Forever – or a day?
‘Love and marriage, love and marriage/Go together like a horse and carriage’…. Not any more they don’t. The numbers of people getting married keeps on falling. In 1999, there were 263,515 marriages, and over half as many divorces (144,241) (1). The UK Office for Statistics’ 2000 edition of Social Trends reveals that approximately 25 percent of unmarried […]
Bulger killers: childhood on trial
Robert Thompson and Jon Venables killed two-year-old James Bulger in February 1993, when they were aged 10. Now, their parole hearings and potential release have provoked outrage among James Bulger’s family and their supporters, who claim Thompson and Venables should be sent on to an adult prison. The murder of James Bulger, by two young […]
The work thing
If 1997 was the election of ‘education, education, education’, 2001 pushed the mantra ‘work, work, work’. Throughout the election campaign, Blair and co eulogised the wonders of the work ethic – the way work gives you dignity; the need to promote the business culture through education; the wonders of the New Deal youth unemployment scheme; […]
Wake up! The truth about youth apathy
‘It is known that young people have depressingly low levels of political interest and knowledge’, states the preface to the UK Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s report, ‘Young people’s politics: political interest and engagement amongst 14- to 24-year olds’, published in 2000 (1). Although there are no absolutely accurate statistics on how many young people vote, all […]
Blair’s other babies
‘Buzzing…Best day I’ve had in ages.’ ‘I really enjoyed myself.’ ‘It was brilliant.’ Were these young people raving about a trip to Ibiza or Glastonbury? No – they were talking about a day spent at the Sound Republic nightclub in Leicester Square, London, consulting with home secretary Jack Straw, minister for women Tessa Jowell, and […]