CHOOSE YOUR RICH OLD WHITE MAN – AN UNINSPIRING ELECTION

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged barack obama, Bernie Sanders, black lives matter, bolivia, Chile, climate crisis, Covid-19, democracy, democratic party, Donald Trump, Evo Morales, featured, government, Hillary Clinton, ideology, Joe Biden, left wing, MAS-IPSP, Movimiento al Socialismo, patriarchy, politics, Southern Border Wall, US congress, US constitution, US election 2020, US government shutdown, US Politics, US presidential election, US senate, USA.

By Howard Green

Every 4 years, the world’s attention turns to the US presidential election. It is widely seen as the most important election in the world, and it’s hard to argue that it will be any less than that this year. In a time of racial injustice, climate crisis and global pandemic, many in America have been looking for their politicians to put forward an inspiring, achievable vision of the future. Instead they have a choice between an egomaniacal incumbent and a lacklustre opposition.

ON ANARCHY, ANTIFA, AND APATHY

Posted on September 20, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged action, anarchy, anti-fascism, antifa, apathy, Bannon, Berkeley, Brexit, Civil Rights, Community, cooperation, direct action, Elisee Reclus, equality, featured, hate, justice, left wing, Milo Yiannopolous, Natasha Lennard, Peter Kropotkin, politics, Richard Spencer, Unite, volunteers, white supremacy, xenophobia.

by Sarah Edgcumbe

In a left wing social media group I am part of, a member recently asked whether anybody supported Antifa, before continuing on to state that he personally feels that “they sound like the fascists they are trying to rid the world of” and harming the potential of the left. This sentiment was unexpected given the online location. Why do the words “anarchist” and “Antifa” provoke such strong negative reactions?Continue Reading

THE MEANING OF REES-MOGG

Posted on March 20, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged 1834 New Poor Law, anti welfare, Ben Bradley, Brexit, Brexiteers, conservatives, Davies, EU, featured, Fox, free trade, Johnson, Kehinde Andrews, left wing, malcom x, Mansion House, Maybot, MP, Oliver Twist, Phillip Davies, poor, productiveness of pain, rees mogg, theresa may, Tory, welfare, westminster, workhouse, Zac Goldsmith.

by Scott Mclaughlan

The latest official line on Britain’s European exit struck a more considered and conciliatory tone. Early this month at Mansion House the Maybot reassured her detractors: “there have been many different voices and views in the debate on what our new relationship with the EU should look like. I have listened carefully to them all”.

Meanwhile, behind the curtain, Eaton College’s answer to Mr. Twit lurks in the wings with rhetorical flush and imperial vision. Dr Fox preaches the utopia of “free trade” and Rees-Mogg casually offers up a well-thumbed copy of Oliver Twist for inspiration. The three Brexiteers, it appears, are in the driving seat.

A simple question remains: what exactly is it that they want, these Brexiteers?Continue Reading

WE CAN’T JUST WAIT FOR FREE EDUCATION – NCAFC WINTER CONFERENCE

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged #FreeEdNOW, bigotry, boycott, conference, Cut the Rent, democratic education, demonstration, direct action, education workers, fascism, Free Education, free speech, GE17, HE policy, higher education, history, jeremy corbyn, KEF, Labour, Labour manifesto, left wing, living grants, local campaigns, marketisation, NCAFC, no platforming, nss, NSS Boycott, NUS, Picturehouse, Picturehouse strike, progressive taxation, protest, REF, Research and HE Bill, solidarity, strike action, student activism, student media, student movement, students, students' unions, tef, terfs, trans liberation, tuition fees, UCL, universities.

by Lewis Jarrad

On the 9th-10th December, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) put on its 2017 Winter Conference in Liverpool. Taking place less than a month after their national demonstration, which advocated for free education and universal living grants funded by taxing the rich, the conference was a chance for student activists across the UK to strategise and discuss where we can go next in the fight for a free and democratic education system. Campuses represented included Liverpool, Manchester, UCL, UAL, KCL, Warwick, Sheffield, Abertay, Oxford and Cambridge. As a first year UCL student who was involved in the national demo, I went along to learn more about NCAFC and how I could get more involved in the campaign.

THE RIGHT ARE RUNNING SCARED – A RESPONSE TO TOM WELSH

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged academia, academic work, academics, access, alternative facts, capitalists, career, Chris Hanretty, City AM, commentary, education, elitism, experts, free market, GE17, general election, graduates, HE policy, higher education, historians, hyperbole, hypocrisy, inequality, Institute of Economic Affairs, jeremy corbyn, King's College London, Labour, left wing, marketisation, Michael Gove, no platforming, Oxford University, policy, private universities, privatisation, research, right wing, safe spaces, sensationalism, socialism, student debt, Taxpayers' Alliance, The Telegraph, Times Higher Education, Tom Welsh, Tories, tuition fees, u-turn, UEA, uk, universities, voters.

by Robyn Banks

In the midst of right-wing confusion about Jeremy Corbyn’s continuing support amongst the young, following a supposed u-turn on his flagship policy to scrap student debt, Tom Welsh of the Telegraph has unveiled a new thesis: the left will continue its resurgence so long as too many go to university*. His argument is as ridiculous as the title makes it sound, and his article is full of claims that are absurd, patronising and completely unsupported.

CLIVE LEWIS MUST FIRMLY AND RESOLUTELY REPRESENT PROGRESSIVE NORWICH

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Community, Inter|national and tagged chloe smith, Chris Jones, clive lewis, DUP, GE2017, general election, Green Party, Labour, left wing, norwich, Norwich Greens, Norwich North, norwich south, progressive, progressive alliance.

by Joe Burns

Clive Lewis must enforce the views of his progressive Norwich voters in this time of social crisis and DUP invasion. Our capital city has suffered in the weeks since the election, more clearly defining the need for a fully committed left-wing Government to begin to enact real change and progress.

After both the local election in May and the general election earlier this month, Labour is now absolutely the most popular party in Norwich. Clive Lewis, Norwich South Labour MP, did far more than just hold on to his seat – he doubled his majority in the constituency with 61 percent of the vote. He blatantly took Green and Liberal Democrat votes as both parties suffered substantial losses, especially Norwich Green Party which suffered a drop of 11 percent. In Norwich North, Chloe Smith barely held her seat in Westminster. The Conservative MP took just 507 more votes than Labour’s Chris Jones.

It wasn’t a good election for those hoping for a future in which many parties contest seats and work together to represent communities, but with obviously increasing support from young and old liberals, Clive Lewis must absolutely continue fighting for strong and aggressive liberalism from Norwich when he’s in Parliament.Continue Reading

UKIP: THE ORIGINAL RADICALS

Posted on June 18, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Community, Inter|national and tagged anti-establishment, Brexit, change, Chris Hanretty, clive lewis, EU, GE2017, general election, left wing, Norman Lamb, norwich, politics, progressive, radical, right wing, UEA, UKIP.

by James Anthony

Following the recent elections both locally in Norfolk and nationally at Westminster, many of us will have been enjoying the demise of the entity we all know as ‘UKIP’ – the United Kingdom Independence Party. With many realising that their main objective of leaving the European Union has been all but completed, the electorate have decisively rejected their flimsy, populist, far right manifesto and consigned the party to the history books.

It’s hard to believe that they were ever a considerable electoral force, this year picking up just under 2% of the vote, losing all of their incumbent 145 local councillors and their only seat in parliament less than twelve months after their referendum victory. UKIP campaigners were keen to talk about voters returning to them, but this clearly didn’t materialise.Continue Reading

IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN? – STUDENTS AND THE ELECTION #6

Posted on June 6, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged #GE2017, armed forces, Article 50, austerity, buses, clive lewis, commentary, cuts, education, end poverty, EU, EU citizens, EU referendum, exit poll, Free Education, general election, Green Party, higher education, jeremy corbyn, journalism, Labour, left wing, Liberal Democrats, living wage, london, manifesto, MPs, Northampton, norwich south, NUS, Parliament, politics, polls, prime minister, privatisation, public services, rent, rights, shadow cabinet, snap election, student politics, student vote, students, Students and the Election, Sure Start, tactical voting, tax, theresa may, Tim Farron, Tories, UEA, UEA Labour Students, universities, voters, voting, wages, Wales, work.

from a member of UEA Labour Students

In the midst of multiple crises faced by students, universities and schools, the outcome of the snap general election will be a major indicator of the future of the UK education sector. Each week until the vote we are featuring perspectives from our regular contributors and guests on what the election could mean for students.

Having resolved to sit down today and write this article, I’m struck by the appropriateness of my day. I caught the bus to UEA from outside one of the few remaining Sure Start centres, a public service provided by the last Labour government which has been decimated by the Conservatives (and Liberal Democrats) since 2010. My bus was 40 minutes late, the consequence of a privatised, under-funded service – and even the previously UEA-hosted launderette I went to had been privatised since I last used it. It served as a strong reminder of the power of Labour government to change lives for the better, which contrasts with the crumbling services and privatisation festival that has characterised the last 7 years of Conservative and ConDem government.

WHAT SHOULD THE LEFT DO TO COUNTER THE RISE OF THE POLITICAL RIGHT?

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Adam Smith, America, Bernie Sanders, Brexit, Donald Trump, idealism, identity politics, invisible hand, jeremy corbyn, left wing, liberal, liberal culture, liberals, media, Pauline Hanson, political right, pragmatism, President, refugees, right wing, rise, society, stability, syrian refugees, the man in the high castle, working class.

by Faizal Nor Izham

We live in turbulent times. Just months after Britain decided to leave the EU, as well as the recurring popularity of Australian anti-immigration pundit Pauline Hanson, it was now America’s turn to tread down a similar right-wing path — this time by electing everyone’s favourite media darling, Donald Trump, as President.

As President. Of the United States. Oh how far we’ve sunk.

But is there actually a rational reason for wanting to elect a racist, scare-mongering serial womaniser out of sheer desperation of the times we’re living in? Or maybe there are other things everyday people are getting fed up of as well. Perhaps people have even become jaded with liberal culture as well. Nowadays it is often a shallow parody of its former self. It’s often hollow, intellectually-sterile, idealistic, immobile and sometimes even commercialised in the media.Continue Reading

TODAY’S POLITICS: SPEAKING IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged analysis, autonomy, Brexit, british politics, columnists, conservatives, debate, democracy, discourse, divide, divisions, EU referendum, framing politics, greens, ideology, Jean Claude Juncker, jeremy corbyn, Labour, labour leadership, language, Leave, left wing, linguistics, media, metropolitan, microcosm, middle class, migrants, new politics, owen smith, party politics, political class, political debate, political language, politics, press, protest vote, racism, Remain, tony blair, uk, working class.

by Chris Jarvis

Britain’s EU Referendum was a messy, unpleasant affair. Events that took place, the way campaigns were run, the rhetoric of certain advocates on both sides taught many lessons about the state of Britain. The referendum, and its subsequent result, have served as an amplifier for some unsettling and disturbing aspects of our politics and society – from racism and xenophobia, to the desperation and disaffection felt by people and communities across the country. All of these have had substantial coverage and comment in the press, as politicians and columnists have lined up to blame anyone and everyone – the political class, migrants, the Leave campaign, Jean Claude Juncker, Tony Blair.Continue Reading

left wing

CHOOSE YOUR RICH OLD WHITE MAN – AN UNINSPIRING ELECTION

By Howard Green

ON ANARCHY, ANTIFA, AND APATHY

THE MEANING OF REES-MOGG

WE CAN’T JUST WAIT FOR FREE EDUCATION – NCAFC WINTER CONFERENCE

THE RIGHT ARE RUNNING SCARED – A RESPONSE TO TOM WELSH

CLIVE LEWIS MUST FIRMLY AND RESOLUTELY REPRESENT PROGRESSIVE NORWICH

UKIP: THE ORIGINAL RADICALS

IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN? – STUDENTS AND THE ELECTION #6

WHAT SHOULD THE LEFT DO TO COUNTER THE RISE OF THE POLITICAL RIGHT?

TODAY’S POLITICS: SPEAKING IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

Support the Radical

Subscribe

By Howard Green

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Support the Radical

Subscribe