Afterthoughts on TV Debate 2

Well, this was certainly much more entertaining than last weeks fare. Much better performances from all 3, and only 1 mention of the 'Special Relationship'. Still looks like Clegg gave the best performance, and it looks more and more inevitable that we're heading for a Hung Parliament.

Final verdict: Better than the first debate, but a lot of repeating old ground. Soundbites are sounding more and more obvious now.

The Televised Debate: Round 2

I didn't cover my thoughts prior to the 1st debate, but all I've got to say is that I was just as surprised as everyone else by Nick Clegg's performance. He actually seems to have some sort of personality! Shocking!

Anyway, 2 weeks on from the first ever TV Leaders Debate and we're ready for the 2nd helping courtesy of Sky. Now its International Politics on the agenda, and it'll be interesting to see just what the three of them have to say about our dwindling status as a world power. Still, at least we have Trident...if Clegg doesn't have his way.

Predictions:

What'll be discussed: Afghanistan, fallout of Iraq, Iran.

What'll be avoided: The EU.

What'll annoy me for being discussed: The UK-US 'Special Relationship'. Bleugh.

An Idea Keeps A-Brewing 1

For anyone who knows me already, I've been a writer of fan fiction and original works since I first signed onto Fanfiction.Net in 2006. Before that I'd always enjoyed writing and coming up with story ideas and concepts that I thought would make good stories. I'm still on Fanfiction.Net, but reviews have dropped since I started uploading new stories, and the fun has mostly gone out of it. I'm much more into original story writing now, as I will now explain in my new project idea.

This idea first came to mind when I purchased the Bryan Talbot Graphic Novel 'Grandville' from Travelling Man in October. I've always been a big fan of anthropomorphic (talking animals) stories, and this book was the first I'd seen that wasn't a childish 'funny animals' story, but rather a serious and truly enjoyable read. It made me come to start to wonder whether I should have a crack at coming up with my own Graphic Novel idea in the anthro style. So since October I've been coming up with various ideas and concepts that I think would make a good and interesting read, and the idea I came up with is...

'New Britannia'. More on the ideas in a minute.

For anyone who hasn't read 'Grandville', the story is set in an alternative history where France won the Napoleonic Wars and conquered the whole of Europe, Britain included. The plot begins some 200 years later in a steampunk, Victorian world populated by anthropomorphic animals. Now, I love anthro stories as I've already mentioned, but I also love steampunk as well as Victoriana. And alternative histories are rich in untapped story potential. So several ideas for 'New Britannia' came about from me reading and enjoying 'Grandville', as well as thinking I could do a different spin on it. No, not stealing the concept. But using it as a basic template.

The other Graphic Novel I have to thank for my ideas for 'New Britannia' is Alan Moore's 'V For Vendetta'. In fact, when I first started seriously coming up with ideas for my graphic novel project, I rushed out and bought 'V' in the hope that the ideas I was coming up with hadn't already been thought up by Alan Moore in the 1980's. Thankfully, this wasn't the case and my ideas remain original for now. Like 'Grandville', V set me a basic template for what I wanted to do with my project.

I would carry on and explain more about my thinking process, but I think I've made this post long enough already. I've mentioned now the original starting points for my new idea, so next time I'll begin laying out my ideas and concepts for 'New Britannia', and why I think it would be a really enjoyable project if I keep at it.

The Long Delay Ends

I started this blog with a lot of excitement in the belief that I'd be updating it A LOT MORE than I have done as of late.

But with the General Election looming ever closer, I'm making it a priority to start updating this site starting from today. So look forward to seeing more updates in the coming days and weeks ahead as we look forward, hopefully, to a new government and much more.

A Retrospective Run Up- The 2010 General Election

I make no false impressions at the beginning of this post. I'm an old fashioned Conservative and a lover of the Old School. I'm not speaking towards the leftist, socialist or Communist viewpoint here, and I want to make that clear right from the start.

There's an old stereotype that seems to purvey throughout society these days that as soon as you enter University you become more left-wing, more socialist, and start wearing Che Guevara t-shirts and berets and begin crying out for the end of 'fascist' rule of the country in the style of the 'Young Ones' comedy show. I want to state here and now that that is a false stereotype, and I am living proof of that. I entered Salford University already having a right-wing, Conservative viewpoint, and that has only strengthened in the 3 years that I have attended as a student of Journalism and War Studies. My attitudes haven't changed, they've only strengthened.

Journalism and War Studies isn't exactly the most 'socialist' course on offer in Pretrospect. Journalism perhaps has become mired in the left-wing pool what with the BBC being seem as such a bastion of socialism and left-wing ism, but War Studies has not suffered this same stereotypical outlook. Indeed, War itself has throughout history been a tool of the most Totalitarian and Conservative regimes to achieve power and ambition, and that hasn't changed much into the 21st Century. But as a student of both Journalism and Contemporary Military History, I have been exposed to both sides of the argument, whilst also realising how interlocked both studies are.

War sells papers. Journalists make names for themselves on the battlefield. This hasn't changed in the last hundred years, and it doesn't look like ending any time soon.

I'm getting off track somewhat. The point of this little speech is that as a young student learned in the ways of both Journalism and War studies, I can see first hand how ill this country is. Going into 2010, with a General Election looming on the horizon, I can safely say that I am not part of the mass of ignorant, unlearned youngsters who will become of age to vote in their first major election this year. As a long-time admirer of all things political and historical, I understand how important this upcoming election is, and how very easily it can be snatched from us by too many people ignorant of the real issues.

The fact of the matter is that this country is ill. Gravely so. There is nothing 'Great' about Britain today, and it shows horrendously. We are the only major power in Europe still in the grips of recession. We have a government now 13 years old that has lost touch with the general populace. We're borrowing billions of pounds that will only deepen our recession woes and drag us further into an economic quagmire where there can be no escape from. The fact of the matter is- Labour has failed us, and its time to get rid.

Face it- as a Major Power Britain is finished. We couldn't drag ourselves out of recession on our own whilst all the other European powers did so. We're the puppet of a expansionist USA that dragged us into Iraq under false pretenses and who we are still at the beck and call of. We couldn't even save the life of a mentally ill British man charged with drug offenses in China despite 27 political pleas over 2 years. 'Great' Britain is finished. All we can hope for is to salvage our dignity, and at least the General Election offers us that much.

Labour has let us down astronomically. Tony Blair lied through his back teeth to drag us into an unnecessary war in Iraq that has cost us billions as well as countless dead soldiers and civilians, all for nought. He now makes millions on the US lecture circuit, and yet still has the gall to accept a post as Middle East Peace Envoy, a position that he allegedly spends just 1 day a week on in favour of the more lucrative offering s by US banks and lecture theatres. He no longer cares for the poepl he supposeldy used to represent- the British public. His party, New Labour, is still in power and as we've seen from the Expenses Scandal and the recent 'Ice-Pick Plot' by Geoff Hoon and another frankly forgettable Labour 'feminist', there is no loyalty in a party that knows its beaten and whose members are now desperate to make the best deals for themselves without a thought for the British public they are supposed to represent. Do you really want to re-elect this party for another 4 years?

People will call me an ignorant youth for saying this, but its time for a change. This country needs new management, it needs to cut away the dead flesh that has rotted for the past decade. New Labour is the dead flesh that needs cutting away, and you the people have the chance to make it so in the months ahead.

Labour doesn't support you. Labour doesn't care about you. Stand up and make a difference. And be proud that you have the democratic right to do so.

Aunty Beeb and The BNP

This was the first essay I did for my 3rd Year Feature Writing class. I wrote it after the fallout over Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time. Just to give you a flavour of my writing style as it is now-


Auntie Beeb and the BNP

History was made this past Thursday with the BNP’s appearance on Question Time, amid a sea of controversy that was broadcast into over eight million homes. With this milestone event still resonating in the press, has the BNP created a shift in political opinion? And what affect has this had on the average person at large? Matt Robinson explores…

It began many weeks before the 22nd October edition of Question Time had even reached the airways, in the June 2009 European Elections. Before the BBC had even raised its head into the maelstrom, a change was happening nationwide, and these elections would set the stage for what was to come in more ways than perhaps any election of recent times. For someone who personally has a great interest in all things political, it was an exciting time for me for numerous reasons. The scene had been set in the run up to the elections, with the tide turning against the mainstream political parties that was unprecedented in its ferocity. The Expenses Scandal had rocked the political foundations at the worst possible time, as the average voter got ready to once more tick their ballots.

With the headlines emblazoned with the shame of MP’s expenses for all eyes to see, and with the Credit Crunch still chugging on in the background, it wasn’t difficult to imagine that something was brewing. As the voters turned away in great numbers from the major elites of Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem, others were waiting in the shadows to take the advantage.

It was amidst this background of controversy and anger that I found myself glued to the television news, joining I’m sure millions of others, as a political thunderstorm not seen in my lifetime unfolded before my eyes. Politics has always been a passion of mine for a good number of years now, and what I saw on a daily basis either on the TV screen or in headline newspapers was gripping entertainment. In recent times it had seemed that politics in the UK had become a dead-end topic, elections hardly making me raise an eyebrow of interest and voter apathy seeping into my very consciousness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a political zealot foaming at the mouth and wishing to chain myself to Number 10 in the name of change. But for those of my generation and age, it seemed politics no longer mattered. It was old hat, boring, something only old people who had been around to remember when politics had once been exciting cared about. And then…Whoof! Suddenly, politics was exciting! And I was living in the moment!

Within the fallout of the European Election, a major shift had happened. UKIP, the party I had once only distinguished with once upon a time having something to do with Kilroy, were the second largest gaining party. And an even bigger shock…the BNP was now in Europe. The BNP? The ‘Nasty Party’? The party you only heard about in hushed whispers and disgruntled tones? Surely not, but yes indeed.

For me growing up, the BNP was something you only heard about in the highbrow political programmes you would now find on BBC4 hosted by Jeremy Paxman, a prospect that a young kid like me more interested in cartoons and James Bond would have no urge to sit down and watch. But suddenly there it was, the so called ‘Nazi’ party was now in Europe representing British interests, and for those who had become used to the all Labour circus show, times were a-changing. How much so was yet to be seen…

In the weeks leading up to 22nd October, the battle lines were being drawn for what was going to be a showdown the likes of which the BBC and the general audience had not seen prior. The previous weeks Question Time set it up, the panellists debating on what was to come and whether or not it was a good idea. I watched Shadow Immigration Minster Damien Green’s stoic defiance of the threat of the BNP, Nigel Farage’s almost defence of Nick Griffin’s imminent appearance, and Alan Johnson’s faith that Labour’s heavyweight Jack Straw would take it to the ‘Nasty Party’ and show their true colours to the public at large.

End Game was approaching as all sides set up their heavy hitters in readiness, a prospect that would have been unthinkable not five years prior. It was clear to me, and I’m sure to many others, that this was history in the making. The fact that each side seemed to be almost forced to put up their biggest punches against Nick Griffin highlighted the change in the wind. No ordinary MP was up to the challenge of talking down the BNP. It needed the likes of Chris Huhne and Jack Straw, a political slugfest of the highest degree. And we weren’t disappointed as 10:35 rolled on, set up by the hourly long protest outside the very gates of Television Centre, and I found myself watching my very first anticipated Question Time.

I’m going to come right out and say it, Question Time is boring. It’s a boring show with boring people slotted at a boring time of the night that ran concurrently with the BBC3 reruns of ‘Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps’, a more attractive prospect in my eyes. The only time I had ever sat down to watch QT had been on the few occasions when Boris Johnson had been a panellist, and only then it had been in the hope of seeing similar highlights of the kind that had brought a smile to my face when Boris had been on ‘Have I Got News For You’.

This, I’m positive, was the same feeling of many of my generation who would have never before sat through an entire airing of the David Dimbleby ‘happy hour’. But in the wake of 22nd October 2009, that is no longer the case. In the days following the broadcast I have been in dozens of conversations with my fellow peers, many of them who had probably never heard of David Dimbleby prior, and it has always at some point led to the same two questions- did you watch Question Time that night? And what did you think of it?

My best friend Ryan is one such example of this new phenomenon in my life. A guy who has never taken a single shred of interest in politics in all the years I’ve known him, and only raised a slight note of approval when I mentioned the existence of a little thing called ‘The Monster Raving Looney Party’. And yet in recent times that suddenly stopped being the case. We found ourselves discussing numerous topics that had once been ‘taboo’, the news that a list of BNP members had been leaked onto the web and why he was against this, the sometimes ludicrous findings of the expenses some MP’s had pocketed etc. Before my eyes was a change in someone who I’d known for over ten years, and if it could happen to him I could only imagine how it had affected millions of others, young and old, devoted voter and apathetic vote dodger alike.

And Ryan was not alone in this. The last two days alone I’ve had numerous conversations with people about the topic, in places not limited to a metal bar in Ashton and on the floor of another pals house. And not all of them were entirely against what Nick Griffin had said. How times have changed it seems.

Whilst I’m not expecting at any point in the near future a sudden surge in support for the BNP that Nick Griffin was undoubtedly dreaming of, a fact made all too clear by the mass protest gathered outside Television Centre that began early in the day and lasted long after Griffin’s convoy had sped away, I do think their appearance on Question Time has changed our opinions on numerous things. No longer can it be the case that the other mainstream parties can ignore the BNP, and no longer can the BBC be regarded as everyone’s beloved ‘Auntie’ in the wake of the vitriol caused by its decision to invite Nick Griffin onto the panel in the first place. I’ve seen for myself in my own circle of friends how things have changed, and I can only imagine the same is true for millions more around the country. People are now talking about subjects that were once ‘taboo’ for them, and the present generation now has its own political story to talk about in the years ahead.

Whatever your opinions, whatever your feelings regarding the topic and the party itself, the BNP now matters much more in UK politics, and Question Time is suddenly a far more attractive prospect to watch when Thursdays roll along…in my opinion at least.

Welcome to The Imaginarium!

Welcome to my blog! Isn't it exciting? My first foray into the vibrant world of blogging! Hopefully you'll stick around as I update it over the next few weeks, and please forgive the pretentious title- I wanted something imaginative and striking and it was the first thing to come to my head. Anyway, stay tuned for further updates in the near future!