Unit 1: Vote now!

Have you been watching the British political parties at their annual conferences? In the UK there’s lots of coverage but do all the speeches, gaffes, deals and splits affect what you believe? The next general election is not until 2015, but if you could vote today, which of the five major parties listed below would you go for?

Click here to access some onfo on each party and then cast your vote!

Unit 1: Traditional Conservatives, New Right or One Nation

Click here to access a recent piece on Camerons view of crime.

Is the British Prime Minister has appealing to traditional Conservatives with his call to punish offenders. However, he also wants to help criminals go straight. Desperate politics or sensible strategy?

Politics reading list.

The library has some more new books for you to read. Especially relevant at the moment is the second one.   

 

Both are by Philip Allan who write the Politics Review magazines

 

AS Government & Politics - The constitution & constitutional reform

by Eric Magee

 

AS Government & Politics - UK elections & electoral reform

by Eric Magee

Unit 1: Pressure Groups - Presentation

Useful pressure group material. Click here to access the presentation from todays lesson.

Unit 1: Political parties - Are they all the same?

Wow, the perfect article comes at just the right time. Click here to access a piece looking at Cameron Vs Milliband. They sound the same. They look the same. Are all politicians actually the same? This checklist tracks differences between the leaders of Britain’s two biggest parties. How would you vote?

Unit 1: Participation and Voting

Click here to access a link discussing voting age in Scotland. The article begs the question, is this more democratic or is this just a gimmick which will have little or no effect on turn out.

Unit 1: Democracy - One Nation for Scotland?

Scottish independence: the other One Nation debate!

In Edinburgh the question was not the division between the rich and the poor, but the division between Scotland and the United Kingdom.

Do we live as one nation or two? That question has dominated the party conference season. It returned with a vengeance on Monday, but not in a form that Benjamin Disraeli would have expected. In Edinburgh on Monday the question was not the division between the two nations of the rich and the poor, but the division between Scotland and the United Kingdom.

The signing of an agreement between the UK and the Scottish governments on the terms of the independence referendum is a milestone. Both sides appear ready to accept the outcome. It would feel more historic if the vote were going to happen any time soon, rather than in 2014. But the vote will be the first time that Scotland has voted on its national status in the democratic era. It may lead to the further splintering of the UK. It would change the lives of everyone in these islands.

There is no doubt that the Scottish people voted for this process to begin. By handing the Scottish Nationalists a majority of seats at Holyrood last year, they put the future of the union unequivocally in the arena.

Spain and Canada have been amazed at how ready the UK government has been to facilitate such a move. At a time when Catalan and Québecois separatist feeling is running high, Madrid and Ottawa have not been so relaxed as London is here. The UK government deserves credit for this approach. It is the democratic path. But it may look like reckless overconfidence if Scotland votes yes. Don't underestimate this moment. Monday's agreement between David Cameron and Alex Salmond is not the end of the phoney war, however. There will be plenty more phoney between now and autumn 2014. But the terms of combat for the future of Britain have now been set. They are, broadly speaking, the right ones. Both sides deserve some credit for the readiness to compromise. A few weeks ago, it looked as if a deal might not be done, with Mr Salmond in particular posing as a leader who could ignore the UK and the law. The deal means that the referendum will have a firm legal basis. It will be crafted in Scotland with British authority. This was essential. Without such a basis, the possibility of legal challenge to both the referendum and the result was very real.

The constitution has been followed, but in a politically practical way. Both sides have won something in the trading between the Scottish secretary, Michael Moore, and the deputy first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. But it is Mr Moore, and behind him Mr Cameron, who have come off best. Restricting the referendum to a single question – an independent Scotland or not? – removes the possibility that independence might win by a wafer-thin majority while further devolution – which may actually be what most Scots want – was overwhelmingly endorsed. That would have been a recipe for political confusion. Having a single question deals with that.

All the current polling shows that the single question – whatever its eventual form and whatever the franchise terms – will go the way of the status quo. That is why Mr Cameron signed on the dotted line. But the result is certainly not a done deal. The mood will change over the next two years. And the current polling also shows that the Scottish Nationalists remain Scotland's dominant party, at least in the Holyrood context. Mr Salmond signed off partly because he is a gambler and partly because he thinks he will be returned as first minister in 2016, whatever the result in 2014.

Two years is too long to wait. But the deal is done. There is a rich debate to conduct now, not just in Scotland, about the best constitutional arrangements for these islands – and not least about the rights of 16- and 17-year-olds in the process.

On Wednesday, the Liberal Democrats will make some proposals. At the weekend Mr Salmond addresses his party conference. Let us not prejudge the unfolding argument, but let the guiding star of it always be the best way of securing the good of all, just as it should be in that other One Nation debate.

Unit 1: Is the UK Democratic?

Qasim and Jacob's excellent powerpoinbt on democracy in the UK.

How Democratic is the UK? from mattbentley34

Unit 1: Minority Parties - Do they matter?

Minority parties in British politics from mattbentley34

Unit 1: UK Prime Ministers - Timeline

Click here to access an interactive chart on UK Prime Ministers. Looking at the history, do you think we are a two party system here in the UK?

Unit 1 & 3: Economic policy - Are benefits fair?

Click here to access a link which looks at how the Conservatives and Labour differ on economic welfare policy. The Conservatives say benefits encourage idleness and lack of responsibility. Labour say proposed reforms will hurt the vulnerable.

Questions for discussion: What would a fair system look like?

Unit 1: Neil Kinnock tries to reform the Labour Party

Neil Kinnock's famous speech to the Labour Party Conference, Brighton, October 1985. Ho wants to move Labour away from their old, arguably outdated policies. He failed, whereas 9 years later, Tony Blair succeeded.

Unit 1: Tony Blair - Ideology & Policy

Lets start with an amusing clip from 'Spitting Image'. I think it tells you just what type of image Blair was giving the nation. Blair's valedictory at the Labour Party conference in 2006 just as he steps down as British Prime Minister.

Regardless of any differences in politics between you and him, unlike anybody since, this is the ultimate example of a geniune political leader who took ownership of his party and the issues of his time while seeking to resolve every single one of them - not insignificant.

For anyone conducting academic or professional research regarding Tony Blair, this is the only speech you need to listen to.

Part 1
Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Unit 1: Old Vs New Labour

Click here to access a link discussing the labour party, where is has come from and where it is going.

Unit 1 & 3: Should Britain Leave the EU?

Click here to access an activity on whether the UK should leave the EU. Unthinkable 5 years ago, but it seems the argument is growing in popularity.

A second activity here on what next for Europe...further East or consolidate with a hard core?

Unit 1: Coalition Government & Lords Reform

Wow, click here for an excellent piece on the coaltion government and the problems it faces. What a mess when the real political ideologists raise their heads.

Another activity here. This will really help explain the issue of the 'Democratic Deficit' that some argue is created by the House of Lords.

Unit 1: What voters want 2012

Click here to access an activity based on what ther British voter wants today. Food for thought for both Labour and the Conservatives as they battle to win voters.

Unit 1: One Nation Politics - Cameron Vs Milliband

Click here to access an excellent activity on 'One Nation politics. Not only does it look at the origins of the term, but also highlights how both Labour & the Conservatives are fighting for the same ground.

Politics Review in the Library

I suggest you get to the library and have a look at this months issue of 'Politics Review'. It is written by examiners for students, with some excellent articles on stuff that comes up in the exam.

I will be asking you questions about what is in here.....

This months issue includes:

Politics Review - September issue

 

Contents:

 

The UK political system

Is it democratic?

 

Edexcel Government and Politics

How to write A-grade answers

 

Washington

Doing too much or too little?

 

John Bercow MP Speaker of the House of Commons

Answers questions on how he sees his role

 

Should the UK remain within the EU?

 

Liberalism

Why do liberals reject unlimited freedom?

 

AQA American Government and Politics

How to write A* essays

 

Pressure groups

Do promotional groups strengthen democracy?

 

PPE at Oxford

A student's perspective

 

Coalition policy

Is the yellow tail really wagging the blue dog?

Unit 1: Conservative Party Leaders

Click here to access a piece on past Conservative party leaders and why they resigned.

Unit 1: Labour - One Nation Labour?

The Government's NHS reforms, education and economic policies come under attack from the Labour leader as he outlines his vision of "One Nation" Britain. (Ed Milliband spech to conference, Oct 2012)

Unit 1: Political Parties - 2010 Manifestos

Click here to access an excellent Guide from the Telegraph to Party Policies in 2010 including links to their manifestos.

Unit 1 & 3: Referendum on EU Membership

The German chancellor is said to be undecided on how far to go to keep Britain in the EU

British Prime Minister David Cameron's remarks at the end of June on a possible referendum on his country's relationship with the European Union have prompted pundits elsewhere in Europe to consider the possibility of the UK leaving the bloc altogether.

Opinions vary on how likely or desirable this is. Some would like Britain to stay in the EU, others consider that the country's eventual departure is all but inevitable, and a third group would positively welcome such a development.

Please stay!

The current edition of the German Council on Foreign Relations journal, Internationale Politik, includes an article on "The British question".

Its author, Hans Kundnani, argues that closer integration, which is "probably required" to resolve the euro crisis, "could force Britain to leave the EU".

He says German politicians and media appear to be divided over how important it is to prevent this. Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to be "torn both ways". Her intuitive preference for Britain to stay may come to be outweighed by the "overwhelming pressure" she faces to resolve the euro crisis.

However, Mr Kundnani himself warns that Britain's departure would be "fatal" for the bloc and that Mrs Merkel will have to make greater concessions to Britain if she wants to avoid such an outcome.

Others share this view. A commentary by Michael Stuermer in the German daily Die Welt says it is "in the German interest to keep Britain in the EU at almost any cost". Mr Stuermer praises the "free trade instincts" of the British and says European defence without the UK "would be a knife without a blade".

Hubert Wetzel in Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung is somewhat cooler on Britain's continued membership. "Of course Britain's departure would be a disaster for the EU. However, with all due respect, Europe has bigger problems," Mr Wetzel says.

Exit is inevitable!

Some French-language commentators, in particular, regard Britain's eventual departure from the EU as a foregone conclusion.

The Europe correspondent of the French daily Liberation, Jean Quatremer, is categorical. "In a few years' time, Britain will have left the EU," he says in a blog post.

Mr Quatremer argues that, in the face of the coming deepening of eurozone ties, Britain's traditional strategy of negotiating opt-outs might rapidly become "unmanageable" and "even quite simply impossible".

Some on the Continent believe Britain is inexorably moving towards leaving the EU

 

Add to that the "growing hysteria" in the British debate on the EU, and it becomes "difficult to see" how a referendum on EU membership can be avoided, "all the more since the new generation of Conservative leaders is fanatically europhobic".

A lengthy editorial in French on the EU-Logos website agrees that "the moment of truth has arrived" for the UK.

It says the launching of an audit of EU powers and their impact on the UK by Foreign Secretary William Hague is unlikely to stop the British march towards "a rejection, in one form or another, of the European Union, a rejection which is inexorably gaining ground".

The editorial appears to welcome the prospect of a British exit. "The attitude of the United Kingdom is calling the whole patiently constructed edifice into question too strongly and too clearly. Its refusals have disheartened the last of its defenders," it says.

Good-bye and good riddance!

There is in fact a body of opinion according to which Britain's departure would be a boon to a European Union which is being held back by London's constant objections.

"Does the United Kingdom have to leave the European Union?", asks Charles Nonne in a French-language article promoted on bloggingportal.eu.

The author laments the current paralysis of European integration and squarely puts the blame on the UK. "By withdrawing from the institutions of the European Union, the United Kingdom would offer the EU an opportunity to launch a real process of federalisation," he says.

In a German-language post on blogactiv.eu entitled "Without you then!", Andreas Sowa says a "less formal link between Britain and the EU seems to be a necessary evil on the way to an institutionally and conceptually functioning Europe" and concludes: "If you are not willing, then we shall proceed without you. For the next few steps, Europe does not need Britain."

Such sentiments are not entirely confined to EU blogging portals. In December 2011, the highbrow German weekly newspaper Die Zeit carried two articles on Britain's EU membership, one in favour and the other against. Making the case against, the paper's Brussels correspondent, Matthias Krupa, said that "Britain must decide what role it wants to play in the EU in future. As notorious naysayers, the British are redundant."

Unit 1: Ali G & Tony Benn

Brilliant interview by Ali G....Tony Benn is a legend!

Unit 1: Political Ideologies

Left Vs Right Wing...key characteristics. Where would you put the following politicians on this spectrum?

Left - wing -

Often anti-capitalist
Pro-choice
Pro gay/women's rights
Anti-racist
Pro public ownership of public services e.g. health care, transport, education
Often anti-war
Internationalist
Planned economy
Pro civil liberties
Tend to be more authoritarian on economic issues and libertarian on social issues
Tend to be secular (non-religious)

Right wing

Pro capitalist
Free market economics
Patriotic/Nationalistic
Anti-abortion
Pro religion
Anti - gay rights
Security before civil liberties
Tend to be more authoritarian on social issues and libertarian on economic issues
Supports private ownership of the means of production and public services

Unit 1: Political Parties - Iain Duncan Smith

Iain Duncan Smith - A One Nation Conservative at the Conservative Party Conference.