SUNDAY 31 JANUARY 2016
MHOCPress: The Independent
Mepzie
Dynamic_12
Imperial_
PetrosAC
An opinion piece regarding Achievement Lordships.
Do Grammar Schools work in their current form?
Official Opposition reveal the new shadow cabinet.
MHOC has recently seen a spike in the formation of groupings.
Voices Page 17
Voices Page 16
News Page 6
News Page 8
Is there a constitutional crisis occurring within the Lords, and how can it be resolved? Page 7
A New Generation of Deputy Speakers ● Djenial, NicolasBroaddus, electric-blue, chrispytoast123, cptp28, TheQuipton, agentnola are all announced as Deputy Speakers. DYNAMIC_12
the major MHOC subreddits “in anticipa-
tion of the new DS team”. Along with this Last Sunday evening, Padanub announced that all moderators shall be removed from
announcement came the first signs of a newlook Speakership team as he said he wanted a 1
“clean slate”.
nounced Chairman of The announcement Ways and Means. A was made at 9:15pm distinguished position and as expected the for an excellent modline-up was full of new erator. Next came the names. Djenial, the announcements of Niformer candidate for colasBroaddus, Speaker was an-
See more Page 4
Contents
Contents NEWS
INTERVIEWS
31.01.2016
Market Chaos
House of Lords
Stock Exchange falls 37% on first day of trading.
Do the House of Lords face a constitutional crisis?
News Page 5
News, Page 7
Alexwagbo
Zoto888
The party leader talks about being controversial .
The Former Chancellor talks about the Liberal Democrats.
Interviews Page 10
Interviews Page 12
VOICES
PetrosAC
TETP
A response to the investigation regarding Issue 2.
If an opinion is unpopular, it should be heard.
Voices Page 14
Voices, Page 15
Alexwagbo The burqa needs to be banned immeadiately by law. Voices Page 18
REFERENCES
2
News
News
The Matrix Sunday
● A plot to replace the Conservatives with the Nationalist Coalition as the Official Opposition.
● Bill 223 fails.
● WAKEYrko, justalurkingredditor and dynamic_12 are appointed Monday ● Model Stock Exchange High Commissioner to crashes on it’s first day, New Zealand, Ambassa● Re-issue of The Indethe market falls by 37%. dor to Ireland, and Ampendent Issue 2 bassador to Germany reWednesday Tuesday spectively. ● 3rd Lord Speaker Elec- ● All Deputy Speakers Thursday pass the vote of confition Q&A begins. dence. ● Rlack announces the ● Model Stock Exchange ● MHOC Podcast Series formation of the Crossopens for the first time Party Futurist Grouping. 2, Episode 1 airs. and trading begins. ● Deputy Speaker nominees are announced.
Friday ● 3rd Lord Speaker Election vote opens. ● Socialist Labour Party founder theyeatthepoo resigns from the party and becomes an independent. Saturday ● ModelOpusDei is formed.
This week in MHOC History: 31.01.2016 This week in MHoC had a varied quantity of debates, legislature and we were joined by a guest TUSC candidate, Sam Morecroft, in an AMA for his campaign with the Socialist Party. Many prominent figures in modern MHoC were eager to ask questions, including can_triforce, the former Prime Minister, and bnzss, the current head moderator. Sam showed his support for the now dissolved MHoC Communist Party. The AMA created a broad range of conversation with nearly 300 replies on the
thread. Our guest also affirmed himself as against the EU which was exceedingly relevant with the EU referendum that was taking place that week. Many debates led up to one of the most important decisions MHoC would make. The NOTOEU campaign was represented by Kreindeker as chairman, and banter_lad_m8, InfernalPlato, and Cyridius as vicechairmen. The YESTOEU campaign was represented by morgsie as chairman, and thedomcook, Al-
bertDock, and eat_the_muffin as vice chairmen. Both campaigns fought long and hard and the 4 debates that took place were flooded with passionate arguments from both sides. On the 29th January, the results were collected in and counted with Timanfya announcing that the YES campaign had won and swiftly following up with the official result. There was a measly, yet worrying, 20 votes between staying and leaving with the YES vote collecting 3
53.4% (159) and 46.6% (139) of the electorate. In lighter news on world relations, RMUN was formed by Timanfya and RoryTime to unite the world governments and allow some sort of international bonds between different countries. I_miss_Chris_Hughton was appointed SecretaryGeneral with Olmyster911, Arayg, and OKELEUK being the translators of the Model UN.
News
A New Generation of Deputy Speakers From Page 1
electric-blue, chrispytoast123, cptp28, TheQuipton, and agentnola as Deputy Speakers. Padanub was adamant that he would look past the big names and instead choose candidates based of their effort they put into their manifesto and general experience on MHOC itself. He looked pass many former Deputy Speakers and big names including Cocktorpedo, Duncs11, AlbrechtvonRoon, Okeleuk, Akc8, and ieaun. One Deputy Speaker candidate released their manifesto to the public after his nomination had been confirmed by the Speaker Padanub. NicolasBroaddus’ manifesto detailed many of the reforms that he would like to see happen to
MHOC, and they might due to the new Speaker’s movement for change. He claimed there was a lack of respect between parties and he believes that ’a general encouragement of productive and non-hostile debate and inter-party relations. ‘ is needed to regain that respect again. He supported the removal of the review system on bans and that he would only allow them in exceptional circumstances. Another subject area that NicolasBroaddus believes is in need of reform is the Press. He would pressure for some sort of guidelines to ensure the journalism on MHOCPress is too a high standard - specifically the protection of sources and anonymous leaks. He also backed up Padanub’s call for an event system to stop the stagnation of MHOC
Padanub has made an impressive statement with his Speakership Team appointments. 4
The Green Party Speaker was just elected as a new DS. and liven up the whole community. He also discussed the possibility of creating some sort of honours system regarding knighthoods to reward exceptional members for their services to the community. The CVS system has been talked about a lot recently on MHOC and NicolasBroaddus highlighted the need to counter the centre-left bias on reddit and the need for a more transparent Speakership Team.
makes an important point and says that the Speakership Team has felt in the past “like the old boys club” and that he wants to make it “less like an elite club”. An interesting piece of analysis and something Padanub has tried not to replicate in his nominations for the position of Deputy Speaker.
Overall, it is clear that Padanub has attempted to bring in a new age of Deputy Speakers to revitalise MHOC and hopefully put it Another new Deputy Speak- back on track and raise the er electric-blue also relevels of activity. He has leased his manifesto to the chucked out the old guard, public. He talks about his many of whom are in the achievements as Principle Honeydew Grouping, and Speaker of the Green Party replaced them with new and the methods he has fresh faces. We will find used to reignite the party’s out if it was the right move activity levels. Within his in the forthcoming manifesto, electric-blue months.
News
Market in Chaos during first few days. TETP
term downward trend, the huge over valuation The Model Stock Markets during its IPO has first few days in existence made shareholdhas been marked by insta- ers cautious and bility. The Market began unwilling to acthis week with an IPO that cept huge loss's massively overvalued every by selling now. As stock apart from The Sun. a result its share As a result the value of prices has continshares fell of a cliff and the ued to slide as noMSE9 sunk by 37% on its body is able to first day. buy and Endeavour itself has The biggest losers during Crowds filled the floors of the London Stock Exchange when it the first few days of trading been fairly inac- opened up for the first time in it’s short history. tive over the last has been the giants of week. Yesterday its shares MBBC and Endeavour. its rising output in the dip significantly over the MBBC collapsed almost en- slid by over 5%. press. Traders have seen a weekend for a few reasons. tirely by 85% on the first day Meanwhile the Morning potential deal and quick Firstly the two existing and was still sliding yester- Star has actually risen hedge-funds, Elygen Capiday by 4% despite recover- above its IPO despite a drop profit on shares that are markedly cheaper than its tal and Negyle Latipac are ing slightly the previous of 60% on the first day. Deresisting selling to each day. The Endeavour mean- mand in its shares has been bigger rivals. while seems to be in a long driven by optimism due to The MSE9 was expected to other due to a lack of supply of stocks. Secondly traders are putting of spending money in anticipation of a second IPO occurring over the weekend. At the moment the market is suffering from some significant structural issues including cash flow problems and a lack of demand. We can therefore expect an unstable market over the next few weeks as a consequence.
The London Stock Exchange was packed as the market crashed on the first day. 5
News
The new Shadow Cabinet IMPERIAL_
pointments, a large promotion for DrCaeserMD who has been appointed to the After much internal discus- very senior position of sion from within the Con- Shadow Home Secretary, servative Party, the reshuf- the MP previously served as fle is complete and the con- the Shadow Local Governtents of a new shadow cabi- ment and Communities net have been announced. Secretary. Among the more A collection of somewhat expected, ctrlaltlama has expected and unexpected held the position of Shadappointments. Among the ow International Developmore interesting of apment Secretary, a position
Office
he has held since mid October. Appointments other than DrCaeserMD in the ‘Great Offices of State’ include Deputy Leader of the Conservatives Mepzie as Shadow Chancellor, and senior Conservative InfernoPlato as Shadow Foreign Secretary.
Overall, it can be observed that there has not been a massive amount of movement in this reshuffle, it appears very much to be administration, filling the cracks which have apSome new faces in the peared due to resignation shadow cabinet include the and retirement. Lancashire MP Imperial_,
Minister
Leader of the Opposition
TheQuipton
Deputy Leader of the Opposition
InfernoPlato
Shadow First Secretary of State
Mepzie
Party Chairman
Vacant
Chief Whip (Commons) Chief Whip (Lords)
Office Shadow Energy & Climate Change Secretary
Minister cthulhuiscool2
Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary cptp28 Shadow Transport Secretary
Jazdisney
cptp28
Shadow DEFRA Secretary
geosmith17
Mepzie
Shadow Justice Secretary
Imperial_
Leadership and Whips Office
and the return of previous Shadow Trade and Investment Minister ganderloin.
Shadow International Dev. Secretary ctrlaltlama Minister
Shadow BIS Secretary
CrazyOC
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Mepzie
Shadow MCS Secretary
Pallas_
Shadow Home Secretary
DrCaeserMD
Shadow England Secretary
AdamMc66
Shadow Foreign Secretary
InfernoPlato
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Vacant
Shadow Health Secretary
jamie_maclauchlan
Shadow Scotland Shadow
Ieya404
Shadow Defence Secretary
I_miss_chris_hughton
Shadow Wales Secretary
IntellectualPolitics
Shadow Education Secretary
ganderloin
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
thedeserfox929
Shadow Cabinet
Shadow Cabinet 6
News
House of Lords: A Constitutional Crisis? amendments are voted on by the Commons in undemocratic committees The House of Lords, the and make the amendments historic upper chamber of arguably more powerful Parliament has been rethan the Commons legislacently been propelled into tive power. The Lord Bela constitutional crisis. The gravia and other ConservaCentre and the left on one tive peers have argued that side. The right on the oth- it is not. er. All over the power of the The right have been arguLords to filibuster, reject ing that it is their job to and amend bills. scrutinize this and that It is true a bill can be they have been living up to stalled in the Lords for 4 their manifesto promise of month (2 months per lap of blocking the Secularisation the Lords) but until now Bill which will separate the this has not been abused to state and the church. such an extent. The Lord Belgravia has recently tried The Lord Belgravia and the to wreck and filibuster the Earl of Dwyfor recently exchanged critic of each othSecularisation Bill which has caused huge controver- er that the Lord Belgravia sy across the Westminster was ‘against the democratic will of the other place political landscape. Suband the people of this mitting a mass of six amendments to the floor. country’ and with the Lord He has tried wreck the bill Belgravia responding ‘I disby trying to change the the agree with your point that this is undemocratic. You bill into only applying to Oversea Territories, Enact- fail to recognise that in fact ing it in one hundred and Party Lords are elected infifty years from now, enact- directly. Every Conservative ing it in two hundred years Party Manifesto has stated from now and many more. that we are against Secularisation so every Party Lord Unprecedented in the of my party has the demoHouse but technically allowed. The Left and specifi- cratic mandate to try their utmost to block this horcally the Bill's author the Earl of Dwyfor has been an rendous Bill.’. immense critic of Lord Bel- The Earl of Dwyfor and othgravia’s amendments. Ar- er Liberal Democrat peers guing that the Lords are has recently reacted to the too powerful. That these ‘filibuster’ of the Seculari-
sation Bill by filibustering every other bill in the House. Some political pundits calling it ‘hypocritical’.
the Lords more radically than the incumbent Lord Speaker. This crisis has caused the Lord Speaker In response to the crisis the election to be primary about reform. Lord Speaker candidates have been suggesting ideas With the results of the elecon how to balance the tion expected Monday noLords instead of allowing body knows what to expect. them to put a bill in stale- Will we see a Lord Speaker mate for 2 months, 4 which pledges huge reform months or even longer. The or one which pledges to alincumbent Lord Speaker, ter the current Lords to the Duke of Manchester make it more balanced? has recently stated that he Betting site MHOCWagers would reform the Lords by has put the odds towards limiting committee stage the incumbent Lord Speakto around two weeks if er however the Earl of elected whilst his closest Dwyfor is not counted out opponent the Earl of of race. Dwyfor has pledged to stop filibustering and reform
RT. H. D’SOUZA
Demon4372 has tried to protect his bill in the HoL. 7
News
New Parties - Here, There and Everywhere PETROSAC
I suppose the title isn’t strictly correct. It is loads of Groupings, whether they are cross-party or individual forming. But New Groupings doesn’t have the same ring to it. Regardless, over the last week or two, we’ve seen TETP’s Socialist Labour Party form (and then see TETP leave it to go Independent), the cross-party Futurist grouping headed by Rlack begin to take shape and a sudden revival in membership for the UK Libertarian Party. With so many groupings and parties thriving, what can we expect for the rest of the Parliament?
nities across the country, mimicking the classical idea of Poleis, so that communities may assume as much self-determination as possible, and the collective ownership of automated production & the necessary provisions shall be delegated to these Poleis” but
-existent, we have the 12 point plan posted by TETP a week ago, which was generally met with surprise and almost amusement. It is clear most members feel the Socialist Labour Party is too extreme to be a threat to the established order, and any votes gained would be due to the name rather than the policies. I tried to reach out for any comment, but was unsuccessful. If any member wishes to respond, they are free to.
it remains to be seen if they can implement their ideas. I was able to get a quick statement on the groupings short-term plans from Rlack who stated that “The
has a large voter base on reddit, but recruitment posts often get buried on the larger and much more active subreddits. Therefore I have taken a new route to recruit members, and this has obviously worked due to the influx of members. In the short term, we're planning on becoming a fully fledged party, and then supporting internal democracy by having elections for the foundation Lordship and the leadership, including a vote of confidence in myself. In the longer term, I'm hoping to use the same method I used in recruiting for voting in the general election, and I'm aiming at around 6 seats to begin with.”
grouping is a forum for political discussion for all members regarding postscarcity, transhumanist, and any ideology that is covered by the 10-PointProgramme. I plan on producing a Futurist Budget that will detail recommendations for spending, taxation & general policy, and I may articulate some of our ideas into bills…...I do not intend for the grouping to become a party or anything of that sort in the near future, at the moment it is It is clear that exciting simply an ideological extimes are in store for the periment”. MHoC with a new triumvi-
Now we move on to the cross-party Futurist grouping. Whilst the Socialist Labour Party unfortunately looks bleak to some, this grouping looks refreshing and vibrant to most, with several established members of other parties joinFirst, we’ll start with the ing the grouping including Socialist Labour Party. Though their membership the Liberal Democrat Presiis either anonymous or non dent and the Government’s Foreign and Home Secretaries. Their 10 point plan released a few days ago included ideas like “The freedom for
all individuals to expand leisure time entirely how they see fit, entailing the destruction of structures that limit the selfdetermination of the The Libertarian Party, Socialist individual” and “Mass Labour Party and Futurist Party devolution to commuare all new.
new members (and one rejoining member) on Friday alone. I spoke to CrazyOC about the party’s new membership and their short term aims, and he said “The party obviously
I finally move onto the UK Libertarian Party. Lead by CrazyOC, they’ve jumped into (and almost out of) the Official Opposition with just 1 seat to their name. However, this didn’t stop them picking up several 8
rate and new groupings and parties (as well as a membership surge in an older one) possibly soon challenging the already established parties. It remains to be seen if they can provide a viable alternative.
Interviews
Interviews
An afternoon with Alexwagbo
An interview with Alexwagbo I: We spoke to alexwagbo over a glass of port & cheese board, in the lounge of his rural home in the Welsh Marches.
ther unclean tactics to do so well in the leadership election we all remember for those endorsements. This was advanced by Alexwagbo, your notoriety things like my time in the on MHoC has increased to Respect Party, the fora level that almost everyone mation of Plaid and fight for nationalism for the knows who you are, for Welsh despite being an good reasons or for bad you're basically the equiva- Englishman and border lent to a household name. dweller, as well as being a, let's be honest, often abraHow did this develop?
ist sorts as well, which again due to my involvement in the fourth and fifth governments started it off on a rather controversial foot.
I: What would you say if I enjoy having a reputation, your greatest achievement and being the MHoC equiv- on MHoC? alent of a household name. A: That's a tough one, I've I do follow an all publicity done rather a lot and rather is good publicity philosoa varied amount of things. I phy when it comes down to think to date, winning the it, mainly because I have so majority of seats in Wales having formed Plaid has to be my proudest moment. It was an uphill battle and effort to get the party together, to get the manifesto out and to campaign, in what proved to be the most competitive constituency in the entire UK at that, that the satisfaction and exhilaration I got from that election night was truly brilliant. I doubt we'll be able to replicate it in Wales next GE due to my priorities being across the UK, but I would have to say that few regrets on MHoC that against a lot of the odds I'm happy to stand by from the very beginning of things I've said and done, Plaid, winning that electhough obviously I've drift- tion so convincingly with ed to the centre politically something like 35% of the over time. It's rather boring Welsh vote has to be my to have no character, and greatest achievement.
Alexwagbo says he has “few regrets on MHoC� A: Well, I've been a slightly controversial figure, from the off. I was always on the right of the Greens which made me rather unpopular there, and I used some ra-
especially given that MHoC is often dull, I think it adds to the experience to have a few well known and controversial figures.
sive figure. The Nationalist Coalition was a big one as well, because obviously it's rather a middle finger to the left. I've always clashed with the far-left and social9
Interviews I: I'm sure you have covered this previously, but for the sake of our readers, what was wrong with Plaid? What was the thought process behind the formation of the Regionalist Party? A: Nothing was wrong with Plaid. Plaid were the success story of regionalism & the pro-devolution movement as far as MHoC is concerned, as I've said before - sweeping Wales was an incredible moment. The problems which led to the formation of the Regionalist Party were what I noticed in the rest of the UK, and ultimately triggered by the fall of the SNP. I had been working in very close proximities and on very similar principles to the SNP, and was involved in the discussions when they decided they didn't want to be a party anymore. They were reluctant and voted for dissolution instead of an outright merger, but upon their dissolution there was little ques-
Alexwagbo at the Plaid Cymru Party Conference last year in Cardiff. tion in who the active MPs, having say over their own their Lord and their other policy with decisive and active officials would join. informed leadership. It's also meant to be able to The Regionalist Party is expand regionalism to Engmeant to be making the pro-devolution, regionalist land, where we will be and nationalist movement standing in one or two conwork. It's meant to make it stituencies next election. far more electable and easy to market to a wider audience, and it's meant to make it more leadership oriented due to the success it clearly had in Plaid. The current leadership model is very good, it combines each section of the party
In conclusion, the Regionalists are around because something needed to be done to save regionalist parties on MHoC, and I feel like this is the right way to do it. I: Amid the current drama
10
concerning the official opposition, could you possibly comment on whether or not the Regionalist Party has any plans to try and oust the Conservatives? A: Well, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea, but I doubt anything is happening in the short term I: Alexwagbo, thank you for your time. A: No problem at all, it's been lovely.
Interviews
The Former Socialist in the Liberal Democrats An interview with Zoto888 S: Welcome to the interview Mr. Zoto888, so let’s get started.
Z: As for the points where S: All right. So if you were to one-size-fits-all solution we disagree, basically in be an MP, would you have that ends up pissing off any case where they do not ambitions to enter the cab- everyone, yourself includDo you plan on standing as support the uncompromis- inet or leadership positions ed. an MP at the next General ing conclusions of absolute in the Liberal Democrats? Z: If I had another chance Election, and if so, where? maximisation of liberty, or Z: No, absolutely not. to do a budget, I'd have derivations from the maxigone for something comZ: I haven't yet decided, alt- misation of net happiness, S: So shifting away from hough it does seem fairly you and the Liberal Demo- pletely outside the box and problems will exist. likely at this point. Really crats, while you were Chan- unconventional, rather than just normal tinkering, it's just dependent on how S: So you would say that you cellor, how did you find much time I have. If I did agree with the basic princi- managing the budget with regardless of how effective ples of liberty which the on paper that was. stand, it would be in the a large variety of ideologies Liberal Democrats stand constituency I've always and parties wanting to have S: Were you satisfied with for, but you disagree with stood in, Northern Scottheir say in it? the final result of the budgsome of their actual poliland. et? Z: It's a complete bloody cies? S: How would you say your nightmare. You have a doz- Z: It was satisfactory, but Z: Yes, definitely, although personal ideology lines up en different people with not ideal. I would contend the point with the overall Liberal two dozen different views S: All right, thank you Mr. that the Liberal Democrats Democrat ideology, and on how x, y, or z should even stand for all forms of work, and of course nobody Zoto888 for your participawhat are some points do tion in this interview! you agree/disagree upon? liberty anymore, and have is willing to compromise, moved away from princiZ: Cheers. so it's up to you to find a Z: The ideology of the Lib- ples espoused by those eral Democrats as they ex- such as ist, or the ideology of the John Liberal Democrats in a log- Stuart ically consistent version? I Mill to align very closely with the the idea latter (and I have an essay of freecoming up to follow on dom, rafrom my rant in In Defence ther of Liberty or: How I learned than libto stop worrying and hate erty. freedom that details exactly how this process works), but quite frankly the Liberal Democrats as they exist are an affront to liberalism in the traditional sense, and capitulate to conservatism and reactionary thought far too frequently. Zoto888 at Liberal Democrat Headquarters with a pot of tea, just before the interview 11
Voices
Voices
Opinions from MHOC members. ● Opinions from both Journalists and members of the public. ● Featuring Regionalist Party Leader, Alexwagbo. ● Discuss anything from real-life to MHOC related.
12
Voices
Why I’m Right - The Burqa women are treated as sec- Another reason, is that precedent that we preserve ond class citizens and sexu- though it could be interand protect oppression al assault is rife, largely due preted as the freedom to and barbarism on the The burqa. Something that to strict Islamic laws. In dress how you want, for grounds of foreign reliis in my humble opinion, a Britain, for better or worse, many, many Muslim wom- gions, it sets a precedent true symbol of the oppres- we have a large Muslim en it isn’t. A survey taken that we won’t protect our sion, misogyny and ultipopulation and very few over the pond in France a citizens because we don’t mate barbarism Islam has restrictions on freedom of few years ago, which inwant to offend the leaders often has a tendency to religious expression. To spired their change in law of a large community, and promote. Today I’m here to many, even moderate, Mus- (with only 1 of around 350 it sets a precedent that lim men, the members of the French na- we’ll let segregation slide burqa segretional assembly voting because of our great virtue gates women against it at that!), disof tolerance. into the decent played that over 75% of In conclusion, the most and indecent. Muslim women who wear a freeing and liberating That’s quite burqa on a regular basis do thing we could be doing for simply wrong, it out of force and threats female members of the however you as opposed to a religious or Muslim community in Britpersonal decision. The bur- ain is banning the burqa, A woman wearing the burqa in London. look at it. It gives potential qa is seen as compulsory and it’s a disgrace that we rapists an excuse and reli- for the decency of Muslim haven’t even debated it in talk about why we should gious motive, provided by women who are pressured, parliament yet. That’s what ban it. Banning the burqa the state, for their crime oppressed and obligated to you call breaking into the should not be a debate of and behaviour. A ban sets a serve men as second class the hard right vs the rest of precedent against this, that citizens. Why should we as new journalist job with a Britain, cheered by the lib- there is no opportunity in a national ‘tolerate’ this on completely uncontroversial one, in a characteristically eral left and paraded as a the first place and thus no the grounds of religious myself style. sign of multiculturalism, trigger, or excuse, for Mus- freedom, it sets what is and it’s obviously infinite, lim men. On top of that, in quite frankly, a very danindescribably fantastic domestic abuse it’s a god- gerous precedent. It sets a benefits to everyone in so- send, quite literally seen ciety. As long as we live in a as such for some, for the place where the burqa is abuser, covering up all legal, multiculturalism en- scars, bruises and markcouraged, and the expecta- ings from the rest of socition on many Muslim wom- ety. The Muslim commuen to wear it, the burqa is nity is in denial about as dangerous to women the levels of domestic who wear it, as it is to those abuse that Islam enawho don’t. bles, and bringing them The burqa’s oppression is out of the dark, whether deep rooted in Islamic cul- they like it or not, can only be a good thing. tures, in places where Graffiti advocating a ban on Burqas on a wall in Birmingham. ALEXWAGBO
13
Voices
The repercussions of Issue 2. PETROSAC
Last week, The Independent published a controversial story, concerning the RSP and the Government from an anonymous source. An article that was written and published as mere speculation has overblown rapidly into a melodramatic mess. I feel that it is within my rights, as Deputy Editor of this fast growing organisation, to once and for all express it from my point of view.
didn’t strike me as odd or out of place so I moved on, as I wanted to see how my own columns on the Triumvirate had turned out!
being overblown. However, it was leaped on at the first chance by Valtu who seeked an explanation for the article even though we I first became aware of any had already given one. issue with the article when To Valtu, I say this. The Inmembers of the RSP and dependent is a media outthe Leader of the Labour let for journalists to exParty both expressed frus- press their opinions and to tration at the article as it also report on things they simply wasn’t true. Howev- may have seen or heard. er, what struck me was Val- The article written did not tu’s extreme disgust with state that the content withthe article, leading to an in it was completely true, article in the Morning Star nor did the Independent at entitled “Lies and Distorany point. If media outlets tion from the Independaren’t allowed to report on ent”. speculation, what is the We decided to pull the arti- point in them?
I first glanced over the article just as it was published. I had been busy that day and the day earlier so I unfortunately hadn’t contrib- cle in the end, trying to Furthermore, as an outlet, uted to the editing process. stop any fuss over it, and in we decided to do the ethiNevertheless, the article hope to stop anything from cal thing and have a look
into the claims of the article. Valtu then used this to barrage us with questions and accusations in an illegitimate inquiry to serve the Morning Star’s own interests. He talks about ethics in his article, yet I must call into question the ethics in this. The fact is, this article has been blown out of proportion because of who people think may have written the article, which is completely unacceptable. I hope the Morning Star and Valtu contemplate their actions after the publication of the article because without speculation and gossip, we will never have a truly free press.
The Independent became the subject of numerous press stories and a biased investigation run by Valtu. 14
Voices
Left-wing Establishment Threatens Freedom of the Press TETP
press in MHOC is no longer able to discuss freely information that is already in The last edition of this the public domain. We newspaper was covered in have seen it before with the controversy as its contents The anger coming from the covering up of opinion poll left was not about not bewas censored by the left ing given notice or a right data and we see it now with wing establishment who articles that leak infortook offence to some of the to reply, but about The In- mation that the Governopinions expressed within dependent actually publishing the article at all! Ac- ment and other left wing it. parties don't like. cording to the outraged Last week an article had left, no leaked information The most worrying thing been written reporting on or testimony from any about this whole episode the testimony of a source source must every be pub- was the way in which this from within the left. The lished unless a smoking newspaper acquiesced to article centred on the deci- gun is produced. the wishes of the establishsion by the Green party not ment. Not only did the InIn essence, the left wing to leave the government dependent withdraw the after much deliberation as establishment wants to put article and delay publishthe bar so high that the well as talks between the Government and RSP as to the RSP's future role within any coalition. However, everything went wrong when the issue was first published on Sunday. Many members from the RSP and Government reacted very angrily to the article and the Independent immediately with-
drew the edition and released a delayed version on the Monday with the article completely removed.
ing the article. It offered no defence of its journalists, criticised the article, apologised and then decided to partake in an 'Independent Inquiry' run by many involved with the Morning Star. One can only hope that lessons are learnt from this episode. Hopefully the Government can actually get a move on and begin its inquiry into press freedom and protection can finally be given to people who want to voice unpopular opinions.
A popular cartoon carries the slogan “The Tyrants fore, the Peoples Friend� 15
Voices
The Problem with Grammar Schools dents ability rather than the teachers’ ability to teach. I know that along I am a traditional Labour- with myself, many students ite and always have been, had to rely on revision but I differ to many Laguides to get a good grade bourites when it comes to in many subjects, especialGrammar Schools. Altly in sciences. I underhough I disagree with the stand my school was unucurrent school system we sually clever, some of the have, and I’ll explain why people who went to my in the article. But first, why school were incredibly does a Socialist support smart, but if this was what Grammar Schools? it was like at the best
tem similar to Germany. Germany have a system where There is a comprehensive school and schools for Grammar School students as well as those who are slower learners and those who want to go into a job that involves practical skills. I think with an education system that facilitates people’s jobs qualifications by separating students between year 7 and year 9. A class would now contain students of similar ability and students will no longer feel that they are being left behind by the smarter students. I propose that we have schools for the top 10%, above average students, practical skill students, comprehensives, and schools for the bottom 10% of students. A system like this will not only help The tower blocks in Whitley, south Reading. students reach their full I used to get the 7:29 from schools in the country, potential, but also increase what was it like at compre- the number of students Blackwater to Reading in hensive schools. Well, my leaving school with more order to go to Reading School, a Grammar School brother went to a local technical skills which is Comprehensive school and something Britain is lackwhich is one of the very so through conversations best in the country. I left ing severely right now. with him and discovered the school with good qualiBut returning the topic— fications that meant that I that the teachers there was Grammar Schools. Gramon the whole better. could study PPE at a top mar schools to me present university. Many of the But returning to the origi- an opportunity to a someteachers there were fantas- nal point, why do I support one like me on low-income tic, but others were simply Grammar Schools? I don’t a chance to get the best eddreadful. completely not in their cur- ucation in the country. rent form. I think if we are Without going to a GramWe used to say that the going to separate people school relied on the stumar School I highly doubt we need a streamlined sysDYNAMIC_12
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that I would have made it to the university I went to and that my job prospects would be extremely poor. We live in a country when the postcode you are born in, determines the type of life you have. However, I feel Grammar Schools give working-class students better opportunities that they would not be given at a comprehensive schools. The problem is that I was in a tiny minority of working-class students at the school. In a year of 120, I reckon there were only about 15 working-class students. That simply does not represent the demographics of Britain. It is suprising considering the school is a 5 minute walk away from Whitely, a lowerincome community in south Reading. So why don’t poorer students go to Grammar Schools? Well from what I’ve seen the standards of schools are a lot lower in communities similar to Whitely than in middle-class community. In conclusion, I don’t think Grammar Schools can ever improve the lives of the working-class in Britain unless radical education reform and investment towards schools in poorer communities are made by the government.
Voices
On Achievement Lordships MEPZIE
Over the past few weeks there has been much debate on who should receive Achievement Lordships and whether or not some given in the past were deserved. Some have even gone to the lengths of creating spreadsheets listing all Achievement Lords and whether or not they are worthy of this title. This has all stemmed from the rise of activity in the Lords in recent weeks due to the B149’s return to the Upper Chamber. Many Lords have tried to destroy this Bill through Wrecking Amendments but all attempts have been unsuccessful, aside from on the B149 Second Reading Vote where the Content’s had it 28 to 27. Many members of the Government have been vocal on their discontent with these Amendments and due to how close some of these votes have been, many begun to discuss how and when should a member be given an Achievement Lordship. In the past Achievement Lordships were given out by Timanfya (the then Speaker) almost on a whim. They were mere titles, and had no effect on
the legislative process at the time so this was not a problem. However, many argue that some of these Lordships should be revoked, or at least reviewed more thoroughly. Some Lords seemingly had their ALs revoked in the last review of Achievement Lordships when the MHoL was opened, such as KevinWilson94, but Lords such as Demon4372 argue that others need to have their Lordships removed too. He argues that Achievement Lordships should be given out only to those who are in the Lords, or will move to the Lords upon receiving one, finding problems with MPs such as AlbrechtVonRoon and TheQuipton receiving ALs despite still taking their seat in the Commons.
the prestige and freedom for life, and should thereand Achievement Lordfore not be removed, just as ships provide. The House Life Peerages in the RL of Lords needs a boost in House of Lords are not reactivity in order for it to moved except when laws survive, and this will be are broken. Achievement provided by rewarding ac- Lords, in general, vote a lot tive members of the comless than Party Lords and munity. Giving ALs to MPs therefore there really isn’t is pointless unless they de- much need to remove the cide to take them. They do ones who some argue are nothing to improve activity not deserved of the title. and instead are merely a Instead we must adopt a title in the member’s flair. new approach when giving This needs to be changed. out Achievement LordMPs should be able to receive different honours, such as the Order of Timanfya and other real life titles such as OBE or KG. These would TheQuipton is an MP with an AL. reward MPs who are active and are add- ships. The Speakership of Of course, both of these ing things to the communi- both the Lords and the members clearly deserve ty, and recipients of these Commons should decide Achievement Lordships honours would likely retogether who is given these but should they be given them if they continue to sit ceive an AL if they aren’t re- Lordships and ensure that in the Lords? Achievement elected or want to go to the they deserve the title and Lordships should be given Lords instead. This would will actually sit in the Lords with their titles. to Party Lords who are ac- be a good way to increase tive in the Lords or MPs/ex- activity in both houses. All Achievement Lords MPs who have done lots for Furthermore, we must also should keep their seats, MHoC and who are stepnot remove old ALs as the but we should ensure that ping back from MHoC and constitution says that we we are more conscientious becoming less active with- cannot remove them unwhen deciding on who rein the community. This will less MHoC rules are broceives the titles in the fuensure that activity in the ken. These ALs were given ture. Lords rises as PLs will seek for a reason and were given 17
The Numbers
The Numbers ÂŁ4,500
The money won by Yakub after the Socialist Labour Party wager.
The current turnout percentage for the 7th Government. The 88.280% 86.768% Government, Official Opposition, and the Others (from left to right). The number of members that have
12 92
banned during MHOC’s history, which include 5 who have been banned permanently.
93.450%
5
The number of bills that have passed and have become law.
The total number of votes that have been made at Elections from GE I to GE IV.
3724
528,480 18
The number of minutes that have past since the announcement of the EU Referendum Results.
References
Alexwagbo is Jeremy Clarkson. Duncs11 is Douglas Carswell. Dynamic_12 is Jeremy Corbyn. Electric-blue is Shahrar Ali. Ghoulishbulld0g is Baroness D’Souza. GoonerSam is
References
Enoch Powell. Imperial_ is George Osborne. JellyTom is Tim Farron. Mepzie is Sajid Javid. Okeleuk is Emile Roemer. Padanub is John Bercow. PetrosAC is David Laws Purpleslug is
David Davis. RachelChamberlain is Tony Blair. Roadtotheshow is Steven Woolfe. TETP is Clement Attlee. TheQuipton is David Cameron. Zoto888 is Zhou Enlai.
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“Politics and the fate of mankind, are shaped by men without ideals and without greatness. Men who have greatness within them don’t go in for politics.” - Albert Camus
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