My Historical Rant

A national memorial is finally to be held to commemorate the generation of men that fell in the First World War, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said, an announcement made after the sad news that the last British survivor of trench warfare, Harry Patch, had passed away.

I have been and will always be a supporter of any memorial or event that honours the sacrifices made by so many men and women of course, but it is about time that the First World War had a platform for remembrance of its own. Why is this important? So much of what is translated to the public about the First World War through the media is incorrect, perhaps I am hopeful that a dedicated memorial will spark a sense of needing to provide accurate and revised information. For example, to my horror, the BBC seem consistently incapable of delivering correct information about the First World War. Whilst reporting about the death of Mr Patch, who played his part in the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917, the Corporation promptly ran clips of men going over the top at the Somme, and then made the geographical error of placing Passchendaele in France! In addition to this, the BBC continue to claim that on the first day of the Somme, 60,000 men were butchered, showing their incapability to differentiate between casualties and fatalities, once more encouraging the thought that British generals were incompetent murderers.

Not that long ago, Government ministers claimed that too much of historical focus within schools was placed on the World Wars, but if simple information can be got wrong by the nations biggest broadcaster, how much is really being taught in our schools, and at what accuracy?

By an exasperated historian!

Sophie
General Election Coordinator

Food for thought?

Just an idea:

Not necessarily a new thought, but on that appears to have lost support in this challenging economic time. Raise taxes on food classed as “fast” and on products that have extremely high rates of sugar and salt content. Use the money, directly, to enable lower taxes on fruit, vegetables and lean meat. These new tax revinues should only be used to lower taxes on good fresh food. Shouts of injustice and unfairness over making cheap food more expensive can be consoled by the rise of cheap and healthy meals and food plans from our supermarkets, green-grocers and butchers. Just an idea.

The BBC on the 24^th of February of this year announced that “The UK is seeing an explosion in diabetes linked to obesity rates”… and poor diet. The report that it was quoting from; The Journal of Epistemology and Community Health Report, suggests that rates of diabetes are increasing faster  in the United Kingdom than they are in the USA, “where prevalence of the disease is already one of the highest in the world.” The report goes further to suggest that poor diet and related factors such as obesity were the primary causes of this steep rise.

If you were to work out the finances of this rise, and the impact that the disease is having on our national healthcare system you would find that the NHS spends almost £1 million an hour treating the disease, around 10% of its yearly budget.  A government spokesman speaking about the issue suggests that this funding allowed more people suffering the disease to get the support, advice and treatment required to prevent or delay complications.

This of course is a necessity. The NHS would not by a true healthcare system if it did not provide such services, however Anne Milton, the Shadow Health Minister suggests that “…we need to see proactive policies which look to reduce obesity” and improve diet, rather than policies that “simply treat the effects of it.”

Another paragraph and another diet related illness; this time heart disease. This is by far the UK’s biggest killer: In 2002 heart disease caused 39% of the deaths in the United Kingdom, and killed just under 238,000 people. (Source; British Heart Foundation)It is very important to remember the human cost of this disease, more than one third of fatalities in Britain are a direct result of HD, and thus almost everyone will know or have known a sufferer, some more than others. However on a rather cold, economic note, the disease costs the national healthcare system over £1.7 billion a year.

Moreover, the British Heart Foundation suggests that the majority of economic costs from the disease “fall outside healthcare and are due to illness and death in those of working age and the economic effects of their families and friends who care for them.” (In 2006, production losses due to heart disease cost the UK an estimated £8.6 billion)

Both diseases have direct links to poor diet and obesity, and can be helped and prevented by better eating habits and better exercise. As long ago as 1994, a government report stated that a reduction in fat and sodium intake and an increase in lean meat, vegetables and fruit could seriously lower the potency of both Heart Disease and Diabetes so why has so little been done? A few policies led by the Conservative Party such as a rebalance of the tax system, might just be the first of many steps in combating not only an expensive range of preventable illnesses but also the awful grief and unhappiness that follow them.

Daniel Cole

Young People: Out of Control or misunderstood?

I am someone who likes to look for the best things in people, not the worst, whether this be professionally or in friendship etc.

This blog is one I have been meaning to get out onto the keyboard for a while but something else has always propped up.

The subject for my blog this week is how all young people are being tarred with the same brush over a wide range of issues. This blog may sound like I have a chip on my shoulder and to be honest with you all, I think I do.

We today live in a society where the media has a very powerful hold on how information can be portrayed to the public. This can be via the TV, newspapers, Radio, Internet, on mobile phones and MP3 Players. The media having such easy access to a large number of people, this then makes me angry when young people as whole are portrayed in the wrong light.

I recently saw a BBC video on young holiday makers in Zante and how they are ‘killing the island’ and that drastic measures have to be taken to curb this. Now last summer I went to Zante with 23 other friends from college. We had an amazing time, a safe time and will always remember how good that island and its people made our summers be. We got to know a lot of people over there and everyone was the same as us, out there with mates to have a good time, yes drink, dance and stay up till the early hours but noone was there on the intent of making trouble. This annoys me how the small majority, and locals agree, spoil it by doing something silly or stupid which is then thrusted into the media spotlight to make all young holiday makers look like wild animals.

This media protraction then is reflected when youngsters get home. Young adults are then looked down upon, being seen as unruly and dangerous when the majority of us have good educations, go to university or have a job, want to make something of our lives, but yes like to have a good time. It is the people that do not have this and are the trouble like all societies have which are then used as a stereotype. Many a time I have had to defend myself and my principles to older members of society and show them that I and nor are my friends like that and in fact that it is plain arrogant by older people to think this. Maturity is made when one takes the time to discover, not judge.

This can also be seen in many other aspects of a young persons life such as the way they dress, if they drive, what music they listen to etc. One example I find funny was that I was once at home in Blackburn and had been to the gym, now normally I swear smart clothes and look presentable, but on this day I had been to the gym and looked rough, as I was walking to my car in tracksuit bottoms and a sports shirt, I noticed that older people actually avoided walking by me, maybe for fear of being mugged or because I smelt! Now when I am dressed normally, no such thing happens. I think that is an insight that the society that we live in needs to be totally re-evaluated in how we look at each other, not to judge a book by its cover, look for the great things that young people do, the great things that they hope to achieve.

One last thought I would like to put to people is that older people should not be so quick to judge young people, as it will be those young people who will be caring for their aging population in future years.

This is a very vague blog by myself although I feel I have got the general message across. I appreciate any insight or comments you may have. In your eyes I may be wrong, but this is my opinion.

Mark Harrop

Representation and Campaigns Officer

BUCF

Misjudged Campaigns From Labour Youth

Yesterday I spoke to a high-flying school-leaver who has some time on his hands before he begins Birmingham University. Like his friends, he is having no luck securing a summer job. Over the last year, the rate of unemployment for youngest adults has rocketed from 11.9% to 17.3%.The Economist notes that the spike in youth unemployment may be aggravated by the national minimum wage.

Meanwhile, Birmingham University Labour Students are campaigning to equalise the national minimum wage for people in the 18-22 age bracket. How will their campaign help somebody who wants to work so he can save for university but can’t even find a job? It would appear that the next generation of Labourites are as out of touch as the current lot.

Dominic Fisher – Local Officer

Food for Thought…

This was recently brought to my attention by the Young Conservative website which I believe touches upon a very important issue in a way that students can easily relate to. The next time you encounter someone on your campus who believes confiscatory tax levels are okay, try this on them, courtesy on the Young America’s Foundation. They visited a campus and asked students to sign a petition ‘redistributing grade point averages’. The British equivalent would be to ask your fellow students to donate a part of their latest essay mark or exam grade to students who hadn’t worked hard or otherwise were failing. Oddly, none of the usually leftist students found redistribution so attractive when it was something they’d worked hard for…”

Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the 12 mile exclusion zone.

  

There has been a lot of talking of Labour mishandling of the defence industry and the armed services on here of late. But what has been missed out is not only the oldest service, but the only one capable of taking upon itself the roles of the other two. I refer of course the Royal Navy.

     There was a time when the Royal Navy was the most powerful force in the world, it was what kept the Germans from invading in both world wars and proved its power as late as 1983. When Maggie decided to retake the Falklands it was the Royal Navy which permitted us to fight a war on the far side of the planet. However such aspirations may soon become a thing of the past.

    It was the 1966 defence paper under Wilson’s labour government which led to the cancelation of the Royal Navy’s last attempt at full size aircraft carriers. This in turn led to the collapse of British deployments ‘east of Suez’ in support of British interests. Now the situation is even worse with the spendthrift attitude of Brown’s government towards the armed forces.

    The extreme left wing Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), suggests that the government should scrap nearly every defence procurement project that is currently around. First on their list is the new carrier replacement program (CVF), and the controversial Trident replacement. Without these projects however the UK would not only become less capable to fight future wars but would be relegated to insignificance. No longer would the UK be able to be a major player in international relations or even a major player in Europe. It would instead join the long list of nations with their glorious and proudest moments behind them.

    With the Trident programme in mind, we must remind ourselves that we are in an increasingly hostile world, rouge states such as North Korea are beginning to build up nuclear arsenals and Iran is not only holding British citizens hostage, but indeed perpetuating a bizarre and twisted rhetoric which serves only to confirm their role as a the greatest danger to world peace, soon to be nuclear armed. Why then must we reduce our already limited capabilities even further?

    There are many that might see such projects to be a poor use of public money. But one must keep in mind not only the value of possessing such military capability on a global level. But also the economic benefit that this would do to our nation. British shipyards have been forsaken since the second world. These industrial forges which created some of the greatest manmade objects the world has ever seen, from the Dreadnought class ships of the First World War to the insurmountable luxury of the great transoceanic liners. They have been the lifeblood of many working class cities and towns. It was economic investment in these shipyards which help rise Britain out of the great depression and have the potential to do the same now.

     However they are relegated to putting together wind turbines and oil rigs. Even Britain’s civil flagship the Queen Mary 2 was built in Chantiers de Atlantique on the Atlantic coast of France. Would it not be sensible when in the middle of an economic downturn to actually start creating and sustaining jobs? Not failing to mention creating a skill base in a world where the great challenges can only be overcome with engineering and scientific expertise. Instead this current Labour government does not consider the long term; it only considers quick fixes to the problems which they contributed to in the first place.

 

Adam Jenner, Events Officer

PMQs Explained

Take Aim…FIRE! Sorry Sir I cant, I don’t have any bullets…shall we borrow some rejects?

I am an avid believer that all problems can be sorted out by simply sitting down and getting the issue out into the open. Some may say this as a sign of weakness and hesitation in an ideal world of world peace. However if talks fail, commitment must be upheld.

This blog may spark some controversy as they have been known to do, however I want to make one thing very clear. Although I may not fully support the reasons why we are in the two wars we are in, I do FULLY support our men and women in uniform who are out there risking their lives in order to keep our freedom and liberty alive. I also believe that these people should be praised as heroes’ not savaged by a minority of people, basically I am saying I endorse the excellent blog by Dan Cole last week!

What got to me this week in the news is the fact that our men and women, those people risking their lives to keep us safe are not safe themselves. They are ill-equipped to run normal patrols of Helmand Province, let alone start the major offensive Panther Claw. The Americans laugh at the British and their poor equipment and we often have to borrow helicopters and ammunition from them in order for our men and women to be sustained.

Now the question I raise now is, if this Labour government after Tony Blair’s stand down still fully supported the wars in which they voted on, why has there not been a defence spending review since 1998, long before September 11th, 7/7 bombings and two wars on two fronts later?

In the last week 15 soldiers have died in action in order to protect what is Britain and yet this government is still arrogant enough to say that the situation is fine in Afghanistan and that ‘real progress’ is being made, but at what price Gordon?

For once I would like Gordon Brown and many of his chums to be put into the battlefield with poor or not enough equipment and have people shooting at them, see people being hit by roadside bombs and show them what it is not to have what is needed out there, bullets, armour and above all (no pun intended) helicopters.

On another note I also feel that our European and NATO counterparts need to pull their finger out more. There are 41 countries in Afghanistan and yet it is the British then the Americans pulling the weight. In a European sense this does not shout Union to me and it is one of the aspects which keeps my scepticism of the idea of Europe at bay.

In conclusion I see its very simple, don’t commit unless you can afford it, if you do commit, commit with your full heart and strength, bankers don’t need bailing out, our troops need bailing out of the hole that Labour has dug them. I hope Labour sleep well tonight.

Mark Harrop

BUCF

Pushed Too Far

 

When I switched on the BBC news just the other day, I was expecting some more tragic news from Afghanistan, a swine flue update or at least for some immoral MP’s to have their faces spread across my screen.  I certainly was not expecting to hear that a young boy had been taken to hospital with serious injuries following an attack at his school…by a teacher! 

It has been released that a science teacher, a one Peter Harvey, who taught at All Saints’ Roman Catholic School in Mansfield was arrested after an incident occurred within one of the classrooms at the school.  The ‘attack’ as we are led to believe, left a 14 year old boy, Jack Waterhouse with ‘serious’ injuries, injuries requiring him to be moved to a specialist hospital to be treated.  

 

This event, although singular in its scale, is shamefully not unique.  That is to say that violence within schools has become all too common.  Questions are therefore raised.  

 

What is it that we expect from our educators?  Should teachers merely be that, there to teach or should they also become beacons for discipline within our societies?  How far can their responsibility be stretched before more teachers snap?  Will this have a knock on effect upon the numbers that enter the profession in the future?

 

What constitutes as punishable behaviour, and what sort of punishment should be handed out for children within the school environment?

 

But most importantly for me, what does the attitude and acts of children nowadays say about the state of our society?  

 

I am going to leave the questions there, as this topic has the potential to grow uncontrollably.  I have however chosen to use my first blog to act primarily as platform for debate.  I am well aware that all of you reading this will have had different schooling experiences and so will look upon these questions with very different answers.  I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas, as education is something I feel driven by within the political world.  

The Birmingham Six!

The candidates for the Birmingham City Seats Initiative have been allocated their seats today:

1. Longtime BUCF supporter Robert Alden has been adopted for Birmingham Erdington – Projected Labour majority of 9,654
2. Jo Barker for Birmingham Hall Green – Projected Labour majority of 4,191 over the Liberal Democrats
3. William Norton for Perry Barr – Projected Labour majority of 7,589 over the Liberal Democrats
4. Meirion Jenkins for Birmingham Yardley – Projected Liberal Democrat majority of 2,121 over Labour
5. Colin Hughes for Birmingham Ladywood – Projected Labour majority of 6,215 over the Liberal Democrats
6. Shailesh Parekh for Birmingham Hodge Hill – Projected Labour majority of 10,175 over the Liberal Democrats

BUCF wish all the selected candidates all the very best in their campaigns.

Hat-tip: ConservativeHome

Patriotism: The Devil in the Detail…

An interesting debate was sparked on ConservativeHome after editor Tim Montgomerie published an open letter entitled “A Patriotic Plea to David Cameron“. The Conservative leader responded on the ConservativeHome website in which he sought to reassure a doubting audience of his ‘patriotic’ credentials. But one question sticks in my mind when faced with the issue of patriotism: how can we truly and categorically define it? It is generally accepted that patriotism is a love of ones country and an emotional attatchment to our homeland, but after that agreement tends to dissolve. Indeed there are varied ways in which one can love ones country, just as there are varied ways one can love ones friends and family. The devil of defining patriotism is, as always, in the detail.

For me patriotism is the ability to stand up at a Rugby or a football match and not be ashamed to belt out the National Anthem. Its the desire to want to wave the flag on state occassions such as the Queen’s jubilee or another significant national event. Its the need to speak out and fight in any way we can for our boys and girls in uniform who fight and lay down their lives for us and our values in foreign lands daily. In short, for me, patriotism is more than mere words. Its standing up for and celebrating Britain and the British way of life against any critic or detractor. Sadly I feel that this overt display of pride for Britain and all things British has all but collapsed in recent years.

I look at our American counterparts and dare I say it… the French with envy. Both routinely stand up and salute their nation without fear or embarassment and rightly so. Just a few weeks ago Sarkozy courageously stood up and laid out his desire to ban the veil in France labelling it an oppressive culture completely at odds with French ideals of liberty and equality. Imagine if a British politician stood up and said such things? Instead of genuine patriots in Parliament fighting for us and our way of life (although admittedly there are a few), we have to rely on the likes of Gorbals Brown and the Brady Bunch (the cabinet) to come up with half arsed ways of enforcing patriotism on us. But the truth is you can’t force patriotism. It should be given freely and the only way in which it can and will be given freely is if we give our people something to be proud of.

There are many reasons as to why Britain has found itself in the situation it is today and, dare I say it, immigration from Asia, Europe and beyond must accept a large portion of responsibility. Right now I can imagine the more centerist/leftist amongst you spitting hairballs at that comment and dismissing such a view as ‘typical Thatcherite/old school conservative’ but it seems even the ‘compassionate conservatives’ come to a similar conclusion. In that light I was eltated to read David Camerons commitment (in the above article) to ending the sharade of ‘multiculturasim’ and what he reffered to as the ‘community of communities’ that has blighted Britain and blurred our identity. This is aside from the fact that the ‘Tory tree’ seems to be being muscled out, by the Union Jack themed logo ‘Now for Change’ which is reminiscent of the Thatcher years where Conservative conferences were dominated by the Union Jack.

Cameron stated in the article above: ”We need to bring our country together, and that means moving away from the wrong-headed doctrine of multiculturalism by, for example, making sure all new arrivals to our country can speak, or will learn to speak, our common language.” Before going on to advocate greater education in schools of Britain and British values. This gives us patriots cause for hope. We are a welcoming and proud people at heart but successive governments have lost control of the borders and as a direct result our identity, an identity of which we were once so proud, has been all but irreversibly compromised. This begs the question how can you celebrate Britain and being British if you aren’t sure of what it is?

By making everyone play an active part in and show respect for the British way of life, you are not oppressing them or their culture as the loony left and politically correct minority would claim, you are simply trying to make this country a better place to live with more of a community spirit. It is not wrong to expect foreign nationals to speak our native tongue. It is not wrong to expect different cultures and communities to embrace and respect our own. It is not wrong to wave the flag and celebrate the country in which we live. It is not wrong to salute and celebrate the homecoming of our troops even if the war in which they were asked to fight is controversial. The fact is they fought for us and they deserve our respect. We are at heart a proud race and Im sure at the most basic level we can all agree that patriotism and love of and pride in our country is something we all would love to have but as always the devil of how to achieve this is in the detail…

Freedom of speech: A word too far?

On the 11th of March, 2009 I was very frustrated. The 2nd battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment had just returned home to a welcoming hero’s parade through the streets of Luton. All along the roads that the brave soldiers marched down, locals lined the pavements, applauding and shouting praise and welcome. It was a sight that awoke sentiments of pride and gratitude from most who were there, or who watched footage of the event on the local and national news. The country appeared to be proving what many had denied; that the British, whatever their opinion on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, were at the very least, fully behind the troops that fought.  However, in one corner there were different chants. A number of Islamists shouted that; far from being heroes, the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the British forces were in fact murders and sadists! The returning troops were greeted on this stretch of road by vicious verbal attacks contradicting any words of support from other locals.

Watching this, I was at first very angry: This surely was freedom of speech, at its limits. Why had no one stopped them? Why were these men and women, in this corner of Luton, allowed to berate British servicemen only recently home from possibly the hardest service of their lives? Why were the police of all people, protecting them!?

On the other side of Britain, I again raised an eyebrow at a different slight. Channel 4 was airing a comedy show that took the usual, and now almost cliché punches at Catholicism. Yet this one in particular, seemed to go too far. A comedian stepped up and proclaimed that his own homosexuality had begun with his going to church? He stated unashamedly that having gone to mass every Sunday, he had seen ‘Jesus nailed to a cross, half naked’ and that all he could think, throughout the service was; “fit”! Surely this was freedom of speech, allowed to step too far. I, like many Catholics and much like many religious people of any denomination who find their beliefs used as the butt of corny and uninspired jokes was at first horrified.

Yet in both instances, it is important to view the wider picture. It is vital that we in Britain do not instantly see red when freedom to speak your mind, and chant your beliefs offends others. Instead we should be proud. We should be damn proud that those opposed to the wars in the Middle East are able to say so. We should be proud that those few men and women in Luton were able to recite their objection and their opinions. We should be proud that our police force surrounded this small group, not intent on silencing them, but instead intent on protecting them and their ‘voice.’

So too should we puff out our chests in the knowledge that anyone can criticise and belittle others beliefs. However much I disliked it, thought it distasteful and generally disagreed, I was still proud that in Britain, these things could be said. In Britain, women can chain themselves to fences to bring awareness to their inequality. Followers of Islam can protest, noisily about their opposition to the Middle Eastern wars; and Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and even Jedi s can stand up, and feel free to state their opinions to the world, from a safe haven. Here, is a nation confident enough to allow her subjects to criticise and belittle her, and free enough to support them. Here is a ‘great’ Britain that outshines many countries; that does not impede on dress, beliefs or opinions, and for that I am very proud.

Daniel Cole