The Pessimism and Occasional Optimism of Juvenile Adulthood

On several occasions during the election campaign I started drafting articles, but the speed of events simply made it impossible to keep up. Now, with dust settling on such a momentous realignment of British Politics, let’s take stock... A party for the Labourers? Lynton Crosby’s most notable electoral strategy is the ‘wedge’, wherein a divisive issue is brought up by the right of centre party to split the opposition party (usually left of centre) on the matter. This enables the former to present a united, albeit narrow-minded, perspective and attract support. But in 2019, with Brexit, antisemitism, and renationalisation, Labour wedged themselves. This is perhaps an overly simplistic model to create but it is remarkably applicable. Jeremy Corbyn has marked himself out as a chairman, not an autocrat - a man who talks to people to decide his opinions or formulate policy. It is what led to such ‘dithering’ - as the Tories put it - on Brexit, and has been used to justify his mee...

My Sixth Form isn't perfect, though I'm sure no institution can be characterised as such. One of the perks though, is that Wednesday afternoons are folded down for 'Enrichment', a two hour period of extra-curricular activities, such as Sports Society, DofE, Creative Writing, or Amnesty International among others. However, for me and three others, we were invited to St Chad's sanctuary in Birmingham, a charity centre for refugees and asylum seekers, not only to drop off clothing and toiletry donations, but also to learn more about the charity's work and the struggles of claiming asylum in the UK. I can say with great certainty, that it was the most enriching of all Wednesday afternoons. 10 years ago, Sister Margaret established St Chad's after seeing the long queue outside a Youth Hostel, one which has since closed. The centre now operates next to St Chad’s Catholic Church, and whilst there is a clear affiliation between the institutions, support ...