Wessex Scene General Election 2017 Issue

WessexScene.co.uk

general election

2017

University of Southampton’s Student Magazine

General Election 2017

Welcome

ALICE HEARING Editor WESSEX SCENE TEAM Want to write for us?

Get in touch with a section editor.

Editor ALICE HEARING

editor@soton.ac.uk

Deputy Editor NUALA MCBRIDE

deputy-editor@wessexscene.co.uk

Head of Design MACKENZIE BROWN design@wessexscene.co.uk

HEAD OF IMAGERY BETHANY WESTALL image@wessexscene.co.uk

Features AMY PICKNELL

features@wessexscene.co.uk

Features ELLEN JENNE

features@wessexscene.co.uk

Opinion CARLY MAY-KAVANAGH

opinion@wessexscene.co.uk

Politics KIERAN HYLAND

politics@wessexscene.co.uk

it’s a snap!

Not another one! That’s right, it’s a Snap Election in 2017 - a mere two years from the last general election. The last 12 months have already been a hugely eventful year for politics, with the Brexit Referendum and Trump’s presidency is in full swing. This Snap Election is only the next big political event in a string of many, yet it’s a little closer to home than the others. This Snap Election holds your future in it’s hands. So, we’re here to give you the low-down!

At a time like this, that will most likely go down in history, it is vital for students to listen up and take note of what is happening. These events are vitally important to how students’ futures pan out. Current students are the generation who will graduate and come out of university into a world directly affected by this Snap election. In addition, even those who are still students or becoming students will be affected by it. The MP elected in the Southampton Constituencies, namely Southampton Test, Southampton Itchen and Romsey and Southampton North, will be responsible for student issues such as treatment of junior doctors, student nurses and the state of student housing. They will also be representing Southampton on a national level, and considering that students take up a huge amount of the population of the city, it is important that we vote for who we think represents our views the best.

Alice and Nuala

Science & Environment ABBIE JAYNE WORF science@wessexscene.co.uk

Lifestyle TALLULAH LYONS

lifestyle@wessexscene.co.uk

International CAMERON RIDGWAY

international@wessexscene.co.uk

Travel FREYA MILLARD

travel@wessexscene.co.uk

Sport JAMES MOSELEY

sports@wessexscene.co.uk

Sport TOM MORGAN

sports@wessexscene.co.uk

Pause TOM RANDALL

pause@wessexscene.co.uk

News ZéLIE SEDDON

news@wessexscene.co.uk

News Ela Crapnell

news@wessexscene.co.uk

News SAMUEL TYLER

news@wessexscene.co.uk

INVESTIGATIONS HARRIET MARTIN news@wessexscene.co.uk

MARKETING MOLLY EVANS

publicity@wessexscene.co.uk

VP DCI Cameron meldrum

vpdci@unionsouthampton.org

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FRONT COVER IMAGE BY ROBERT LEWIS WELCOME

General election 2017 issue

wessexscene.co.uk

GENERAL ELECTION 2017 ISSUE

GENERAL ELECTION 2017: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN?

04

WHY SHOULD WE VOTE?

06

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR FAMILY/FRIENDS VOTE THE OTHER WAY

07

WHY BREXIT?

08

why i don’t support brexit

09

southampton test lib dem candidate interview: thomas gravatt

10

southampton test labour candidate interview: alan whitehead

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southampton test conservative candidate interview: paul holmes

14

what have former prime ministers done for higher education?

16

the lefty social media bubble

18

which way do you lean?

19

where do the parties stand leading up to the 2017 general election?

20

snap election: is june the right time?

22

students of southampton on ge17

24

if the party leaders had instagram

26

this is not the ‘brexit election’

28

what has theresa may achieved?

29

how general election voting works

30

southampton’s constituencies

31

what would the political leaders have for food and drink at southampton university?

32

@wessexscene fb.com/wscene @officialwessexscene WELCOME

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General Election

General ele what happ

Theresa May’s shock announcement that she would call a The unexpected nature of the election means that the w vote in 2015. Here’s what to expect in th

22 April Purdah begins After parliament voted to support an early general election, the legislative period of ‘Purdah’ began, effectively banning government and civil servants at both a local and national level from announcing any initiatives that could be seen as advantageous to one political group or party or that reflect the manifesto commitments of any political party.

As a result, many major political decisions are often postponed until after the end of the electoral period and the swearing in of a new government, unless in the national interest or if a delay would be a waste of public money.

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L at e M ay

1 6 M ay

The last two weeks of May will see the publication of the parties’ manifestos outlining their plans if elected. Labour unveiled theirs on the 16th May, while the other parties, including the Conservatives are expected to publish theirs at some point before the end of the month.

During this pe including the BBC and Channel 4 wil of debates and i the leaders of the organisation of interviews has pro topic, however, as Corbyn ruled out t table debates invol leaders.

the parties launch their manifestos

TV Deba inter

Expect the manifesto commitments to be thoroughly scrutinised by both the media and the public, as they will form a key part of the debate in the run up to polling day.

The two will bo separately on the sa the BBC and Chann in a Question Time June, but that has parties from accusi directly facing vote

GENERAL ELECTION

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ection 2017: ens wheN?

a s nap general election on June 8th took many by surprise. whole process is moving somewhat more quickly than the he w eeks ahead before we go to the polls.

– 6 June

ates and rviews

eriod, broadcasters C, ITV, Sky News ll broadcast a series interviews featuring e main parties. The the debates and oven a controversial both May and later taking part in round lving the other party

oth be interviewed ame programmes by nel 4 and will take part e programme on 2nd not prevented other ing them of avoiding ers’ questions.

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8 June P o l l i n g D ay After over a month of campaigning and debate the airwaves will suddenly seem a lot quieter as we all go to vote. Electoral law prohibits any discussion of the parties or their policies on polling day itself from 12.30am until the close of the polls at 10.00pm, so no polls or information will be released until after this window.

After this point, full media coverage will resume and the broadcasters will release their exit polls, giving us the first clear idea of who may be in power come June 13th. Counting of the votes will begin no later than 2am on 9th June, but some constituencies are likely not to announce a final result until much later in the day.

We should, however, find out who has an overall majority well before the counting process has come to a close.

13 June

the new parliament assembles Tuesday 13th June will mark the first day that the new parliament sits.

Expect whoever is in charge of the new government to begin the process of appointing members of their new cabinet, although we will not know the full legislative agenda of the government until the State Opening of Parliament on June 19th when the Queen’s Speech will be given and voted on.

WORDS BY CAMERON RIDGWAY IMAGES BY BETHANY WESTALL 5

General Election

why should we vote?

WORDS BY AMY PICKNELL IMAGE BY SELINA HAMILTON

A series of political bombshells have been dropped on the UK (and the world) over the past few years. The Scottish Referendum, Brexit, now two general elections and let’s not forget the inauguration of Trump. It may seem like the public have been called into action so many times to give their vote, we might as well live at the polling station. Nevertheless, it is still so important to cast your vote this June!

Many people hold the opinion that their vote won’t matter, or that if you don’t know who to vote for, it’s best not to altogether. The EU Referendum was a prime example to show just how important your vote really is. Britain was almost split in half in what was a close call between whether to stay or leave the EU. When the results concluded that Britain was to leave the European Union, many who voted to leave publicly came out and expressed regret for their voting choices. The total turnout for the referendum in England was 73% with even lower turnouts in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; meaning that around 30-40% of people did not cast a vote at all. I often wonder how the results would have tipped if that 30-40% placed their vote. It’s important to understand that often there is no clear ‘winner’ as such. If politics was an easy 50/50 decision there wouldn’t be so many debates on it! So it is really important to do your research and make your voice heard. The more votes that are cast, the more representative the outcome.

There was a point in history when only white males could be involved in political matters and represent the country; thankfully this is no longer the case and so many more groups of people are able to cast their vote thanks to those who refused to stay silent. I may sound like your nan when I say this, but to all women, go out and vote! So many women campaigned and consequently died in horrific ways so that you have the 6

opportunity to be involved in political discussions, and to be able to have your political opinions appreciated and heard. The same goes for people of colour, and other minority groups; that vote you hold was fervently fought for, so make it count.

It’s difficult to ignore the internet and social media at the best of times, and it is particularly hard during times of political tension. However, it must be stressed that your vote is your decision. Social media can be an interesting and somewhat useful source of information and platform to hear other political opinions and perhaps even voice your own, but equally it is very easy to be swayed by family and friends and people on the internet to vote a certain way. Remember to do your own research and educate yourself fully, making sure the sources you are listening to are reliable and trustworthy. Think about the issues that you care about the most or want to see change in, and choose a party that fits closest to your own set of values and beliefs and will stand up for the issues that matter to you and your constituency.

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WHAT TO DO IF YOUR FAMILY/FRIENDS VOTE THE OTHER WAY Don’t agree for the sake of peace Just as unwise is to engage in political discussion and tamely nod along with what your friend/family member says, even though you disagree. If you strongly hold a differing opinion, express yourself, otherwise you are effectively employing selfdenial of free speech. Also, some of your closest friends and family will know you well enough to read your body language to the extent that you’ll do little to persuade them you really agree with them, anyway!

Do try to seek common ground

WORDS BY IVAN MORRIS POXTON IMAGE BY SOPHIE WILLIAMS As the election campaign unfolds, conversations about political beliefs and allegiances among friends and families across the UK may reveal some rather divergent opinions.

Here I offer my tips about what to do if your friends and family plan to not vote the same way as you:

Don’t avoid the ‘Politics Issue’ Avoiding talking about politics is the worst approach. Like a fart at a family gathering that everyone can smell, but no-one will own up to, it will poison the atmosphere, knowing you cannot raise the topic for fear of descending into acrimony. If you are highly politically engaged this will prove all the more galling and inexorably, the value you place on the family tie or friendship will diminish over time. Instead, be willing to discuss it. Granted, Uncle Louis’ bungee-jump fun run may be safer territory for the main dinner table topic [disclaimer: the author sadly doesn’t have an uncle quite as exciting as this], but if we are so concerned about ‘echo chambers’ on social media, are we not creating one in reality if we do not seek debate?

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Political views can inflame passions, meaning that when discussing politics with someone who holds opposing views, there is a danger of debate becoming heated. The best way to avoid this is to seek areas of consensus. For example, you may differ on Brexit, but do agree that tuition fees should be reduced. In concluding political conversation, emphasize the areas where you find agreement. This will leave your friend with more positive connotations about talking politics with you than negative. At the least you can find common areas of concern, e.g. economy, even if your solutions differ, for being a friend or family member means they’ll share the same social background or some of the same experiences which have shaped your political outlook.

Finally, you may persuade, but don’t persist Undoubtedly you may wish to persuade your friend to vote the same way as yourself. By all means having understood their reasoning, attempt to re-frame your own political preferences to appeal. However, endlessly besieging them with attempts to change their mind are more likely to place anyone on the defensive and further entrench their political preferences. A gentler, infrequent approach is the optimum way to change your friend’s mind and if it fails to do so, should not lead your friend to tire of your company when discussing politics.

Hopefully, these tips will help you to successfully negotiate through the minefield of newfound political disagreements to emerge with your friendships/family bonds intact, if not enhanced!

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WORDS BY MATTHEW COWLEY IMAGE BY HERMIONE COOK

The vote to leave the European Union opens up the UK to a fair, liberal, and global future, where we trade and cooperate with the entire world. Brexit is an opportunity to create a network of global free trade deals, a fair immigration system, and a more democratic political system.

Let’s be clear, the EU is not some progressive globalised body. It is a protectionist organisation designed to promote intra-European trade at the expense of trade with the other 169 countries of the world. It prevents the UK from conducting free trade deals with growing economies outside the EU, and with our traditional global allies. The Common External Tariff means that European good and services are made to seem cheaper by pricing out other markets.

As a globalist, outward-looking nation, the Brexit vote mandated us to seek to secure free trade deals, not just with the EU27, but with the wider world. We will be able to secure fair trade deals with the growing economies of the world: China, India, Brazil etc.; and with our traditional Commonwealth and Anglosphere allies. If we are to truly be a part of a globalising world then it is also important to have a seat at the top table, which means increasing our influence from simply being 1/28th of a voice in organisations like the WTO.

FOR

Brexit also presents us with an opportunity to establish a fairer, more liberal immigration system. If we accept that there has to be some form of upper limit on immigration (whatever number we set that at), then free movement of labour within Europe is inherently illiberal because it reduces the opportunities for people from non-EU nations to come and work in the UK, simply based on the passport that they hold. We should use the opportunity presented by Brexit to ensure that our immigration system is based on the person, not their nationality. It is not just, fair, or

BRE liberal to propose a system that requires us to discriminate against people based on their result in life’s first great lottery.

This is a chance to reclaim and strengthen our democracy. Brexit removes the impact of an unelected supranational body on our legislation, and instead returns important competencies to the UK’s legislative system. Increased power for Parliament should see powers that currently exist at national level passed down to regional governments, creating a system where the decisions that affect Southampton get made by a Southampton government that is much more convenient for you to lobby and influence, and by representatives who can be swayed by a much smaller group of people (as they have smaller constituencies).

It also brings an impetus for democratic reform. We have seen people examine the House of Lords with more scrutiny already during the Brexit process, and ask important questions about how much constitutional power the executive and the judiciary should have, and that sort of deliberation can only be a positive thing with regards building a representative and effective democracy, and eradicating further democratic deficits.

Britain can use this opportunity to retake our place on the global stage. A global Britain trading, working, cooperating with our European friends and neighbours and with our global allies.

Taking the lead on security cooperation within and outside of Europe. Cooperating on global issues as a whole voice, rather than as a tiny part of one.

Brexit is about ensuring that we create a global Britain, with global free trade, a fair and liberal immigration system, and a better democracy.

EXIT June 23rd, 2016 – an historic day for the UK as well as the European Union. It was the day when the UK voted to leave the EU and in the process became the first member state to use a previously untouched release claim. Since this historical day, the word BREXIT has received a lot of attention. Everyone has a view. The issue is so large that it’s really hard to come down on one side as neither side’s argument is bulletproof – each one has its flaws.

In my view, leaving the EU is akin to a divorce. And no one likes a divorce. They’re messy, unpredictable and each side comes out worst off. So, why are we voluntarily choosing to partake in this one? Yes, the UK has issues with the EU, every marriage comes with issues. I hold the opinion that we need to pick up the pieces and fix what’s gone wrong, especially in this period of political unease. Just like couples attend marriage counselling, the EU needs to undergo institutional reform.

Isn’t it better to try to fix something, then simply tear away from a unity that has supported us for so long?

After a turbulent beginning to the 20th century, with two world wars and then The Cold War, something had to be done. It all started, in 1950, with six founding countries – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands – which together created the European Coal and Steel Community. Wars need weapons. So, the hope was that this agreement would make another world war impossible, by removing the power from national governments.

WORDS BY NUALA MCBRIDE IMAGE BY HEATHER RANKINE

and votes as well as an intricate mixture of treaties to get us to the place where we are today – a united continent, with a vision of peace. Yet, nowadays this is somewhat taken for granted.

The European Union is the mother of all mothers for our countries. It helps us in times of need, especially for countries who are facing economic difficulties. It tells us what is right and wrong, through overarching rules and regulations. It helps out those smaller nations, who struggle to prosper. What would we do without it?

I would argue that peace is the EU’s biggest achievement, especially with it winning the 2012 Nobel Peace prize. Over the years it has helped to improve so many people’s lives, among other things. The EU is the father of national human rights laws, democracy rules, as well as directives to help overcome discrimination on the basis of gender, race, age and disability. These initiatives have a direct impact on so many people’s lives and together create a stronger more respecting nation of people. Even the creation of a single market means there’s free movement of goods, people, services and capital across different countries. This promotes cultural awareness and lets each of us learn from one another.

A GAI N ST

Since then, this original community has grown into what we now know as the European Union, with a further 22 countries joining. This unity has taken years and years of talks, debates

In the current political climate isn’t it essential, more than ever, to keep the peace and not break something that has taken years to create? Do we really want to set the example that if you don’t agree with something you should up and leave?

Politics is more than just slamming a door – it’s about debate, compromise and options, just like life really.

General Election

SOUTHAMPTON TEST LIB DEM CANDIDATE INTERVIEW:

THOMAS GRAVATT WORDS BY FREYA MILLARD IMAGE BY BETHANY WESTALL OUR VERY OWN SOUTHAMPTON STUDENT, THOMAS GRAVATT, IS RUNNING AS THE SOUTHAMPTON TEST LIBERAL DEMOCRAT’S CANDIDATE FOR THE UPCOMING GENERAL ELECTION AND I HAD THE PLEASURE OF SITTING DOWN AND CATCHING UP WITH HIM. SO THOMAS, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR NEW ROLE? Well my housemate called it the worse job interview in the world, six weeks to earn the votes of thousands of people.

But I guess now more than ever before, is the time for young people to be getting involved in politics and having their voices heard. I’m excited to have the opportunity play a part.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS IN THE FIRST PLACE? It was largely a case of being in the right place at the right time.

I didn’t become a candidate by walking into the party and say ‘I want to run for parliament now’, it was more the case of coming in and saying ‘I want to hand out leaflets’ and it all kicked off from there.

I volunteered myself as candidate because we all knew there was a chance of a general election. Like any good party does, we prepared long before the announcement.

WHAT POLICIES ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU? ENVIRONMENT Number one for me is environmental change. The world is being destroyed but effectively we are doing nothing about 10

it. During the collation the Lib Dem’s introduced the green investment bank, which the conservatives just scrapped. They also want to tax solar panels for carbon tax, which is absurd.

If I am elected, I will make effective and important changes to our city. I want to introduce cycling paths to encourage cycling and provide cyclists better safety. I also want to build electric car charger ports because although they are the minority of cars currently, this will change in the future and also deal with the pollution by making large ships plug into the electricity on the land instead of running their engines in the ocean and causing unnecessary pollution.

NHS FUNDING It’s so vitally important that we increase funding to the NHS and social care. But also we desperately need to reevaluate the way this country deals with Mental Health; it needs to be on par with the way we treat Physical Health. It is unacceptable that citizens struggling with mental illnesses have to wait months on end to get the treatment and help they need.

HOMELESSNESS Southampton is very bad for homelessness, I was just feuding on twitter with a local Labour Councillor, who was arguing that my point about homelessness isn’t valid because they are dealing with it. Well the way they have “dealt with homelessness” is through the Public Place Protection Order.

This basically fines homeless people £100 for begging.

Nothing makes me angrier than when they claim to be doing good work but doing the opposite.

Homelessness is an example of the extremes of inequality in society, and in my opinion, housing needs to be the base line for helping. We need to provide more spaces in rehab and GENERAL ELECTION

General Election accommodation that is drug free so they can progress and not begin the downwards spiral again.

HOW IS CAMPAIGNING GOING? WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET THROUGH TO THE STUDENT DEMOGRAPHIC? I’ll be pushing a lot of facebook/social media and running stalls on campus to try and win the student vote. The other day we registered 200 students here at Uni to vote, which was so fulfilling. However, there is 24,000 students here so we’re not there yet – but we will get there.

I just want to remind students that they can register at both home and Uni and only vote for one. The safe thing to do is register twice so wherever you are you can vote. Obviously, don’t vote twice.

RECENTLY UNIVERSITY FEES HAVE BEEN INCREASED AGAIN TO £9,250. NEW LEGISLATION WAS ALSO PASSED AT THE END OF APRIL THAT ALLOWS UNIVERSITIES TO INCREASE THIS EVEN FURTHER IN 2020-21.

worse drugs available to us already. Legalising, would mean destroying the black market overnight and instead of letting seedy businesses make a profit, you get to charge tax and put the money made back into the community.

YOU SAY NEITHER LABOUR NOR CONVERSATIVES ARE DOING ENOUGH TO REDUCE INEQUALITY IN OUR SOCIETY – WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU MAKE TO IMPROVE EQUALITY? Firstly, we need to be investing in education and getting all comprehensive schools up to a similar standard across the country.

Secondly, we need to get a lot better with trans right, like providing the correct pronouns on government forms. From what I’ve read online from individual’s stories, we just need to get a lot better with LGBT rights in general. Legalising gay marriage was a good first step, but we need to take it further.

WHAT WOULD THE LIB DEM’S DO TO HELP STUDENTS THAT ARE SOON TO FACE THIS SITUATION? Personally, myself and a lot of Lib Dem’s would vote to scrap the number entirely, and work towards increasing maintenance loans, particularly for middle earning families who struggle because they don’t get the full loans and their parents can’t afford it. It’s time we just scrape the threshold of not getting enough.

ON THE LIB DEM’S WEBSITE UNDER THE HEALTH CARE SECTION THERE IS A DECLARATION THAT YOU WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO LISTEN TO THE POSITIVE RESEARCH THAT HAS COME FORWARD FOLLOWING THE REGULATED LEGALISATION OF CANNABIS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE GLOBE. IF A LIB DEM GOVERNMENT IS ELECTED WOULD REGULATED AND LEGAL CANNABIS MARKETS BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE UK IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS? I fully agree, it’s a very sensible policy. Cannabis research has shown it to be very good for your health. If we look at the facts, it is a drug that does not kill people, and we have far GENERAL ELECTION

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General Election

SOUTHAMPTON TEST LABOUR CANDIDATE INTERVIEW:

ALAN WHITEHEAD WORDS BY ALICE HEARING IMAGE BY BETHANY WESTALL ALAN WHITEHEAD IS THE SOUTHAMPTON TEST CANDIDATE FOR LABOUR IN THE UPCOMING GENERAL ELECTION. HE HAS BEEN THE MP FOR THE CONSTITUENCY SINCE 1997. HERE IS WHAT HE HAD TO SAY. YOU WERE ONCE UNION PRESIDENT HERE, DID YOU GET INTO POLITICS WHILST YOU WERE AT SOUTHAMPTON? I wouldn’t say I did at University. I was politically involved before then but I certainly got involved with student politics; firstly being elected union president but also subsequently I did a lot of work on getting a student housing co-operative together at a time when housing was a real issue as far as the students were concerned. We had dealings at that time with Southampton City Council to bring some properties, that were short-lived because of road development, back into life and get those rented out for student accommodation. I think that taught me that it wasn’t just about the fact that you were Union President and you were doing things in the University, it was a question of making those links with the city and trying to get the university and students to be good neighbours and good residents of Southampton as well. That’s underpinned what I’ve tried to do in politics ever since, with particular emphasis on the fact that Southampton is a place with an enormous student population with two universities.

succeeded in doing that as an amendment to the bill that was going through. The current Labour manifesto point on tuition fees seems to me, a very positive way of moving forward as far as higher education is concerned. Particularly because we now know, from reasonably long experience, that students are coming out with huge debts around their necks and, whichever way you cut it, that does produce substantial difficulties for students later in life after graduation. Quite a few students never repay their grants and money is not recoverable but it’s all sloshing about out there and that has never been something I thought was right. The principle that I thought was just central in higher education is that you should have access to whatever university you think you are able to go to regardless of your purse or parents’ purses and that education access should be equal and free for all. The proposal Labour is putting forward will be that tuition fees incurred by students coming to university from the autumn would be waived and that the scheme would fully come into place into 2018. The next question then is, well how are you going to pay for that?

It would come to about 11 billion pounds over a full financial year. One of the remarkable things about this election, you might say, is that Labour has produced a manifesto which is fully costed down to the last pound whereas Conservatives have produced a manifesto which will look very hard for any costings at all on anything.

WHAT’S YOUR STANCE ON TUITION FEES?

IF YOU ARE RE-ELECTED, HOW WILL YOU CONTINUE TO TACKLE THE ISSUE OF STUDENT HOUSING?

I was delighted to see that in the manifesto that we’ve now got there is the very clear central proposal that tuition fees simply will be abolished and that maintenance grants will be restored for students who are from less well off backgrounds. That’s a particular issue for me because when the tuition fees were changed, I and a number of colleagues got an amendment through at that time to bring back maintenance grants and we

Well that’s been a particular passion of mine over many years really, stemming from what happened after I was a student and trying to deal with what was an absolutely dreadful housing crisis for student over many years in Southampton.

That’s been alleviated over the years by building more halls of residence and more recently by the private sector housing that’s come on stream – some of which is good and some not.

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General Election But the problem is that the increasing student numbers has always outpaced the availability of housing in the city. I’m sure everybody in this place either has personal experience or knows people who have been in student housing where, frankly, you wouldn’t put your dog in there. So what I wanted to do with the rental charter was to get the issue tackled at the point of which letting agencies are letting the premises out and what responsibilities they have for making sure the property is in a reasonable condition. I want to make sure there is proper address and the deposits are properly protected and returned under reasonable conditions and that it is upfront rather than something you discover much too late in the day when it’s too late to do anything about it. So having a rental charter, where we can say separately from what individual student experience is: well your letting agencies are letting properties out and we know that they’re crap and you have either infringed some of your legal responsibilities or you shouldn’t be letting the property out. We can say with the charter, if you haven’t signed up to this, it perhaps says something to people coming along to let property from you as to what they might let them in for.

If they have, on the other hand, signed up and then don’t take proper stewardship of the properties they’re letting then we can take action. So I hope that’s something that will develop very positively as a protection for students renting properties over the years. It seems to be one important thing – to get it right at the beginning rather than after the event.

IT HAS RECENTLY BEEN REVEALED THAT SOME NURSES ARE HAVING TO RESORT TO USING FOOD BANKS. HOW WILL YOU HELP THE NHS, NURSES AND STUDENT NURSES? We know that the NHS is under tremendous strain and it’s not just under strain because of the number of treatments and the demand upon it, but we know that, for example, the 2013 Health and Social Care Act which effectively gave the green light to privatise large sections of the NHS through contract arrangements is beginning to and will continue to seriously weaken the NHS as a cohesive body. We know that the funding that is being put forward is desperately inadequate for what we know are the strains on services and hospitals.

They are collectively running on a £400 million deficit this year. So we know the NHS is in real trouble. My question, as far as the Conservatives are concerned, is do they care that the NHS is in real trouble? The solution is to make the NHS work properly in the first place and that’s in the not too distant future. It means that we’ve got to get the 4-hour waiting time back to 4 hours for A&E, we’ve got to get the waiting time for operations and procedures back to 18 weeks, we’ve got to pay nurses properly. We’ve got to restore bursaries for nurse training so we can get nurses coming through into the system, GENERAL ELECTION

retention of nurses once they’re in the system and to get those nurses working in a system which is publically funded properly and provides comprehensive service for everybody regardless of their personal circumstances. That’s basically it. That’s the heart of the NHS. If we throw that away it will be impossible to rebuild. We’ve got to maintain it and it’s got to be maintained at the level that it really can be a service to people who don’t have the resources to buy medical treatment.

THE LABOUR MANIFESTO BACKS A RENEWAL OF TRIDENT, WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL VIEW ON THIS? What we’ve got to do on the basis of Trident being renewed is place the long term future of Trident and other missile defence systems in the context of a more general multilateral disarmament framework. Yes, there is the case that Trident should be renewed because that is the only nuclear deterrent we have at the moment but arguably, in the longer term, a Trident type of system is less than adequate for the way in which the world is likely to go considering the threats that there are around. There is the argument that, not just Trident but traditional nuclear weapon systems, where you’re in the area of mutually assured destruction and with two superpowers pointing their weapons at each other, is not an adequate response for the sort of threats that we’ve got in the world today. So I would certainly want to see what we’re doing about the amount of deployment in the future.

I would want to see what alternatives we’re putting forward in terms of more mobile capable deployment. We have also just got to actually de-escalate the whole nuclear arsenals of the world at an increasingly fast rate. There has been some progress on that. But I mean we’ve still got a situation where we’ve got enough nuclear arsenals in the world to blow each other up several tens of times over, so we’ve got to get that de-escalated and that needs to be a forward part of our foreign defence policy over the next ten years.

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General Election

SOUTHAMPTON TEST CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE INTERVIEW:

PAUL HOLMES WORDS BY SAMUEL TYLER IMAGE BY BETHANY WESTALL

With the Snap General Election drawing ever closer, Wessex Scene sat down with Southampton Test’s Conservative Candidate, Paul Holmes to find out what he has to offer for Southampton Test constituents if he was elected as MP and his views on national issues such as Brexit.

SO PAUL, I THINK THE FIRST THING TO ASK IS WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN POLITICS AND WHY YOU ARE RUNNING AS THE CONSERVATIVE MP FOR SOUTHAMPTON TEST? Growing up, I became very passionate about the direction that the country was heading. I grew up in quite a deprived part of London, saw what was going on there and did not necessarily like the direction from which Tony Blair was taking the country. You hear a lot from politicians about getting involved for public service but for me it genuinely was that. I stood in quite a deprived part of Southampton in 2008 for the Southampton City Council elections while I was a student and won that seat and worked to improve the area. I want to improve an area I love and have an affinity with.

I am running in Southampton Test because I have spent most of my working life in the constituency. I served in the Council for four years and have an affinity with the area. In accordance with my records for elections, I only stand in areas where I have an affinity and where I care about. I only applied for Southampton Test as a seat on the national list and gave up my job for it.

SO DID YOU EVER RUN FOR OFFICE IN LONDON WHERE YOU WERE FROM AND FIRST MOTIVATED TO GET INVOLVED IN POLITICS? I ran for Mitcham and Morden in 2015, and you can tell by the fact that I am sat here today that I did not win. But London has similar issues to Southampton with huge pockets of deprivation, under-performing 14

GENERAL ELECTION

General Election schools and infrastructure issues. I think my background gives me a fresh set of eyes and a new impetus into making sure that the area gets better.

and I accept that many of your readers will think that it is not ideal but there are still mechanisms to which people can access University education.

I THINK OUR READERS WILL WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOUR STANCE ON UNIVERSITY TUITION FEES IS AND WHETHER YOU AGREE WITH THEM RISING WITH INFLATION?

I am aware that there are 15,000 students in my constituency and that this is an important issue and if elected I will expect that this will be at the top of my inbox and something that I will be working with the Students’ Union and the students on.

This is a difficult one, because you’ll probably say that the Labour party have pledged to scrap tuition fees. In an ideal world we wouldn’t have tuition fees as Labour like to play on with their pledge to scrap them. Unfortunately, however, we do not live in an ideal world and we face a lot of challenges over the next five years. Labour’s manifesto has £58 billion of blackholes and in an ideal world you would not have tuition fees. I was in the first year of students to start paying tuition fees for instance. We need to make sure that students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, like myself, are not deprived of access to University.

DO YOU AGREE WITH THERESA MAY’S APPROACH OF A ‘HARD BREXIT’ AND HOW WILL THIS ENSURE THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM?

With regards to rising with inflation, I think that is a sensible thing to do. Inflation is quite low at the minute and there does need to be some kind of benchmark. If we want a University system that is among the best class in the world then we have to pay for it. I think it’s irresponsible for Labour to promise things that they cannot afford.

SO YOU SAID THAT YOU GOT INVOLVED IN POLITICS THROUGH YOUR OWN DISLIKE TOWARDS BLAIR’S POLICIES, WAS THE INTRODUCTION OF TUITION FEES A FACTOR THAT GOT YOU INVOLVED IN POLITICS? It wasn’t a big factor for me to get involved in politics. I do, however, remember at the time that it was a genuine worry coming from a council estate in London with £3000 a year as a loan for University tuition. But with the maintenance loans we were supported and actually people who took £3000 loans pay more of their monthly income back into these loans than those who took £9000 loans.

YOU TALKED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTENANCE LOANS FOR STUDENTS FROM LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS, WHAT IS YOUR STANCE ON THE GOVERNMENT SCRAPPING THE MAINTENANCE GRANT?

I would challenge the fact that Theresa May is following a hard Brexit. At no point since triggering Article 50 or since becoming Prime Minister has Theresa May said that she wants a hard Brexit. I don’t actually recognise the term ‘hard Brexit’, she has said that she wants to get the best deal for the United Kingdom and a deal for everyone. The reasons for calling this election were clear. Firstly, Brexit was being thwarted by the other parties, the referendum result was clear and we do need to get on with it. Secondly, we need to secure the best deal for Britain and get it through Parliament.

In terms of guaranteeing economic prosperity, again what the Prime Minister has said is clear: she wants to get the best deal for Britain. The Prime Minister said in an Echo interview when she visited Southampton that she aspires to allow European citizens to stay in Britain, but we can’t make that pledge as long as British citizens do not have that right in European countries. We shouldn’t forget the opportunity that this vote, speaking as someone who voted leave, has given us.

DO YOU NOT SEE THE IDEA TO LEAVE THE SINGLE MARKET AND EEA AS A HARD BREXIT? I don’t recognise it as this is in the beginning of the negotiating strategy. Labour have, I think, pledged to remain in the single market which is something we cannot guarantee before starting negotiations. Speaking for myself, I would like to stay in the single market but it is too early for us to say something on this until we have begun the negotiations. The Prime Minister has been very clear that she wants the best deal for this country which means that we can continue growing.

It’s a tricky one, in an ideal world the maintenance grant was a good thing, but what has been put in place with the maintenance loans is a decent support structure. It is not ideal GENERAL ELECTION

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WHAT HAVE FORMER PRIME MINISTERS DONE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION? WORDS BY LISA VEIBER IMAGE BY SELINA HAMILTON

UK Higher Education has always been proud of its political neutrality. Yet, the different political governments have passed bills throughout the years that have affected the Higher Education environment and more specifically student life.

With the upcoming General Election next June, here is a little reminder of what the different governments have done to shape our current Higher Education experience.

First, most of the universities from the 19th century were effectively established by acts passed in the Parliament and initiated by the Government. One of the most famous examples is the establishment of the federal University of London decided in 1898 under the Conservative Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury. After World War One, Higher Education underwent a financial crisis, leading to the formation of the University Grants Committee, and thus government funding.

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The higher demand for Higher Education after World War Two led to an ease in achieving the University status after the Robbins Report’s conclusion for the need of the immediate expansion of universities. This was achieved under the Conservative Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home.

One of the biggest opportunities students have at university is going abroad for a year. Most of them go to Europe with the Erasmus programme, which nearly wasn’t established. Indeed, in 1986 the European Commission proposed the programme but UK, France and Germany opposed it because they already had strong similar national schemes. However, they finally accepted a revised scheme in 1987 under the government of Margaret Thatcher. Replaced several times the framework is now called Erasmus+; supposed to last until 2020, it is an investment of 14.7 billion euros spent around education, training and sport.

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Since last year’s Brexit vote it has been a sensitive current £9,000 was reached and applied under subject, as around 14,600 British students went David Cameron. This has been closely followed abroad with the scheme in 2012/2013. by the controversial new rise due to inflation.

Let’s discuss one of the most important and critical subjects: tuition fees. Indeed, less than 20 years ago, no tuition fee was required to enrol at a university. They were enacted by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 under Tony Blair’s Labour government, after abolishing the maintenance grant. This was a response to the inquiry, of the previous Conservative Prime Minister John Mayor, which claimed that additional funding would be needed throughout the next few years to expand student enrolment and academic infrastructure. After Blair’s reelection, a new Act was passed in 2004 leading to a further raise in the fees to £3,000 in England and Wales. Finally, following the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance in 2010, a further increase to the GENERAL ELECTION

It has to be said that even if Higher Education wishes to stay away from politics, it was politically created and was helped by the Government to survive during some major events of the 20th century. Yet, politics will always try to influence Higher Education, especially after the Brexit vote.

This new election could decide what will shape the next great change for Higher Education.

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General Election

THE

LEFTY SO CIAL MEDIA BUBBLE WORDS BY FARIHAH CHOUDHURY IMAGE BY SELINA HAMILTON Speaking on behalf of your bog-standard, politically “woke” and characteristically liberal university student, we are all equally guilty of constructing a social media sphere in which most of our followers and friends have similar political views. This results in mass disappointment and disbelief after hearing of the results of each and every large political shake-up.

population will be of a certain age demographic (74% 15-29 in 2016), have a smartphone to access the application, and respond to viral social media trends in their leisure time. In developed countries there is an increasingly aging population, the majority of whom will not share their views on apps beyond their comfort zones, consequently alienating a large chunk of the population.

The beauty of friendship in adulthood is that you can more or less pick and choose with whom you remain friends after many years of childhood, and strategically choose your friends at university and work. Not everyone likes everyone, and in adulthood, unlike on the playground, this is not bitchy or blasphemous, but realistic and practical. However, to an extent, you may just tolerate certain people because it is easier for your everyday life: generally people with whom you share a house, a workplace, or a (God forbid) group project.

Accordingly, when we vote in large elections and referendums, we enjoy the reassurance from our social media sphere, and you have yet to see that many people with a different view, so of course your left-wing opinion represents the opinion of the nation. This has proved to not be the case in most of our recent major political changes: Tories re-elected after the 2015 election, Trump taking the US presidency in 2017 and the Brexit vote.

Online, this is not the case. The impersonality of online interactions makes it easier to cut people off in digital confines, for instance by simply declining to follow someone else back. As a result, most people that we choose to interact with on social media have views that we share and encourage. Sure, we have the odd relative or schoolmate who will post an infuriatingly rightwing view on something you and all your other lefty friends have already agreed on, but we dismiss their views as the minority.

What people often fail to acknowledge, is that this minority does not represent an actual minority in the population, but the minority of the population with whom you facilitate social media interaction; they are the minority of your personal social media bubble.

Take the concept of self-selective sample sizes: your Twitter feed may agree with all of your views on Trident, and join you in demonising all your right-wing villains and sketching love hearts onto Barack Obama candids, but by definition, the Twitter 18

Despite this, it is not to say that the majority of the population disagree with you. In fact, more often than not there is a huge chunk of the population who do not vote, jeopardising the outcome for everyone who did. These non-voters are another voice you will probably not hear on your social media sites (unless it’s Russell Brand). The reason often being that they do not feel like their opinions are strong or valid/educated enough to entitle them to a vote; or they feel ennui with a constantly disappointing political system in which they feel their voices are not heard.

Overwhelming voting statistics prove that if all the people who didn’t vote actually voted, there would be enough fuel for the losing parties/policies to win, or the winning side having more of a majority.

The moral of the story at the end of the day is that do not be deceived by what you see on social media and do your own research. Always acknowledge that there is another side, with whom you may not necessarily agree, but they exist, and have just as much power as you do. Most importantly, your vote counts, so use it!

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WHICH WAY DO YOU LEAN? WORDS BY MOLLY EVANS

YOU GOT LABOUR! YOU SUPPORT THE IDEAS OF INCREASED FUNDING FOR PUBLIC SERVICES, INCREASED HOUSING AND FEWER SOCIAL CARE CUTS.

S

YES

DO YOU SUPPORT THE NO PRIVATISATION OF THE NHS? YES

YES

DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE FUNDING NO FOR MORE POLICE OFFICERS?

YE

DO YOU WANT THE NO MINIMUM WAGE TO BE INCREASED TO £10 AN HOUR? S YE

YOU GOT CONSERVATIVE! YOU’RE IN FAVOUR OF A HARD BREXIT WITH FOCUS ON STRONG ECONOMY OVER SOCIAL DEMANDS.

DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE MORE GOVERNMENT MEASURES TO END ROUGH SLEEPING? NO YES

YES

NO DO YOU SUPPORT CUTS TO WELFARE/SOCIAL SERVIES?

YES

NO

DO YOU WANT MORE AFFORABLE HOMES TO BE BUILT?

DO YOU THINK THE UK NO SHOULD LEAVE THE FREE MARKET? YES

DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE A 2ND NO REFERENDUM ON THE TERMS OF BREXIT?

DO YOU WANT TO INCREASE THE THRESHOLD AT WHICH STUDENTS HAVE TO START PAYING BACK FEES? O N

YOU GOT LIBERAL DEMOCRAT! YOU’RE IN FAVOUR OF FLEXIBILITY OVER THE TERMS OF BREXIT, A REVIEW OF THE UNIVERSITY FEES SYSTEM, AND INCREASED FUNDING FOR SOCIAL SERVICES.

WHERE DO THE PARTIE TO THE 2017 GEN

G RE E N P AR TY & UKI P

Two parties who saw greater success in 2015 that look unlikely to grow on it.

The UKIP main campaigning policy has been holding the Tory Governments feet to the fire on Brexit and committing them to a Brexit they have fought hard for. Although, as a party they are struggling for identity and success since losing their MP and charismatic leader.

The Greens have been pushing for a progressive alliance to stop the Tories while also pledging to a second EU referendum on the results of the Brexit negotiations.

WORDS BY TOM BROWN IMAGE BY BETHANY WESTALL

L IB ER A L D EM OC R A T S

The Liberal Democrats under Tim Farron have positioned themselves as the legitimate opposition to the current ‘Hard Brexit’ Conservative government with their pro-EU and rejuvenated message which has seen them to good electoral success in recent council and by-elections. So far the key campaign pledges have been a heavily pro-EU Soft Brexit with a referendum on the outcome of the negotiations with Nick Clegg stating that “The Liberal Democrat manifesto will include a commitment to another EU referendum where the party would campaign for Remain” in a speech where he claimed leaving the EU would damage the UK economy by £59bn.

On other non-Brexit policies the Liberal Democrats have pledged to focus on ending homelessness with a policy that will place longterm homeless people straight into independent homes rather than emergency shelters, which will mean increasing grants to local authorities. They have also pledged to reinstate housing benefit for under 21-year-olds and have indicated plans to stop employers forcing staff to identify as self-employed with policies aimed at ensuring that employers don’t get away with tying workers into exclusivity deals.

Other policy positions will most likely include a pledge to fully fund the NHS based on the Healthcare body’s own internal reporting, which in 2015 was £8 Billion, and opposing hospital closures, a commitment to helping mental health issues and drug abuse. There are also rumours that they will pledge in their manifesto to slow the rate at which students have to pay back tuition fees.

ES STAND LEADING UP NERAL ELECTION?

LABOUR

The Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn is often painted as a party in turmoil and that is mud that appears to be sticking going into this General Election. This has not been helped by what has been a muddled history on Brexit ever since the EU referendum campaign last year. Brexit has not been a key campaigning point for Labour who, perhaps due to their sketchy past on the topic, have opted to focus on other policy areas instead.

Labour has come up with a 20 point plan which it claims will fix the austerity based economy in place and includes promises to increase the minimum wage to match the national living wage and to scrap unpaid internships and zero hour contracts while also introducing four new Bank Holidays. On healthcare they are pledging to halt all Tory hospital closure plans and bring back the NHS student nurse bursary. Speaking of education, they are seeking to cap class sizes in schools and provide teachers with the resources they need while also extending free school meals for all primary school children.

They also plan to build one million new homes over five years, at least half of which will be council homes. They will also recommit to the message of ending trident nuclear programme and increasing the number of police officers on the streets by several hundred thousand.

CO N S ER V A TIV E

The Conservatives under Theresa May are starting to find their feet. Strong and Stable Leadership and not Coalition of Chaos has been their marching song but where do they actually stand when June 8th comes around? Brexit has been the key to this election so far with May calling this snap election on the principle idea of getting a mandate to enact her vision of Brexit. Once a soft Remainer, her views have been dubbed hard Brexit and she is expected to include guarantees to end free movement of EU citizens, to leave the European single market and to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in her manifesto pledges on Brexit. But this is not the only policy that May has been fighting for. In September last year, May announced plans to introduce a wave of new grammar schools as well as allowing comprehensives more control over admissions.

The Conservatives are also expected to pledge that energy bills for millions of consumers will be capped which could save about ÂŁ100 a year for 17 million families. This was an idea rubbished by then Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015 when it appeared on the Labour manifesto. The Conservative tax plan is one that is currently unclear as May has pledged not to raise VAT but has hinted she will scrap a flagship pledge which rules out increases to income tax and national insurance; a rule that has caused issues for Philip Hammond and his budget plan in his new role as Chancellor.

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IS JUNE THE R

Following Theresa May’s preliminary anno Election until 2020, the Prime Minister’s dec understandably came as a shock to many. We societies here at university to hear their th whether they believe now is the

Alexander Blums 2016-17 Politics Society President

Theresa May has seized a fantastic opportunity by calling the snap general election on June the 8th. In order to successfully proceed with the Brexit negotiations, May needs a popular mandate and enough votes in the Parliament to prevent Eurosceptic MP’s from undermining the negotiation process.

To effectively govern without creating an impression for the electorate that the Conservative party cannot agree on anything, she had to call the election sooner or later. In terms of timing, now is the perfect time to do it. She is way ahead in polls (by as much as 19 points according to some polls).

The Labour party is fractured and deeply unpopular. The Lib Dems are gaining popularity, so waiting too long could see them gaining even more support.

Finally, while the falling pound has meant that more business investment has come to the U.K., in the long-term, voters are likely to soon notice consumer prices rising, so a boost for the national currency and a slowdown of inflation could eventually contribute towards higher popularity for the Conservatives. By calling the vote on June 8th, May has a lot to gain without much risk of ending up in a worse-off position than she is at the moment.

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Matthew Cowley

2016 Southampton University Conservative Association President June 8th was the logical time for a General Election within the next two years. Not only was it the right time, it was the only time to secure strong and stable leadership for the Brexit negotiations.

It should not be over-stated how important a larger majority would be for the Brexit negotiations. If Labour, the Lib Dems, and the SNP had sought to prevent the final Brexit deal being passed, the fate of Brexit would have laid with rebels: if it was a softer Brexit, hard Brexit rebels might have delayed it, and vice versa. A larger majority would give the Prime Minister much needed breathing space around the kind of deal that she negotiates, meaning she is free to negotiate the best deal for Britain.

Winning a General Election would also put to bed any claims that Theresa May’s government lacked the democratic legitimacy to enact one kind of Brexit or another. It would remove the (incorrect) claim that the Prime Minister is unelected and give her the mandate to get on with the job.

An election now, before negotiations would have started, gives Theresa May the chance to get on with the job in hand with negotiations, and deliver strong and stable leadership in the national interest.

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ECTION:

RIGHT TIME?

ouncement that there would be no General cision to then call a snap election for June 8th e spoke to representatives from our political houghts regarding the announcement, and e right time for May’s decision.

Elliot Alexander

Thomas Gravatt

2017-18 Labour Society Social Secretary

2016-17 Liberal Democrat Society President

Theresa May’s surprise announcement of a June General Election was certainly unprecedented, not only as the first snap election called since 1974’s historic double, but as a tactical election called from the ashes of a Conservative government which actively sought to outlaw such practices.

The right time for Theresa May to call an election would have been last July when she became leader of the Conservative Party. She instead governed for nearly a year without the democratic consent of the people, and began implementing an agenda that had not been approved by the electorate.

Pushed on the platform of providing a ‘mandate’, presenting a united democratic front with which to approach the Brexit negotiations, is surely a move welcomed by a left seemingly obsessed with democratic practice. However, while the calling of a snap election (and an increasingly inevitable conservative victory) may undoubtedly provide a stronger platform for our European ‘divorce’ negotiations, a strong Conservative majority may simultaneously symbolise a coup de grâce for any meaningful opposition in the near future.

From her perspective, it is the perfect time to call an election.

With the Labour Party drawing its final breaths, and her own party claiming nearly 50% support in the polls, we are looking at a Conservative landslide. Labour under Corbyn are unprepared and unable to oppose the Conservatives, let alone govern the country.

With an opposition in crisis, this is an election which feels disturbingly like a capitalisation on circumstance by a Tory government, calling an election after explicitly refuting the possibility of one in the wake of the EU referendum. This is an election which (if the polls are to be believed), may give way to a wave of more controversial Conservative policy, something we’ve already seen with the speculated plans for the reintroduction of fox hunting.

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For the Liberal Democrats, the election has come at a reasonably good time. We had already selected candidates in anticipation of an election by the end of last year (even though May pledged there wouldn’t be one). We are presenting ourselves as an alternative to Labour’s incompetence and the Conservatives’ uncaring recklessness over Brexit and the economy.

We plan to put a penny on income tax to raise an additional £6 billion per year to fund the NHS, social care, and mental health services properly. The Lib Dems are a party with coherent plans ready to govern on June 8th.

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STUDENTS OF SOUT

INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED BY ALIC

S O P HI E

Education and Psychology

MI C HA EL Business Management

ARE YOU AWARE OF THE ELECTION? Yes, absolutely.

WERE YOU SURPRISED ABOUT THE GE? I was quite surprised, given we’ve had another one so recently.

HOW DO YOU THINK THE GE WILL AFFECT YOUR DEGREE? I am in third year now; so it won’t affect me massively. But, for future generations coming to university, it could affect how much they have to pay for their course and how much support they get.

ARE YOU GOING TO VOTE? No, I don’t find any party appealing, to be honest.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR FUTURE JOB? I’m thinking of going into teaching and obviously, education is a massive policy area, especially within this general election.

I’m definitely swaying towards labour, just because they’ve always had education within their prospects.

WILL YOU BE VOTING? Yes, I am registered to vote.

WHAT’S THE FUNNIEST THING YOU’VE SEEN IN THE RUN-UP TO THE ELECTION? “Strong and Stable” thing – by far the funniest thing I have seen so far.

HAVE YOU HAD ANY STRONG DISAGREEMENTS WITH ANYONE IN RELATION TO THE GE? I’m really not a fan of Conservatives, but I don’t think many students are. I don’t think the Conservatives are in it for everyone. I don’t think they’re in it to support everyone, I think they’re in it to support the rich few at the top.

WHAT WOULD THERESA MAY HAVE FOR BREAKFAST? I think she’d go for something quite bland – plain porridge maybe with a sprinkle of sugar on top.

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING ON JUNE 8TH? Making sure I get down to my local polling station and voting!

DO YOU THINK THE RESULTS WILL AFFECT YOU IN ANY WAY? Not me personally, to be honest, I haven’t taken much interest in it. But, I do quite like Jeremy Corbyn – man of the people sort of thing.

WHO DO YOU THINK WOULD WIN IN PUNCH-UP BETWEEN MAY, FARRON AND CORBYN? Farron, because I don’t know who he is.

DID YOU KNOW A SOUTHAMPTON STUDENT IS RUNNING? No, but I’m quite surprised!

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING ON ELECTION DAY? Probably working.

GEORGE (left) and VIKRAM (right)

PPE

ARE YOU AWARE OF THE GENERAL ELECTION? Yeah we’re on the right course to be well informed.

WILL YOU VOTE? V: I will be voting Labour.

G: I will spoil my ballot because I don’t agree with anyone enough to justify voting for them.

HAMPTON ON GE17

ICE HEARING, NUALA MCBRIDE WERE YOU SURPRISED ABOUT THE SNAP ELECTION HAPPENING? V: Yes, considering Theresa May’s remarks that there wouldn’t be a General Election until 2020. I am against it although I think she needed to have a General Election before 2020 to make sure her position wasn’t questioned as she wasn’t elected.

WHAT WOULD JEREMY CORBYN ORDER FROM THE BRIDGE? V: Something vegetarian because he went to the British Kebab Awards and told everyone to become vegetarian. That was brilliant.

HAVE YOU HAD ANY DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT THE ELECTION? V: Yeah I’ve had a few although I try to step back if they get a little too heated, but they’re usually more interesting conversations. We started talking about what policies we’d rather have, although I don’t agree entirely with Labour’s policies right now. Well maybe like 70% of them.

FLO R A VP Student Communities

and Union President-Elect

WERE YOU SURPRISED ABOUT THE ELECTION? Somewhat, yeah. I think we were all expecting May to do something fairly soon, but not quite that rapid. I’m not that shocked.

DO YOU FOLLOW POLITICS? Yeah, I think part of my job means that I need to. Politics is so important now, especially for students, with all the changes going on in higher education, and more awareness of mental health. It’s really important to stay on top of current affairs and also just for personal interest. I’ve got to live my life for the next 60 years, so I’m hoping I can shape that into something that’ll be good.

DO YOU THINK IT WILL AFFECT UNIVERSITIES? Absolutely, I think the tuition fee argument is something that’s going to come up again and again. I think Labour’s policy on scrapping them is a bit interesting, but that’s going to be a really attractive policy for students. I also think the current government are doing a lot to change higher education, but it’s changing anyway, so it’ll be really interesting to see whatever party takes power. They’re realistically going to have a solid 5 years to mould higher education into something that they want it to be and I’m really interested to see how that goes.

DO YOU THINK THERE’S A LOT OF AWARENESS AROUND CAMPUS TO CONVINCE PEOPLE TO VOTE? There seems to be. I’ve done a lot of talking to students and trying to encourage them to register because it is so important, and a lot of students do seem to be registered. I think there’s a lot more input now from students because we have a student running for a Southampton MP position for the Lib Dems. I also think it’s because students are realising that national politics can really affect the cost and quality of their education, the quality of their housing. We are a generation that are on the verge of being able to change things for the better and that’s quite exciting.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE UNSURE OF WHO TO VOTE FOR? Do your research. Read as much as you can. Read as many different bits of journalism from as many different newspapers as possible, try and understand the biases, try and understand the arguments, but also just talk to people and really have a think about what you value. There’s a really good website: Who do I side with?. It’s a really good questionnaire, it’s really detailed, you can think about your opinions on loads of different areas of policy like domestic policy, foreign policy, immigration, education, all of these things and then you can work out who you might side with. It’s really good, I’d really recommend it. Whatever happens just vote. Use your vote, use your voice and have your voice heard.

WHO WOULD WIN IN A PUNCH UP OUT OF THE PARTY LEADERS? I don’t think Corbyn would stand a chance. I think it’s between Tim Farron and Theresa May.

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d

a H s r e d a Le y t r a P e If Th

WORDS BY CARLY-MAY KAVANAGH

Caroline Lucas

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Jeremy Corbyn

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Nicola Sturgeon

Tim Farron

Paul Nuttall

Theresa May

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THIS IS NOT THE

‘BREXIT ELECTION’ WORDS BY TOBY LEVESON IMAGE BY JAMES WORSFOLD

It has not even been a year since Britain voted to leave the European Union. A lot has happened since; a new Prime Minister, an opposition leadership battle, and now a general election. But some things don’t change. Yes, Brexit is important and yes, the country has been divided by it, but the election on June 8th will not be a rerun of the referendum.

This cannot be overlooked. Jeremy Corbyn is almost impossibly unpopular for a leader of a party who have been out of power for seven years. Theresa May, on the other hand, is incredibly popular for a leader in the same situation. This general election will remain an election on who is the best person to lead the country, and not one based solely on the Brexit debate.

Any argument that states in the space of twelve months the political fault lines of the United Kingdom have been rewritten fails to consider several key factors. Firstly, in recent times general elections have been about party leaders first, and issues second. In a parallel world with a stronger Labour Party to oppose Theresa May, would it be likely that she would call a general election? Opinion polls have time and time again shown that May is a stronger leader and a safer pair of hands than a ‘dangerous’ Jeremy Corbyn. In fact, a recent YouGov poll said only 13% of the British public believed he would make a better Prime Minister than Theresa May.

That’s not to dismiss it – it remains the most important issue for British public. The problem is, it’s exactly that; one of several key issues, along with health and the economy. These issues are key, but the leaders remain more important when voters cast their ballots.

The election itself cannot solely be on Brexit, whether the Conservative Party leadership want it to be or not. They know that a bigger majority in the House of Commons will have no impact on their ability to negotiate a deal with Brussels, but they want to keep talking about it because it’s clear they are the stronger party to get a better deal. Additionally, if this was a ‘Brexit election’, then surely it would be accepted that the Liberal Democrats, the only mainstream party pushing for a second referendum on the issue, would receive a huge boost in votes (close to the 48%)?

Something is changing in the way people vote; Brexit highlighted this issue. But when the UK wakes up on June 9th and likely sees an increased Conservative majority, it won’t be a direct effect of Remain vs Leave, it will be because Theresa May is seen as a far better alternative than Jeremy Corbyn by the majority of the British public.

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GENERAL ELECTION

General Election

WHAT HAS THERESA MAY ACHIEVED? WORDS BY HARRIET MARTIN

IMAGE BY HEATHER RANKINE

Before endeavouring to answer such a question, it is important to get a few things straight. Theresa May became Prime Minister when her party was in turmoil, following the unexpected Brexit referendum outcome and David Cameron’s surprise resignation. May took power last July following a leadership election during which many of her opponents dropped out. Whether you are a Tory supporter or not, it is important to recognise what Mrs. May has achieved in such a short amount of time.

Brexit

Given Theresa May’s decision to vote ‘Remain’ last June, the energy with which she has tackled Brexit negotiations is admirable. Most students were disappointed with the referendum outcome, myself included, but we have to make the best of a bad situation and that is what Mrs. May is trying to do. She has accepted the fate of the UK and is trying to negotiate the best deal she can while surrounded by political figures that are yet to admit to themselves that we are leaving the EU. We all laugh at “Brexit means Brexit” but all it really means is that we’ve voted to leave the EU so that’s what we actually have to do – we need a clean break.

Snap General Election

May’s decision to call an early General Election has been met with criticism, given her previous promise not to do so.

However, this change of heart arguably demonstrates the Tory leader’s ability to adapt to a turbulent political climate and her dedication to making the best of Brexit.

May herself said, “The reason I called the election was because I think we need the security and the stability for five years of greater certainty that will take us through Brexit and beyond. It is about ensuring we have got a strong negotiating hand.”

A snap poll carried out by ICM illustrated that a considerable 55% of people supported May’s decision to call an election, while only 15% opposed it.

May has also promised to offer funds, loans and new powers to both councils and housing associations to encourage the building of new social housing to help thousands of families.

She will also pledge to award the new tenants the option to buy their rented property after 10 to 15 years.

Worker’s rights feature strongly in the Conservative Party’s manifesto, with the Prime Minister announcing plans to promote worker representation on company boards, increase the National Living Wage and introduce a new right to care for sick relatives full-time prior to the manifesto’s release to the public.

Respect

One thing that has become clear lately is that both Conservative MPs and Tory supporters have faith in their party leader.

May is held in high esteem by her party, which is particularly telling given the current uncertainty that the nation is facing.

In fact, according to findings by ORB International, Theresa May is more popular than her party, with only 37% of people approving of the Tories, but 43% approving of the Prime Minister herself. In contrast, only 26% of the public approve of Jeremy Corbyn.

According to a YouGov survey, “British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party has an 18 point lead over the main opposition Labour Party ahead of a June 8 national election. The Conservatives were at 49 percent, up 3 percent from YouGov’s previous poll, against Labour’s 31 percent, up 1 percent.”

Manifesto Points

One of May’s manifesto pledges is to pass a series of laws that will ensure social media giants like Facebook and Twitter crack down on hate content.

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General Election

H OW G EN ERAL ELECT I ON VOT I N G WORKS WORDS BY NATASHA DENNINGTON IMAGE BY BETHANY WESTALL As yo u m ay r e c a l l f rom the US El ections in Nov embe r la st y ear, th e way vo tin g wor ks isn’ t always the simpl e st of p ro ce dur e s. L uc kily, under s tanding the system for th e S n ap E l e c tio n o n J un e 8th is much simpl er .

H o w do e s vo tin g w o r k ?

In British elections, the system is known as the First Past the Post (or FPTP for short). Quite simply, the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins and becomes the MP. Votes for any of the other candidates are completely written off.

For example, in the June 2015 General Election, in the Southampton Test constituency the Labour party candidate won 41.3% of the votes, with the Conservative winning 32.5% and the other parties the remaining percentages. Even though the other parties had 59.7% of the votes, Labour had the most votes for a single party and so won the seat. In Romsey & Southampton North, however, 54.3% of the votes went to the Conservative party and so they already had a majority of the votes.

The winning candidate then goes towards the number of seats the party has and if a party achieves 50% of seats, they are elected. If not, then there a variety of outcomes such as another election, a coalition government or even a hung parliament.

D oes a n yo n e e l s e us e it?

The FPTP system is the second most popular voting system in the world. It is most notably used in the chambers of US Congress, electing the MPs to the House of Commons. Lower houses in India and Canada along with other places that were once British colonies also adopt the FPTP voting system.

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Wh at a re FPTP’s A dva n tage s?

It’s a simple system so it’s very easy to count votes and declare winners overnight. Voters are able to express their view on which party they want in government and most of the time, it produces a single-party government.

D isa dva n tage s of the Syste m?

As shown in the 2015 General Election, MPs can be elected with less than 50% of the votes. There is also often discussion of tactical voting, wherein a candidate that is disliked is voted against by whichever candidate would usually come in second.

For smaller parties like the Green Party and UKIP, they have many votes spread across the country, rather than in particular constituencies so are unlikely to win many seats.

Is First Pa st th e Post the be st syste m?

The Alternative Vote (AV) is where the voter is able to rank candidates in order of preference. Candidates are elected once they have more than 50% of the votes. The way in which the ranking works is similar to that used in Union Elections.

Votes for the lowest candidate are redistributed amongst second preferences and so on until there is a majority for one candidate. Counting up an AV vote is much more complicated than that of FPTP and in 2011, UK voters rejected switching to it.

That being said, if smaller parties achieve a large percentage of the overall votes but only get a few seats, there may be more cause for debate in the next parliament about the systems.

So re me mbe r, whe n June 8th c ome s a round, ‘X’ ma rks t he box of the c a n d idate /pa rty you wa n t. It’s re a lly t hat simple .

GENERAL ELECTION

General Election

SOU TH A M P T ON ’S CO N STI TU EN CI ES WORDS BY ALICE HEARING IMAGE BY HERMIONE COOK There are three many constituencies in the Southampton area: Southampton Test, Southampton Itchen and Romsey & Southampton North.

SOUTHAMPTON TEST: Southampton Test is currently represented by Labour MP, Alan Whitehead. In the forthcoming General Election, he will be re-running alongside Liberal Democrat candidate and Southampton student Thomas Gravatt, and Conservative candidate, Paul Holmes.

Both Highfield Campus and Avenue Campus fall within this constituency.

Halls in this constituency: Highfield Halls, Gateley Halls (Archers Road), Liberty Point SOUTHAMPTON ITCHEN: This constituency is currently represented by Conservative MP, Royston Smith. Labour Candidate, Simon Letts and Liberal Democrat Candidate, Eleanor Bell will run against him in June.

Halls in this constituency: Romero Halls (Archers Road), Mayflower Halls ROMSEY AND SOUTHAMPTON NORTH: This constituency is currently represented by Conservative MP, Caroline Nokes who will be contested by Labour candidate Darren Paffey and Liberal Democrats candidate, Catherine Royce.

Boldrewood Campus falls in this constituency.

Halls in this constituency: Glen Eyre, Chamberlain, Wessex Lane, Bencraft, City Gateway.

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General Election

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GENERAL ELECTION

General Election

WHAT WOULD THE POLITICAL LEADERS HAVE FOR FOOD OR DRINK AT SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY? WORDS BY TOM RANDALL IMAGE BY HERMIONE COOK

A

lthough the chances of seeing a real actual political leader at Southampton University are blissfully slim, Labour won’t leave the M25, too many foreigners for UKIP to feel comfortable and not enough foxes for the Conservatives, we at the Wessex Scene have tried to place them within a context we all know and love. When getting the round in at the Stag’s or having a cheeky slap up dinner in the Bridge, what are they having?

Theresa ‘Stability’ May’s strength and stability in providing leadership when it comes to getting a cheeky dinner at the Bridge goes far, however she will be going for the old and reliable Sunday roast. Roast beef with all the trimmings will provide the stability in your stomach needed when you are showing real strength and leadership. Did we mention stability? To drink will be a glass of dry white wine, the most plain variety on offer if you please. If there are any foxes left on the Common, there certainly won’t be once Theresa and the lads have given it a going over with the hounds.

Jeremy ‘Oh Ah Up the ‘Ra’ Corbyn is not the most interesting man in the world, his hobbies include photographing manhole covers and having the most humourless supporters in British political history. However, we believe that he would be likely to have one of the many salads on offer at the Bridge, with a glass of water so he doesn’t have too much fun.

by a vote by those present, however Tim will override the democratic will of the people and get an extra sausage if he so feels like it. Mug of milky tea to drink.

Group Captain Sir Paul Nuttall VC DFC KCMG PhD, 4th Earl of Tranmere, will expect nowt short of a hero’s welcome in the Stags, fresh from winning Eurovision for Britain and scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup Final.

However, much like his better known and more charismatic predecessor, Paul will be indulging in thirty or more of the finest light ales at the beer festival, with a pack of Walker’s and some pork scratchings.

Caroline ‘Recycle your Nan’ Lucas might also show up if the emissions from travelling up the A27 from hippy bastion Brighton turn out not to be too bad. The reason emissions matter is to counterbalance dining in the Bridge on only the finest Bolivian superfoods, and sod the locals who actually rely on them as a staple crop. There won’t be anything as vulgar as drinking alcohol with this, but certainly a fat line of fairtrade Peruvian Marching Powder or two for later is on the cards.

Tim ‘Literally Who’ Farron would have a cheeky 10 item breakfast in the Café to make himself look all trendy and hip and down to with the kids or whatever, in the hope that the six or so students who will bother to vote will vote for him. The exact composition of the breakfast is to be decided GENERAL ELECTION

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