Malala, The Gender Gap, and Educational Inequality

I wrote an article for the University of Birmingham Lib Dems about the widening gender gap that has been represented in A level results. Have a look here.

Interview with Steve Webb at the Social Liberal Forum Conference

On Saturday 13th July I attended a Social Liberal Forum conference with the theme; 'Ownership and Democracy - where does Power lie?'  Being a young person in the party, I constantly question how the leadership is using its  power to help young people. I was delighted to be given the opportunity to interview Steve Webb in the blogger's interview at the SLF conference.

I asked Steve Webb; "Youth unemployment has hit one million, students have increasing debt and  housing prices have risen making it nearly impossible for a young person to have a decent start in life.  Students won't even be able to afford university without getting into massive debt which will hold them down for the rest of their lives. How are the Lib Dems going to win the youth vote at the next election after all of these disasters?" 

Steve Webb answered by saying that the party had established the £1bn youth contract with the slogan  "Earn or Learn." Steve also said that Nick recognises there should be fairness between generations and the importance of supporting them all. He pointed out that the internship scheme had given many young people the skills and work experience that they needed. He admitted that there are not enough houses and that it is causing a lack of shelter and the rising cost in houses  and that it needed amending. I was told that Norman Baker was helping young people by looking into travel costs and trying to make this more affordable for the youth.

Steve was right when he said that Nick Clegg recognises the need for fairness between generations which is key to promoting equality. It is good that the housing problem is being recognised by the Government and I hope that something will be done before house prices soar even higher.

Despite the things that Steve said the Lib Dems are doing for young people, I think that we will struggle to get the youth vote at the next election because of, mainly, the u-turn on tuition fees. There may be a credible economic case for the u-turn but those paying the price, literally, will disagree. Other reasons are the cut to EMA, the fact that 75,000 young people will be homeless this Christmas and the thousands of young people who have to claim housing benefit because of such low pay. I really wish that the Lib Dems were doing more for young people.

I am glad to be a member of Social Liberal Forum because it does not support the austerity programme which does not seem to be producing growth or jobs.

Louise Shaw's blog on the conference
Caron Lindsay's blog on the conference
Mark Jewell

When is Bad Behavior Malarkey and not Rioting?

It is the Summer season for hi jinx among the youth and it is interesting to see how the class distinction operates.  Students from a private school called Mill Hill County School trashed a £2 million home in Hampstead, London, and caused havoc on the streets too. The school charges £9,038 a term for full boarders. 

It is shocking that these students think that it is acceptable to rent a house and trash it just because they had paid for it. These middle class types show a sense of entitlement that is destructive and lacks respect for person and property. What goes on in the real world is irrelevant to them. 

There is a fine line between malarkey and rioting but these students obviously did not seem to think that £15,000 worth of damages to a house was blame worthy because they have got away lightly. The pupils swore at police and only 3 were arrested. Their parents, if you read the report, don't think that their children were to blame. There is a vast group of middle class teenagers growing up who think that they can do what they like whilst looking down on the working class youth who riot in much  the same way but have to face the justice system. 

An Angry Letter to Danny Alexander

Danny Alexander posted an article today in Lib Dem voice and this is the comment which i left:

Dear Mr Alexander,
Your article infuriates me a lot. Yes, Labour made a mess and while I don’t think Labour would do any better I don’t think this excuses your first sentence. Your number one priority should be to make this country a better place. Why does almost every policy the Government comes up with have to be about political point scoring against Labour? You mention Labour twice in the first paragraph. Being in Government involves a serious job of making things better. This political point scoring whereby every decision is made as a response to what Labour did or what Labour would do is really macho nonsense and I wish you and your colleagues would stop it. People want to know what the Lib Dems will do, not what others would do.

Balancing the books on the back of the most vulnerable is exactly what you have tried to do and the vulnerable are almost broken in the process. The books aren’t balanced yet either. Do you know that Food Banks are starting up every week and that the suicide rates among disabled is rising? Do you know that there are thousands of children living in B and B’s and often with drug dealers and criminals? Do you know that there are children who can’t afford to eat at home? Do you know that there are parents who go to loan sharks to borrow money for essentials?

You see, I have reason to complain and be angry. My mother works for the public sector. My father had a serious sudden illness recently and the NHS didn’t come up to scratch. Talk of keeping people out of hospital and helping them in their homes means that families bear the worry and burden of medical conditions which they aren’t qualified to do.

I worry about my future because I don’t think that you and Nick and the Tories are going to leave much for ordinary people like me. In your last paragraph you say that you don’t want to burden future generations. Given the large number of NEETS with no hope what do you have to say?

Maelo Manning
aged 13

Nick Isn't The Villain BUT

Nick Clegg isn't the villain, Charles Saatchi is.  The whole fiasco stemming from Nick's appearance on LBC today somehow is casting Nick as the villain of domestic violence.  There is a tendency in this country to always deviate from the issue at hand and place blame on an intervening person. During the Saville scandal the victims and the BBC were criticized for  making false accusations. Suddenly, the scale of victim abuse by Saville became a side-show to what was going at the BBC. 

BUT, I do think Nick was foolish today by not condemning domestic violence straight off.  I have put my head in my hands today a few times over this whole fiasco. Nick  referred to 'one photograph' to seemingly prove a point that there wasn't enough evidence. Isn't one instance enough? This is where I think Nick really does need to get back to basics and show people that this party stands for equality and justice. Instead it seems as if the Lib Dem leadership does not seem to take female issues seriously. 

Why wasn't Lord Rennard investigated a long time ago? Mike Hancock? Caron Lindsay has said that Nick Clegg ought to have been briefed and to this I add why wasn't Clegg himself politically astute enough to anticipate a question on Nigella?  

What world do our politicians live in and that includes the female politicians today who have been making political hay. Yvette Cooper and Harriet Harman have jumped on the bandwagon.  The worst comment was by MP Sarah Wollaston she wrote, "So just don't call Clegg if your partner likes to grab you by the throat to emphasize a point." Nick Clegg isn't an enforcement agency for domestic violence, you should call the police not Nick Clegg. Why wasn't this much anger shown towards those who commit domestic violence? 

All said and done, as a young female Lib Dem I really hope that the party wakes up from its patriarchy now, not tomorrow or the day after. 

Absent Fathers

Absent fathers are often attacked and stigmatized but fathers who are living in the house do not always participate in family life. Absent fathers are used by the right wing as evidence of so called delinquent behavior among the working class. From my observation absent fathers in the home is a middle class and rich class problem. Many children are growing up without the influence of a paternal role model who is interested and beneficial to their lives. I have some answers about the middle class absent father syndrome. Fathers  in this bracket do participate in family life because they are content with the way things are. They They do not bother to enhance their children's lives because they do not see the need for paternal influence. There is no concept of fathering like their is for mothering. Some middle class fathers are very content to leave parenting to their partner or wife because it is seen as a 'feminine' role. These Fathers have disposable income and instead of emotionally connecting with their child they compensate for the lack of parenting by indulging in gadgets, clothes and toys for their children. David Lammy had written something similar in the Guardian

Why do a lot of People in China Mistreat Children?

When my mother was pregnant with me she read an article on the one-child policy and accompanying the article was a photograph of baby girls placed in buckets in a forest in China. They were abandoned and left to die. She was traumatized by this and has never wanted to visit China. I have never quite understood this because she has a great interest in Chinese history.

When I was 10 she would read to me from the book about the Last Emperor called 'From Emperor To Citizen: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi: Last Emperor of China'. I also enjoy browsing through the 'Peony Pavillion'. Why is all this relevant? Because it is a mystery to me as to why a country that has a rich history and culture is able to throw babies into dustbins, down toilets and for the Government to sanction the killing of babies both before birth and after birth. This all came home to me yesterday when I watched coverage of Baby no 59 on TV.

The sight of a baby stuck tight in a toilet pipe and covered in waste grime will come to symbolise the child cruelty of China. 

China is also facing a growing rate of child abductions. I watched a documentary about parents who chain their children up like dogs for fear of having the child abducted while they work. The child is left chained at home while they toil the fields. Then there was the case of the 2- year old who was left to die. People of China, you walked by and watched a little child lie there. Has anything changed since 2011?

What sort of country that is a so-called economic powerhouse builds high -tech buildings enabled with the 'Internet of Things' while at the bottom there could be a baby in a bin discarded like a thing? Why do you not grasp that there is a human element to development? No doubt people will point to Britain and the child abuse that takes place. There is a difference. It is a crime in Britain to harm a child.

 I constantly read about how Chinese children study for umpteen hours a day from the age of 2 or something equally ridiculous. There are children from China who attend schools in Britain. I know a few from a far. I can only conclude that children are treated in China either as nuisances or as future money earning citizens. Is there a human dimension to childhood?  Finally, I find it difficult to understand why China which has a Confucian tradition of putting the family first devalues motherhood through the ill-treatment and cruelty of children.

I have read about how common it is to see babies lying in dustbins in China or to be found head first in buckets filled with water. China - is it not time to incorporate empathy into your economic agenda?

Below is a Google Translation of the above blog post into Mandarin:

当我的母亲怀上了我，她看过一篇文章，在一胎化政策，并伴随的文章，是中国森林水桶放置在女婴的照片。他们被遗弃，留下死。她受到创伤，也从未想访问中国。我从来没有完全理解这一点，因为她在中国历史上有着极大的兴趣。

当我10岁的时候，她会读给我听的末代皇帝被称为“从皇帝到公民：从书：中国的末代皇帝溥仪的自传。我也喜欢浏览通过“牡丹亭”。为什么所有这些有关？因为这对我来说是一个谜，为什么一个国家，拥有丰富的历史和文化是能扔进垃圾桶，同比下降厕所和政府批准杀害的婴儿在出生前和出生后的婴儿。这一切都回到家中，我昨天，当我在电视上观看覆盖婴儿没有59。

一个婴儿的视线紧粘在马桶管道覆盖污垢废物来象征中国的孩子残酷。

中国也面临着一个绑架儿童的生长速度。我看了一个纪录片，讲述连锁他们的孩子的父母谁像狗一样，生怕孩子被绑架，而他们的工作。孩子留在家里，而他们的辛苦链领域。然后有2 - 岁左死的情况下。中国人民，你走了，看着一个小孩子躺在那里。自2011年以来有没有什么变化吗？

什么样的国家，是一个所谓的经济强国建立高科技大厦启用“物联网”，而在底部有可能是宝宝就像一个东西丢弃的垃圾桶？你为什么不graps发展，有一个人的因素？毫无疑问，人们将指向英国和虐待儿童发生。是有区别的。这是一个在英国犯罪伤害孩子。

 我经常阅读有关你的孩子如何学习许许多多小时全天候的年龄从2个或同样可笑的东西。有来自中国的孩子在英国上学。我知道一些从远方来。我只能得出结论，儿童被视为在中国无论是作为的滋扰或作为未来赚钱的公民。是否有一个人的维度的童年吗？最后，我觉得很难理解为什么中国有儒家传统，把家庭第一贬低母亲的虐待和残酷儿童通过。

我看了一下它是多么常见看到婴儿躺在垃圾箱在中国或装满水的水桶中被发现头部先。中国 - 是没有时间将移情到你的经济议程？

Do The Tories Hate Children?

First they went after the unemployed, then they came for the disabled and now they are after the children. Recently they have really been gunning for children. There is a growing pool of vulnerable people that the Tories target because the groups are not able to be participants in the Tory ideology of the 'Free Market'.

The Tories want everybody to be divided into groups of 'productive' and 'unproductive' free marketeers. The weak and unable are left behind in the scrum for the spoils of the free market. Just look at what the Tories have said in recent weeks.

1. Too Busy to Participate 

Two Tory ministers who promised to turn up at a meeting with parents of disabled children hardly made any attempt to contribute or understand the plight of the children. According to the Children's Society 4 in 10 of all disabled children live in poverty and the cuts will push these children into further deprivation. 

2. Nick, Stand Firm

It is so obvious that the reason the ratio is being raised is to get parents into work and lower the costs of childcare by cutting down on the amount of childcare workers needed. The safety and well being of children is being compromised for an ideology. I really hope that Nick stares them down on this. 

3. Unruly Toddlers

Children in nurseries are not workers in training for a capitalist conveyor belt. Children are in nurseries to run around and be children in a safe environment. There is a difference between being unruly and lively. What would appear as unruly to the Tories is actually children developing and learning by playing and having fun. What would the Tories prefer? My guess is that they want British childhood to resemble a Chinese one- 23 hours of study and 1 hour of sleep. My guess is based on the constant comparisons that  Michael Gove makes with the Asian system of education. Out of all the children that I know my upbringing most closely resembles an Asian upbringing. I could write 10 words at the age of 3 and, believe me, I was 'unruly' the whole time. If it is passive obedience that the Tories are after then the British childhood way of natural inquiry will be a lost treasure. 

'Ubah' Greetings From Britain on a Historical Day for Malaysia

'Ubah' is the Malay word for 'change'. Historical elections are taking place in Malaysia today. Never has the opposition, led by Anwar Ibrahim this time, come so close to winning. There are only a few hours left for Malaysians to get out and vote for change. I have a huge interest because my Asian side of the family are Malaysians. I am pictured here with my uncles who are twins. They work as cardiologists in the Midlands. The family met up yesterday to discuss the election which is being held today - 5 May.

I am sure my Liberal friends will join me in sending wishes and messages of hope to those who feel disaffected by the current system. 

Does Capitalism have Limits on Cheap clothing?

A rising death toll, exploited workers and a lucrative garment industry. What are the limits of capitalism? How many more lives will have to be taken before workers are not treated as machines who need barely any food, money or sleep to survive on? 

As a teenager I know many people, including myself, who shop at 'Primark'. The reality of global capitalism was brought home to me, literally, when I realised that my shopping could have impacted on the mistreatment of a worker in Bangladesh. When workers are forced to produce a certain amount of clothing for a company   it is in our hands as to whether we buy the garment, and subsequently support the exploitation of the worker, or we could boycott the shop because consumers have power to set trends in the market. The deregulation of these factories has lead to a huge market of exploitation which is inescapable because it runs through all of the 'trendy' clothing stores which most consumers will continue to buy from no matter how unethical it is. 

Global regulation is essential to ensure that factories are not Dickensian. Globalization cannot just be about moving money around the world in search of a tax haven. 

I dedicate this post to the workers who died in Dhaka.