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I Am The Change
The NUS is looking for young
people who have want to make a
small difference to where they
live. If that’s you head to Page 7.
#lessons4life campaign
launched by UKYP
‘A Curriculum to prepare us for
life’ is this years campaign from
the UK Youth Parliament. Find
out more on Page 10.
Volunteering opportunities
Could you give up a few hours a
month to support Taunton’s new
youth café? Page 12.
The #1 newspaper for
young people, by young
people in Somerset
@SomersetYPNews
‘Somerset Young People’s
Newspaper’
Somerset’s UK Youth Parliament Advisory Group will be awarding grants of up to £10,000 to youth clubs and services in Somerset as part of the Youth & Community Group Grant scheme from
Somerset County Council.
The scheme is designed to help communities adapt to changes in the way the council funds its youth services in light of pressures on the budge, with the intention of towns and parishes delivering their own
youth work.
Since previous funding rounds, the amount that groups can apply for has doubled from the original £5,000 set out when the YCGG was
created in August 2011.
Also, changes in criteria have allowed groups which have previously received funding to reapply for contingency funds and the amount that can be spent on youth club building themselves has risen from 30% to 50% of the total
bid application.
SCC Cabinet member for Children &
Young People said "I welcome the
increased flexibility in the criteria,
and the fact that groups can now
apply more than once. Locally led
youth work is invaluable right across
the county”.
For more information about YCGGs visit the Somerset Youth website
www.somersetyouth.org.uk.
Britain now has the second highest youth unemployment rate in
Europe. Tell us how you would solve this crisis in you were the
Chancellor for a chance to win £50 in Amazon vouchers Page 9
£140,000 to be given to youth groups in Somerset
March 2013
‘Give young people a say
in the future of town’ Young people in Radstock should be more
engaged in decisions that affect them as well
as the wider community, says a report by the
Radstock Youth Partnership (RYP).
The document calls for a radical overhaul in
youth engagement, in order for the town to be
sustainable as a stronger community. They feel
this is something which is important for everyone
in the Radstock area due to increased tensions
between different aspects of the community.
Young people to be more involved in activities in
the town, and many would like to feel more safe
when out in the town. A lack of transport after
5pm is also a contributing factor, it says.
In a poll conducted by the RYP, 71% of young
people feel unsafe in parts of Radstock (Page 4)
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Polls open for UK Youth Parliament elections
Young people will have the
opportunity to elect their local
Member of Youth Parliament
(MYP) and Deputy (DMYP) from
the 18th - 22nd February.
Voting will take place in schools,
colleges and youth clubs who
have signed up to hold elections.
There are four constituencies in
Somerset; Sedgmoor, Mendip,
South Somerset and Taunton
Deane & West Somerset. There
are a maximum of four candidates
contesting each seat.
Ballots will be accompanied by
manifesto booklets, outlining each
candidates ideas in 300 words,
pitching the reasons why you
should vote for them. Of the four
candidates in each area, the one
with the most votes will go on to
be the MYP and whichever gets
the second highest number of
votes takes the role of DMYP.
MYPs and Deputies will work
alongside others across the South
West and the UK, through regional
events and the Annual Sitting which
will be held in Leeds this year. In
addition, in November there will be
the 5th UKYP House of Commons
debate.
The term of office lasts for 2 years
and if an MYP were to resign, the
DMYP would take their place and
the candidate who came 3rd in the
election would become the Deputy.
Should a DMYP resign, the same
process would take place.
Results of the election will be
announced on the 7th March at
County Hall, Taunton.
Those aged 11-18 are eligible to vote for their Members of Youth Parliament in Somerset
About UKYP
UK Youth Parliament was set up in
1998 in order to promote the voice
and representation of young peo-
ple aged 11-18. As such, it is the
only body that represents the
views of young people in a na-
tional democratic forum.
As a charity, its entirely free of
party politics; meaning all Mem-
bers of Youth Parliament are inde-
pendent and only represent the
views of their constituents. Thus,
MYPs are not allowed to publicly
endorse any UK political party.
You can follow Youth Parliament
on Twitter @ukyp or visit:
www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk.
“Order, order, the youth parliament is now in session”: MYPs debate in the 4th annual UKYP House of Commons debate.
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Controversial plans to change the
way 16 year olds are examined at
the end of secondary education
have been dropped, but Gove still
intends on pushing on with reforms.
Previously, the government had
intended to introduce a new English
Baccalaureate Certificate (EBC) or
‘Ebacc’, a much tougher exam, sat at
the end of two years and with a single
exam board for each subject.
This had caused tensions in the
cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister
Nick Clegg had openly opposed such
a change to the exam system which
he said was “unfair” to less academic
students. Subjects such as Art were
left out of the EBC, leading to strong
criticism from the National Union of
Teachers and other education bodies.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Gove
said: "Last September we outlined
plans to change GCSE qualifications
and address grade inflation, dumbing
down and loss of rigour in those
examinations. We have consulted on
those proposals and there is now a
consensus that the system needs to
change.
"But one of the proposals I put
forward was a bridge too far."
Education minister Michael Gove back-
tracks on plans to reform GCSE system
In October, SYPN said that Gove was
set to change the GCSEs in England.
Editor’s foreword
I think it is fair to say that the
last few weeks have been
reasonably positive and
certainly progressive for young
people as well as the wider
community.
On the 24th January, MPs
voted in favour of lowering the
voting age to 16, 119 to 46, a
solid majority. The motion was
put forward by a Bristol MP,
Stephen Williams; it even had
the support of my editor at the
Wells Journal who replied to an
article I wrote in his own
column: “they say 50 is the new
40. I say 16 is the new 18”.
The campaign for equal
marriage for gay people also
received a huge boost with a
clear passage through the
Commons; though it is not a
law just yet. Sam Foulder-
Hughes wrote a great article
about this on page 14.
Closer to home, UK Youth
Parliament also got underway,
a great opportunity for you to
have your say on youth issues
(more about this after the 7th).
Anyway, thank you for reading,
have a happy February.
Proposed reforms to the exam
system have been shelved by
the government.
Read more about the reaction to the
“Ebbactrack” and what this means
for young people on Page
History textbook ‘Eurosceptic’, says MPs
An A-level history textbook has
been described as over-bias and
Eurosceptic by a group of MPs.
Hodder Education’s ‘Britain 1945 -
2007’ contained 26 lines with
reasons why Britain shouldn’t have
joined the European Economic
Community, with as few as 5 lines
detailing arguments in favour.
The book also says that "the British
people were never given the full
story, kept in the dark and they
were constantly told there were no
political implications attaching to
Britain's joining; that it was purely
an economic arrangement”, going
on to describe it as a “deception”.
Julian Huppert, Lib Dem MP for
Cambridge, described the book as
“deeply worrying”.
Former Conservative minister,
Stephen Dorrell MP, said that
“most 17- and 18-year-olds are
perfectly able to see that line of
argument for what it is”.
The textbook, which is written by
respected historian Michael
Lynch, is popular in schools the
Department for Education has
said it isn’t on the syllabus.
Jake Pitt, Editor
@jakepitt_
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(cont. Page 1) with a further 84%
of girls saying that they avoid
going out alone when it is dark, a
barrier to being engaged in
positive activities.
However, 69% of those surveyed
said that they would like to be
involved in activities, as long as
they are tailored to what young
people want.
Having faced funding cuts from
Bath and North East Somerset
(B&NES) Council, which have
severely delayed the opening of
services. Despite this, the
Radstock Youth Hub has worked
with around 170 young people.
This is a substantial increase from
2007, when just 64 young people
attended the club. The RYP
attribute this success to better
prepared programmes and asking
the young people what they want
from the Hub.
Radstock councillor Eleanor
Jackson told her fellow B&NES
councillors “there are a lot of
unexceptional children, who
haven't had any problems, but it
only takes a divorce to tip a family
into darkness. There has really
been an awful lot of substantial
achievements. We hope you are
going to further support this work.”
The Radstock Youth Partnership
was formed three years ago to
manage the affects of cuts in
funding available for youth services
across the area. It has
representatives of different
communities who work with the
youth hub in order to sustain
provision.
The RYP is non-political, but
received a grant of £15,000 from
the new Lib Dem administration
in 2011 to develop activities for
the town’s youth services and
activities in order to support their
social and economic needs.
Support for the Hub has come
from church leaders of different
denominations, B&NES and
Radstock town councillors in
addition to Will Bridge, Member
of Youth Parliament for North
East Somerset.
Radstock Youth Partnership calls on council to better engage with youth service
North Somerset Council
taken to High Court over
cuts to youth services
Public sector union, UNISON, is campaigning against the cuts
The High Court have granted an appeal by a
young person with learning disabilities over cuts
to a provision for disabled young people in
Weston-super-Mare.
Aaron Hunt, 21, from Banwell, used to attend the
Escape Club for young people aged 11-24 with
disabilities and has been campaigning for over a
year to overturn the council cuts to youth services.
Last July, Mr Justice Wyn Williams dismissed his
suit against the council, despite u-turns in cuts to
youth services having taken place in Derbyshire in
June of last year. However, last month David
Wolfe QC of Public Interest Lawyers managed to
convince London’s Civil Appeals Court that the
case should be re-examined.
This means that Mr Hunt will be able to continue
his battle to save services in North Somerset
his battle to save services in North Somerset. Somerset
Young People’s Newspaper has submitted a Freedom
of Information request about the cost of legal fees for
the council.
A spokesperson for Public Interest Lawyers said in a
statement that: “The reconfiguration of his club left Mr
Hunt feeling confused and isolated and the uncertainty
Planned savings of 72% to the youth budget
could be overturned by a High Court appeal.
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about the club’s long term sustainability has been
the source of considerable upset”.
“The Council’s decision has already had profound
effects across the whole of North Somerset with six
youth groups already confirmed as having closed or
being due to close”.
“Surviving youth groups face a period of uncertainty
as the Council provides only a limited funding grant”.
The proposals prompted an angry response from
Weston-super-Mare town councillor, Tony Probert.
Writing in the Weston Mercury, Cllr Probert said: "I
am absolutely disgusted at the latest sickening cuts
policy of North Somerset District Council who has
decided to withdraw the sum of £250,000 from an
earmarked budget for the establishment of a youth
network across the county”.
He called on district councillors to take a cut in their
allowances - which total around £750,000 a year - in
order to finance the extra £250,000 for services.
However, Mr Hunt’s appeal will be heard by Lord
Justice Toulson who believes that the council may
not have conducted their consultation process
properly. The case will now be heard before three
Appeal Court judges.
MPs makes history by supporting votes at 16
The campaign to give 1.5 million
16 and 17 year olds in England
and Wales the right to vote has
been given a huge boost by a
successful motion by Stephen
Williams, MP for Bristol West.
MPs vote 119 to 46 in favour of
the motion, which was supported
by the Liberal Democrats, Labour,
SNP and some Conservative
backbenchers.
Mr Williams said that votes at 16
was an issue which was a "vital
step in the renewal of Britain's
democracy" and would help to
engage more young people in the
political system.
However, the result
is not binding on the
government as it is
a backbench motion
which can only express the
support of MPs for
particular issues.
A spokesperson for Number 10
said that the Prime Minister has “no
plans whatsoever to lower the
voting age” and said they would
prefer to focus on increasing voter
turnout.
The Votes at 16 Coalition, run by
the British Youth Council, described
the vote by Parliament as “a very
positive step”.
“It reflects the boost to the cause
from the momentous decision on
the Scottish independence
referendum, and a growing
momentum towards recognising
that 16 is the right age to
become a full member of our
political community”.
Williams has now started
drafting legislation for the bill.
Backbench motion to enfranchise 16 year olds passed
A history of Votes at 16
1999 — Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes proposes
an amendment to the Representation of
the People Bill that would give 16 year
olds the vote. It was defeated 434 to 36.
2003 — Matthew Green MP puts forward an Early
Day Motion (a motion to raise an issue in
the House of Commons) to mark the
creation of the Votes at 16 coalition.
The Conservative Peer, Lord Lucas,
introduces a Private Member’s Bill, the
Voting Age (Reduction to 16) Bill. Passed
in the Lords, but not put to Commons.
2005 — Stephen Williams MP introduces a Private
Members Bill to give 16 year old suffrage,
which is narrowly defeated 136 to 128.
2008 — Young people aged 16 and 17 can
now vote in Jersey and Austria.
2013 — Stephen Williams successfully
passed a motion supporting votes at 16
with a majority of 73.
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It's a running joke with my mates how long I was
involved in scouting. But without it, there is no way
I would have had the confidence to get involved in
community work, join my students' union, and
eventually run for president of National Union of
Students.
I didn't think of the work we scouts did in the
community to restore green spaces and coach
young people as "campaigning" or "activism", but
that's exactly what it was. Volunteering is all about
giving back and helping to create confident citizens
– and no better examples can be found than the
student volunteers we are highlighting during
Student Volunteering Week 2013.
To me, volunteering and campaigning actually
overlap. Sometimes people start volunteering in a
soup kitchen and end up being the most informed
policy advocates around issues such as poverty and
hunger, becoming integral to a campaign. I think that
this is the approach today's student volunteers
should take.
While you have time to do so, seize the opportunity
to contribute – the full working day of employment is
not so kind.
This week, the NUS, Student Hubs and Barclays are
celebrating the achievements of student volunteers.
There are more than 5,000 students involved in over
300 events around the country that contradict the
stereotypes of students as being self-centred and
disengaged. Actually they're helping local
communities, contributing positively to campuses,
and even travelling abroad to help.
I've been incredibly lucky as NUS president over
thepast two years to represent what I consider to be
Students, lazy? Not at all, they're changing lives.
by Liam Burns
President, National
Union of Students
Students from De Montfort University learn to knit at a social
event for older people (c) guardian.co.uk/students
the most inspiring group of people in the
country. If you don't believe me, then allow me
to illustrate with some of the finalists shortlisted
for Student Volunteer of the Year award.
Anna Ray has led an English conversation and
support class for refugees and asylum seekers
in Leeds for the past three years (oh, and did I
mention she's also a medical student). She tells
me: "I spend a lot of my life with asylum seekers
and refugees now – at English class, at my
house, at their homes.
"It's just life. Nothing I can put on my CV. But it's
all because, when you volunteer, when you
really see and connect with others, they change
you, and you can't say no."
Thomas Holt has devoted 166 hours in the past
two years to working as a telephone counsellor
to over 400 children for Childline. He also
mentors a little boy and is a scout leader.
"People often ask why I do what I do," he says,
"and how I can get up in the morning knowing I
have 12 hours of children's activities to plan and
run along with assignments and uni work. The
truth is, I enjoy every second of it."
Our finalists may have been singled out for
recognition, but there is more going on, all the
time, that people don't know about. The time
students spend volunteering often goes unsung
and unnoticed.
Students Eats, for example, brings universities
and communities together to grow locally
sustainable produce. Schemes such as Green
Impact promote energy save and greener work
practices. And thousands of students and
students' unions raised money for Children in
Need last year.
Thomas and Anna are right: volunteering is a
human story. It's about connecting with people
in a real, tangible way. You can see the
difference you are making.
It's something in which I passionately believe.
Because it's actually not overly idealistic or
zealously liberal to believe you can make that
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Courtney Giles: I am the change — saving Epsom Phab
Last year, the NUS helped Courtney Giles, from
Warwick University, to save the Epsom Phab youth
centre in Surrey from closure.
The concluding Council review meeting on Thursday
22 November saw a remarkable number of local sixth
formers present and argue their final case for Epsom
Phab. They won. The Council has relented and will
now fund a new building.
Through six months of lobbying and campaigning
Courtney, NUS and Epsom Phab secured an extra
year in their current premises from Surrey County
Council. However Courtney and her mother Julia, a
supervisor at the Phab, would not give up. Their
perseverance resulted in the agreement for their final
victorious meeting at the end of last year.
Courtney said "after students submitted their
proposals for change, people could vote on them
online. My change got 5,000 votes. It’s been an
absolutely amazing opportunity - it’s helped Phab and
more widely it shows you can make a difference even
if you think it’s for something small".
I Am The Change is a campaign by the National Union of Students designed to encourage college and
university students to make a positive difference in their communities, no matter how big or small.
This change could be about education, the community, the environment, personal development, health
and wellbeing, society, careers or politics. It can take place in a college campus, or in the wider
community and can be done by individuals or groups of students.
Last year, I Am The Change was won by Courtney Giles who wanted to save Epsom Phab, an inclusive
club in South West London for physically disabled or able-bodied children, which faced closure by local
council.
Epsom Phab volunteers and users received bespoke training from NUS and funding to help them
deliver their campaign. They’ve already secured an extra year in their current premises from Surrey
County Council, and will continue to use the skills and experience they’ve gained to fight for the club’s
future.
Voting will then take place on the NUS website, with the most popular receiving training and a campaign
budget to help deliver their campaign.
For more information, and to apply visit www.nus.org.uk/en/campaigns/i-am-the-change/
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No-pay placements branded as ‘slave labour’ after appeal
Huge blow to the Department for Work & Pensions’ back to work scheme after ruling
Thinking about going to uni? This might help...
The government has been left in
a state of disarray after the High
Court has ruled that its work
experience scheme for young
people out of work it unlawful.
The scheme forced unemployed to
carry out unpaid work experience,
or risk losing benefits. University
graduate Cait Reilly (right) was
made to give up her internship at a
museum in order to take a
placement at Poundland. She can
now claim back money lost from
the government.
Public Interest Lawyers, who
represented Miss Reilly, said: “The
result is that over the past two
years the Government has
unlawfully required tens of
thousands of unemployed people
to work without pay and unlawfully
stripped thousands more of their
subsistence benefits.”
Employment minister Mark Hoban
said he was “disappointed” and
“surprised” at the court's decision
on the regulations. New legislation
was expected to be brought in
which would strengthen the back to
work programme.
Liam Byrne, shadow work and
pensions minister, added his voice
to the criticism.
"It beggars belief that David
Cameron's Government is now so
incompetent it can't even organise
work experience.
"Work experience is crucial in
helping many young people get
ready for work. Two years in, David
Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith's
so-called welfare revolution is in
a state of advanced chaos”.
Cait Reilly said in an interview
with the Guardian newspaper
she refuted accusations that she
was a ‘job snob’ and that
working at the discount store
prevented her from finding
sustainable employment or
doing volunteer work.
In a statement, she said: “I hope
the government will now take
this opportunity to rethink its
strategy and do something which
actually builds on young
unemployed peoples' skills and
tackles the issue of what causes
such long-term unemployment. I
agree we need to get people
back to work but the best way of
doing that is by helping them,
not punishing them”.
The government is expected to
rethink its strategy on work
placement schemes.
Court ruling ‘a victory for common sense’
National Student Survey (NSS) is published, revealing university rankings for 2013
# University
NSS (%)
1 Cambridge 100.0
2 Oxford 94.4
3 London School of Economics 93.9
4 St. Andrews 86.1
5 Warwick 82.1
6 University College London 80.7
7 Durham 78.4
7 Lancaster 78.4
9 Bath 75.8
10 Exeter 75.3
11 Loughborough 74.6
12 Surrey 73.5
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Britain has the second highest youth
unemployment rate in Europe.
(first is Spain, third is Greece) What would you do to solve youth unemployment?
Enter our competition and you could win £50 in Amazon vouchers.
To apply, tell us what you think the government should be doing to reduce the levels of young
people not in education, employment or training. You could present your ideas in a variety of
ways:
Essay (up to 600 words)
Video (no longer than 2 minutes)
A4-size Poster/leaflet
Any other medium - speak to us for clearance
Send us your entry via email to [email protected] . Entries will be shortlisted by the
SYPN journalist team. They will then be published on the SYPN website, and a public vote will
determine which entry would best the best solution to youth unemployment.
You might want to consider in your
If Labour were in power, they would create a system where all young people are
guaranteed a job, funded by a tax on banks.
In government, the Conservative Party is creating a £1 bn ‘youth contract’ to
incentivise businesses to take on young people
The Liberal Democrats want to increase apprenticeships for 18-24 year olds.
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10
UK Youth Parliament launches #lessons4life campaign
‘A curriculum to prepare us for life’ is chosen as UKYP’s main priority in House of Commons
In November, 154 of 295 MYPs
voted to support the motion ‘a
curriculum to prepare us for life’,
and now the UK Youth
Parliament is calling on politicians
of all parties to support the
pledge.
The campaign says that the
national curriculum should be
radically overhauled through a
youth-led review that helps develop
young people’s political knowledge,
better SRE (sex and relationship
education), cultural awareness,
community cohesion, finance skills
and sustainable living.
Young people can get involved in
the debate by tweeting using the
hashtag #lessons4life, contacting
MPs and writing to the Secretary of
State for Education, Michael Gove
saying why the government should
introduce aspects of the curriculum
which better prepare young people
for the real world.
The Labour leader Ed Miliband
(left), pledged his “full support” for
the curriculum for life campaign
whilst on a trip to Sandwell College
in the West Midlands.
In an article in the Wells Journal
and Somerset Standard, Jake Pitt,
editor of SYPN and Member of
Youth Parliament for Mendip said
that young people need to be
taught life skills in schools.
“Young people need to know the
basics - how to write a CV and how
to do well in a job interview - in
order to be successful be full
participants in their communities.”
In response, 73 MPs [at the time of
printing] have signed an Early Day
Motion in support of the campaign
and pressure is now being put on
the Education Secretary Michael
Gove to include subjects such as
political education in his reforms to
the GCSE and A-level exams
system in England.
Ed Miliband, with shadow Education Minister
Stephen Twigg MP and Jugan Kaur Sahota MYP
To get involved in the campaign visit
www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/
curriculum
Page 11
We’re recruiting. Somerset Young People’s Newspaper is recruiting for young people aged 13-18 to become part of a
bigger team of a young journalists from across the county that produce SYPN.
Interested?
If you’re thinking about getting involved, there are a variety of opportunities available to you.
We’re currently recruiting:
Journalists & reporters Graphics designers Photographers
To apply visit www.sypn.org/apply or email [email protected]
In an open letter to the Education Minister, Michael
Gove, 15 youth organisations have called on the
Department for Education to put greater resources
into youth policy.
This comes after Gove said to the Education select
committee that he felt that youth policy should be the
responsibility of local, rather than central,
government.
In a survey carried out by the organisations, 92% of
young people said that government ministers do not
care or show very little that they care about young
people.
The letter described Gove’s comments as “alarming”,
adding that the thinking could put the future of young
people in the UK “at risk”.
“We agree that all sections of society need to work
together to support young people to achieve, but for
this to happen we need the government to recognise
the importance of youth services,” the letter said.
“Removing responsibility from central government
would be hugely damaging to both the quality and
quantity of youth support on offer.”
It added that, although schools are important, many
young people benefit from learning outside formal
education settings.
“We want more investment in and outside of the
classroom for young people so that we can all get the
best chances in life,” the letter said.
The open letter from young people follows concerns
raised by leading figures in the sector, who warned
that a lack of government interest in youth services is
marginalising young people and risks triggering social
unrest.
The letter was signed by 15 young people
representing London Youth, YouthNet, Prymface, UK
Youth, the Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade National
Youth Forum, the Scout Association, the Street
League Academy, the National Council for Voluntary
Youth Services (NCVYS), vInspired, Brook, Leap, the
National Youth Agency, Artswork, the British Youth
Council, and StreetGames.
Young people tell Gove to invest in youth services Youth charities and organisations representing 8 million young people condemn Education Minister for
comments describing youth policy as ‘not a national priority’ to Education select committee.
Page 13
13
Children’s Society calls on government to extend
free school meals to all families in poverty
From the editor
One of the biggest social catastrophes
of the dire economic situation is youth
unemployment. Britain has the second
highest rate of young people out of
work in Europe – even more than
Greece and Portugal; only Spain, an
economic mess, has a higher rate. It’s
unacceptable that 25% of young people
aged 18-24 can’t find work after they
leave college or graduate from
university, and it is an issue that should
be one of our top priorities.
This is an issue that I have raised
personally with George Osborne, and I
had a somewhat negative response.
Two weeks ago, I went to Downing
Street for the launch of the ‘Youth
Budget’, an event to promote what
young people would do with the public
purse, and I spoke to the Chancellor
about what to do about this issue.
I reiterated to him a view held by many
economists: that we need to temporarily
increase spending in capital investment
projects in order to kick start the
economy. I emphasised that his next
budget needed to be about jobs more
than anything, to which Osborne
retorted “and how do you expect to do
that?”.
The youth budget itself surveyed over
1,400 young people on the budget. It
said that the government should tax
higher earners more, but spend less.
This equated to a deficit of just £66
billion, compared with the £120
billion that the exchequer is
expected to run up. We should
scrap Trident - which costs us £3bn
a year amongst other irrelevant
spending.
We need a progressive attitude to
public finance and services, as well
as real people. Unfortunately, this
government has given up on youth
unemployment. The result will be a
lost generation, forgotten by policy
makers and the Treasury, and
reminiscent of the 1980s.
According to a recent study held
by The Children’s Society, three
quarters of teachers have said
that students at their school often
arrive each day to school without
anything to eat, or money in which
to buy it. From further research,
it’s been reported that around two
thirds of teachers have provided
food to school children. So, what’s
to be done about this discovery?
The Children’s Society are
recommending to the Government
that they extend free school meals
to every child who currently lives
below the line of poverty; they hope
to find a way in which to fund the
children who make up the statistics.
In the survey held by the charity,
results have shown that 570 UK
teachers revealed 98 per cent
believed all children living in
poverty, including those in working
families, should receive a free
school meal.
At the moment, around 700,000 of
2.2 million who live in relative
poverty in England miss the chance
to receive free school meals as
parents who are in work, or single
parents who work less than 16
hours are not able to qualify.
Laura Rodrigues, policy officer at
The Children’s Society, says that
they’re “really concerned about
those families that may be living in
poverty but don’t qualify for free
school meals because some of
their children may be having
difficulties and may be hungry in
school.”
It’s being argued that a “healthy
school lunch” impacts not only the
child’s hunger levels, but their
concentration, attainment and
behavior. Health and educational
benefits are a few of many reasons,
not to mention the much needed
financial support for parents, as to
why meals must be distributed
more widely. It will give the
Government an opportunity to
improve the system and ensure that
every child is accounted for.
“Every child in poverty should be
given a free school meal. Free
school meals are key to moving
children out of poverty and vital to
helping them f lourish,” said
Matthew Reed, chief executive of
The Children’s Society.
The report has inevitably attracted
much needed attention to the
matter, especially for the ATL, who
state that they’ve been introduced
to “the importance of free school
meals in tackling child poverty” and
that they’re in full support. What do
you think about the matter? Email
us at [email protected]
By Scott Kilday, News Editor
[email protected]
Page 14
14
What will happen to the Church of England?
Sam Foulder-Hughes
Organised religion is dying. Church numbers are
ridiculously low, I recently went looking around a
church near where I live in deeply conservative rural
Somerset on ly to f ind tha t shocking ly the
congregation of the church consisted of only half a
dozen regular church goers in their early sixties. You
might say that this is indicative of how small the
village is, and you're probably on to something there,
but surely these small village parishes are where the
Church of England thrives, surely at least these rural
idylls still hold the traditional church going values of
yesteryear.
If the Church of England is flailing even in
Somerset, what does that mean for the
rest of the country? Well, the English
C h u r ch c en su s o f 200 6 sh o we d
that ,shockingly, only 6.3% of the whole
population attend church regularly. Even
so 72% of people in UK still identify as
Christians. The disparity between these
two figures is tremendous, but does the
fact that these Christians are not regular
church goers mean our moral values have declined?
No, to me it says completely the opposite. It's so
easy to rose tint the past and the more conservative
values that were held by the God fearing people who
lived then, but were our ancestors really all that
great? I think you know the answer to that.
The moral values of the UK are ,despite, what the
“Daily Mail” may have you believe, much better than
they were fifty years ago. Look at all those people
who do ludicrous things for the sake of charity, that
annoyingly lovely Christian virtue in particular is
stronger than ever. Organisations like the British
Youth Council show that while today's youth may not
be especially concerned with religion, they do have
a political conscience and TV shows like “The Secret
Millionaire” show a wonderful undercurrent of
kindness that the right wing media would have you
believe died in the sixties.
It strikes me that the nature of kindness in this
country has become less selfish. People are not
going out of their way to be charitable because a
vicar told them they should, they are doing it from
their own selflessness and goodness of heart. These
brilliant volunteers are the most Christian people on
Earth, they do good things of their own volition and
like the many equally virtuous Christian groups like
the Salvation Army they make a positive change to
the society in which they live.
So, yes, our country does have these altruistic
modern day alms-givers. Most of us however, would
rather worship at the font of Britney
and Gaga wouldn't we? Yes, probably,
I know I would, Britney's one my idols,
but is that such a bad thing? The
Chr is t ian, benef icent bankers of
classical England may have been
replaced with callous, inferior and
fatuous modern day equivalents, but
the one and only Miss Britney Spears
is exemplary to all people in power. A
little known fact is that the groin wielding, head
shaving car ica ture of the press has made
considerable donations to charity during her lifetime
with $350,000 donated to victims of Hurricane
Katrina and $1,000,000 to the families of the
uniformed service hero victims of 9/11.
The modern day faces of goodness are not just the
many wonderful devout church goers. They're that
girl at school who's dressing up as the Queen for
“Help for Heroes”, celebrities like Britney Spears
who put their money and influence to good use and
the hundreds of young people who spend their
Saturdays meeting with politicians trying to save our
youth clubs. Religion and piety are important parts of
our moral conscience, but we must never forget the
atheists, agnostics and humanists who are so
instrumental in contemporary charity.
Page 15
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It is ridiculous that young people are
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