

I woke up, early on May 7th 2010, I had an assignment to get into University, but before I left, my brother, a first time voter and coincidentally a newly reformed Conservative voter after making a bad choice in the 09 Euro's, got up and said; "well, who won?"

That could not have been a more open ended question, if he had tried...

My answer was; "that depends on whether you're asking: A) Who got the most votes, and therefore won the election; OR B) Who won the right to govern.

He said, "is that not the same thing"?

After I had explained, he said, that it proved that politics was and is a waste of time, as the party you vote for, wins the election but still doesn't win power.

Therefore, the hung parliament and the current system, is disengaging towards first time voters and anybody on the outside of the political game.

The coalition, in this case, provides the answer but not the solution to this disengagement. It allows the Party who clearly had a large majority in the election, in fact only 13 seats away from holding a mandate to govern, to do exactly that, whilst also giving the Liberal Democrats a shot at influencing policy and government. But it is my personal belief that the coalition is bad for democracy.

Another question that I am asked is: "Were the televised debates good for politics"?

Again the answer is Yes, they were good for politics, but not for democracy.

They may work in a presidential election, where the president may differ in ideology from the senate, etc. but essentially, we vote in this country for a political party, with set values and little room for movement in ideology and Any differing ideology will be detailed in the manifesto. Therefore, the televised debate becomes nothing but a charisma test.

So for the little addition of a few younger voters, they are a superfluous addition to the media circus.