Articles tagged with: Viewpoint
Alternative Issue, Features »

Taught by volunteers and inclusive to all, squat schools provide an alternative to Cameron’s Big Society free schools, without cost to the taxpayer.
Talia Rose, 28, who has been an English Foreign Language (EFL) teacher for the last nine years, volunteered as a facilitator in free schools in squats. She passionately exclaimed how she became “part of a collective that did an arts free school in the building behind the Bank of Ideas.”
In 2011, the Occupy movement devised the Bank of Ideas, a free school held at the disused UBS office …
Features, Planet Issue »

London smog.
In 1952 an estimated 4,000 people died as a result of severe air pollution in London. Today the same number are estimated to die early each year because of poor air quality in the Capital.
Dr Benjamin Barratt, of the Environmental Research Group at King’s College London, measures air quality across the city. He says in some respects London is quite clean, but in others the city could be considered the worst in Europe.
Alternative Issue »

It’s a year since Occupy London left the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral, but many of the group are still campaigning for change.
George Barda was one of the most recognisable faces of Occupy London. With his long dark hair and wiry beard he often appeared as a spokesperson for the group.
“We just don’t get as much media coverage now that we are not outside St Paul’s,” saide Barda.
One of the groups most recent campaigns did capture the attention of the media: the occupation of Friern Barnet Library.
“Quite a lot of …
Planet Issue »

In 2010 plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport was dropped by the new coalition government. Now, in response to other European countries’ growing aviation capacity, the issue has resurfaced.
The Howard Davies aviation commission will spend 2013 determining the future need for expansions and deliver their report to the government in 2015. Many of the main stakeholders in the situation such as the former BAA have put pressure on the government to speed up this review.
But no matter the decision, activist groups such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth …
Alternative Issue »

Co-authored with Christian Jensen.
A new campaign will try and make squatting completely illegal. In September 2012, squatting in a residential location, the act of living in a building without paying rent, was made illegal. But now the government is considering extending this to all squatting.
Mike Weatherly, Conservative MP, is one of the strongest proponents of the new campaign: “Some squatters have got nothing to do with homelessness. They are basically anarchists who want rent-free accommodation. I don’t mind people having alternative views on life and living the way they want …
Features, Health Issue »

Ben Goldacre, medical doctor and Guardian journalist is the father of Bad Science a collection of books, hundreds of articles and videos with one goal: challenging myths, rumours and shady businesses in the medical world.
Goldacre’s work is rife with aggression and challenges against other “experts”, with his book Bad Science getting new chapters both in print and online as lawsuits against him finish, something his newest book Bad Pharma will undoubtedly also feature.
The cases he debunks and attacks generally fall into two categories. People who prey on the ignorance, spirituality …
Sex Issue »

Most people have some idea of what an addiction is, but sex doesn’t seem to be one that first comes to mind.
When Steve McQueen’s Shame, a film about a sex addict living in New York, hit the cinema earlier this year, it provoked a lot of controversy. It seems that sex addiction is still a taboo subject that most of us have never have been confronted with.
Medical organisations have been debating whether “sex addiction” really is a condition, or whether it is just an excuse for a high sex …
Censorship Issue, Features »

A study by Harvard University released this month reveals that China’s Internet Censor’s new focus is on topics that might incite protest in the country.
Citing examples that two of the most censored topics concerned protests in China’s Inner Mongolia region and in Zengcheng. The study showed that in both cases local inhabitants of the area clashed with the authorities. This is an interesting development because The ‘Great Firewall of China’, a censorship and surveillance project which began to operate in November 2003 recently did a u-turn on blocked keywords such …
Censorship Issue, Features »

Reporters Without Borders stated that a journalist from Radio Liberté and two journalists from Kisangani News were released from prison in the last few weeks.Their crimes were that they asked too many questions about the government… But at least they are still alive.
According to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) between 1993 to 1998 four journalists were reported killed in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Between 2005 and 2011 that figure was eight. To add to these atrocities, during the 2011 presidential elections a private television station, which favoured the opposition opponent …
Censorship Issue, Features »

An information bill that is being debated in the next few months in South Africa could put democracy to the most extreme test.
Nelson Mandela came out of prison in the 90s at the end of apartheid, which was a state led separation and oppression of non-whites, and assumed power in 1994 with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. For 27 years he had carried a vision that all citizens would be equal under the law and that a free press would finally be allowed to flourish without hindrance from …
Europe Issue, Features »

Since the recession of 2008 there seems to be more than just financial issues at stake. The disillusionment with traditional politics has resulted in hung parliaments in Britain and in some countries in Europe.
The knock on effect of this lack of support has seen voters trying to find solutions. Some have even turned to the extreme right as the economic woes of countries are blamed on scapegoats through xenophobia and Islamiphobia.
Right wing democratic governments in Germany, Britain and France have spoken about the failures of the multicultural ‘experiments’ in their …
Europe Issue, Features »

Forty years after a group of hippie squatters stormed and took over an ex-army base in Copenhagen for a permanent home, they now face the biggest challenge in their extraordinary history. The city’s new right wing government has asked the 1,000 members of the Christiania commune – the largest and longest living ‘squat’ in the world – to raise £18m in order to buy the part of the city they have run as unique self governing commune since the early 1970’s. While the members of Christiana admit they face a struggle …
Europe Issue, Features »

Finland’s growing nationalist party, the True Finns, have been put in the spotlight by their bid to block the European Union’s €78bn bailout of Portugal. While they were unsuccessful in stopping their country from backing the rescue package, they did succeed in grabbing the headlines all around Europe, many of which were concerned about their far right policies.
The ‘True Finns’ charismatic leader, Timo Soini, is broadly against Europe and seems opposed to immigration. Their manifesto at the last election carried a broadly anti-immigration tone, saying that “basic Finnish immigration policy …
Europe Issue, Features »

Nicolas Sarkozy, the least popular president of recent history, will struggle hard to win a second term at the Elysee Palace. Meanwhile, the opposition party – the ‘Parti Socialiste’ (PS) – is yet undergoing another leadership crisis, with the arrest of one of their leading figures, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who had been the pollsters’ favourite for the next elections. But the race might be rocked by a strongly performing outsider: Marine Le Pen, the newly appointed leader of the far-right ‘Front National’ (FN).
Synchronicity Magazine spoke to John Lichfield, The Independent’s long …
Features, Independence Issue »

Jack wears a poppy on his jacket and Doc Martens on his feet. “It’s the first time I have worn them” he says, proudly showing-off his brand new boots on the way to the demo. Until September 2010, Jack was living in Loughborough and never had the opportunity to raise his voice on the streets. But Jack is not only here to satisfy his curiosity, if he is protesting today, it’s against the rise of the tuition fees: “It’s wrong to encourage people to get into that much debt”.
Raised by …
Independence Issue »

I met Mikaela, 20, an International Relations student, on my way back from marching the streets of London towards parliament in protest of the tripled caps on student fees Nick Clegg had promised not to touch, but back tracked on with nothing more than a vague apology. She was sitting, chatting and relaxing with other students on the side of the road as the last wave of banners headed past us to join the main crowd. She didn’t look like your average anarchistic protester that the media has painted us a …
Independence Issue »

Streets full of noise and faces full of smiles – that was the picture that was apparent in London at the student protests on the 10th November. Even the sun was out to illuminate the way.
The feel was like every other march that makes this revolutionary city such a special place: camaraderie, unity. It was apparent that a lot of young hopefuls for university who looked old enough to be finishing their A-Levels were out there due to sheer survival for the outcome of their future.
Since the Coalition government has …
Independence Issue »

18-year-old, Tamara London was one of nearly 50,000 people who attended the boisterous march past the Houses of Parliament.
A gap year student from Barnet in north London she expressed her concern at the government’s planned raise of tuition fees: “They should be encouraging people to go into education, instead they are putting people off university. It’s unfair.” She shouted against the backdrop of the roaring crowd.“They should be putting more money into our education and future”.
The proposed increase in fees will not be implemented until 2012. Tamara is especially anxious for her friends, who, …