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Lucy Webster

Education and disability rights

The right way to think about Ukip

by Lucy Webster / November 22, 2013 / Leave a comment
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I am now officially a university student (indeed, the last time I went into a shop, all I bought was chocolate biscuits), and I love it. Politics at A-level was fantastic, but being able to study ideas and then apply them across the globe on my international relations courses is both intellectually stimulating and incredibly useful to the aspiring young journalist. Part of the fun of being a social science student is learning what other people think and coming to understand how they see the world. As we are often told, there is no right answer to questions like “what is power?” or “who should have nuclear weapons, if anyone?” The point is to listen, debate, and form your own opinion in a reasoned way.

This is in stark contrast to what we see in the realm of general political debate—where The Sun is still the most read paper, despite (or maybe because of?) the horror that is Page 3. The media’s attention is not on the Conservative concept of human nature nor Labour’s leftward shift, but instead on the “granny tax” and the net migration figure. You have to look extremely carefully at the broadsheets’ op-ed pages, or purchase a specialist magazine, to find the interesting, thought-provoking stuff.

This, I think, is a shame, not least because it lets politicians off the hook. The cabinet and its shadow are allowed to behave like insult-slinging schoolboys because that provides the tabloid press with the headlines they want. Nothing exemplifies this more than the rise of Ukip, which styles itself as the party of “everyman” (if not every woman). Its leader, Nigel Farage, is a tabloid darling whose hand appears to be permanently welded to a pint-glass. He is, perhaps, the only British politician who could get away with declaring Belgium a “non-country” when talking to the Belgian president of the European Union.

I’m not saying that ignorance is the sole—or even the most important—cau…

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Comments

  1. C640
    November 22, 2013 at 21:47
    We Yanks have the same problem. Issues are not analyzed on the basis of rational or not, but based on which side a proposal came from. Humans are boundedly rational - too busy, too ill- informed, and sometimes too boneheaded to think things through.
  2. David Drew
    November 25, 2013 at 13:04
    This is a remarkable article where I can detect one of those very rare attributes: an old head on young shoulders. Lucy Webster - a name to watch out for in the future.
  3. Dr Michael R Taylor
    November 29, 2013 at 07:35
    A stimulating article with some great insights. I look forward to reading more from Lucy Webster as her confidence grows.

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About this author

Lucy Webster
Lucy is a student in Politics and IR at the University of Warwick and a journalist
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