Threat to UK Security (Y12 & Y13)

Amongst the various problems faced by the government at the current time (budget deficit, spending cuts, instability over foreign affairs) the issue of security is still one that looms large.

The Inquiry over 7/7 may have only just started (5 years after the attack) but the issue of terrorism still remains important.

This story shows the focus that William Hague puts on this issue.

For Y13 students this is a good example of one of the less reported forms of terrorism that Western Governments are concerned about, one that may not have the visceral impact of planes flying into skyscrapers, but one which could be equally destructive.

(Conflict, War and Terrorism, Current affairs)

Police Chief questions the Rule of Law (Y12)

After our discussion on the Rule of Law being one of the underpinning principles of Britain’s uncodified constitution, here is an article from this weeks Guardian, explaining how the Commissioner of the Met Police is seeking to make it harder for people to take members of his force to court. This would compromise the idea tha everyone is equal before the law, and the law is equally applied. This will be a discussion point for our Civil Liberties unit, but it is worth looking over now as well.

A partial cause of this belief was the trial of Sgt Delroy Smellie earlier this year, who was cleared of illegally striking a protestor at the G20 Summit in 2009. Take a look at this BBC news clip and see what you think…

(Constitution, Judiciary & Civil Liberties)

HIV adding to Poverty in South (Y13)

In addition to the many causes of poverty in the Global South that we have looked at, another issue that is effecting many of the poorest nations in the world, is that of tackling HIV/AIDS. As of the end of 2008, there were 33.4 million people living with Aids in the world, and 22 million of these live in Sub-Saharan Africa, this means that 5% of the total population aged between 19-49 have the Aids. This piece in the Guardian examines the cost of fighting the disease and how this is becoming impossible for the World’s poorest nations

(Poverty & Development)

Opposition to House of Lords Reform (Y12)

One of the standard topics to study for any British Politics student (I wrote essays on this too!) is Reform of The House of Lords. This is a central aspect of the Parliament Unit on Paper 2. Historically the House of Lords lost the majority of its power with the passing of the 1911 Parliament Act (GCSE History students may remember this) but the Lords also changed under New Labour with the removal of all bar 92 Hereditary Peers.

Further reform has been on the agenda for a few years, but Nick Clegg is pushing to save a vote on an all elected House of Lords by the end of the year.

This piece from politics.co.uk or this from the BBC indicate that at least one well known Member of the House of Lords is against the plans

(Parliament)

Ongoing War Crimes Trial (Y13)

We have not got to the area of the syllabus yet, but the ICC (International Criminal Court) is based in the Hague and is able to try individuals for crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

This story shows the problems faced by the court in bringing individuals to justice, as Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga is yet to really face any questioning, 5 years after his arrest.

(Human Rights)

New Shadow Cabinet (Y12)

The vote was held, David Miliband decided not  to stand, and now the new Labour Leader, Ed Miliband has given the jobs to those elected to the shadow cabinet. These 13 men and 10 women will now be handed the job of exploiting any cracks in the coalition and trying to get the public to believe that Labour should be back in government after the next election in 2015.

You don’t need to know off by heart all the names and jobs, but any good A Level Politics student should really be aware of the big figures in Her Majesties Loyal Opposition

(Parliament)

Effect of Millenium Development Goals in Bangladesh (Y13)

As mentioned in class the Millenium development Goals were targets set to try to eradicate poverty in many developing nations, focussing on 8 key areas.

This recent BBC news story explains how the failure of these targets in effecting the people of Bangladesh

This PDF from the UN also shows how well the MDGs are progressing and where   still needs to be carried out.

(Poverty & Development)

New Leader – Same Splits (Y12)

This story from the last few days shows that the Labour Party may still be divided over the Iraq War, but maybe in electing Ed Miliband, they will be able to move on quicker than if one of the other candidates had been elected. Ed Miliband was not an MP in 2003 when the decision was taken, which means he is in a better position to talk about the War being wrong, as he was not even a Minister let alone bound by Collective Responsibility.

(Executive, Parliament, Political Parties)

Former PM’s concern over MDGs (Y13)

Showing that the issue of world poverty is never far from the news, Gordon Brown has spoken out at a conference in New York that the Millennium Development Goals, set when he was Chancellor, are unlikely to be met without quick, decisive action.

(Poverty and Development)

Splits in the Coalition? (Y12)

Political Commentators have been speculating on the feelings of the majority of the Lib Dem membership towards the coalition with the Conservatives since it began. Nick Clegg at this weeks conference indicated that this would be a one term only deal and that they would campaign vigorously against the Conservatives in 2015 General Election.

Today at the Lib Dem Conference, the membership voted against supporting one of the Conservatives key changes so far, namely free schools and Academies. The belief is that this may widen the gap between the richest and poorest with regards quality of their education.

Watch this story over the coming weeks to see if it has any effects on the strength of the Coalition itself.

(Parliament, Current Affairs)