Tragic Politicians

Hello Procrastinators!

In line with Tragic Thursdays, this is a slightly more serious post focusing on the recent 'cash for access' scandal and the effects this has on the public's confidence, especially young people, in politicians. You can read the original story here.

So basically what it has shown us is what most cynics already suspected: British politics are corrupt. Not as corrupt as most other democracies, but Britain has prided itself on being clean and this has proved it is quite the opposite. 

Standard politician

The fact that Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind not only offered to sell their political power for money but also had the tenacity to complain that their £67,000 wage is not enough to satisfy their lifestyles really is an insult to the British public that they readily betrayed.

But we are used to it, young people especially. So this will not be felt as much by the far left or right, staunch Labour or Conservative supporters or even the UKIP bigots, but it will really rile young people, who have already had EMA cut, tuition fees tripled and will now also be forced to work for less than £2 an hour under Cameron. Riots, anyone?

Accurate representation

That could, and should, well be a very real possibility soon. The average wage for a uni graduate is £21,000; an MP earns £67,000 plus expenses. But the sad thing is that things will not change unless people vote. Pensioners have the highest voting rate of any age group, hence why they get generous state pensions, heat allowance, free bus passes and so on. Whereas 18-24 year olds have the lowest voting rate - I highly doubt the fact that young people are so often ignored by politicians is coincidental. 

This led to young people feeling increasingly disenfranchised - and unfortunately - gave birth to Clegg mania. The first time in years that young people collectively voted for a person they trusted and he viciously fucked them over with the tripling of tuition fees.

So is it really any wonder that young people no longer vote? But we are now stuck in a downward spiral of slimy politicians and coalitions. And the only way this can be fixed is by young people standing up to these arseholes and voting for a decent party, possibly the Greens or Labour, but no more Conservatives and Lib Dems. So if you're reading this I implore you to vote, for the sake of your future.

Connor x