Blonde Ambition: Is That All It Takes?

While the price of the pound sterling erodes faster than the Amazon basin, we see an appreciation in the values of middle-class white privilege, having horrible views and being totally incompetent. I am of course referring to Trump, Johnson and Bolsonaro. We are no longer discussing right-wing politics as their views go beyond protectionism. Their policies are derived from laziness, convenience, self-interest and defiance of doing the right thing. So what exactly is going on in the world? How has it come to this in 2019?​

I want to impress upon you how Trump et al are not simply laughable misfortunes we can shrug our shoulders at. An eclipse of rationality and reality has overcome us with deep scars impending on our social and ecological history. Of course in the three nations, different forces are at play. In the USA, fatigue of being told ‘you need to do the right thing’. Brazil’s vote was swung by appealing to the public’s desperation. Boris bucks the trend in that he was elected by party peers when Theresa May stepped down. At first glance, Boris seems the most harmless in his glory-seeking buffoonery. But a ruthless liar can only mean potential ruin for Britain.​

We all know enough about Trump; but as a Brit, I feel a duty to inform the world of Boris’s incompetence. Despite being fired multiple times for dishonesty, Boris maintained his career as a journalist until entering politics. He then won an election to become Mayor of London. During which he failed to deliver on any of his responsibilities and betrayed promises. Most notorious of these lies is the promise of £350 million a week back into the U.K’s public healthcare system to win the Brexit campaign. This year, Boris was taken to court for these unsubstantiated lies but somehow left unscathed. Dishonourable mention for his 37 offensive public remarks including calling Black children of the commonwealth “flag-waving piccaninnies,” devout Muslim women walking “letterboxes,” likening gay marriage to bestiality and “f**k the families of 7/7″ bombings. ​

If you thought Boris was a farce, Bolsonaro says hold my caipirinha. His rainforest slaying is reported daily, this needs no introduction. He says Black people “are not even good for procreation” and should “go back to the zoo.” He said about an opposing female Congresswoman that she doesn’t even deserve to be raped. Recalling his earlier years on a public sector salary, he would spend his money on sex. So why would so many women and Black Brazilians vote for him? It is speculated that speaking to the electorate’s increasingly popular Catholic values and promises of a quick fix to the country’s crime and ailing economy won it for Bolsonaro. ​

An unsavoury but important question some of us are secretly asking: is White male privilege to blame here? Wealthy, supposedly educated White majority countries elect racist White men. In fact, a White man in Brazil has managed to deeply offend those of Afro-Caribbean descent yet astoundingly garnered the majority of their votes. Why are Trump, Johnson and Bolsonaro untouchable when they are awful human beings? Is it even fair to bring up the White male privilege cliché? Because let’s face it, if a person of colour or a woman held the same views they would not even be in the running, let alone be in office.

My answer to all the above is yes, because this generational phenomenon is the last ripple of imperialism and patriarchy. An act of revolt against liberalism is a revolt against today’s youth… a united youth who want to dissolve lines of socioeconomic class, race, gender identity, orientation and faith to work together. These values are a deep threat to old-world privilege. ​

We have reached shameful new heights for politics in the western world. I look forward to a future where any form of undeserving privilege is an artefact of our troubled history. I am confident that when generation X become the leaders of our world, they can turn some of it around. Let’s hope we haven’t lost the Amazon and our minds by then.

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Shaming Shamima: An Unlikely Debate

Shamima Begum, to forgive or not to forgive? The request of this 19-year-old British Muslim to return to England after defecting to ISIS has sparked debate on the issues of remorse and culpability of minors for serious criminality. A martyr, a victim, a misguided youth, an accomplice to terrorism, a precedent for case law. Shamima has certainly divided opinion over how her wrongdoings should be viewed. Never in recent memory has a supporter of terrorism generated such controversy and even more surprisingly, sympathy.

Support from the public is undeniably linked to her young age. Shamima made her decision to join ISIS when she was 15 years old. A child beyond 10 years old committing any crime can still be tired and sentenced under British Law. Her decision to stay with ISIS continued past her turning 18 when she was fully capable as an adult to take criminal responsibility. Now at 19, her naivety is coincidental and unfortunate at best.

Let’s consider if this was a British boy who had been radicalized and fathered a child whilst part of ISIS. Would they be given sympathy for their regret? What we have here is a gender bias from both men and women on social media that no one is talking about. ‘She’s a victim’ ‘she was groomed’, ‘she’s traumatized.’ Were the teenage boys who defected to ISIS at the same age ever given victim status? Where was all this uproar for them? Two similar cases of British-Bangladeshi men were repatriated back to England only because of legal reasons, not on the basis of forgiveness. The same should apply to a female member of ISIS.

Having made the case that she is fully culpable for her actions, the question now is does the punishment fit the crime? The legal dilemmas here are more complex than many of us realize. Our (Head of ) Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, states his decision to revoke Shamima’s citizenship was in the interest of national security. Foreign terrorists and accomplices are also banned from entering the U.K. under the same principle. Opponents argue she has not been given a fair trial to be prosecuted and sentenced.

However, the statistics presented in Parliament last year revealed that only one in ten of all jihadists returning to the UK were prosecuted. The Director of the Centre on Radicalisation and Terrorism, Nikita Malik, has expressed concern about British laws not being robust enough to allow for prosecution in these cases. The current legal framework prohibits much of the evidence collected on terrorists abroad being admissible to court. There is the very real possibility of Shamima being free on a technicality despite her openly saying she left to join ISIS. It is therefore unfair to label Sajid Javid’s decision as purely political, xenophobic or washing hands of responsibility. Risking miscarriage of justice really is at the expense of Britain’s security if Shamima (and subsequent cases) cannot be adequately prosecuted.

The debate has since shifted to the issue of her citizenship. The ‘bloodline’ law in Bangladesh means Shamima may be a citizen there by default because of her Bangladeshi mother. Bangladesh are in the process of disputing this with the Home Office, meaning the U.K. could have illegally rendered an individual stateless. Shamima also has the right to appeal the Home Office’s decision by proving the Home Secretary acted disproportionately.

One fact remains: she admits to joining ISIS. This in itself is the definition of proscription and is illegal under the Terrorism Act 2000. It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. If she is accepted back into the U.K, she will be tried and sentenced in accordance with those laws. An indefinite/temporary ban from re-entering the U.K. may ironically be the more lenient punishment, all things considered. Quite simply put by Sajid Navid (Home Secretary), if you back terror, there must be severe consequences. 

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God Save the Queen: The Demise of a Regime

Our future at a standstill yet again. Brits really are living in a really tedious and overdrawn episode of Black Mirror. Instead of riding the crest of the wave of Brexit, we are very much drowning in its turbulence, our surf board bashing us in the face as it flails behind us. And yet I’m still trying to decide how I feel about it all, including Theresa May’s leadership. After all, she has had to steer a ship she didn’t want to be built in the first place.

Just a reminder as to why Britons are in despair over Brexit. If and how we leave the EU will determine the fate of the UK’s economy. Whilst countries such as Norway thrive outside the EU, the UK has built an economy based on an open market. Without absolutely any viable plan even being proposed for how we can make Brexit a success, the next 10 years is likely to be grim. Whilst our politics isn’t anywhere near as parody worthy as that occurring in the USA, the sting of our losses is continually being felt. 

Even with us being in limbo, we have already felt the impact of Brexit in the U.K. The pound is worth less than the Euro for the first time that I can remember. House prices have stagnated in London. The economy is predicted to shrink and foreign investment have either avoided us or pulled out. As an advisor to our National Health Service (NHS), I personally worry about maintaining our free accessible public healthcare system. The level of healthcare that is available free of charge in the UK is astounding. Cutting edge cures for cancer that would otherwise require life savings, pediatric spinal surgery, no qualms emergency treatment, HIV medicines, all available on the NHS. To see this potentially privatised resulting in denied equal access to thousands would perhaps be one of the greatest travesties to come out of Brexit.

Extra money for the NHS was one of many broken promises from the Brexit campaign we are still reeling from. If I had to name one positive from the campaign of lies that had been masqueraded on the side of an iconic red London bus, it would have to be what we have learned with hindsight. We have learned that it is easy to dupe even the cynical, supposedly educated British public. That pandering to xenophobia unites voters from both ends of the class spectrum. That we have strict advertising rules for multivitamins yet absolutely no safeguards to protect us from reckless, misleading claims from politicians. Even more astoundingly, that Jeremy Corbin, (leader of the main opposing party) also backed to leave the EU and no one has batted an eyelid.

As much as I shouldn’t, I can’t help but feel saddened by our lost status in the world. I’m not one to depict the UK as Royal Britannia on her chariot gracing her commonwealth subjects whilst eating scones with clotted cream and earl grey tea. However, I already miss the comfort in knowing that our politics were generally going to be somewhat centred. The time when we could roll our eyes, tut and say ‘ah, the rest of the world. What are they like?!’ I’ll say it, I miss our politics being dull. And now we take centre stage in our own slapstick amateur hour in political leadership. The chariot is now on fire and being led by blind horses hurtling towards the sea.

Currently, we are at another crossroads with a second referendum to stay/leave, early general election, no deal exit or renegotiation all on the cards. Unusually we are in a position where it is better to look back at what’s happened rather than attempting to look forward. As a young Brit living in London, it’s difficult to decide how I feel. Is this karma for the British Empire? Should we be aspiring to be like Norway/Switzerland? Have the experts got it all wrong? Or perhaps this a sinking ship and we just need to evolve into fish people to survive. And with the above being said, no Theresa. You have not done a good job.

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