GENERAL ELECTION: A JEWISH LEFTIST’S THOUGHTS

Posted on November 26, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged anti-semitism, austerity, bigotry, Britain, corbyn, discrimination, election, featured, ge2019, general election, hope, Jewish, Johnson, Labour, leftism, manifesto, perspective, racism, uk, vote.

by Tamar Moshkovitz

This was originally posted as a personal reflection, but the editorial team approached me after reading, and we thought it might find a different, perhaps wider audience on The Norwich Radical.

I’ve been finding it harder and harder to stay silent on the lead up to this general election. Not only because I feel that it’ll be a major defining moment in the history of the UK – which it will; for anyone who’s not registered to vote yet, please do so here – but because every time I think about saying what I think I get hopelessly tangled up in the mess of being both Jewish and a leftist.Continue Reading

THIS ELECTION IS THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES – HERE’S HOW WE CAN WIN IT

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged art, Brexit, campaigning, doorknocking, environment, family, fascism, featured, general election, general election 2019, green new deal, higher education, inequality, jeremy corbyn, Labour, marketisation, memes, momentum, music, NUS, political art, politics, public services, register to vote, social media, student debt, students, unions, universities, vote, young people.

By Bradley Allsop

The world is on the brink. A shattered environment, gargantuan inequality, a burgeoning mental health crisis, fascism openly spreading across Europe, public services at breaking point… but also the possibility of more radical and progressive change than we’ve seen in decades. Higher education specifically also faces two radically different paths ahead of it: continued marketisation, eroding academic integrity, burdening a generation with enormous debt, crushing academics under enormous workloads, increasingly insecure employment and workplace stress – or publicly funded higher education that opens up space to imagine and create a different sort of campus.

‘DODGY BUT STABLE’: BRINGING BACK THE PROGRESSIVE PUNCH

Posted on August 29, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged abuse, action, alliance, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Cambridge Analytica, centrism, Chamberlain, Change UK, Contrapoints, democracy, direct action, electability, election, EU, Europe, featured, gaslighting, islamophobia, jeremy corbyn, left, LibDem, liberal, miliband, Natalie Wynne, NHS, no deal, Parliament, progressive, Trump, vote.

by Sunetra Senior

A news-based long read of the darkening climate under Boris Johnson, and consequent examination of the solutions.

NB: this piece was written before the announcement of the suspension of parliament. The call to progressive action is of the utmost urgency.

Shock, horror!! Boris Johnson is Prime Minister, we are on the verge of a catastrophic No-Deal Brexit, and Trump’s ego is bigger than ever before. Prior to this, the Scandinavian Peninsula, or the magical lands of social democracy and hygge, saw the rise of a nationalist group in Finland. There were also the New Zealand shootings in a show of Islamophobia, so horrific, that the country’s PM moved to ban militarised weapons practically overnight. So, amidst this caustic circus, where is the progressive clout? Given the gradual upheaval of the moral development of society, it’s apt to return to a timeless saying: ‘The personal is the political.’Continue Reading

PROPOSITION 112: A VIABLE WAY OF KEEPING FOSSIL FUELS IN THE GROUND?

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged amendment 74, Bernie Sanders, climate change, colorado, featured, fossil fuels, fracking, gas, oil, proposition112, referendum, Trump, USA, vote.

By Sam Alston

The USA political scene is consumed by a battle between President Trump and Democrats who are desperate to recapture Congress. However, in the mountain state of Colorado a referendum – bitterly opposed by locally entrenched oil and gas firms – proposes restricting the exploitation of the state’s massive oil reserves. The campaign and its outcome stand as a test in seeing whether such restrictions could be a viable solution to keeping fossil fuels in the ground.

VOTES AT 16: IT’S TIME FOR TORIES TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS

Posted on February 18, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Community, Perspectives and tagged awareness, conservartives, elections, engagement, england, featured, local election, norfolk, Northern Ireland, Norwich City Council, politicians, Scotland, vote, votes at 16, voting, voting age, Wales, welsh government.

by James Anthony

In January 2018, it was announced that sixteen and seventeen year-olds in Wales will be given the right to vote in their local elections, under proposals set out by the Welsh Labour government. Along with Scotland, where votes at sixteen is already reality, Welsh policy will now be at odds with England and Northern Ireland where the voting age for any sort of election is eighteen. The idea that someone who is exactly the same age and has just as many years in education as another can be denied the right to vote based on location is extremely unfair. Perhaps it’s time the Conservative government reconsider their position on the voting age.

If the national government are seemingly ok with this being a regional disparity, why not allow it to take place in areas where there is clearly a desire for it? Just under two years ago, Norwich City Council voted unanimously for a proposal which asked for Norwich to be used as a possible ‘pilot area’ for allowing 16 and 17 year-olds to participate in local government elections. Disappointingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, I couldn’t find any official response to this request from the government although if it exists, I suspect it would be in essence – ‘piss off’. Continue Reading

THE 2017 GENERAL ELECTION – LEFT US HANGING

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged #GE2017, Amber Rudd, austerity, Brexit, Britan, caroline lucas, Chris Jarvis, coverage, democracy, exit poll, forecast, general election, greens, jeremy corbyn, John Bartley, Labour, leadership, libdems, manifesto, media, MSM, NHS, nick clegg, nicola sturgeon, Norwich Radical, paul nuttall, people, Plaid Cymru, PLP, politics, poll, prediction, propaganda, Scotland, snp, theresa may, Tim Farron, tony blair, Tory, uk, UKIP, vote, voter, voting.

by The Norwich Radical

The following piece was created, compiled and co-written by a number of Norwich Radical contributors, across a number of locations, devices, and even countries. We followed the exit polls, the first counts, the calculations and predictions as they became available across the media. We do not have any inside information, but have combined our experience and information during the night to produce this article in time for the morning readers.

There is no final result confirmed at the time of publication, but it has been confirmed that we have a hung parliament, as it is mathematically impossible for any party to claim an overall majority.

A BEGINNING, NOT THE END – THE 2017 GENERAL ELECTION

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged #GE2017, austerity, Brexit, Britan, caroline lucas, Chris Jarvis, coverage, democracy, exit poll, forecast, general election, greens, jeremy corbyn, John Bartley, Labour, leadership, libdems, manifesto, media, MSM, NHS, nicola sturgeon, Norwich Radical, paul nuttall, people, PLP, politics, poll, prediction, propaganda, Scotland, snp, theresa may, Tim Farron, tony blair, Tory, uk, UKIP, vote, voter, voting.

by Chris Jarvis

In a couple of hours, polling stations will close, and the fate of the United Kingdom will have been decided. Throughout the night the gentle trickling of results will sprinkle their way in, as the aftermath of the most fascinating election for a generation will begin to unravel. Psephologists will debate the relative merits of their predictions, political spin-artists will argue their respective parties have actually done quite a lot better than they expected, and the hacks (myself included), will drift further into the early hours, wearing out their laptop keys.

Right now, we know that the election campaign has been riddled with ups and with downs. We’ve seen Labour climb steadily in the polls, narrowing the Tory lead from over 20 points to single figures; two atrocities claimed the lives of 34 people; campaigning was suspended twice; the Tories launched a manifesto into a whirlwind of negativity; UKIP’s support collapsed; and Labour proposed a political programme further to the left of any Government in four decades. Any one of those alone would make this election remarkable. Combined they make it unique.

DON’T JUST VOTE

Posted on June 6, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged 1906, AJ Tracey, apolitical, conservatives, corbyn, credit rating, don't just vote, electorate, general election, grassroots, Grime for Corbyn, jeremy corbyn, just vote, Labour, labour party, martyr, old people, political freedom, Reform Act, right to vote, ruling class, Selina Cooper, suffragettes, theresa may, Tories, trade union, vote, voting matters, welfare state, women, working class activists, yougov, young people.

by Will Durant

There is a particular and widespread attitude to voting that is well meaning but ultimately futile. It goes something like this: “I don’t care how you vote, just vote!” We find a typical example of this attitude from a 2015 Mirror article. What are these reasons? (1) It helps your credit rating, (2) young people vote far less than older people, (3) people fought and died to win for you to vote and (4) non-voters can change the outcome of an election. These reasons do indeed hold true for our election in 2017. In fact, as I write, the YouGov polls giving Labour a vote surge rely heavily on a big turnout from the young.

There is, however, something very strange about this attitude to voting. Although it tells you that it is possible, it gives no reason for why you would want to change the outcome of the election, it is simply something to do. Without advocating any particular outcome, this rationale for voting manages to make it apolitical.Continue Reading

PAVEMENTS, POTHOLES, AND POLLING DAY

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged #onyourdoorstep, activists, civic education, council tax rates, education, election, engagement, housing, local elections, local issues, local politics, local vote, norfolk, Norfolk County Council, norwich, pavement politics, policies, polling day, pothole politics, register to vote, social care, turnout, vote, voters, voting, voting matters.

by James Anthony

Having been a candidate in a local election last year, I spent a lot of time telling people ‘vote for me’, and as a candidate again this year, I’m doing much the same thing. The more I think about it however, it’s the first third of that phrase that is truly the most important part, and although local politics may not be all that exciting – it is something that affects everyone – above all we need to convince people simply to ‘vote’.

Part of this is acknowledging that the majority of people don’t even vote in local elections, and far fewer get excited about them. It’s a huge issue that turnout usually sits at well below 40% in local elections, but an issue that is difficult to examine as a political activist. In the run up to polling day I am surrounded by activists who (quite rightly) put a lot of time and effort into campaigning locally, and the dedication of my colleagues and political opponents never fails to impress me. As activists, we have to learn to accept that most voters don’t get quite as excited about it all. We need to view things from a different perspective if we want to see why turnout is so low and what we can do to improve it.Continue Reading

ONE WAY TO REBUILD FAITH IN POLITICS? MAKE MPS TAKE THEIR JOB SERIOUSLY.

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Inter|national and tagged accountability, BlackRock, constituency day, corbyn, editor, employment, George Osbourne, I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, integrity, Jamie Reed, journalism, London Evening Standard, meaningful vote, MP, Parliament, politics, tristram hunt, vote, westminster.

by Olivia Hanks

The news that George Osborne is the new editor of the London Evening Standard was met with widespread disbelief in Westminster. Jeremy Corbyn tweeted that the former chancellor was “taking multitasking to an extreme level – what a joke”.

There are so many angles from which to object to this appointment that it’s hard to know where to start. Firstly, the brazen conflict of interest has already led to speculation about whether Osborne will be forced to step down as an MP. A prominent MP becoming editor of a major newspaper is a serious threat to UK democracy (we seem to be averaging about one a day now), and is sure to diminish our reputation around the world.Continue Reading

vote

GENERAL ELECTION: A JEWISH LEFTIST’S THOUGHTS

‘DODGY BUT STABLE’: BRINGING BACK THE PROGRESSIVE PUNCH

PROPOSITION 112: A VIABLE WAY OF KEEPING FOSSIL FUELS IN THE GROUND?

VOTES AT 16: IT’S TIME FOR TORIES TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS

THE 2017 GENERAL ELECTION – LEFT US HANGING

A BEGINNING, NOT THE END – THE 2017 GENERAL ELECTION

DON’T JUST VOTE

ONE WAY TO REBUILD FAITH IN POLITICS? MAKE MPS TAKE THEIR JOB SERIOUSLY.

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