Author: Finn Murphy

The Government recently announced plans to bring in Voter IDs again, with the Queen bringing up the bill in the 2021 Queen’s Speech. However, in 2019, there were only 595 cases of alleged electoral fraud investigated by the police with only 4 of these leading to conviction and 2 individuals being given a police caution. These statistics raise the question: why is this a problem that the Government feels the need to solve?  To put this into perspective, in the 2019 General Election, over 47,000,000 people voted and, according to the Electoral Commission, there were 164 alleged cases of voter fraud investigated, meaning that less than 0.0004% of the vote was investigated. (1) It would appear that this issue is not substantial enough to need a solution, especially as there is little ...

In the past few years, there has been a multitude of debates surrounding the inclusion of LGBTQ+ topics in school curriculums. Many argue that it is important to teach children about LGBTQ+ issues so that they respect all their peers. However, some still maintain that children should not have this “ideology” “forced” onto them, even claiming that it will sexualise children when they do not need to be. In reality, LGBTQ+ people and issues are threaded throughout British history, but the UK has decided to omit them and their stories from schools. In 1988, during Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister, Section 28 came into effect which meant that it was illegal for teachers to ‘promote’ homosexuality in schools. This was only stopped in 2003, however it can feel like curriculums still reflect thi...

Despite the Government pledging £170m to end child poverty in the UK, we still have a long way to go. After the public rallied behind footballer Marcus Rashford, and many restaurants and cafes opened their doors in the October half term holidays to give children a proper meal, the Government decided that they had to do something to end this crisis. So, why did it take them so long and why are children’s lives even up for debate in the first place? In late October 2020, 322 Tory MPs voted against extending free school meals for children across the school holidays. With the big names of Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock, Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel all voting down the Labour notion that would have seen over a million children be fed over the October and Christmas holidays. Free school meals ar...

Finn Murphy Throughout the festive period, we create, on average, 30% more waste than at any other time of the year. Specifically, in the UK, this amounts to around 3 million tonnes of additional rubbish. This year, in particular, we have all been through a lot, but that does not mean we can neglect other world issues. Living an eco-friendly lifestyle in a fast-moving society is a lot more difficult than it seems, but here are some helpful tips and tricks to make this holiday season more sustainable.  Try alternatives to the traditional wrapping paper: Whilst many of us may not realise this, most wrapping paper is not recyclable because it is lined with plastics. Additionally, glitter-encrusted paper is even worse as the glitter is made from tiny pieces of plastic that pollu...

Finn Murphy, Deputy Comment Editor Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (a.k.a. AOC) is an American politician from New York City who has worked her way up from bartending and waitressing to the U.S. House of Representatives. She has altered the landscape of American politics and inspired millions of young Americans. If you don’t know who she is, you’ve likely been living under a rock…she is a beacon of hope for the future of politics, not only in America, but across the world. Her approach to the political system paints her as a normal human. With 9.5 million followers on Twitter and 7.5 million on her personal Instagram account, AOC fits the demographic of the voters that the Democratic party are attempting to attract. Despite trying to reduce her social media use and condemning it as a “publ...

2020 has given us all a time to reflect. With the media feeding us a large amount of our information in the modern world, it is important to discuss how every single person is represented. Netflix released a documentary this year titled ‘Disclosure’ about trans representation in film and TV from the perspective of trans people. The documentary highlights the problems with the representation of transgender people throughout history, and the double-edged sword that comes with this. Whilst it feels like a victory to see a transgender person on screen and in mainstream media, it is not always that simple. Executive producer of the documentary and Emmy-nominated actress, Laverne Cox, comments that “a few people are elevated, and the majority of people are still struggling.” Inaccurate represen...

Lockdown provided us with many dramas and arguments on social media, but one that stood out was JK Rowling and her controversial, transphobic tweets. The allegations against Rowling came about after she criticised an article for using the term “people who menstruate” when describing how the world can be more equal post-COVID-19. Her views and actions drove many to label her as a ‘TERF’ (trans exclusionary radical feminist). With this in mind, is it possible to enjoy her work whilst knowing her beliefs?  Across all creative outlets, actors, authors, artists, singers and performers are ‘called out’ due to things they have said and done. This begs the question of how much of their work we should appreciate and celebrate knowing these facts. Some might argue that names like JK Rowling...