Well my friends, here we are. 15th December 2019 and we have just voted in the Conservative Party for the next five years. I thought I would take some time just to reflect on the past 72 hours, everything that's happened and everything that will happen. 

In case you've been living under a rock, the UK held a General Election on Thursday, and at about 7am on Friday morning a Tory majority of 80 seats was announced, and millions of us around the country had our hearts collectively shattered. You all know how into politics I am - it was piqued during the lead-up to the 2016 EU referendum and I make no secret of the fact that I am a pro-Europe, pro-Labour activist and I have a big, big socialist heart - and none of us saw this coming.

You see, a lot of my campaigning takes place on Twitter and I think I - along with many people I know - locked myself into an echo chamber of sorts, where I convinced myself that we represented the majority of the country and there was no way the Tories would take home a win this time around. I'd truly convinced myself that we had made a difference on an enormous scale. I spent Friday in mourning, you could say, in utter despair that it's come to this and this is what we've sentenced ourselves to for the next five years. People wanted change, but it won't happen with this government. Or it will, but not for the right reasons and not in the right way.

Everyone has their different opinions, yes, but the figures don't lie. We have had this government since 2010. Nine years we've suffered austerity and cuts to public services. 130,000 needless deaths have happened due to austerity put in place by this government. There has been a 165% increase in rough sleepers and homeless citizens since 2010. There is a record 4.1million children living in poverty. There's been cuts to mental health, with a 30% loss in mental health beds. We have lost 20,000 police officers, and gained 2000 foodbanks. A&E waiting times are at their highest ever, with patients sleeping in corridors waiting for treatment.

We live in a post-truth era, where elections and campaigns are fought with lies, misinformation and deliberate misleading of voters but unfortunately the numbers above don't lie, and I could go on but I think you get the idea now. Conservative voters from Thursday are on record saying they voted Tory for change but the statistics above are all direct results from a Tory government. The Tories will not fix the mess they made, but they will first drag us out of the EU and then make it worse.

It is very easy, especially when you are an active campaigner, to think that you don't make a difference. It's easy to think you are just getting ignored and you are shouting into a void and arguing with a brick wall - but now is not the time to give up. We must reflect on what went wrong and change things. The Labour Party had a beautiful manifesto, a vision of a country I desperately wanted to live in, and whether it takes five or fifteen years that country can be ours - we just can't give up on it now. If anything, this is the time to get louder.

So I will be continuing my pro-EU activism, I will begin campaigning for the electoral reform that we desperately need, I will start donating to foodbanks, buying food for the homeless man I see every day outside Sainsbury's, and using this blog to talk more about politics and the changes I will be making in my life to try my best to ease this shock for the people who needed Labour. You see - there's a good chance I will be fine. I come from a middle-class family and a well-off area of the country. I am white and non-religious and my privilege allows me to not have to worry too much about the result of this election. But while my life won't necessarily change all that much, the lives of the 14.3million people in poverty, the lives of the Muslim communities, the LGBTQ+A, the lives of single mums, of ethnic minorities - they are the lives that will change due to this election result and that's who I'm fighting for, that's who I'm worried most about.

I really hope you will join me. I hope you will use your disappointment and your anger, take it and channel it into helping the people the government will inevitably refuse to. We mustn't be disheartened - this is the beginning of something truly great.

I hope you're with me. 🌹

Em xx

Basic Feminist Books You Need To Read

Greetings pals! It's been a while, hey? I am so sorry about the radio silence but life does get in the way sometimes

I thought today I would tell you a wee list of a few favourite feminist texts that have come into my life recently. I just finished a huge project for my American Spaces unit in which I had to do a lot of feminist reading, and while I've picked up a few of these books before, there a few new reads in here for me too, so I thought it would be cool to share them! I love a good nonfiction read and these women really know their stuff so check them out and let me know what you think.

Brexit 101 | What The Hell Is A People's Vote? Debunking The Common Myths

Ah, Brexit. The buzzword in today's society, the word that makes everyone (well, mostly) want to curl up in a ball, stick their head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist. The word that will probably cause me to lose a few followers since I've been told in the past, in no uncertain words, that people don't like to read about politics. People aren't interested in politics. Well, too bad, kiddos, we're talking about it. Since the UK political system has reached breaking point recently after the Tory MPs called a vote of confidence for Theresa May in December, they've voted down her deal and more votes are set to take place, I think it's something I need to address. Read me first.

Secondly, let's talk about a People's Vote. This is what I am currently campaigning for, with a group called Our Future Our Choice, which is the biggest youth campaign for a People's Vote in the country. Head on over to the website here, and get in touch to find out how you can do more, and if there's an OFOC chapter in your area!

What even is a People's Vote? Well, a People's Vote is a final say on the Brexit deal. The People's Vote campaign is, in their words, seeking to ensure that the government's Brexit deal is put before the country in a public vote so we can decide if the decision and deal makes the country, and us, better or worse off. The People's Vote campaign is huge and has been endorsed by many other pressure groups, e.g. Our Future, Our Choice, For Our Future's Sake, Healther In The EU, Scientists For EU, Open Britain and most regional anti-Brexit groups. It's also been endorsed by the Liberal Democrats and huge amounts of MPs on both the Tory and the Labour side, as well as the Green Party and some Lords, such as Andrew Adonis and Peter Mandelson. It's the biggest and most cohesive movement that the government faces against Brexit.

I'm here today to debunk some myths about a People's Vote and explain to you why we need one and why it's a good idea. So here's some common myths about a People's Vote and why they're kind of just bullsh*t.

Isn't it just a second referendum?

No. The PV is absolutely not a second referendum. It wouldn't be repeating the first question of 'should we leave or remain in the EU' but rather it's a say on the deal we get. A Final Say, if you will. No one voted for this version of Brexit, not even Leavers.

But...didn't we already have our say? Isn't having a People's Vote undemocratic?

Yes, we did have our say. But we had our say three years ago in a vote that was also undemocratic. Both sides (Leave AND Remain, I don't want to come across biased at all...) built their campaigns around scaremongering and lies, Nigel Farage's supposed £350m extra for the NHS never appeared and on top of that, Vote Leave actually broke electoral law. Legally this doesn't matter, as the referendum wasn't legally binding so they can ignore it, but morally the result should've been voided long ago.

As well as this, many people who should've been able to vote weren't allowed. It's my opinion that 16-17 year olds should've been able to vote in that referendum, as they were in the Scottish Independence referendum of 2014. Also, UK citizens in the EU and vice versa were not allowed to vote - people in the country who this decision will affect more than anyone were denied their voice. We also voted not knowing anything - there was no plan for Brexit, no coherent set of steps we would follow to leave, and 3 years later still no decisions have been made. Now that we know actual, solid facts about Brexit and it's short- and long-term effects, a Final Say is needed.

Okay. So we have a People's Vote and we choose to remain. What's stopping there being a third, and fourth vote? We'll never make a decision.

This is a really good point and one that's brought up over and over again. At the end of the day, a People's Vote would be a fair vote, based on facts, no one would break any laws and that's what makes a fair moral result. Of course there's a danger we'll vote for a Brexit deal, but if the vote is fair unlike the first one, with a legitimate electorate and no manipulation from outside forces, the result would be accepted. If one or other side feels it is necessary to cheat once again by overspending or coming out with lies then more are needed.

But don't politicians lie all the time? Why should this be any different?

Yes, of course they do. But what we should really be taking away from this is that something is fundamentally wrong with British politics. The referendum should never have been called in the first place - David Cameron did it to stay in power. Theresa May should never have been in charge, being a Remain campaigner. A lot has gone wrong in British politics in the last three years and that's what needs to change, but it needs to change within the safety of the EU.

Fine. Alright, but why are you so sure that the decision will have changed?

Because the last three years have been a nightmare. There's also an Independent study that shows as of January this year we actually became a Remain society, as there are around two million new voters, most of who are Remain, and enough Leave voters have died to swing the vote - that is how close the majority was. And this isn't even counting the people who have changed their minds - like I said before, not even Leave voters voted for this Brexit, everyone has seen what just the negotiation process has done to the country in terms of both the economy and social issues, and a People's Vote is just the way to sort it out.

Don't you agree the EU needs changing though?

Of course it does. Much like British politics, the EU has done a lot of changing and in my opinion declining, since it started as the EEC in 1957 and we voted to join it in 1975. But the way to change it is to remain and reform rather than throwing all our toys out of the pram and leaving. It's easier to change a system from the inside, rather than trying to attack it from the outside.

Why haven't we just called another vote already?

There isn't enough support in Parliament - yet. But every day this Brexit catastrofuck (David Schneider's genius phrase) continues, more and more MPs are changing their minds and calling mandates for a People's Vote.

And how can you put MORE pressure on?? Well, by joining us on March 23rd on Park Lane, London, and demanding a People's Vote from Parliament. We had 700,000 voices on our last march - let's make it a million.

Next on Brexit 101, I'm talking about how Brexit will affect YOU.

Em xx

Brexit 101 | Brexit Basics & Where Do We Go From Here?

Ah, Brexit. The buzzword in today's society, the word that makes everyone (well, mostly) want to curl up in a ball, stick their head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist. The word that will probably cause me to lose a few followers since I've been told in the past, in no uncertain words, that people don't like to read about politics. People aren't interested in politics. Well, too bad, kiddos, we're talking about it. Since the UK political system has reached breaking point recently after the Tory MPs called a vote of confidence for Theresa May in December, they've voted down her deal and more votes are set to take place, I think it's something I need to address. 

Question is for a lot of people: what even is Brexit? Well, all the "no one knows" jokes aside, Brexit essentially is slang for "Britain Exit" a.k.a. Britain's Exit from the EU. In June 2016, as everyone knows, the country voted on a 52/48 majority to leave the European Union. As you can probably tell if you follow me on Twitter or if you have any common sense, I'm not a fan of this majority. The EU, simply, is a group of 28 countries in Europe, who have agreements to allow simpler trade and free movement between these countries for anyone to live and work. We first joined the EU (then the EEC) in 1973 when Edward Heath was PM.

So where is Brexit now? Good question, and I am going to make a "no one knows" joke because really, no one knows. On 29th March 2017, something called Article 50 was triggered, meaning the UK had 2 years to negotiate with the EU and come up with a withdrawal agreement or divorce deal before we actually leave the EU. Essentially, this is the list of terms on which we leave - it includes what goes on with trade agreements, Northern Ireland borders and a whole host of other things that need to be smoothed over and knots that need tying up into a neat little "Leave" parcel.

Although...that's not quite what's happened now, is it? Nice little Leave parcel turned into big old Brexit mess, didn't it? And many, many people have no idea exactly what that mess is. However, the mess is due to be tidied up by the 29th March (I am gonna stop using the 'mess' analogy now as it's getting sliiightly confusing!)  as that's the date we are due to leave the European Union. The big problem with that is that we have no idea on what terms we are leaving yet. There are three different options (in simple terms) and they are Theresa May's deal, a no deal Brexit and finally, no Brexit at all. 

The problem is that Theresa May's deal has already been voted down by MPs. The problem now is, they haven't exactly said what's on the table instead. Many government ministers are trying to convince the EU to make changes to that deal to make it more acceptable to those who voted it down, and they are set to vote again on Tuesday 12th March (today!!) on this deal. But as new info comes to light this morning, it turns out that actually, May's 'revised' deal is pretty much the same as the deal that got voted down before. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox (who advises the government on all things legal) has essentially said that legal risks haven't changed, and that the UK will not have legal means of exiting the backstop (don't worry, I will address this soon) without the EU agreeing. But, if by some unknown miracle May's (un)revised deal goes through, we leave the EU on the 29th March with that deal. But if that fails? The vote goes to a no deal Brexit.

Effectively, no deal means we crash the hell out of the European Union with no divorce bill, no coherent exit plan and no way of moving forward. Without wanting to be a 'fearmongering Remainer' as I have been called on Twitter before, a no deal Brexit would be an unthinkable disaster. We would cut all ties immediately and we would have to follow WTO rules while also trying to negotiate free-trade deals. This would hugely increase tariffs on goods (aka what you buy in shops), EU citizens having practically no rights in the UK, hundreds of firms moving out of the UK causing extreme job loss...it spells disaster. So there will be another vote to determine whether no deal is what we want/ If that fails? We go to delaying the f*ck out of it.

In my opinion as a staunch Remainer and ardent Europhile (need I remind you that just over 70% of 18-24 year olds voted against Brexit - imagine what that would've been if 16-17 year olds had been allowed to vote?!) delaying Brexit is the best course of action. Revoking Article 50 and extending the exit date is the best course of action and subsequently taking it back to the people with a People's Vote. Democracy is basically crumbling and Westminster is clearly incompetent of delivering us a decent deal. 

Next time on Let's Talk About Brexit...we talk about a People's Vote, what Brexit means for young people & social justice, and what the hell a rounder's position is doing in Brexit negotiations???

Em xx

But Is "Baby, It's Cold Outside" Actually About Rape - Or Is It A Feminist Anthem?

Look, when I said festive content, I didn't mean it was going to be gift guides and bullet journal spread ideas. Oh no, what do you take me for? (Also, TW // rape, sexual assault, date rape)

I'm sure by now everyone who's anyone will have heard the meltdowns over Christmas music, and how non-PC it is, and how we just need to cancel any Christmas song written before 2010 because it's offensive, rude and just totally inappropriate. The first thing you definitely need to know about me is that I hate the phrase 'political correctness gone mad'. I really hate it, it gets thrown around way too much, but in some cases, political correctness really has gone mad. Of course, some things I completely agree with - changing the lyrics of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in the 2014 version was entirely necessary to avoid an onslaught of Western imperialism, something the world does not need any more of - but I don't agree with censoring art that is a product of its time. Yes, Fairytale of New York includes a rather choice word for LGBT+ people - but it's a product of its time. It just means people shouldn't sing the word if they aren't part of that community in my opinion - it's a word that the LGBT+ community has started to reclaim as our own and we should be allowed to use it. If you're not one of us, you don't say it, it's as simple as.

One song however, that's sparked a whole new debate is "Baby It's Cold Outside". 2018 brought along the rise of the #MeToo movement and while the debate over this song has been going on for a good three or four years, it's only really this year that it's been absolutely everyone. It's listed as "everyone's favourite date rape anthem", a classic "Christmas rape song" and has even has a feminist remake by The Holderness Family entitled "Baby Just Go Outside". 

The thing is, I like to think I can see things from more than one view and yes, if we bring the song into 2018 and interpret the lyrics in the context of today's culture, where rape is constantly trivialised, where girls are being blamed for their own rapes and their own murders, where date rape is always, always the girl's fault, where we are still 'asking for it' and where men like Brock Turner are only getting 3 months prison sentence for raping an unconscious girl, then it could definitely be seen as an extremely rape-y song. And I think it's because of the modern versions of it after it was basically rediscovered in the mid-1990s and then with Elf in 2003 are the reason it's suddenly been overly sexualised and overly criminalised.

However, the song was not written or recorded for the first time in the mid-1990s or 2003 (and I could entirely see the rage if it was) - it was written in 1944 by Frank Loesser for him and his wife to perform as a duet at parties and it rose to prominence from about 1949 until around the 1960s because of Neptune's Daughter. So here's the thing - if we take the song and it's 'rapey' lyrics back to 1944...it perhaps isn't so rapey anymore. Suddenly, it becomes an anthem for sexually liberated women, it becomes the story of a woman who is doing battle with the society she lives in - a society that won't let her say yes to having sex or staying overnight at a man's house unmarried. If he went to hers and sneaked back home late at night, it would most likely go unnoticed, but here she's singing about at least three people who will notice her absence. She plies herself with alcohol and cigarettes, saying 'maybe just a half a drink more' at the same time as saying 'I ought to say no, no, no, no' so she can at least say she tried...and there is nothing in her drink. Her drink is simply the shield with which she can defend herself against the societal expectations of being a woman and a 'good girl', when actually, she kind of just wants to have a lot of sex with her partner, who is being an angel and giving her excuse upon excuse for her to tell her parents, intertwining it with compliments because he evidently just likes her a lot.

And the ending - she sings with him that it's cold outside. In just two minutes and forty four seconds she finally lets go of society's expectations and the family looming in the background and lets herself succumb to her own inner she-wolf - the male character in our story is not the predator, but she is. She is the predator and she is her own prey and she lets herself agree that it's far too cold for her to leave at this time of night. The song ends on a positive note and a positive message that's extremely empowering for the average mid-1940s woman.

But hey. I do of course agree that in 2018, in our day and age, it's definitely up to women to decide whether this song is okay or not and the lyrics can be interpreted any way you want. But in my opinion, the song actually has a lot to teach us about the way society viewed women's sexuality, rather than the fact a woman is being forced to stay and have sex with a man. If we're going to be angry, why aren't we angry about what the song is actually about - double standards regarding sexuality of men and women and they ways they were, and still are to an extent, able to express that? And also - roofies didn't even exist back then, and not in a 'rape was normal back then' way, but they just didn't exist. The song was never about that in the first place, and just because we live in 2018 doesn't mean we have to read everything with modern, rose tinted spectacles covering what a text is actually about.

I think we'll be fighting over this song for a long, long time, but I for one will keep listening because a) I enjoy the song musically b) it actually feels kind of empowering me and c) I just don't think it's that deep. But like I said before, I really do think it's up to your own interpretation, and I'd really love to hear any other opinions in the comments below!!

What are your thoughts on 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'?

Em xx

#StopBrexitManchester | Why I Went And Why It's Important

Hello friends from my small uni kitchen where I'm waiting for my chicken to finish defrosting while my flatmate makes paella and beef wellington for dinner and my other flatmate is doing a crossword. This isn't a post about uni life so far, however much I know you must be gagging for a post about it (of course.), it's actually about a pretty significant event that happened yesterday here in Manchester.

I'm not going to get on my political soapbox and preach about why we should have remained in the EU or anything, nor am I going to complain and whine because that's clearly not going to help anything.

However, I am going to tell you why I went on this march and why I think it's so important to have marches and protests like this, even after an outcome has been reached.

For those who don't know, me and my dad run a pretty small anti-Brexit Twitter campaign called Brits Against Brexit, so we firstly used the march as a bit of a marketing strategy, because obviously who wouldn't right?! Obviously the main reason we went on the march was because we are all anti-Brexit but it's so much more than that. 

While tweeting from Brits Against Brexit using #stopbrexitmanchester we came across many replies telling us we won't make any difference, what's done is done and there's nothing we can do about it now, it was decided by a democratic referendum and so on and so on. Chances are we won't change the decision of the government, but I do just want to address this idea of a democratic referendum.

While the actual referendum itself (as in, the question asked, the ballot paper and the voting procedure) was as democratic as they come, it was the months building up to the referendum that was so undemocratic. You see, if we really think about it, the entire Leave campaign was built on lies and scaremongering, we all saw the nonsense about £350 million going to the NHS if we left?! But I digress, I'm sure we all heard the complaints when the results came through. The main reason for me that the referendum was undemocratic was because I was not allowed to vote. And I don't mean me personally, I mean the entire 16-17 year old population of the UK. 

In my personal opinion, and in the opinions of many others, we should have been able to vote in that referendum as we are the ones that the outcome will affect directly, and as my father pointed out yesterday, the effects will be happening when we are of age. The reason I marched yesterday was because my future was taken away from me and I didn't have a choice about that, and to me that is as undemocratic as it comes. The reason we weren't allowed to vote? They were scared of us. Young people who are interested in politics have a voice and we have very loud voices. Yes, a some of us would have voted Leave if our parents were, or just because they don't care, but also the majority of us cared more than the 65+ population did. We weren't thinking of the 'good old days when we weren't in the EU', we were thinking of the bad new days when we aren't in the EU. That majority of us were loud and we were yesterday and we will always be. 

The reason my sister marched yesterday is because, post-Brexit, her job prospects in neuroscientific research will be reduced dramatically as most funding for our scientific research comes from the EU. Sure, the funding could come from elsewhere, but how long is that going to take and how much is that funding actually going to be? We leave the EU and we leave scientific research behind. Moreover, those who just say 'well, she can go and work in Europe', well yes of course she could if our right to live and work in the EU wasn't being taken away too!!

We marched for the young people who didn't have a choice and the future scientists who will struggle to find jobs, but we also marched in solidarity with the EU citizens living in the UK and the UK citizens leaving the EU whose futures at home with their loved ones are in jeopardy. We marched with the business owners who will be economically affected by the falling pound and we marched because first and foremost we care a hell of a lot about what's going to happen in the years to come.

I did end up on my political soapbox a little bit there, but it's true and I won't stop going on about it anytime soon so don't expect me to. We may not make any difference to the overall decision but we can at least let the government know how annoyed we are about it!!

Alright, that's me done, so I'm going to leave you with some pictures from the day and this: Bollocks to Brexit.

Emilia xx

For those who don't know, this is Dr Mike Galsworthy, he's a big pro-EU activist in the science world, hence why Jess was so excited to meet him!!

Why We Still Need Pride

Pride celebrations are quite a controversial issue in 2017. And I can see why a lot of the time, because as part of the LGBTQ+ community, I don't feel so estranged all the time. Even though biphobia is still a big issue (we'll talk about this another time), I'm surrounded on  YouTube,Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram by people sharing things about their boyfriends and girlfriends, and gay fathers, and marriage equality legislation. People aren't afraid to come out, and be who they are anymore. So it's a legitimate question - why do we still need a whole month dedicated to Pride? Why do we still need massive festivals and celebrations for something that has become an every day part of life?

Well, for some people, it hasn't. As long as there are people in the world who are still oppressed, we will always need Pride. As long as there are people getting attacked and murdered over their sexuality, we will always need Pride. As long as there is still a group of people who need Pride, the whole world still needs it.

The reality of the situation is that there are still people who are singled out and targeted and forced off this planet because they are simply trying to be who they are. Whether you agree or not that being part of the LGBTQ+ community was something we were born with, it still remains that it's not something we can change. It's like targeting people with ginger hair simply because you don't like an aspect of their character or singling out people who are vegetarian because you don't like the way they live their lives. When we put it that way, it sounds ridiculous, right?

The same goes for hate attacks on gay people. As we deal with more hate crimes, such as Orlando last year, and a whole list of others (you can find a lot of notable cases here), we realise that actually, Pride is more and more important. 

So overt hate crimes (that have actually gone up since the Brexit vote - what does that tell you about Leave voters? But I digress, that's for another post) are one reason why we still need Pride. But if you needed anymore convincing, I can carry on.

"As we increase in visiblity, we increase in vulnerability" one article from the Metro reads. And it's extremely true. We open ourselves up to hate crimes and homophobia, but that's because heteronormativity is still massively ingrained in our society. So if we give up the fight now, if we become complacent, we'll never be accepted.

Homophobia shows itself in very small ways, even in societies such as ours in the UK where the LGBT community have full social, legal and political equality. There are still barriers we have to overcome. For example, sex and relationship education is compulsory now in secondary schools, but only heterosexual ones. Teaching young people about gay sex and relationships still isn't compulsory. In my county the council blocks the Google Search on school computers for "homosexual" or "gay" as it's classified as an "alternative lifestyle. YouTube's restricted mode allows parents to filter out LGBTQ+ content. And furthermore, we have politicians to contend with - Trump cutting trans rights, Pence and Theresa May refusing to outlaw gay conversion therapy and Leave voters perpetuating homophobic violence.

But Pride isn't even just for that. Pride is for the LGBTQ+ community itself. It's for the new members of our community who are maybe struggling to come to terms with their new identity and need somewhere where they can feel fully comfortable with themselves, and where they can feel completel accepted. It's for the older members of the community who have tirelessly and relentlessly fought for the rights we now have such as marriage equality, and are still fighting to outlaw conversion therapy and expand adoption rights and work for full global equality. Pride opens doors to new possibilities. Pride is living, real proof that gay love is just as valid and just as real as heterosexual love. Pride is our weapon against the governments who still believe we are wrong. Pride is evidence that we have won our battles and we still continue to win those battles and we will continue in the future. Pride shows people that we don't and won't give up. 

Pride is for everyone, no matter who you are. Pride is still needed, because there are still inequalities. And as long as those inequalities are still hanging around, we still need Pride. 

Emilia xx

(the looks in this blog post will be up on my YouTube today and tomorrow, so look out for them here!)