Welcome

Welcome to JFS School's official Blog. This is our third year of the blog and represents a chance for our new team of intrepid student journalists to write what's on their minds. The Autumn term’s blog theme focuses on “Inspiration” - so stay tuned for some fantastic creative writing.


Thursday 28 November 2013

INSPIRATION: Russell Brand and the Resurgence of the Socialist Left


It has long been said that Britain’s leftist political scene has been marred by a lack of unity and little cohesion of ideas and strategies amongst the ‘major players’. This is certainly why Margaret Thatcher was in power for so long in the 1980s and managed to so effectively implement her ideas – there was just no-one to stop her. The Labour Party has struggled particularly with this issue, and at no time has struggled more than during Thatcher’s three parliaments, with the Social Democrats and other such groups breaking away from Labour and further weakening the ‘socialist’ cause. Nevertheless, to the surprise of many, the political paradigm that we in the UK have become accustomed to appears to have flipped. Instead, it appears that it is the right that has become divided – David Cameron is currently attempting to fight off the threat posed by the remarkable support of Nigel Farage’s UKIP, whilst the majority of those on the left of the political spectrum appear to be more united behind their leader Ed Miliband. But that is not what this article is about. Indeed, it is arguable that the major political parties are all too similar to really make a positive difference in our country. It is therefore refreshing to see the emergence of an exciting new player on the political scene – Russell Brand. His interview with Jeremy Paxman on BBC’s Newsnight has attracted almost ten million views and this is not surprising. He is offering the weary, cynical and immobilised political class a fresh new challenge. More importantly, he has offered us, the people, some hope.

I am not suggesting that we necessarily adopt his ideas, as a read of his editorial in the 25th October edition of the New Statesman will testify, he is purposely vague and is the first to admit that he does not know how his ideas could be implemented. However, he does have good points – elitism, unfairness at the heart of British society and ‘an underserved underclass’ feature amongst the problems in our society that he has highlighted. And this is what is important – that for the first time in recent history, there is a prominent public figure that is recognising and attempting to act on issues that threaten to cripple our society. One in six British children currently live in poverty and since 2010 6,642 nurses have lost their jobs, whilst tax havens in the Channel Islands and other such overseas territories continue to avoid paying the Treasury £180 billion annually. Only a national political awakening in the biggest possible sense can save us from plummeting into an abyss of a rigid class structure, a declining health service and mediocre schools.

Only when a large group of people are inspired to take action and to make a difference will we ever realise what an opportunity we have in this country to fully realise the social democratic dream that so many on the left have been dreaming about for so long. For centuries the attainment of an egalitarian and socialist society has eluded us. Whether it was the ‘get rich quick’ years of the Thatcher and Blair governments that came back to haunt us in 2008, or profit-driven factories of the Industrial Era, developing a society that serves both those at the top and at the bottom has never been a priority. Until now. What Russell Brand so excellently articulated in his interview and in his writing is that we have reached the end of the road – the phrase ‘the system is broken’ has never rung so true. I am not trying to scaremonger or claim that we will be eternally screwed over by the upper classes, but I am saying that there is hope. The majority of our country did not go to Eton, they do not work in politics – in fact most of the population are not even interested in politics. But politics affects all of us, in nearly every aspect of our lives and the time has come for us to take a stand. We must take a stand not only for our NHS and for our schools, but for us to make a significant change so we work not for ourselves, or for corporations, but for the betterment of society. Thatcher famously said ‘there is no such thing as society’. Well, the hundreds of soup kitchens and homeless shelters across the country as well as the Occupy movement continue to prove her wrong. It is time that we stop worrying about the fate of major corporations and begin to support organisations that fight for social justice. It is important to pick your battles but what increasingly large numbers of people are beginning to realise is that now is the time to fight. However, the political class continue to try and placate us by offering meagre promises such as tax cuts, or freezing energy bills. These measures will not make a difference. What will make a difference is an overhaul of the entire system and a restructuring of the way our country operates so that politicians work for the people, not the other way round. This large social uprising is not going to happen overnight, but the first step in fixing a problem is admitting that there is a problem, and as a society that has to be our next step.