A TALE OF TWO PARLIAMENTS

Today the Scottish parliament voted to allow 16 and 17 year olds a vote in General and Local Elections held in Scotland. Those elections involving other UK countries will retain the UK rules for voting of 18+.

Ironically at the same time the Westminster parliament voted to not allow 16-18 year olds the right to vote in the upcoming EU referendum, despite the enormous effects that the outcome may have on their lives.

Cameron, at one point in the referendum campaign, rather patronisingly told us that whilst a vote in the General Election was only temporary, and that in 5 years’ time we could tell the Tories to “F off”, a YES vote was a decision forever; there would be no going back.

Although, of course, nothing can be said to be forever, at least in the short term he was right.

But, surely a vote to leave or stay in the EU is the same. There will be no going back, at least not in the immediate future, if we decide to leave. And leaving a union, whether the UK or the EU, doesn't happen overnight.

If the UK votes “out”, then by the time that the necessary administration is done, these 16 and 17 year olds will almost undoubtedly be 18 year olds with their university education and working lives ahead of them. It’s surely their business as much as it is ours whether they work in or out of the EU.

The bid to overturn the Tories’ backward looking rules was led by Labour and the SNP, for once working together to try to pull the UK into the 21^st century.

SNP MP Stephen Gethins said that there was overwhelming evidence from the Scottish independence referendum that extending the franchise for 16-year-olds was a good thing for democratic participation.

When you listen to some of the arguments against widening the franchise, you have to wonder what planet the MPs are living on.

One Labour rebel, Barry Sheerman (above), claimed that allowing 16 and 17 year olds to vote would make them 'adults' and therefore more vulnerable to sexual abuse.

WHIT?

Clearly the fact that they can leave school, get married and have children, go to work, live separately from their parents …sometimes on the streets… and pay taxes, seems to have escaped his notice. I’m just guessing that this may have more of an influence of their sexual behaviour than the right to vote! For the life of me I can’t work out why he reckons that casting a vote would open them up to sexual abuse. However, who knows about those things when it comes to planet Westminster.

There was also anger in Westminster that EU nationals will be banned from voting. This time the government had Labour’s support. Strangely there is an exception made for Republic of Ireland nationals. I’m not sure how they are allowed to pick and choose like that, but apparently they can. But then why Irish? Why not Lithuanians, or Maltese?

Unlike in the Scottish referendum, ex patriots will be allowed to vote.  So, even people who have lived here for 20 years, and are married to Brits, won’t be allowed a say in their future. And people who were born here but live in America, or Hong Kong will.  Once again this contrasts with the Scottish referendum which allowed people who lived in Scotland the vote, but those who had chosen to make their lives elsewhere were excluded.

Scotland 21^st century; UK 19^th.

SHOULD SCOTTISH KIDS BE FORCED TO WEAR UNIFORM?

Yesterday I watched some girls come out of school looking like the fantasy of your average middle aged man. The word slappers sprung to mind.

Skirts just below the top of their legs, fish net tights, half open blouses, ties half undone, lipstick, makeup, chewing gum, open mouths. (OK, it may seem that this was an in-depth study, but I was walking up the road when they were coming out of school and walking down the road. There were hundreds of them and I was making a study with this post in mind.) I WAS Niko!!!

The boys were unremarkable. Yes, they tend to wear trainers with their black trousers (maybe because their parents can’t afford shoes and trainers at the same time), but apart from untidy ties they looked fine. Scruffy of course, but boys always look scruffy by 4 pm. Sad lad indeed that went home smart!

I’ve long wondered why we put kids in uniform. Does it improve academic achievement? Is it affordable? Is it good for discipline? Is it widespread? What about design? Would a more modern/casual approach in conjunction with pupils be better?

Across the world there are varying attitudes to uniform. The more authoritarian regimes of course demand uniforms and strict ones too: Burma, North Korea and China. Australia and NZ have informal uniforms : polo shirts, trousers or skirts. Some countries, like Brazil favour jeans and a school polo shirt. And of course some have no uniforms, America, Canada, near neighbours in Europe, Russia and the Scandinavian countries.

Most seem to achieve a relatively high standard of education. However it is hard to say if this is affected by uniform or not. For example regardless of apparel in North Korea you would be expected to be quiet and studious at school. The alternative might be your parents being sent to a correction camp!!

Subrosa’s interesting article on the subject includes her answer to me about a poor parent who was driven into debt trying to keep her daughter in the fashion items that other girls wore. But, in the middle 80s the cost of a Harris Academy blazer was £50! Lord knows what they cost now. And besides uniform there’s the latest phones, ipods, laptops and dongles. A pencil case and a protractor no longer meet the needs! And they need the fashion statement clothes anyway for after school. Why buy the blazer on top?

I’ve done a little bit of teaching in my time: in schools, college, university, and training companies. In none of the places where I taught was there any kind of uniform.... and some of my students were the toughest guys in town. Only once have I ever had a problem with discipline.

There were teachers in my school, where strict uniform was worn, who spent the whole lesson in chaos. Rubbish teachers! If you want to improve discipline, make your lessons more interesting. With a bit of effort you can.

Of course you can say that they have a strict old fashioned uniform policy at Eton, or Benenden and their discipline is nearly perfect and almost everyone goes up to Oxbridge, but then that may be attributable to many other factors, don’t you think?

I see no point in making children’s lives any more difficult than they are. Teenage years in particular are fraught. Uniforms which are uncomfortable and unfashionable, as well as an additional expense to people with not enough money seem to me as likely to be counterproductive as advantageous to achieving a good education.

I wonder what you guys think... and why?

WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT, ALFIE?

What a laugh.

Wee Alfie McKenzie (pictured) was mistakenly put on the electors’ register and sent a voting card, and so he did what far too many people were too busy or too lazy or disinterested in the future of the country to do. He used it and he voted.

The only trouble was that Alfie (pictured above) is 14, and thus presently 4 years shy of being allowed to vote legally.

He said that he dressed as much like a Tory as he could manage: a trenchcoat, reading glasses, sharp shoes, gave it his “slightly eccentric aristocrat's walk and best self-righteous Conservative accent” walked into St Hilda's polling station, went up to the table and was handed a ballot paper.

He voted Liberal Democrat because he believes in fair play, which is a bit strange for a lad who just voted illegally... but what the hell. He confided his prank to a teacher who didn’t see the funny side and reported it to the police. (Note to teenagers: teachers rarely see the funny side of crimes, even pretty funny ones.)

However, luckily for wee Alfie, who considers himself to be a Social Democrat, the police don’t seem inclined to prosecute, and neither should they, for Alfie is hardly a danger to society. I reckon the telling off he gets will quell his high spirits for a while.

Doubtless at some time in the future some rag will rake up the story just as Alfie is about to stand for the Liberals and make his name in politics.

He is hoping that someone from the Liberals or Labour will get in touch. I’m pretty sure they will Alfie, but, if you are a Social Democrat, I’d ignore any overtures from the Labour Party. They aren’t your cup of tea at all.

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