By Tom Guyton-Day
​

Rishi Sunak lit candles to mark Diwali, which begins this weekend.

​Dominique Samuels, a radical, orthodox conservative - and member of an ultra authoritarian group - tweeted that the Chancellor laying out candles for Diwali was somehow virtue signalling.

Many were unhappy at the remarks with some calling for the reply to the tweet to be deleted. 

A few examples of the tweets replying:

This is not the first time Samuels has courted controversy, having been labelled homophobic by many Tory centre ground youth leaders. 

Samuels later quote tweeted her original tweet, apologising for any offence caused and suggesting the tweet was "badly worded".
​

For more articles on the Orthodox Conservatives:

​www.thestudentword.co.uk/politics/in-defence-of-social-conservatism

https://www.thestudentword.co.uk/politics/the-problem-with-the-orthodox-conservatives​

Edited, Tom Guyton-Day

The election of Joe Biden to the highest office in the land is a huge relief for millions, not just those in America, but also around the world - and right here in the UK. Of course, Biden could not have done this without his Vice President - Kamala Harris, the first female VP, the first VP who is both African American and African Asian!
 
 
From across the pond, it is incredibly inspiring to see. And inspiration is the key point here. Being a female in politics, or any leadership role is incredibly difficult, what you have give is so much more than your male peers; you have to be 10x louder than your male peers to be heard, you have to be incredibly resilient as it is tiring.
 
 
The other barrier (which is probably the biggest) that had essentially worked against Kamala Harris is her background, African-American and Asian-American. But thankfully, she has defied the odds and shown girls and young women (including myself) that it doesn't matter what your ethnic background is, if you stick with what you believe in - you can get to where you want to be - and this, seeing a female Vice-President of African and Indian descent is phenomenal and more inspiring than one can put into words.
 
 
We are in exciting times and I can’t wait for a return of boring politics after 4 years of unpredictability. 
 
 
Congratulations to both President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris
​

On Wednesday 28th October, with 6 days until the Presidential Election I had the great pleasure of interviewing Luke Messer. Luke is a Former Republican Member of the House of Representatives and he represented Indiana's 6th Congressional District between 2013 and 2019. 


In the half an hour interview with Luke, in which we covered a range of issues from COVID19, the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court Justice and of course the election. 


Luke gave me honest answers to the questions, especially on Trump as he told me if I wanted pro-Trump quotes, Luke was not the person to give them to me and that I would have to find someone else. 


Of course this was incredibly interesting because the perception of Trump supporters is that they are incredibly loyal and the man can do no wrong (this is very similar to Corbyn supporters).


Donald Trump, as we all know in 2016 (and against all the odds) ended up being the 45th President of the United States. I’m not sure about you reading it, but I for one did not have Trump down to do well in office - or even last the whole 4 years! I genuinely would have put money down on him being impeached, but alas, he got through the 4 years. 


Going off my thinking, I had to ask Luke if he thought Trump had exceeded expectations in office. He told me that Trump has done the best he can but I gathered from what Luke had told me, he was impressed that Trump had managed to open up a dialogue between the West/ Modern Democracies and North Korea. 


In regard to the 59 quadrennial Presidential Election, Luke didn't tell me who he thinks will win but in regard to his own state in which he spent 6 years representing in the House, he said he expects Trump to win “by a large margin.” 


One of the reasons why I think Luke never explicitly said who he expects to win is because he's unsure as to whether the American people are fed up with Trump's style of politics and leadership. This is understandable, and I sympathize with Luke on this point as someone who voted for Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative Party Leadership Election. 


Change in a style of leadership is ok (it certainly gets a lot more people interested in and talking about politics), but after 4 years in a post-truth world, are we entering a post-post-truth world? One in which people want the typical boring politics? Maybe, or maybe we’re still a good few years off that - who knows, that's something future Politics and History students will have to decipher.


One indication Luke gave me was on keeping an eye on how Republican college educated voters vote. The reason being? Luke gave an indication that they’re fed up with Trump's style of politics, whilst they agree with his policies more than Biden's, because they’ve done pretty well for themselves in the modern economy, the reality TV star style just isn't what they want from their leader. 


This would not have been a fair interview if I didn't ask Luke his thoughts on Joe Biden and really focus on whether he’s past his time to run as a Presidential candidate. Luke enlightened me that Biden's age is  “the dilemma of his campaign. Many Americans question whether he is up to the job” and ultimately that is one of the things in which the results on election night will tell us, whether people accept Joe Biden or if not, then perhaps he has left it a bit too late. 


One of the things that could work in Biden's favour (and links back to Republican college educated voters) is the performance of the two candidates in live TV debates. Whilst Trump was eager to give his usual over the top performance, Biden “held his own” and didn't have to do much work. Has a calm and collected performance worked in Biden's favour? Who knows. 


What we do know for certain is that whatever happens on 3rd November 2020, this election for sure will go down in history as one of the most important elections. 


All eyes will be on the United States of America.

​

You can find the full interview: https://www.zeenamistry.co.uk/post/in-conversation-with-a-former-member-of-congress-luke-messer

By Tom Guyton-Day

​The UK's human rights watchdog says Labour broke law by failing to stamp out anti-Jewish racism in its ranks when Mr Corbyn was leader.
​

Jess Barnard, an up and coming member of the Labour Party with eyes on becoming an MP and currently neck and neck to win the Young Labour Chair elections, suggested that "its a failure of his [Starmer] commitment to ensure that factionalism plays no role in tackling racism in our party."
​

Barnard suggested the Party should be looking to unify rather than divide and that this movement, to suspend Jeremy Corbyn MP, distracts from the realities of the need to address all forms of racism within the Party.
​

There has been growing concern at the continued plague of anti-semitic comments that have been made during the Young Labour elections - with one candidate already having withdrawn from the race. One candidate suggested, a high up Nazi was good looking in a Facebook comment.

​

Jess Barnard later tweeted her full support to members of the Jewish community (see above) and urged the Labour Party to adopt the recommendations of the ECHR but to also avoid political decisions. 
​

The unprecedented move by Sir Kier Starmer to suspend Jeremy Corbyn MP was defended by Sir Kier as the "right thing to do".

However, the former shadow chancellor, John McDonnell MP (and close ally of Mr Corbyn) suggested the Party was instead "drifting towards a hell of a row over use of language, misinterpretation, followed by overreaction".

Interview by Josh Broadhurst, Edited by Tom Guyton-Day

Asher Glynn, Student Chair of the Tory Reform Group - in an exclusive interview with TheStudentWord - makes the case for compassionate One Nation Conservatism.  

He’s leading a campaign, encouraging those who share One Nation values to join the TRG with membership now only £1.

To begin, we delved into Asher's thoughts on One Nation values, and how they're represented within the modern day Conservative Party, a party many think has now abandoned the centre. 

Asher told me he disagrees with the view that the Party has moved from the centre as "the One Nation Caucus are the biggest grouping of the party with over 100 MPs from across the country.”

“From the TRG's perspective, we support the Government, work with the Government, and take Boris Johnson very seriously when he says he's a One Nation Conservative.

“I actually think, the over one hundred members of the One Nation Caucus, led by Damian Green, have a huge sway on the Party and I would argue… they do have a lot of influence.

“On Hong Kong, for example, the TRG are leading alongside the One Nation Caucus and have a big impact which is reflected within the Government.

“Under the leadership of David Cameron we also saw a liberal Conservative government passing same sex marriage, driving forward equality for people.

“I became a Conservative because of David Cameron and George Osborne. I was a big fan of their socially liberal, pragmatic, One Nation approach to politics.

“And I think that pragmatism is really lacking in politics at the moment. You look at identity politics - It’s got a bit ugly around the world.”

As of writing this in October 2020, Covid-19 is one of the most pressing matters and we were keen to get Asher’s opinion on Britain’s financial future.

Asher recognised how tough the next few years are going to be, stating: "Conservatism is about pragmatism. From a personal perspective I think there are going to have to be tax rises and/or cuts, and we should avoid hurting the poorest.”

“Timing is everything, low interest rates make us able to borrow. But we are a party that wants to balance the books. We need slower cuts than 2010, and northern infrastructure needs investment, including HS2." 

It's clear a mixed approach is becoming ever more popular. Asher himself was very clear that this is going to be a defining moment for the Conservative Party, and that people who share One Nation values do have a home within the TRG, a place where they can go to events, attend Conference, meet like minded people, and ultimately help define the future for the Party, in the post-COVID world.

A controversial topic we discussed was the Government's decision on the Gender Recognition Act, Asher informed me "my view and the TRG's position is that individuals should be able to live their lives as they choose, and the government should stand for freedom and equality.”

Asher made it clear: “the TRG are behind Trans people.”

The final controversial topic I wanted to get Asher and the TRG’s opinion on was assisted dying. Asher explained his thoughts which are as follows: "the lack of assisted dying is one of the burning injustices left in our country. I believe that individuals, not the state, should be able to control their lives. We should allow people to have a dignified & pain-free death." 

Moving away from Trans rights and Assisted Dying, I was keen to find out what the TRG believes can, and should be done, to tackle the Party's problem with its lack of young members and an issue which is important to a lot of young people: the threat of Climate Change. 

Asher took this issue with particular seriousness and pointed out that: "part of engaging young people is in our commitment to fighting climate change, but it's not only the environment that attracts young people. 

“Our generation is a liberal one and this Government is a liberal One Nation Government and it needs to shout about that far more. 

“Personally I support fighting Climate change, and votes at 16, I think it would really help youth engagement and shows we can absolutely trust young people as voters and contributors to our economy." 

Whilst many would see this as a good start by trusting young people, as well as a bold offer on climate change, some may see this as falling short of the mark when it comes to attracting young people. 

So does the Conservative Party need a bigger offer on things that impact young people, such as university funding, housing, jobs with excellent career prospects, and is the TRG the vehicle, as Asher says, to try and pursue a bold offer to engage them?

The Conservative Party faces many challenges ahead. Whether it be on the economy, liberalism, the environment, or young people, the debate continues to rage on, and decisions on direction will be made. 

Above we see Asher's belief in compassionate One Nation Conservatism, set out clearly, and an invitation to other One Nation Conservatives to get their voices heard in the TRG for just £1. 

I think this writer can clearly see the benefits of the TRG to young people within the Conservative Party and also the wider public. 

To find out more on this £1 membership offer and the TRG generally, follow this link: 

https://www.trg.org.uk/its-back-join-the-trg-student-network-for-just-1-this-autumn-freshers-2/​

​

By Callum Christie, Foreign Policy Specialist

This will be a series of articles concerning the issues of specific country’s foreign policy direction by 2050. 

​

Russia must decide the future orientation of its foreign policy, with China rising and the West remaining but stagnating. By 2050, China will be the largest economy in the world, challenging the established, American-led world order. In theory, Russia should welcome the downgrading of a long-standing adversary. However, this creates a new world order which Russia must adapt to, in which it has 3 options. 
The first is to directly align with China. This carries major risks as political allegiance would require economic openness and risk making Russia into a vassal state. In mainland Asia, China has used its economic power to redraw borders with Tajikistan, secured economic control of central Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative and has shown it will not contend with civilian dissent or elite indecision in Hong Kong. The Economist has referred to the One Belt, One Road Initiative as the Our Bulldozers, Our Rules initiative. 
This could point to an assertive Beijing dealing with nations and regions it sees as its sphere of influence. Conversely, Russia is a different nation with its own trappings of power, therefore less easy to control and more deserving of respect. Although, to say there would be an imbalance of power would be an understatement. Another problem would be Xi’s insistence that modern Russia is what China should seek to avoid, with his insistence studying the fall of the Soviet Union. 
While the West has long viewed a China-Russia alliance with horror, Moscow and Beijing have never particularly warmed to it. Dealing with China is seen as tomorrow’s problem in Russia; kleptocracy is not particularly good at planning for the future as corruption is more concerned with stealing today rather than planning for tomorrow. 

The next option is for the EU and Russia to form some sort of alliance and or understanding, for Russia to be in the Western camp. On paper, Russia and the EU could be allies. Economically, Russia is the EU’s 5th biggest trading partner due to its proximity. Most Russians see themselves as European and Russia as part of Europe; Moscow and Saint Petersburg are great European cities with the culture and coffee shops to show. However, history and politics complicate this. 
An accommodation would have to be reached with Ukraine over Crimea, Brussels over democracy and human rights along with the central issue of the expansion of a military alliance which Russia deems as a fundamental threat to its security. Considering Russia’s assassinations using chemical weapons throughout Europe, continuing war in the Donbass, and lack of action on human rights and corruption does not look promising.
It is exceedingly difficult to foresee a thawing of relations without a drastic change of policy in the Kremlin and without significant dialogue between Moscow and Brussels. The language of von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech was not compromising. A Russia-EU alliance would require significant change and compromise. 

The third option is to try to be an independent power. In a multipolar world this could be possible; Russia has a large economy, nuclear arsenal, significant armed forces, and a seat on the UN Security Council. However, this option ignores Russia’s internal problems: an economy held back by corruption and dependent on hydrocarbons while internationally Russia lacks strong military allies.  This option is just continuing the current trend, not changing with the times. This option is also heavily dependent on the development of the world system. 

Overall, difficult decisions lie ahead for the Kremlin. 

​

By Callum Christie, Foreign Policy Specialist

South Korea is part of a geopolitically tense region, The long-standing alliance with America has helped South Korea become democratic, the 13th largest economy and stand against Pyongyang. However, South Korea has issues with all 3 nations within its tri-lateral defence agreements. 

​

The recent alignment with Japan is controversial due to their colonization of Korea and its unrepentant attitude towards it. Recently, the Japanese and South Korean trade war over the South Korean Supreme Court decision to allow plaintiffs to claim compensation from Japanese firms for WWII forced labour. Despite Japan-South Korea’s cultural, political, and economic similarities, the violent history clouds any strong alliance. 
​
However, the major problems come from Washington. If Trump gets re-elected, there will be serious questions over his administration’s commitment to Seoul’s defence. Trump notoriously came close to unilaterally withdrawing from the US-South Korea free trade agreement while his withdrawal from TPP undermined the US’ economic position in East Asia. 

​

Trump has also been far more interested in talking to Pyongyang than Seoul, with Trump considering withdrawing from the peninsula if North Korea abandoned its nuclear programme. Trump’s unilateral decision to withdraw from US-South Korean joint military exercises, a visible display of Washington’s commitment to Seoul’s defence; a decision that shocked the South Korean Right-wing and military, the most pro-American South Koreans. There are ongoing disagreements over South Korean payment for American military presence.

Trump’s trade war with China also makes any peaceful, diplomatic progress with Pyongyang difficult, the central issue of South Korean foreign policy. Due to all this, there is an internal divide within South Korea over how to handle Pyongyang’s aggression. 
​
Journalist Barbara Demick noted on The Ezra Klein Show podcast: ‘If you go to an anti-North Korea march in Seoul, there will be 50 or so old men who are Korean War veterans. But if you go to an anti-US demonstration you see 1000s of young people in candle-lit marches. There is a view among Koreans that America is the problem.’ 

Partly due to this, Seoul is seeking to strike a balance between Beijing and Washington.

Fully committing to Beijing has its attractions. In leadership, China and Xi specifically offer a calmer, less volatile alliance than the American political system currently does. If Trump’s isolationism becomes a part of the Republican platform in the longer term, China begins to look more technocratic and a safer option. 

China also boasts a strong and growing economic market for trade, currently shown in tourism, and possibly a great source of innovation with Huawei’s 5G especially as China moves to a more consumption, less export-based economy. Optimistically, this could lead to a more peaceful peninsula and East Asia. 

However, Seoul is unlikely to follow this path. South Korea would have to defer militarily to China; its installation and maintenance of the THAAD missile defence system, which incurred strong domestic opposition and Chinese economic sanctions, shows Seoul will not give up its security interests lightly. Beijing sees these systems and alliances as America’s containment strategy, removing THAAD would be a firm pre-condition of any South Korea-China alliance. 

President Moon Jae-in (pictured right), recognising his country’s difficult position, stated in 2017: “That is why I am pursuing a balanced diplomacy with the United States as well as China.” 

Moon recognises the need for both. It is impossible to be neutral in a region with so many global powers and players while also being geographically, economically, and geopolitically in-between the 2 superpowers. 
​
Seoul will likely continue to pursue this balanced approach, while praying for a Biden victory. If Trump wins, East Asia will be on notice for major geopolitical power shifts. 

​

By Martha Evans

As term approaches, many students have been encouraged to travel to their universities and take residence in a new city. However, with the sharp increase in cases, the government has now put the blame on students. This has caused a loud reaction from students and the National Union of Students.

Here at the Student Word we wanted to see how students feel about the new measures and whether this has impacted how they intend to vote in the next general election.

Zeena aged 22 who is beginning her first year doing a Masters at the University of York had this to say:

“I feel incredibly disappointed that students are being blamed for the spread of COVID. Students get the blame for everything and anything that goes wrong. For the most part, students have been doing what they can to adapt to new ways of living - despite having their education massively disrupted and I personally think people should be a bit more grateful. Looking at the way students are being treated it feels like they've just been waiting for mid to end of September, knowing there would be a 'mass migration' of students, who in the midst of madness are just trying to get on with their lives by adapting to new ways. For those students who are currently locked up in their accommodation and having flat parties, I do not blame them at all.

As for the next election, I'm incredibly unsure as to how I will vote (or even if I'll vote at all).”

Soraya aged 18 is taking a gap year before attending the University of Manchester agreed, adding:

“It’s frustrating because the government were the ones who encouraged students to go back to school in the first place. So, it shouldn’t come as a huge shock that this happens, in my eyes the government should take accountability, and it’s clear they don’t know how to contain Covid as well as stimulate the economy at the same time. 

Luckily I was already planning on voting labour/green (undecided) but obviously I have no idea how they would have approached it differently”
Natalia aged 21 and continuing at the University of Aberystwyth with a Masters, also shared a similar opinion:

“I feel incredibly irritated at the government’s refusal to accept responsibility, especially when you consider that had the PM acted earlier and not sold contracts to his inexperienced friends, the UK would have been in a much better position to handle the pandemic. I do see that some students aren’t following rules, but I strongly feel that we wouldn’t be in this position to rely so heavily on students if the PM had done his job correctly. 

I will not be voting for his party at the next election, or hopefully ever.”

Tom aged 22 and beginning a Masters at the University of Exeter commented that:

“I think that the Government has essentially blamed students for the Covid pandemic because they don't usually vote Conservative and they are unlikely to vote.

I will continue to vote Conservative but, on this issue, I am very angry with the Government.”

Kristof aged 19 who is beginning an undergraduate degree at the University of Southampton had a different opinion:

“The recent spread of the virus has mostly been through younger people as restrictions have been raised so I'd say there is some personal responsibility. The government can only do so much and the current trend seems in line with most other countries. 
​
I'd probably still vote conservative.”

​

Edited, Martha Evans and Tom Guyton-Day

With the lead up to the Young Labour Chair elections, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jess Barnard, one of the candidates in the election. 

As a young person in politics myself, it was great to hear Jess’ passion for getting more young people involved in the Labour Party and hearing first hand ideas Jess has planned if she wins the election, to ensure the youth wing of the Labour Party reaches out to as many young people as possible.

I started the interview by asking Jess if she could tell us a little about herself. She informed me she currently lives in Norwich and has been a youth worker for 5 years. The role of youth worker has enabled Jess to support young people with mental health, more recently she has used her role to focus on political education. In addition to her role as a youth worker, Jess is also a councillor. 

Her history in the Labour Party started when she joined at the age of 16, when Ed Miliband was leader and her reason for joining was based on the influence of her parents being made redundant, this made Jess upset and this led her to wanting to join a party that worked for the people. 

Jess’ determination to improve the Labour Party has placed her in the role of vice chair of Young Labour, but wants to be able to do more for young people which is why she is running for chair. 

To get to know Jess and her politics a little bit more, we discussed her experience within the Labour Party. She told me that a year after joining, she began attending CLP meetings. Jess “felt the impact of being a young person in politics, some people were dismissive of my opinions because they felt like I was ‘too young’ others however were more excited by my presence and immediately gave me tasks such as running the social media, as a way to “tick  a box.”

Originally from Kings Lynn, Jess was made the women's officer. In this role, Jess wanted to offer a less formal space for members to get involved and she did this successfully. Two of the things Jess is most proud of is the Women's Arts Performance Evening and Sleep-out. The Sleep-out  was to help a charity to raise money, that was successful and for the members who took part, it boosted their enthusiasm with getting involved in Young Labour. This made Jess incredibly proud because one of her key motivations as Eastern Representative was to “get the most out of the young members.”

Jess is driven by bringing people along which can be seen in her role as Eastern Representative and has used this role to visit every active Young Labour group - that she has been able to get the contact information for. The reason for this is so Young Labour members know a familiar face if something goes wrong, or they need to talk to someone about a safeguarding issue - this is where Jess’s experience as a Youth Worker comes in handy. Being a representative also means she sits on the National Committee - in recent times there has been a push back from the national party against the youth wing but Jess is determined to get the most out of young members.

Having found out more about Jess’ experience in the Labour Party, the focus shifted to what Jess’ three main policies if she was to be elected as Young Labour Chair, after a long pause she told me her priorities would be: 

• Movements for change

To focus on “fighting back against the system” covering one of the biggest issues facing young people which is rent. Currently, renters have very little power and Jess wants to fight against this - using her role as Chair of Young Labour to team up with unions to give renters more power and more say. 

Defending the rights of people who are currently under attack from the current government, from the Black Lives Matter movement to transgender people.

• Socialism for the future

Jess does not believe that the current system of capitalism is fit for purpose, as it does not solve the problems we’re currently facing such as climate change. By being Chair of Young Labour, it means Jess will be in a position to energise the youth wing, work together to find solutions to problems we are currently facing and then from the strong support, the youth wing will be in a position to challenge the national party. To quote Jess directly “the tories are failing, now is the time to be shouting the solutions.”

• Representation for Young Workers

Jess will want to use her position as Chair of Young Labour to ensure space is created for young workers, who are currently on zero hour contracts and university students. Jess is committed to holding a Young Workers Conference and to invite along unions. By opening the conversation between workers and unions, it means they will be able to work together to explore the issues which affect young workers and come up with solutions to “fight for rights at work.”

It would have been wrong to conduct the interview and not acknowledge the crushing defeat for the Labour Party in the 2019 General Election, and the measures Jess would put in place having learnt from past mistakes. The main goal of Jess’ leadership would be to rebuild the Youth Wing because the time is right to increase enthusiasm and deliver political education, she understands that it will be an uphill struggle, but Young Labour can’t give up because people depend on them, to give them an option of who to vote for in an election.

Over the next few years, Jess also believes the Youth Wing has a role to play, especially in ensuring social movements stay active, because they do bring about change. A key point highlighted by Jess is the role Black Lives Matter has played in 2020. Additionally,  Jess believes that by keeping socialist policies in the Youth Wing, it means people in society can be looked after, which is one of the reasons why Jess originally joined the Labour Party at the age of 16. As we, as a society soldier on during the Coronavirus Pandemic, Jess is concerned about the impact the lifting of the eviction ban will have,  “with lots of people out of work, it's a harsh reality that lots of people are going to be struggling to not only get back into work, but also keeping a roof over the heads - especially for families.”

With Jess as Chair of Young Labour, she will be putting pressure on local councils to ensure people are protected. Another reason why this is so important is because “we know councils are going to be stretched financially” however Jess raised the concern during the interview that “public services work for the public and not profit, after years of Tory Austerity, there is hardly anything left to cut.”

Jess’ final statement to voters in the upcoming election is as follows:

“We need to look at young voters because they have really connected with the Labour Party, they are the party which holds the values of young people and it is important that the Party does not take young people for granted. As Chair of Young Labour, I will ensure Young Labour is visible, that anyone can approach us because it is a home. Labour is the party for upholding the rights of groups of people under attack: the Labour Party are the opposition, and Jess gave me the example that the rights of Transgender people are under attack - and the Party cant avoid conflict with the Government. Unlike the Tory Party, the Labour Party is funded by people and workers not billionaires.

Having spent years organising Young Labour events, organising campaigning events in every election. As a Councillor and Youth Worker I have seen issues from every angle: mental health, student debt, housing, jobs. The fight for Young Labour is a fight for socialism, autonomy, resources. To deliver change, and Young Labour have the potential to do that and more.”

To find out more about the campaign, here is Jess' main campaign video.
​