British Politics - Pt.3

Everything I've forgotten, plus a few other bits.

As I'm sure you're aware, our Prime Minister, or PM, is the Conservative, Theresa May.
She got the top job after David Cameron stepped down, following the public's decision to 'leave' in the EU referendum. Normally, to find a new party leader/PM, there is a formal election process; the candidates campaign across the party, then all members are allowed to vote for their choice.

Crabb (top left), Gove (bottom left) May (bottom middle),
Fox (bottom right), and Leadsom (top right). Lovely door for sale (top middle).

However, in the running for the PM everyone just sort of dropped out, or was eliminated, way before the elctions. Boris Johnson (a favoured candidate) withdrew before it even started; his political ally Michael Gove declared his intention to compete against him. Liam Fox was eliminated as he didn't have enough support, then Stephen Crabb withdrew. Gove was eliminated in the second round- he didn't have enough supporters either - leaving just Andrea Leadsom and Theresa May. The media put a lot of pressure on Leadsom after she made some controversial remarks, and she pulled out too. This led to May, the only competitor left, being chosen as PM. All this happened in the space of 17 days.

The 2015 election results. The conservatives have
a slim majority.

Normally, however, a Prime Minister becomes a Prime Minister through a General Election - when every registered voter has one vote to choose the person that they want to represent their area and become an MP (although most voters just vote for an MP depending on which party they're part of).


The country is split into 650 zones, called constituencies, and each one is represented by an MP. If the UKIP candidate wanted to become Prime Minister (you see the joke I made there?), they would have to have the majority of constituencies (326) so that they can vote new laws through Parliament.

In the 2015 General Election, the Conservatives won outright, but with a slender majority. This means that if some Conservative MPs oppose a bill, it only takes a few of them voting with opposition MPs to stop it being passed. (Remember, everyone in Parliament can vote on a law, and Labour and Conservatives normally vote against each other).

But...and here's the clincher...what if you don't win a majority?

He (on the right) is Nick Clegg, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats. On the left, as I hope you'd know, is David Cameron; the former Conservative leader and ex-PM.

The problem?

In the 2010 election, there was a 'Hung Parliament'. This is when no party has a clear majority because the votes are so widely distributed. No-one could legally form a government, and if a solution wasn't found then there would be repeated elections until a majority was reached.

The solution?

The Conservatives had the most votes, (307)  and if they could ally with another smaller party - say, the Liberal Democrats - they'd have a majority. This is known as a 'Coalition' and it last happened in WWII. The Lib Dems had 57 seats; it could work. But Labour were sniffing around, and were open to allying with SNP (Scottish National Party) and the Lib Dems - this would've given them a majority too.

And?

It took just four days to thrash out a deal with the Tories; Labour's leader, Gordon Brown, wasn't desirable for the Lib Dems.  A few minor pledges had to be dropped, but negotiations were largely peaceful and set the tone for the five years to come, and I can now stop writing.


And that brings us full circle! Kind of. Hopefully. Potentially.

Ideally, you now know Britain's main political parties, how Parliament functions, and the way elections work. You can talk at length about UKIP's shortcomings *cough* of which there are many *cough*, discuss the intricacies of passing law, and question Theresa May's legitimacy as Prime Minister.


As always, give improvements, suggestions, or ideas in the comments below. After Christmas, we'll be looking at war in Yemen. Not strictly political, but then again, neither is Donald Trump.

Merry Christmas!

British Politics - Pt.2

We more or less covered the parties last time, so let's see where and how they actually operate.

British Parliament for dummies.



The Houses of Parliament on the banks of the Thames

This (on the right) is the Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster. It's a set of buildings on the North Bank of the River Thames, in the centre of London.

The Houses of Parliament is where the Government (the political party with the most MPs*) and the 'opposition' operates. Parliament itself is the various groups and bodies that try to pass laws, or oppose them, and create a democratic way of running a country. Basically, the Government is within Parliament. It's where new proposals are debated, laws are passed, and the Government's actions are challenged. War is declared within those chambers. So how does it all work?



An empty House of Commons - there's more seats upstairs.

First, we have the House of Commons, which is where MPs meet and discuss laws, as well as vote on them or challenge them. Each MP has one vote, and they generally vote depending on what their party believes, i.e. Conservative leaders might ask their MPs to vote in favour of raising the minimum wage (although they are allowed to refuse and vote differently). If a law is passed through here, it then goes to the House of Lords.




The House of Lords is the second chamber, and its main task is examining laws passed by the Commons. It contains around 800 members, who are mostly hand-picked for their knowledge of law, business, society etc. It also contains Bishops and hereditary peers (their parents were Lords and passed the title down to them) They are required to examine the law in physical form and check for errors and loopholes, as well as challenging the government about anything questionable.

A law can be stopped and returned to the House of Commons, if the members feel that it needs improvement.


House of Lords on a quiet day

The third stage of Parliament is the Monarch (i.e. the Queen). She mainly has a ceremonial role, meeting the Prime Minister once a week to discuss various affairs, and officially approving laws - which she must do. (Although if she feels that a law will cause harm to Britain, or isn't justified, she may object). Once she approves a law, it becomes legally binding, and the government can begin to implement it.

There we go, the British Parliament in a nutshell! I know there's probably still some gaps, but hopefully we'll cover those off in the third and last post of this series - coming soon (hopefully before Christmas). 

Also, check out Joel's film blog, I don't have the link, but it's on some of my other posts at the bottom. He's started a sweet little 'Thursday rant' section, where he discusses all sorts of things. It's actually rather good.


*MPs: the person, often from a certain party, that an area chooses to represent their people's interests in Parliament. All of the 650 MPs can vote once on each law, often voting how their party wants them to vote.

British Politics - Pt.1

British Government is a little bewildering, so I'll try and explain everything in a few short posts. It makes it much easier for you to understand what I'm on about, especially as I'll be trying to stay in UK politics for a while. Here's an overview of how Britain works:

Parties

There are three or four main political groups, or 'parties', in the UK. They all have different views and aims, depending on how they feel the country should be managed. They are the:

• Conservatives - the people currently in charge (they pass laws, have the biggest vote on those laws, and represent the UK overseas). They like to encourage small businesses, a disciplined community, and they prefer low tax rates. They're sometimes called the 'Tories'

• Labour - currently the main 'opposition' party (they frequently challenge the Conservatives, and can also vote on laws, but can't pass them) They want to be much more involved with the people, encourage a more liberal community and that tax must change depending on how much money you make.

• Liberal Democrats - A previously large party, but they lost a lot of 'seats' (the areas that vote you into parliament) in the 2015 election. They campaign for personal freedom, as well as investment into key services. They are reluctant to get directly involved with smaller companies.

• UKIP - a more recent party that have campaigned strongly for the UK to leave the European Union (which is a group of European nations encouraging friendly relations and more open borders). They want  a much tighter immigration system, greater transparency in Parliament, and a single tax level for everyone. They're called all sorts of things, but don't really care.

Yep. That's it! Pt. 2 will be around soon. Please comment what you want me to cover after I finish these info blogs - see you soon!



Greens against Trump

Special Report

Yeah, I know, I said I was gonna cover the budget but 'nah'. It's all a bit dry and dusty, so unless you comment that you want it, I have here something that could potentially be a lot more interesting...

Election Update





This is Jill Stein. She's the leader of the Green Party in the USA and she received 1.4 million votes; the most for a Green nominee since Ralph Nader in 2000.



Jill Stein in 2016

You remember me talking about the election and the fall of the democrat key states; Wisconsin and Pennsylvania? She's filing requests for recounts in these states, and Michigan - which hasn't yet counted all the write-in votes, but is certainly Trump. She is legally allowed to do so (although the recount must be finished by 35 days after the election) and the recounts in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania have begun. They have until Wednesday to demand a recount in the state of Michigan


The margin of Trump's victory was so great, that all three states would have to turn blue in order to give Hillary Clinton the election. Stein accepts that the chances of a total election reversal are slim, but maintains that "These recounts are part of an election integrity movement to attempt to shine a light on just how untrustworthy the US election system is" (From the Green Party website). There's a possibility that these recounts could highlight third-party involvement - Russian-based hackers probed into voter databases in Illinois and Arizona earlier this year - or gaps in the voting system. 



Putin congratulates Trump on his victory

There have been large-scale concerns over Russian cyber attacks in this election, mainly from the Democrat supporters, as Trump being elected would be very encouraging to the 'East', and as Putin has previously shown a disregard for conventional political rules *cough* 'Crimea' *cough*. Jill Stein seeks to expose possible Russian involvement and maybe, just maybe, end up revealing any 'true ' election result so that someone with decent political sense and morals can be in charge of the most powerful country on the planet. Just saying.

She originally intended to raise in the region of two million dollars but since then, the donation target has been raised twice, to cover 'attorney's fees and 'statewide recount observers in all three states.' (GP website) This has led to opposition claims that it's all a Green Party money-making scheme. If so, they're certainly achieving that with six million dollars already banked. Is this the last rally of the Anti-Trump's?





As always, thanks for the views, feel free to leave comments and suggestions, and if you want to see some top-notch film reviewing, go to lennysfilmreviews.blogspot.co.uk!
 

Money!

This time around, let's have a peek at something that you won't have heard of, but is actually quite a large news story. And, if the title wasn't enough of a hint, it has something to do with cash.

Narenda Modi (this guy on the right) is the President of the 2nd most populous country in the world: India.

India has the 6/7th largest economy in the world and has one of the fastest growing.* (It's very hard to get precise figures).

The Problem

But his country's growth is held back by what's known as the 'Black economy', which represents businesses and services operating in illegal goods and services e.g. drugs, prostitution, armaments. Within this illegal trade, tax evasion and corruption are the main obstructions to Modi's dream of Indian expansion.

Tax evasion is what it seems: it's dodging tax payments. This means that the government can't get as much money as it needs from the people, especially from larger businesses. As a result, it can't invest money back into the country and public services. This is linked to corruption which, in this scenario, is government officials and public offices giving or receiving money in return for favours and support. A study conducted in 2005 showed that around 62% of Indian people had first-hand experience of this crime.

Modi's response

The president unleashed an ingenious plan: he would recall ALL 500 and 1000 Rupee - the Indian currency - notes. Generally, 500 R equals about £6 and 1000 R equals £11/12. This is about the equivalent of removing all 'fivers' and 'tenners' from everywhere in Britain. Pretty big, right? Imagine if suddenly, your whole wallet was worthless!

However, it's a little cleverer than it seems. As we've established, the 500/1000 notes are India's most used items of money(86% of all banknotes in use) and the only way to get new ones is by handing them in at your bank. And, because so much of the money in the black economy is fake or laundered, it cannot be simply 'turned in' as the criminals would then be arrested. Furthermore, any sums of money that are returned and are over £250,000 worth will be investigated to check if tax has been paid. Pretty smart, right?

Recap

The bad guys can't get any money, and no-one would accept payments if they tried to use any of their current funds - as they're worthless. This means that they have no funds or means of operating, leaving the country in a much stronger position than before. Yeah, sure, they'll find some way to create counterfeits, but in that time, Modi is free to launch anti-corruption campaigns, putting better people in charge of the police and public services; meaning that they'll do a more efficient job of clamping down on the Black Economy. As a result, the legitimate economy can expand and grow, supporting the Indian people! Yay!



Next time, we'll return to Britain and have a look at the new budget. It might be a bit more relevant than normal. And, check out Joel's film reviews blog: http://lennyfilmreviews.blogspot.co.uk/. He's currently looking at the Dark Knight Trilogy.


*In case you're not sure of what the 'economy' is, it's defined as:

'The wealth and resources of a country or region, especially in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services'; it's basically the value of all the businesses and services in a country.

Trump wins!...?

Oh.

That was the reaction of most, stunned, individuals in Britain upon hearing of Donald Trump's shock victory in the USA last Tuesday. It was almost totally unexpected by the rest of the world - how could such a man be given the leadership of the most powerful nation on the planet?

The Democrats are, for now, broken. Their spine has been snapped in a totally 'Bane-breaks-Batman' move (You know, in the sewers...where Batman walks in all cocky and he gets humiliated and wrecked? Quite a lot like this election come to think of it). Wisconsin, Iowa, and Ohio (reliable Democrat states) fell to the Republican party as did most of the swing states in the 'rust belt' - an area where much of America's now abandoned industry lies. The two questions that the Democrats need to ask themselves are: 'Why?' and 'How?' Why did The Donald win? And how did he achieve this? Thankfully, a lovely soul has complied an easy-to-read analysis!


How:

As I briefly mentioned, the Democrats rely on a solid bloc of states in the north and west as cash cows; they can use them as a dependable source of votes before they even get to the swing states, the most critical voting grounds.

In the Obama-Romney election in 2012 (Map below), you can see that the democrats have secured a medium sized block in the north-west. Wisconsin (WI), Ohio (OH), and Virginia (VA) are all blue. This gave Barack a comfortable number of votes over Romney



Obama-Romney 2012 (Republicans in red, Democrats in blue)

However, in 2016 (no map available) it was already very close between the two candidates amongst these sates, and then Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio and Pennsylvania all voted Republican. This was a crushing blow, and gave Trump a combined total of 54 extra votes!




The loss of these states was a critical blow to the Democrat party and was  the main reason HOW they lost the election. 'Why' is significantly more revealing.

Why:

Throughout all the campaigning, the media consistently focused on Republican supporters who garnered controversy; those who were racist or xenophobic; those who were misogynist or just plain dumb They captured the attention of the world and gave us the impression that it could only be a minority that were voting for Trump. Not everyone in the USA was that racist or offensive, surely?

And we were right. Not everyone IS that offensive or racist, or was attracted to Trump because of his consistent prejudices and the scandals he endured. But people were attracted because of his pledges to reform society and his promises to 'Make America Great Again' (commonly termed as 'populism', this is the art of spouting rhetoric and making grandiose statements to fit with whatever the general public wants to hear). It was extremely effective at attracting disaffected voters who felt that D.C had done nothing for them in the last eight years. They, just as Trump said, 'wanted that swamp drained' and a new, refreshing, and genuine, politician in power.

This quiet block of voters (most of whom aren't on social media, or own large businesses) were simply overlooked by the Democrat campaign team. And when push came to shove, they turned up in huge numbers to vote...for Trump.


Thanks for reading and please keep an eye out for the next blog, coming soon!


 And huge thanks to Joel Bishop for inspiring me to write a blog, check his stuff out at http://lennyfilmreviews.blogspot.co.uk/