BREXIT — THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES STARTS NOW

by Josh Wilson

For all those who voted and campaigned to leave the European Union I would like say congratulations, we may have had a difference of opinion but that shouldn’t leave any animosity between us. For all of those that voted and campaigned to remain within the EU, like myself, it is okay to cry. It is okay to feel upset, angry and disappointed. It is not easy to let go of something you believed in so passionately. The future is scary; it is uncertain what direction the country will now head in, whether we will enter into another period of recession and who our next Prime Minister will be now David Cameron has said he will resign. But this is exactly why we must come to terms with the fact that Brexit is going to happen, and the fight has only just begun.

The referendum was largely fought between different sides of the right-wing of British politics, but the opportunity now lies with the Left. I truly believe everyone on the Left, whatever your party affiliation and which ever way you voted must unite and galvanise around a campaign for a progressive exit from the EU. This view was recently aired by Paul Mason in the Guardian, although in fear of being a hipster, I thought of this before it was ‘cool’ (You can read Paul’s more eloquent article here). In this article I want to cover another angle and lay out some of the biggest battles that are going to be thrown our way in the very near future.Continue Reading

FOOD WASTE – IS LEGISLATION THE BEST PATH TO FOLLOW?

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by Rowan Van Tromp

The past few weeks have seen waves of literature surrounding the issue of food waste by supermarkets, following the French parliament’s decision to pass legislation compelling retailers with 4,305 square feet of store space to donate any unsold, but still edible, food, to charity or for use as animal feed or farming compost. All stores which fall under this criterion are obliged to sign agreements with charities to facilitate the redistribution of such food by 2016, or could face penalties of up to €75,000.

Calls have since been made for the UK to follow suit, and no wonder given that the UK far and away wastes the most food out of any European country — amounting to 15bn tonnes a year according to the government backed organisation WRAP, although just over 1% of this comes from storesContinue Reading

RECLAIM THE POWER: MASS ACTION CAMP, DIDCOT

As we have seen throughout history direct action has been central to inspiring social change – at this year’s Mass Action Camp in Didcot, from 29th May to the 2nd June, Reclaim the Power are inviting you to get involved.

by Lindsay Alderton, Reclaim The Power

With the re-election of the first fully Conservative Cabinet in Downing Street for 18 years, many have spent the last few weeks reeling in shock, fearing what lies ahead in the oncoming months and years. The implications are severe — over the last five years we’ve had a crushing run of bitter austerity measures, job losses, scapegoating attacks on migrant rights, mass sales of social housing, over a million using food banks, and suicides over benefit sanctions.

At a time when the world’s leading scientific community are imploring us to keep fossil fuels in the ground, our environmentally hostile government is pressing ahead with plans to scrap crucial subsidies for onshore wind farms, as well as championing fracking and investment in North Sea oil.Continue Reading

HOME GROWN PART 2: GRIME

by Mike Vinti

Last time round we focused on the explosion of hip hop taking place across the UK, this week we focus on the UK Rap scene’s mainstay: Grime.

Grime initially took off in the early 2000s thanks to pioneering production and vocal stylings of artists like Skepta and Wiley, whose invention of ‘Eski-beat’ birthed grime as we know it. Characterised by double-time rapping and generally sticking around 140 bpm, grime is hip hop’s faster, louder, and often far more hype cousin. Unfortunately, I was eight years old in 2002 and subsequently missed out on a lot of ‘OG’ grime. In better news however, after a lull in which the closest thing to grime you’d find on the radio was Wiley’s rather ill-considered attempts at pop, grime is back. With it comes a wealth of fresh, young, talent, raised on the genre’s roots and unafraid to experiment.

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SILVANA IMAM, HIP-HOP, AND THE SWEDISH ELECTIONS

by Hannah Jerming-Havill

Sunday morning, 14.09.2014, there’s a slight overcast dulling Bristol’s sky, the tea is brewing and on the other side of the North Sea history might be written.

Recently however, the utopian illusion has been dissolving in accordance with the suffocating right-wing wave that’s been ablaze throughout Europe. In 2010 the far right, anti-immigration party Sverigedemokraterna (SD) gained seats in the Swedish government for the first time, which made the past elections dismally historical. Due to the coalition based structure of the Swedish government, SD gained quite a significant position of power, because neither the left-wing nor the right-wing coalition secured sole majority; SD had the power to swing the vote left or right with their 5.7% of government seats. As the left was outraged the coalitions broke down and Miljöpartiet (MP – Sweden’s equivalent of the Green Party) announced that they would rather shift their position and collaborate with the right-wing coalition than give SD such a power privilege.Continue Reading