Furthering on from the Your Britain Your Say initiative each week I'll be posting the highlights of the main political stories from the week and how if affects us and/or what questions are left to be answered.
Green party and
Liberal Democrats annual conference
This week was the start of conference season. It was kicked
off with the Green party conference last weekend where Caroline Lucas said that
the Green party was the only credible alternative to mainstream parties.
The Liberal Democrats came out with their theme of ‘we are
able to Govern’ and ‘we’ve stopped the cycle of blue and red.’ Throughout the
week, Liberal Democrats had a change to discuss topics and vote on motions such
as race diversity, disability accessibility, have BSL (British Sign Language)
as a main language, Trident and many more to give their views on what should or
shouldn’t be included in the 2015 manifesto. Of course, the highlight of the
week was Nick Clegg's speech. A lot of journalists described it as ‘statesman
like’ which they said was a change as now the Liberals sounded credible having
served in Government and were able to make realistic plans for the future of
their party. Nick Clegg's speech lasted 52 minutes where he highlighted the
achievements of the Liberal Democrats in Government. An analysis of his speech
was done by the Times Newspaper
This weekend we see UKIPs conference and on Sunday, Labours
party conference begins. An analysis of these will be feature in next weeks
write up.
Burka ban
A controversial issue hit the papers this week after a Judge
asked a Muslim lady to remove her burka (veil) in court so that the court could
identify her and see her face when being questioned. This led to the Judge
asking Parliament to rule on this and whether it is right or wrong for him to
have asked for this.
We then hear that a college in Birmingham has banned a
student from wearing the Burka in lectures as it disrupts other students
learning especially in group work situations and creates a barrier between
lecturers and students.
Soon NHS doctors and nurses were spoken about and whether it
was appropriate to wear a Burka in those situations.
Many politicians, including the Prime Minister, have
responded to this issue but saying ‘each school and workplace has the right to
enforce their own uniform policies’ meaning they are entitled to ask women to
remove the burka should they see that it is not appropriate in their work
environment.
There has been a first reading in the House of Commons of a
‘face covering bill.’ The second reading is to take place in February 2014. The
bill can be read here.
Free School Meals
The Liberal Democrat announced a policy which the Government
will be putting into place. They will offer free school meals to all 5, 6 and 7
year old in Primary School. This means that in a time of austerity, the
Government needs to find £600m.
There have been many discussions on this topic such as:
‘should it not be the parents responsibility to ensure the
child eats the right food and is fed well’
‘does this not take away a parent’s choice’
‘why not offer it to all primary school children’
‘it’s a good scheme as many who are entitled to free school meals
don’t claim and struggle’
Other viewpoints on free school meals is available on the BBC website here.
Scottish independence
referendum date released
Scotland’s first Minister, Alex Salmond has released the
date for the Scottish referendum on whether Scotland should be independent from
Britain. The date is 18 September 2014.
Prime Minister David Cameron wants Scotland to stay apart of the United Kingdom.
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