The RHS Hustings – Giles Lennox

Current affairs School Uncategorized 3lennog November 25, 2019 0 Comments

Seven Things we learnt from the RHS Hustings

Labour’s manifesto sounds vaguely similar to their previous manifesto. Candidate Harvey Crallan made some fantastic points about a variety of issues in our society however, the possible solutions bared striking resemblance to those found in Labour’s 2017 manifesto. Coincidence?
The Brexit party is no longer a party with only one idea. Candidate Rupert Todd used up only 1 minute of his allotted to promise 2 things. The typical Brexit rant about leaving as soon as possible and in an attempt to appeal to younger audiences, promised Fortnite for all; a radical policy that will likely have a significant impact on the outcome on the election.
There is political engagement in the lower school. Whether it because Y7 borders were being forced to attend or actually having an interest, it was great to see many of them asking candidates such insightful questions.
White van drivers like Fred Felgate are in immediate danger. Conservative candidate Alex Jackson promised a tougher approach on crime and warned all white van drivers of the extra 20000 police officers on the street to tackle them. Fred was unfortunately not present to comment on this accusation.
We could be left with a Lid Dem, Green and Labour mish mash hybrid. When questioned about her ability to form a government, Lib Dem Candidate Esme Peters claimed that she would be willing to form one with the Greens and Labour. This very suggestion of such a left-wing government made Rupert visibly tremble with rage.
The Conservatives are extremely unpopular with other candidates. It is commonplace to comment other parties in political speeches, but the Conservatives received an extraordinary amount of criticism from the other candidates for almost everything they have done in the recent years. Surprisingly or not, it will be interesting to see how they combat such intensive criticism in the debate in a couple of weeks.
The youth is becoming significantly more important to parties. The Green Party candidate Josie Ruffles outlined her policy for 16-year olds to vote and some of the other candidates talked about ways they would address mental health amongst young people. After discussing this with some members of year 13, many felt that these policies were important and may possibly sway the way they voted.