Feral Youth, By Polly Courtney: What is really going on with young people?

I was invited to the launch event of Feral Youth in Piccadilly and used it as an opportunity to sit down for 5 minutes with the author Polly Courtney to talk about her sixth book, the inspiration behind it and to find out more about the life of an ex-investment banker.

Why did you write Feral Youth?

In the aftermath of the riots in 2011, I kept watching and listening and reading the media and waiting for answers on what the underlying causes were and what was going on, and why people were frustrated. It just felt that nothing was really coming out about it. At the same time I started mentoring a young person for a charity call Kids Company and through getting more and more involved with that and thinking about the riots and the aftermath I just couldn’t help making the connection that we weren’t really getting to this truth about what was going on in young people’s lives. We weren’t thinking about it and we weren’t bothering as a society, so I wanted to get into the head of someone like Alisha who has had a pretty disadvantaged background and has to overcome various disadvantages in her life, but everything that she does is about the decisions she makes and if we has a society support her, then she can go on and do better things but we need to provide that support.

What make Alesha so special? Why did you write her character to tell the story, why didn’t you write someone else?

Partly because I felt that we have a lot of youth culture that is very stereotyped, like guns, gangs and knifes, and it’s all very male dominated with young men. We see that a lot. I know some of it is realistic, some isn’t, but we never hear about it from the girl perspective and there are just as many girls as there are guys. Also we often hear the glamorous side as far as I could make it.

Who inspires Alesha?

No one particular person but a lot of people I spoke to in research, so I spoke to children in schools, youth groups, individuals, friends of friends, contacts and various other people.

What I meant by that question was, who inspires the character of Alesha?

Her one close person in life is JJ, her best and only friend. She hasn’t got a family network; she hasn’t got the traditional family network. She’s got ‘fam’ around her and I suppose as the book progresses, Mrs Merfield might inspire or at least influence her but it’s very different from a structure that a lot of people know.

Who inspires you?

For me, it’s my parents, I’m very fortunate to have them.

So, tell me about yourself, what was life like growing up?

I had it easy. I was always supported, cared for and given a lot of discipline and guidance but I knew that my parents, family and friends were there. I was born and brought up for a couple of years in South London and then we moved to Kent. It’s what I thought was normal but it is pretty much a middle class upbringing to be honest.

How did you get into writing?

I was an investment banker, and I hated banking so much that I felt that the world needed to know what banking was really like, this was back in the early 2000’s before everyone was writing books about it, so I wrote a book about it. I then realised I loved writing and wrote more books.

You left the relatively safe world of your publisher (HarperCollins) and you gone self-publishing, was it a good move?

It’s probably too early to tell in terms of sales, but in terms of how I feel, bloody yes! Every step of the way has been so much more fulfilling and satisfactorily then I have ever had in a traditional publishing sense.

If I told you that I wanted to write my own book, what advice would you give me?

Think about who you are writing it for and what your real purpose and goal is, because there are different routes to publishing and different ways you write it depending on what your aim is. So you need to think about that upfront.

What’s next on the horizon?

I might stick in Alesha’s world because I’m really in love with the character’s and the people and the themes but I haven’t committed, I’ve got other ideas as well, so no comment or rather no useful comment.

I also learned that Polly Courtney competes in the London Woman’s Football League and plays violin in No Strings Attached, Courtney’s semi-professional string quartet. Courtney also runs Guardian Master-classes in publishing and is a regular spokesperson on Sky News.

A little while after the interview, Courtney addressed the party to thank everyone for their support and explained how she walked away from her traditional publishing deal to take a risk in Feral Youth and write what she wanted to write, she didn’t want to write ‘chick-lit.’

Polly Courtney then introduced us to Deanna Roger, an actress who played to role of Alesha in the book trailer. Courtney first saw Deanna Roger perform line poetry at The Lyric Theatre and just knew that she had found Alesha.

Deanna Roger then performed the first two pages from the book. Her performance was spot on; I understood what Courtney meant when she said that she had found Alesha. Even when she was interrupted by someone saying that there was no sound as Deanna wasn’t using a microphone. She stayed in character and replied with a stare that said ‘don’t mess with me.’

Courtney was told by the literacy crowd and her own agent that she shouldn’t write Feral Youth because it was too niche. We were also introduced to Polly Courtney’s team of people including her editor and the director of the book trailer where she gave every one of her huge team a gift bag and showed her appreciation.

At first I thought that this book was just going to be a middle-upper class attempt at trying to engage with a world that they don’t understand so that they can pat themselves on the back and say how good they are, much like a politician does when they say that they have introduced a new scheme for young people but we never hear from them again.

Then I read it, and I was hooked, Polly Courtney gets it, she understands why things are the way they are. Courtney is able to tell the truth by doing something so simple yet so difficult, she tells the truth, and she does so through the eyes of a character that you are routing for from page one.

This article was first published on ShoutoutUK.org

Committee Room 2: The roots and progress of Bite the Ballot

In the hallowed halls of westminster, the fate of the country rest in every decision, every meeting, every committee. Westminster isn’t just a place for writing laws, it is also a place where debate is encouraged and you can have your say, if you know where to go. The Houses of parliament are not the place go if you have no sense of direction, like me.

As I write this paragraph, I am sat outside committee room 2, waiting for some kind of sign to tell me that I am in the right place. I am meant to reporting on a cross-party committee hosted by Bite the Ballot, but how can I report on it, if no one is here. Mind you it doesn’t help my nerves if I am 45 minutes early.

I was first greeted by Mevan Babakar from Bite the Ballot, the rest of this paragraph is shaking hands I will skip straight to the start of the committee.

Barron Roger Roberts opened the committee by explaining how he has been involved Bite the Ballot since meeting its director Mike Sani in a coffee shop in Liverpool since just after the beginning of the campaign.

“The aim is to re-engage young people in politics, currently only 45% of of people are registered voters, Bite the Ballots campaign is great opportunity for young people to express their views. The main aim is sign up as many people as possible but the sad thing is many young people don’t know what a ballot paper is or the opportunities to vote.”

Barron Roberts went on to describe the Movement as a great opportunity for young people to sign up and that if we all work together we can ensure that we can bring about great changes.

Mike Sani echoed this statement and went on to say how it is great fun working with Barron Roberts as he such a character. Sani then opened the floor with the statement that only 12 % of 18-24 year olds questioned were sure that they wanted to vote. Sani then asked the MP’s in attendance, what difficulties they had engaging with young people?

One MP said that he felt that schools were reluctant to invite politicians in as they feel that MP’s will be bias towards their own party rather than teaching the children about politics. The opposite point was raised by a Welsh MP who said that MP’s and 16-18 year olds have to meet each other and talk about politics and being an MP

The discussion was moved by Barron Roberts to where can young people place their trust. Roberts said that he feels that there are very few corporations that young people can trust, and with both the expenses scandal and the Leveson enquiry, young people find it difficult to trust MP’s and the Media.

Mike Sani replied by showing that he understands the difficulties that Bite the Ballot face and what a difficult role it is when young people feel that they cannot trust politicians. He adds that the press doesn’t send a positive message and the Bite the Ballot want to give MP’s the tools to go and talk to schools.

Mike Sani also took this opportunity to highlight that Bite the Ballot has registered 4028 people to vote so far.

The committee then took a very different turn and one, that I will be honest I was not expecting. We played one of the games that Bite the Ballot play when they go into schools. The rules were simple, if you agree with the statement you stand on the right hand side of the room, if you disagree with the statement you stand left and if you are unsure you stand in the middle.

Statement one was about the Olympics, was it value for money? This split the room, into almost three semi-equal groups,those who agreed that the Olympics were value for money said that it was great for the economy, raised the spirit of the nation and created heroes. Those who disagreed said that we could have done it for much less and that it lost the magic of a amature compation that became more about the money and big business.

The second question posed was Should MP’s be recalled? This led to some discussion about how they should be recalled, it was stated that it could be very easy for a party to take down a MP on one single issue if it suits their needs. The question was then re-phrased to Should MP’s be recalled if they are corrupt, the vast majority agreed, but this sparked a discussion about when to recall an MP; Do we wait and see if they make amends or do you take them out at the first sign of trouble? The jury is out on that one

After we had taken back our seats, the discussion moved on the use of APPG’s (All-party parliamentary agreement) was discussed, this would mean at a set interval (every week, fortnight, month etc) members from all the major political parties would meet to discuss the events of the campaign, what was happening and what everyone has to do next. This was met with stale reception, while this would be an opportunity to engage with mp’s it was felt almost unanimously that there are now better ways to communicate with people and that APPG’s have run their course as attendance is appallingly low.

Mike Sani has suggested a formalised agreement between MP’s, he said that if we could get every MP to make one visit to a school every month over a year that would add up to 24,500 visits in a year. Another member of Bite the Ballot also took the opportunity to suggest that with regular debates that they should have a pool of people who are versed on a subject and are ready to speak a debate

To end the committee one MP used the case study of youth surgerys. He talked about how they hold a surgery on facebook with over 6000 friends and aim to answer questions within 3 minutes. Looking around at the other MP’s I could see them thinking ‘why didn't I think of that?’

*This article was first published on ShoutOutUK, it can be found here; www.shoutoutuk.org/2013/06/18/committee-room-2-the-roots-and-progress-of-bite-the-ballot/

Should we trust UKIP?

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="193"] UK Independence Party (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

On May 3th, UKIP won their biggest victory to date; gaining 147 seats in the local councils, with their biggest victory in Lincolnshire, winning a total of 16 seats in the council, UKIP say that this is the game changer. Is this the start of a new four party system in Britain? Do people really trust UKIP? Are UKIP all smoke and no fire? And what do the three main parties have to do to win back the trust of the public?

I want to kick this article off by asking the question, did you see it coming? By that I don’t mean UKIP’s victory’s but rather the local elections. There was very little publicity about them; of course there were the normal party political broadcasts that you get every time an election comes around, but apart from that, there was very little in the mainstream media.

I, at least should have known about them, this is the bread and butter of my trade, although I suppose the excuse of too many late night trains and bad Wi-Fi isn't really going to cut it.

I’m reminded of a moment in an interview with Mike Sani; the Chairman of Bite the Ballot who said;

“Some people call Great Britain the mother ship of democracy. I’m afraid the mother ship has not had the wind blowing her sails for a long time because we have let democracy go sour. We can’t even inspire our youngest citizens to believe in the right to vote. It needs revamping.”

There is no inspiration to vote because, and I’ve heard this point a thousand times, it’s boring. People feel that politics does not apply to them, or that it is the playground of the elite and no one will listen to the little guy. So people choose to protest, ether by not voting, or by voting for UKIP.

But as someone who is proud of being British, I feel that UKIP (and in extension The BNP) are quite possibly one of the worst things to happen to Great Britain. I took some time to read through UKIP’s policies, I wanted to find out what they really stand for, then I discovered this on I found something worrying tucked near to the bottom of their immigration policy, they want to;

“Repeal the 1998 Human Rights Act and withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms”
Repealing the 1998 Human Rights Act would mean that the following will no longer be protected by law;

• The right to life
• The prohibition of torture
• The prohibition of slavery and forced labor
• The right to liberty and security
• The right to a fair trial
• No punishment without Law
• The right to respect for private and family life
• The freedom of thought, conscience and religion
• The freedom of Expression
• The right of assembly and association
• The right to marry
• The prohibition of discrimination
• Restrictions on political activities of aliens.
• The prevention of abuse of rights
• Limitation on how rights can be restricted
• The protection of property
• The right to education
• The right to free election

I do not want to live in a country that does not uphold these rights. If UKIP are successful in repelling the Human Rights Act, then no one in Britain will be safe. You could be arrested for anything that the government sees fit, you will no longer have the right to learn, the right to a free election without interference, the right to a trial.

Slavery and torture could be brought back; of course, this will be in the name of Britain, just like UKIP.

According to The BBC, only an estimated 31% of people turned out to vote. This should be all the inspiration you need to take yourself to a polling station, if you don’t want UKIP in office, vote them out. I really do wonder how the other 69% would have voted.

But all in all, it's the Robert Kilroy Silk effect, politics is seen as the playground for the rich, out of touch elite. A place untouchable and where the common man is shunned and side-lined. Politics in general needs to be more accessible to the man on the street; it needs to be the talking point of the country, alongside The X Factor and the latest football results.

If a party can pull this off, they would storm any election.

*This article was first published on ShoutOutUK:  www.shoutoutuk.org/2013/05/13/the-3rd-may-ukips-biggest-success-story-to-date/

What Should The EU Do To Keep Britain In?

Public support in Britain for The European Union is taking a huge skydive. The banks in Cyprus are failing, the euro-zone is falling apart, and Britain and Germany are bailing everyone out. Britain has paid €260 billion (£228 billion) since 1979 to be a part of the big boys club, but what if Britain wanted to leave?

If Britain does leave the EU, the effects on the world’s market will be huge, what effects these will be? I dare not guess. It is worth noting that since the formation of The European Union, there has been a lack of wars between member countries.

Right now, British businesses get quite a few benefits from the EU, from the controversial right of free movement of EU citizens, to competition laws enabling new companies to tap into previously closed markets, bringing down monopolies and allowing the EU commission to take action against Microsoft.

Being able to work and travel across Europe is easier than ever before, you can visit any EU member country for up-to three months and you can choose to stay there for longer, all you need to do is register in the country of your choice.

But what if Britain is set on leaving the EU? Ultimately it will be the British people who will decide if Britain stay in, so what should the EU do to persuade the public to stay in? The answer is simple, uphold human rights, allow as much transparency in European politics as possible and help the British economy.

On the 12th October 2005, Tony Blair’s Labor Government introduced the Terrorism Act, designed to protect the general population, the act allowed anyone to be detained longer than 28 days without charge and removed Habeas Corpus, the writ that says that anyone arrested must be brought before a judge or into a court to give evidence. In other words, you can be arrested at anytime and for any reason that the government or any authority wants for however long they want to keep you. Pretty scary if you ask me.

The only defence that the public have, is the European Convention on Human Rights, because Britain does not have a constitution, there are no laws that are permanent, there are no permanent rights for British citizens.

I wonder how many people actually know how the European Parliament works, I was never taught about it in school, it’s not common knowledge and there is a member of the BNP in Parliament. To cut a long story short, The election for a MEP works in a similar way to our own, the different seats represent different areas of the EU. UK has 72 seats (736 seats all together in EU parliament) these 72 seats are split between East Midlands, East of England, London, North East, North West, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales. West Midlands. Yorkshire and the Humber.

I’m willing to bet that you didn't vote, and that you don’t know who represents you.

After the Eastleigh by-election and the resent council elections, people are starting to pay attention to UKIP, and that the ‘eccentrics, fruitcakes and gadflies’ image is disappearing. Personally I think that UKIP are doing the same trick that Nick Clegg did in 2010, Nigel Farage is saying what people want and are thinking, but whether he and his party will follow through is another matter.

At a community hall in Brandon, Suffolk, Nigel Farage didn't just manage to overfill a community hall but he also held fort at the local pub, but there wasn't much mention of what UKIP policies are but Nigel Farage did talk about the Cyprus economy. saying "It is deeply worrying and sets a dangerous precedent”

UKIP seems like a change, but I found something worrying tucked near to the bottom of their immigration policy, they want to;

“Repeal the 1998 Human rights act and withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms”

I need not tell you what that could mean

But all in all, it's the Robert Kilroy-Silk effect, politics is seen as the playground for the rich, out of touch elite. A place untouchable and where the common man is shunned and sidelined.

Politics in general needs to be more accessible to the man on the street, it needs to be the talking point of the country, along side the X-Factor and the latest football results.

We have paid £228 billion so far to be in the European Union, but public feels that that we have got nothing back, and that we only exist to bail other countries out, the EU needs to show otherwise. They also need to show that they are for the people rather than an organization that pushes pencils, and to do this, they need to show that they are human.

Bite the Ballot, the story so far…

The following is an interview with Mike Sani, Director of Bite the Ballot, a campaign which aims to inspire more young people to vote.

I want to start the interview by talking about Bite the Ballot, what was the inspiration behind the campaign?

I would say the inspiration behind the campaign came, a year before it started. I was teaching at a secondary school in Dartford with a colleague of mine, co-founder of the movement, David Hughesman, and he was the head of business studies. I had no interest in politics at all, I have never voted, I was never on the electoral register and I was one of those people who pretty much said let them get on with it, it doesn't affect me.

David would say to me that this is political and he really galvanized me to see how politics affect my everyday life and in-turn I began to look and see how it affected the everyday life of the students. It was around about the time when we were approaching the general election and I asked the students and members of the sixth form if anyone was going to vote, and one particular class of around about 24 all said no.

That really resented with me, and I just through that this is just not right, how on the one hand can I be a 27 year old male and never really see the importance of politics and how can all these who have just turned Eighteen have the right to determine elements of their future and not even what to play a role in it.

We began to break down the barriers of why they were saying no, and it was things like; I don’t know how to vote, I don’t want to embarrass myself, no one really speaks to us, it doesn’t affect me, nothing will ever change and I just refused to believe that. So it was from then that Bite the Ballot was born.

Tell me a bit more about Bite the Ballots founding members, what are their backgrounds?

I regard the founding members as the young people, myself, David and a few more teachers who played a role in it. David is 34 years older than me and he’s very political, he really does believe that everyone should be involved and that rubbed off on me and the students.

My background is quite mixed, I have been to university and my first job was at the bank of America, but I quit because I didn’t really like that job, there was no sense of fulfillment for me at all. So I went off traveling for a year, and moved into teaching. On the side of that the acting aspirations

The background of the younger people are students in different areas but came under a common cause of we can do this; the word impossible was not in our vocabulary. We knew the challenge and still three years later know the extended of the challenge and of course we are nowhere near where we want to be, but in the words of Winston Churchill “this is not the end, this not even the beginning, but it is, perhaps, the beginning of the end”

Can you tell me about some of the other people and organizations that have got involved with Bite the Ballot?

There have been so many, some have been fruitful and successful and some have been really short-term for one patellar event, but I guess one of the main things about Bite the Ballot is that the awareness is there. I never really think that we’re not in touch with that organization anymore but I think as least they know who they are and that we have left a footprint, so that when we come to 2015, they might talking about politics even if they are not talking about bite the ballot.

We've engaged various schools and colleges and youth media. The Press is a big one because we've not had much bite from the mainstream media and I guess that really we are not likely to until 2015 when Britain goes election. The youth media however has been fantastic

I guess one of the most exciting organizations or industry area that we are enjoying is the digital side. We’ve been talking with people like YouTube and Google and that makes you think wow, this started as an idea in a classroom and now we’ve just left a meeting at Google HQ, that’s pretty cool.

One of the main ones that we have been successfully engaging with is Westminster and this is exactly what I enjoy doing most, to facilitate that conversation between the everyday person and the public servant and the decision maker.

Bite the Ballot also has some sporting connections, I’m going to throw a few names out there, and I’ve got Amir Khan, Jonnie Peacock, Stephanie Reid and Tanni Gary Thomson. Could you tell me how they got involved with bite the ballot because sports and politics seem like two very different worlds?

They do seem like very different worlds, but they are not. Everything is affected by politics. Look at the Olympics, who put the bid in for that? MP’s, Lords and the sporting greats. There is so much cross over between both worlds and from bite the ballots perspective it was pretty cool when we managed to get an interview with Amir Khan,

I worked with Jonnie Peacock and Stephanie Reid when I was acting; I did a little bit for a documentary that went out with Channel Four called inside Incredible Athletes. At the time they were both training to represent Great Britain but they had not been confirmed yet. I approached them to ask if they do an interview with us and they both said yes.

Tanni Grey is decorated as the most successful Paralympian athlete ever and in my option one of the most iconic members of the House of Lords, she is so great and she works so hard. We’ve worked together a few times and she’s a great supporter of the campaign and I often meet with to discuss other avenues and she comes to debates and events, she’s brilliant.

On a day to day basis (if there is such a thing as a typical day) what does bite the ballot do?

There is no such thing as a typical day. As much as everything is going digital, I still hold a paper diary and sometimes when I’m on the train I would often flick though to what’s coming up but I would often flick back and I can look at weeks where I have been to a school in a certain area across the UK.

I have meetings here there and everywhere and because of Bite the Ballot’s business model, there are so many areas that you need to develop relationships with because you want them all to grow at the same time. We are working hard so that our digital side progresses at the same time as the campaign and at the same time as the number of registrations all at the same time as the events grow so we can attract more people.

There are elements where a few of us will gather in the office and we will be doing things together such as updating our resources or putting in funding bid, there is no secret, anyone in the sector will tell you that those things take a long time, you can spend the best part of a week filling in a funding application and if it’s unsuccessful, it really does feel frustrating because you haven’t got the finance department sitting there doing that for you.

We are a team of people who cross over in different areas and quite frankly, many people who have worked for the organization and still work for the organising in have purely been burning on passion

Could you tell me about the campaigns and events that bite the ballot are running at the moment? What have you got coming up?

I think the heart and soul at the moment is Rock and Roll. This is essentially a campaign to engage more young people to register to vote, so that they feel like they understand the channels of commutation, feel the value democracy and all the responsibilities that come with that so the future generations feel like they are local, national and global citizens.

Rock and Roll is the main priority, its pilot was last year, we visited 20 schools, and we were supported by the cabinet office. We are really proud to say that we registered around 4000 young people to vote and almost all of them didn’t even know what the electoral register was.

So we looked at how we can scale that up but all the will in the world our team can’t visit everyone we are looking at how we can make the resources transferable for other and that what we’ve been doing reason tally and we are delighted that we are going to working with the national citizens service this year.

Yesterday I’ve just trained some citizenship teachers and they are going to go back to their school and get there students to register and create that ripple effect so that’s our core

Around that we will develop more social action activities and turn them digital, so that you can facilitate your journey though skills actions and knowledge in the science that you can earn a digital badge, if you remember ear you scout days where you could earn a badge for doing something in the community, we are trying to digitalize that.

For example, if you organised a debate you earn a badge, if you run an event you can earn a badge, if you host an election you earn a badge, if you run a registration rally, but you can take these badges and you can decide where you want to display them, so they can be on your LinkedIn Facebook etc. etc.

An employer, University applicator or an apprenticeship can click on that badge that a young person has sent them see all the criteria they have to have been awarded it so it’s a great way of showing you experience and a great taking point for things that you have done for your community s

We are looking to do more events which hold an element of idols and celebrity participation because one of the sole aims of the organization is to rebrand politics and we need the people that the every day public are interested in to say that democracy mattered because that enables people to say, “well I really like those people and I’ve kind of formed the option that politics is boring but now that they are taking about it it’s going to make me question it again.”

We also want help change policy for the future, we have had a lot of young people feed into My Manifesto and tell us the things that they would want to change if they went back to school, it’s great to take those to the decision makers and policy writers and say people want political education, people want financial education, people want these things in school and equally the more young people register to vote, the more likely these policies will get considered in 2015.

Any politician wants to win votes, they want to retain their seat, they want to retain their job and the more people who are involved, the more they have to consider everyone rather than just the older demographic who are likely to vote.

Bite the Ballot has some strong ties in America with Rock the Vote. How is the political landscape different for young people in the two countries?

I think the main difference is how young people engage with politics from an early age, they all grow up understanding the constitution, they understand their rights, and it’s very much put on the individual. It’s build around freedom, rights, responsible and opportunity. Everyone grows up with this inherent understanding of these things and they adopt those philosophies n all that they do. You understand what it is to be a citizen of The United States of America and the vote is a key part of that.

I think that’s one of the things that we really lack here. Some people call Great Britain the mother ship of democracy. I’m afraid the mother ship has not had the wind blowing here sales for a long time because we have let democracy go sour. We can’t even inspire our youngest citizens to believe in the right to vote. It needs revamping. America has led the way with many things they have done especially with people like Rock the Vote, engaging idols and celebrities.

You get the feeling in America that when someone has made it to top, they look back to their community and think; how can I help out? We need a bit more of that here, we saw a lot of that with the Olympics but we don’t get enough of that with our day to day stars and they hold a lot of power and a lot of influence, they can send out some real positive messages.

Another key difference here is that we tend not to grow up feeling a sense of community and volunteering and that’s a big thing that most Americans grow up with, it’s a part of their culture. Just to stand as a primary in the elections you have to show and prove your business acumen just as much as you have to show what you have done in your community.

There is not a huge focus on that here, sometimes it marketed in the wrong way and people then take offence to it. I heard mixed views of The Big Society, some people think that it is brilliant and other people say that it is the government trying to get other people to do their job for free.

Again I think that’s because the relationship between the people and our public servants isn’t as good as what it could be.

How could someone get involved with Bite the Ballot?

We are working hard to try and think of how we can take someone on this journey with us. The first port of call is registering to vote, although that doesn't involve you with Bite the Ballot, that definitely involves you in the political arena and your influence starts straight away. So from 16 my plea to anyone is to just register, look into it and ask the questions that you feel passionate about.

From Bite the Ballot’s perceptive we are trying to create opportunities where we will start to do more things with Rock the Vote, we are going to look for volunteers in key areas to come out and be a part of those experiences. There are areas on the website where people can sign up and become parts of the campaign so we can keep them up to date, but equally we want to share our resources with people who want to start their own things in their community, this can be school groups, this can business, if you feel passionate we would love to say ‘this is how we run a registration rally, go for it yourself’

We often put events on our site and social networks to come into Westminster or Ministry of Sound or wherever we might be hosting them. Come and get involved, bring your friends. Whatever you experience, whether it’s through us or something else, talk about it, spread the conversation.

I want to delve a bit into your own career. I think that it is fair to say that you have not had a normal nine to five career, after doing a load of jobs when you left school, you graduated from Southampton with a BA Honors in Business Management and Finance, so what did you take what did you learn from your time there?

First of all it was a fantastic three years, I was one of the only people from my group of friends from south-east London to go to university. It meant that I left my comfort zone and I met people with different interests and hobbies and it open my mind to how difference is celebrated.

The course itself was fantastic, the theories and principles behind business management are about leadership, commutation, motivation but I quickly realized when I entered the banking world that it is all clouded over and wrapped in a blanket of greed where people don’t matter.

That really frustrated me, so I quit, dressed as Scooby Doo. I was raising money for Children in Need at the time and raised £500.I then walked around the bank and handed in my resignation.

As you know I traveled around the world for a year and really found myself. Me and my best friend had so many great experiences. It wasn’t about spending money; it was about going to places where you just saw people in their environment without the pressures of the western world. No one was worrying about their trainers or televisions or technology. As much as technology can be great and should be celebrated, the pressures that it puts on people can often be over looked and we visited so many countries where it was just naturally beautiful.

You’ve just mentioned that you have done a bit of traveling, so where did you go and what did you learn?

Are you ready for this one? I can reel this off; I went from to London to India where we travel for two months, we went straight up to Tri Nagar, stayed in the Himalayan Mountains on a house boat, then we went through Rajasthan, celebrated the festival of holy in Jaipur then we went down south to Goa.

You really can’t believe that it is all India; there are so many parts, from snow to the hustle and bustle of busy cities, sharing roads with Chicken, Camels and Cows but then you go south to Goa and it’s a tropical paradise.

Then we went to Singapore traveling overland through Malaysia stopping off at a little island call Palau Tiomen. We went in to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Then Flew into Australia, went to New Zealand, then flew around to Hawaii, San Francisco went on into Utah, snowboarded in salt lake city, stopped by in San Diego before having a little bit of time in Miami, flew on to Costa Rica, overland through El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico City.

We then flew into Argentina onto Sao Palo and then turned 24 during the Rio Carnival. But the thing is we did it all on a shoe string budget. We paid upfront for our flights which was about £2000, but other than that it was about building relationships, a little bit of hitch-hiking. We would walk around a city and look at each other and say “We have had a good day, shall we treat ourselves” “Yeah, do you fancy a can of coke.” We really embraced everything; we eat where the locals eat.

What did I learn? Well I guess I learned what life was really about.

The furthest that I have gone is Swansea. You have been compared to a young Michael Cain, you’ve worked in L.A. Acting and politics seem worlds away, so what can the two learn from each other?

I think that there are a lot of similarities between acting and politics. I sometimes watch people talking about politics and wonder if they actually mean what they are saying. Sometimes I think that some people can create characters and for me when you act, if you truly embrace a character, you need to become that character and I still go to a weekly acting workshop and it’s fantastic, they really get me to embrace a character, become them, think like them, feel like them, develop a back-story.

I have to become that character, if you’re really going to become a politician you have to become politician. When you act, you have to relate a character to something in your own life. I think the best politicians can relate their own life to the decisions that they have to make, and if they can’t relate to decision, they should reach out to the people they represents and say “this is a decision that is coming up, how does it affect you?”

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This article was first published on shoutoutuk.org

http://www.shoutoutuk.org/2013/04/29/bitetheballot/

Why Should We Care? - Politics in Schools Launch Event.

On Saturday 20th March, Harrow Council Chambers, A place normally reserved for council meetings played host to something different. The ‘why should we care? Politics in schools’ campaign was launched.

The campaign proposes that a new subject should be introduced in the National Curriculum, to teach students the basics of British democracy, how to get involved and to show young people around the UK that politics is not just about Parliament.

Councillor Thaya Idaikkadar, the first Sri Lankan Council Leader in UK Political History opened the event by saying;

“It is always great to see young ambition for the future, the future of this country depends on you.” He continued his speech by talking directly to young people. “You are the decision makers, this is not money that we spend, this is money that we invest.”

A short film entitled ‘Politics is Everywhere’ was then played showing the political landscape of the modern age, starting a Hitler and making its way through fighting in Beirut, the troubles in the middle east and the London riots, as well showing other influential political leaders such as George W Bush, David Cameron and finishing on the inauguration speech of President Barack Obama in 2009.

After the film, Marsha Thompson, an Events Manager for Shout Out UK and chair for the debate, thanked everyone for attending and went to say how she was one of those people who did not realize how important politics was, and that it was only after her university course that her eyes were opened, Thompson went on to say that;

“I have found my voice and that I understand, knowledge is power, I hope that you find your voice”

Sachin Shah, the youngest Harrow Councillor at 26 said that it was really good that so many people are here today, it is important that your views are heard. Shah went on to talk about the time when Harrow Young Musicians ran a huge campaign to fight cuts; the campaign was so successful that Shah would go on to say that it ‘scared him.’ Saha finished by saying that he wanted to get into politics to change the world,

“I’m really glad that so many people are here today because the youth are the present and the future”

Mike Sani, Director of Bite the Ballot, kept his speech short and sweet and saying that it was all about “getting people inspired in their community”

Ameet Jogia, a member of Harrow Conservative Future said that there was a lack of knowledge about how politics works, “politics is and will always be one of the only ways to make a difference”

Marsha Thompson then asked why politics should be taught in school and made the point that before university, she was unaware of how politics works. Thompson then commented on the London riots, the first thing that people should realise is that it could have been different; the riots justified the politician’s decision to raise tuition fees.

However it was also mentioned that 65% of the rioters were over 26 and that young people were picked on by the media, while older groups got away with it.

Mike Sani commented described the loss of EMA and the rise of tuition fees as reasons for young people to register to vote. Councillor Idalkkadar’s heart bleeds because people cannot afford to pay their tuition fees.

It was clear that tuition fees are still a huge talking point and if left unchecked, it would be debated until the sun rose the next morning so the debate was moved back to how politics is currently taught in schools.

The point was raised that citizenship lessons should be changed as it only tells students about who runs the country and not how the country is run or how to get involved, as politics can change anything.

The media and press were brought up next, it was noted that there was a symbiotic relationship where politicians owned the media and feed the information they want to press. Another point was raised that news publications just want to sell their papers rather than report on what is real.

It was also raised that Rupert Murdoch owns 45% of the British media via News Corporation, and that if he wants to change something in politics then he can do it from behind his desk.



The cost of education made a second appearance in the debate, but this time in the form of transport, members of the UK Youth Parliament asked why, it was difficult and sometimes impossible to get to sixth form or college? Sachin Shah replied

“Travel is big issue but I don’t have an answer for you and it’s something that we should look at”

Last in the debate was how politicians communicate with the people that they serve, twitter came up and it was mentioned that politicians should make an effort to be followed and not just set up account. Mike Sani then commented:

“It is important to release that people do politics differently, we communicate differently and we need to respect each other”

Sani then commented on UK Youth Parliament describing their current situation as a great opportunity to get something done and show young people in a good light but he asked them to not talk in the same political jargon as traditional government.

After this the debate was brought to end, it was clear that the talks would carry on for many more hours and when they were brought to an end, I asked some of those attending if there was anything else that they wanted to add. Sachin Shah said that he hoped that people are inspired to tell their friends and family and Mike Sani said to keep up the great work.

Aiyesha, said that “education should be first” and Fred Gill, the Youth Member of Parliament for Hammersmith and Fulham said that the politics in schools campaign was a “great idea” and that it fantastic to see “lots of organisations coming together”

The final world comes from Councillor Thaya Ldaikkadar;

“it was great to see how much power young people have, they just don’t realize it, but if young people cannot travel, they cannot expand”

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This article was first published on shoutoutuk.org.

http://www.shoutoutuk.org/2013/04/22/why-should-we-care-politics-in-schools-launch-event/

What is the best replacement for Google Reader?

It was announced that Google Reader would be retired on July 1st, with countless reporters, including myself having an obsession with the service that could rival insanity, I take a look at the alternatives for IOS.

Google Currents

The first app I test was Google Currents. Straight away I logged in to my Google account (the dark overlord that tracks our porn) and the blogs that I was subscribed to were there, also quite a few suggestions for other feeds, I very easily add what felt like a million feeds.

The design is very clean and professional, it feels like an app that I can use in the office and the boss won't be over my shoulder every five minutes, however (and this is a personal choice) I don't like that I have to swipe while I am reading the article to read more, not a lot of info is put onto the page.

All said and done, it does do what it says on the tin, it's not a bad app

Feedly

Imagine if you will, the new guy in the office who is young and talented but in a few months time his soul will be crushed by the corporate snakes and he will lose faith in humanity. Feedly is like that new guy, before the soul crushing. Feedly has a much better layout and design then currents and it is quite easy to find what you are looking for.

Under the bonnet there are a few good options to customize the app to your liking. Feedly follows the rule of content is king, the colorful designs are there, but they are hidden in the menus, to allow for more space for the feeds that you want to read. I also like the fact that YouTube videos are embedded into the app, although I would like to be able to sign in to my YouTube account to view my subscription.

FlipBoard

I like things that are flippy, FlipBoard satisfies that need. The child in me spent about 10 minutes messing with the animation. They have clearly thought about the design although personally I don't like drawstring used to access the search menu.

I like that I can connect to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, however I do wish that I could update my accounts from the app, also the Facebook annoying only shows ten updates at a time and takes a good minute or so to download more and one of my friends post takes up a whole screen, there is miles of space that the app wastes.

However the bigger design suits twitter and makes it more visually pleasing, however it is not practical for what twitter was designed for. I do wish that i could update my time-line or twitter feed from the app.

Pulse

Pulse could have been really good, it has been let down by it design, the main page looks as if it has been copied from the BBC News app, the only difference is that it has been painted black instead of red. The rest feels soulless and devoid of life and passion. However it does load that content quickly.

But then we get to Facebook integration, it not automatically there, (I signed in with my Facebook account) you have to search for the feed and then add it to your contents, but once you've done that, it will only let you view posts that have links on them, which to me devoid the point of the whole feed.

Summly

Let's start with the good points, visually it is the design equivalent of the best XXX rated porn, you can also search for content by keywords, so you can find news on certain subject or in a certain area of the world. But it takes forever to update and I think that there are far to many swipe commands.
It also crashed three times during the first start-up and twice again during my testing. I really want Summly to be good, I used to have it, before the October update, and I really hoped that it was improved. Sadly it wasn't.

For me it's between Currents and Feedly, they are designed and easy to use, although Feedly is slightly deeper than Currents. The both follow the rule of content is king and don't distract the reading experience with bells and whistles. I think Feedly swings the balance into its favor, but I would love to see social interaction in the form of Facebook, Twitter and other social networks like LinkedIn and Google+.