Politics - Elections

Parliament can run for a maximum of five years – it needs to be dissolved by the Queen before an election, and it can be dissolved at any time. If the government no longer has the majority or they lose a vote of confidence in the Commons then an election can be triggered.  An example of this is Jim Callaghan, who lost by one vote in 1979 (winter of discontent), he was then followed by Margaret Thatcher. The coalition government has passed a law fixing the date of elections every five years, the next occurring on May 7^th 2015. Up until now the Prime Minister fixed the date of elections. It has been a tradition to hold them on a Thursday since 1935.

 In order to vote you have to be on the electoral register in your constituency. You’re not automatically on the register even if you pay council tax. Around 45 million people are on the electoral registers. Citizens overseas can vote, but less than 15,000 of the estimated 5.5 million people actually do. There has been a big rise in the number of postal votes, 15% of all votes cast in 2005 were postal.

Who can’t vote?

·         Anyone under the age of eighteen.

·         Members of the House of Lords.

·         European Union citizens.

·         Citizens of any other country apart from the Irish Republic and Commonwealth countries.

·         People serving a sentence in prison. (However this is set to change)

Representation of the People Act:

·         1918- Men over 21 and women over 30.

·         1928- Universal suffrage- all adults over 21.

·         1969- All adults over 18.
You have the right to vote but it is not compulsory.

Who can stand in an election?
Any citizen over eighteen.

How do you win?
First Past the Post – whoever gains a majority on the constituency is elected. This means that national voting percentages are not reflected in the number of seats. Therefore the election comes down to marginals because most votes in safe seats are wasted. Labour won half the seats in 2005 but only had 35% of the vote. This has led to people voting tactically, trying to stop the party they dislike most rather than voting for their first choice.
Each candidate must give a deposit of £500 which is returned if they get at least 5% of the votes cast. Spoilt ballots, such as ones with no markings or too many markings are disqualified. There will be a recount if the vote is very close.  

Weber on Bureaucracy

Four Great Sceptics: Marx
                                Nietzsche
                                Weber
                                Freud

Weber (like Marx) is a Kantian - humans cannot know the objects in themselves, no absolute reality; we only have a mental picture. The ideal types of social organisation – socialism, nationalism, liberalism etc. Ideal type is compared to social reality. There is no absolute knowledge but it is possible to be honest and to have reasonable beliefs (generalized agnosticism).

Four Fundamental Types of Social Action (Weberian Analysis):
1) Instrumental Social Action – Believe it will benefit you
2) Value Rational Action – You have values
3) Affectual Emotional Affirmation/Disaffirmation- because you like/love/dislike/hate tradition
4) Traditional Orientation – Rational Inheritance

Three Types of Domination
Authority + Legitimacy = Dominative Power
Weber states that “all legitimacy contains an element of myth”, which means no one person can truly dominate and just because you are told to do something by someone, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should.
1) Tradition – Always had power e.g. monarchy, Inheritance, customs, superstitions, ancestor worship.  “We have always done it this way”
2) Charismatic – magical powers, costumes and ceremony e.g. a priest. Charismatic leaders often attack and destroy existing legal national regime. Sometimes the underdog and often have a gimmick or point of interest.
3) Legal – (Rational/ Bureaucratic) – Qualifications, routine, “normality”, professionalism. The rulers often obey the same rules as everyone else.

Weber on Bureaucracy
“Bureau” = a desk, or by extension an office.
“Bureaucracy” = rule conducted from a desk or an office.
Those who invented the word wanted to suggest that the servant was trying to become the master. Weber was aware of this tendency and attacked the Prussian bureaucracy to be an objective and neutral servant of society, above all politics. Weber emphasized that every bureaucracy has interests of their own. The bureaucracy is merely a means to the end.

Modern bureaucracy is developed from the Kings clergy, the ruler does not have to fight or travel much, and they send messages through the bureau. The messages are normally acted upon because of the governments moral authority or prestige, and also because they can be backed up force; police and military. Weber points out that the military has become bureaucratized- Napoleon would watch the battle from horseback, but the modern general sends and receives messages. 

Weber sets out an “ideal type” for bureaucracy- an elaborate hierarchal division of labour, directed by explicit rules, which are impersonally applied. In a bureaucracy a job is full time, life time, and is occupied by a professional staff who live off a salary. Bureaucrats must be removed from property; they only have a salary because if they have any other form of income they will not reliably follow the rules, which is one of the highest values in a bureaucracy. An employee does not own their job, or any of the means of administration, such as; files, chairs or laptops. This is because if they fail to do their job, or someone more efficient for the job becomes available, they can be replaced immediately as the job belongs to the state. It is therefore important in a bureaucratic society to be educated and to have credentials. Weber argues that bureaucracy is the most efficient way of implementing the law. 

Growth of Political Parties

The 19^th century was a time of revolution. The “rotten boroughs” changed the population and demographics in cities such as Liverpool and Manchester. The Reform Act 1832 brought about a shift in representation for the towns and the North. The repeal of the Corn Laws caused a massive change as it was the end of the Tory Vs. Whig system and marked the beginning of the Liberal and the Conservative Parties. The working class gained the vote in the latter part of the 19^th century due to electoral reform and a steady increase of the reform acts.
Post First World War- Brought the rise of the Labour Party – The General Strike in 1926
Post Second World War- First Labour Government was established in 1945 with a secure majority. There were man social democratic reforms concerning the NHS, Keynesian Economics and Trade Union rights. This was also the point at which the British Empire began to decline.
William Beveridge promised national insurance from “cradle to grave” which was a golden moment for Labour. However disaster then followed in 1978-79 which the media labelled the “winter of discontent”. There were widespread strikes from many local authorities all demanding an increase in pay.

Margaret Thatcher won the General Election in 1979 and became Prime Minister. The miners strike was the biggest confrontation between the unions and the Thatcher government- she was committed to reducing the power of the trade unions, to cure the nation from this “British disease”. The miners lost and returned to work in 1985. Unions then changed drastically after realising the power of the state.

John Major then became Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party in 1990. The mid 1990’s were a boom period for tabloid journalism as the Tories got themselves involved with a string of “sleaze scandals”. This proved to be too much for John Major who resigned in 1995, to be re-elected as party leader.

Defence Minister, Jonathon Aitken stated he would resolve the problem of twisted journalism with his “sword of truth”. The Guardian reported that he was taking bribes, a claim which he denied, however he was later convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice.

The rise of the “new” Labour was seen as reformed leadership and Tony Blair was elected in 1997. His government introduced the Human Rights Act and the Freedom of Information Act, both of which are significantly important to journalists. Blair resigned in 2007 and Gordon Brown took over power. From 2010 to today we have a coalition government, which is formed by Tory, David Cameron and Liberal Democrat, Nick Clegg. 

National Politics

Political Reporting is known as “The Fourth Estate” or the “watchdog”.  The Legal Rights they hold are: Privilege and Comment/ Free Expression (Article 10 of the Human Rights Act). Fair comment is only a defence where the comment is supported by facts, is their honestly held opinion, is a matter of public interest and is not malicious.

John Wilkes is an example of a hero journalist, he was forced into exile, he was the Mayor of London and an MP and he was elected from prison on three occasions. His private life was also notorious as he had numerous mistresses, partook in duels and was buried in debt.  His publication “The North Briton” was anonymous and on one occasion he attacked (verbally) Lord Brute MP and King George the third, causing contempt of parliament. Wilkes established Statutory Qualified Privilege for reporting on parliament.

Westminster: The rules of privilege mean that you can report on virtually anything said in the House, however you must not forget the sub-judice rules such as contempt of court and you must avoid the taboo of mentioning the royals. Voting in the House of Commons is formally called a division. The parties will try and control the ways in which their MPs vote through whipping (they get the tough guys to persuade them) unless it is a matter of the conscience, for example abortion.

All new laws have to be approved by both Houses of Parliament, except for tax raising measures which are for the MPs alone to decide. Peers in the House of Lords are not elected and therefore do not represent constituencies, they are also not paid but they are allowed to claim expenses. Peers are not allowed to vote on changes to taxation or finance and they will never have the final word but they government may sometimes choose to compromise.

Hansard is the official report on the proceedings of parliament and is published daily.

Anti-Semitism

Bernard Lazare: Anti-Semitism: It’s History and Causes 1894.
In Chapter 1 Lazare marked the history of anti-Semitism back to the beginning of Israels expansion beyond Palestine. Lazare argued that wherever the Jewish people settled, anti-Semitism would develop and he asserted that the Jews were partly responsible for their own misfortune throughout history.

Lazare claimed that the Jewish people were unsociable beings. They lived under the rule of their Lord Yahweh (Jehovah) and due to this the Jews could not live under the rule of other nations. Wherever they settled the Jews would insist they follow their own religion and be exempt from the state laws and the local customs. Lazare argued that this incited hatred and jealousy within the rest of the population as the Jewish people were given different advantages to them.  The Jews pride themselves on the excellence of the Torah, considering themselves to be above others (at least this is how some outsiders interpreted it).  Jewish people could not have relations or intercourse with the rest of the population, causing exclusiveness. The souls of the Jews are descended from the first man and they were chosen by God as the trustee of his will. The Jews isolation could be seen as their strength as they have survived in spite of this, or it could be considered as their weakness as their separation has caused them to be persecuted throughout history.

In Chapter 11 Lazare considers Nationalism in regards to anti-Semitism. Nationalism is a political ideology and involves the identification of a group of individuals. There are two types of nationalism, the division by race and that which is legally established.  The Jewish race is not an “ethnologic unity”, they do not seem to have a common ancestor, but they are a nation unified by their religion and values.  

J'Accuse - The Dreyfus Affair

The defeat of France in the Franco –Prussian war in 1871 was still casting a shadow by 1894, due to this France were very concerned about anything which may have questioned France’s greatness. They were a very militaristic country, the army was seen as a symbol of French identity, they were worried about another war with Germany and there had been a large increase in spying in Europe.

Evidence of secret information regarding the French military was found in a wastepaper basket in Germany. The Embassy and the army immediately implicated Captain Dreyfus. This was because he was well educated, from Alsace and primarily because he was Jewish.  Dreyfus denied these claims however the army then held a secret court martial and found him guilty of treason. He was then stripped of his military rank and was sentenced to the “Devils Island” in 1894.

Later an officer looked into the evidence and discovered that it was wrong and the culprit was actually a man called Esterhazy, however this evidence was dismissed by his superiors.  Esterhazy was put on trial in a military court but he was acquitted.

The famous French journalist Emile Zola then decided to get involved and wrote the famous article “J’Accuse”. However Zola was then tried and convicted of libel and was fined and sentenced to prison, but then fled to London. There were anti-Jewish riots all over France at this time, the right wing papers were calling for Jews to lose their citizenship.

The army then began to recognise the weakness of the case against Dreyfus and more documents were discovered to have been forged by an officer called Henry. Dreyfus was brought back to court but was once again found to be guilty, this time with “extenuating circumstances”.

KONY 2012

If you do nothing else with your day, find half an hour to watch this video and then share it with however you can. This will be a far more productive use of your time than catching up on Coronation Street.

Radio Bulletin Link

For some reason Soundcloud isn't always working on my blog, so here is the link to my radio bulletin just incase...
http://soundcloud.com/nadineforshaw/radio-bulletin-2

Radio Bulletin

Winchester police have shut down a property after a crack house closure order was approved.
The police have closed the city centre property from the public for three months after neighbours reported antisocial behaviour and blatant drug abuse.
The police are now encouraging residents with similar problems regarding antisocial behaviour to contact them.

Three pay and display parking meters are to be removed from the streets of Winchester.
The council has revealed that the meters have begun to cost more than they earn, so have proposed to replace them with a payment by phone system.
However this has been met by concerns that some people, especially the elderly, may have difficulties using the new system.
Audio Cut: Parking Changes
In Words: I hate that…
Out Words: …big advantage cause you never have coins.
Duration: 25 Seconds

Hampshire based Caracoli, has been awarded the “Best small shops in Britain 2012” in the food category.
The awards set up by the Telegraph magazine focus on the small, independent shops in Britain who are nominated by their own customers.  
Camalla Lama, a member of staff at Caracoli, stated her delight about their achievement.
Audio Cut: Caracoli Interview – Camalla Lama
In Words: Yeah we are feeling very great…
Out Words: … really different from other shops.
Duration: 16 Seconds

A Winchester schoolgirl has raised money for a new MRI scanner for the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.
11 year old Kitty Martin and friends managed to raise £131 at a cake sale in Western Primary School.
The students decided to help after a fire in the MRI unit at the hospital last December.

SOC: I’m Nadine Forshaw, there’s more at four.

The Innocence Project - Warner Case - CCRC Decision

On the February 11^th 2003 the Full Court dismissed Warner’s application for appeal stating that the evidence against Mr Warner already established a “formidable” case and it was “perhaps unsurprising” that he had been convicted.

However in June 2003 Warner then appealed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). Warner appealed on the basis that no blood was found on Mr Warner’s clothes or in his caravan, there was no evidence that he had entered the upstairs of the Pool’s house and new forensic techniques should be applied to the samples in this case. His appeal also made reference to the man covered in blood who had travelled in a taxi that night and the serial rapist, “Vampire” (Rogers), could have been in the area on the evening of the Pool’s murders.

The CCRC then decided to carry out a section 19 investigation. During this investigation they examined the six unidentified fingerprints found at the Pool’s home and discovered that the thumbprint on the porch handle was that of Mr Smith. This then opened a line of inquiry concerning Mr Smith’s previous convictions and possible culpability for the murders of Mr and Mrs Pool. None of the fingerprints found were a match to Rogers.

The CCRC commissioned the Forensic Science Service (FSS) to examine the tapings from the clothing of Mr Warner and from the items upstairs. The FSS found fibres that were “indistinguishable” from the fibres of Mr Warner’s jumper (which he had left at the Pool’s home on the night of the murders), these fibres were found on the pillowcase, duvet, tights, shirt and skirt.  This supplied “moderately strong support” that Mr Warner’s jumper had been in contact with the evidence taken from upstairs. During the forensic investigation they also found DNA which created an “incomplete profile” matching that of Mr Warner, the chances of it being someone else with the same corresponding components as him were “1 in 680”.

On the basis of the section 19 investigation, the CCRC decided not to refer the case to the Court of Appeal, stating that it had simply strengthened the already formidable case. I agree with their decision because section 19 proved that Mr Warner had in fact entered the upstairs of the Pool’s home, which was the main basis of his appeal. Mr Smith had been ruled out of the enquiry as no further evidence had been found against him, other than the fingerprint on the outside porch handle, which could have occurred for entirely innocent reasons. There is also no evidence to support the argument that the murder of the Pools could have been committed by another person.  The CCRC also stated that there was no evidence to suggest any instances of cross contamination, as all of the tapings were kept in separate sealed bags and the appropriate steps had been taken. There was also no reason to believe there was any more unseen evidence in the possession of Easthampton Police and all forensic avenues had been explored.