I can't believe it every day and every night....got caught queue jumping at Gatwick and Britain's racist slurs were in sight.... Kelis, an old man and Britain pull of a UN Racism event.... Britain again promotes itself in a negative light to the worl

So today I am going to take a sidestep from politics and refer to a topic, which has caused me to think of how our national pride and identity may have suffered two damaging blows in the space of 24 hours. First we will focus on what has turned into the main trending topic on Twitter, involving American R&B singer Kelis which had claimed she was racially abused and discriminated against at Gatwick airport when she jumped the queue at passport control.

This is where it is claimed that a man took offence to the queue jumping and according to Kelis on her Twitter was alleged to of been called a "disgusting Nigerian" and "kunta kinte", which is a character from the slavery novel Roots by Alex Haley. This was said in front of Kelis's two-year old Son Knight and over 50 people also queuing at passport control. Over the course of today more details of the story have been released through Kelis's Twitter, which have included that the racist remarks seemed to have happened after the flight  from Gatwick to Spain where Kelis has claimed that the man continued to call her a "slave" and obliged that she called him "sir", but this occured at passport control in Spain, not at Gatwick.

With all this information being released and the Home Office announcing they will take no action into the matter because the incident that took place was from a "member of the public" and because Kelis did not make a formal complaint. This could be seen as the Home Office following formal rules and regulations, but I think this is another example of an old fashioned way of thinking because even though it is only one individual it seems that we are trying to forget that any form of racism is wrong and should not be treated with contempt and should be treated with the most highest severity.

Then we can look at the other part of today's news that I feel has shown once again that sometimes Britain can be seen as part of the problem, even though we do help fight to bring a solution. Today was the beginning of events commemorating 10th anniversary of the United Nations World Conference on racism in South Africa and Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the UK would not be sending anyone over the commemorate the occasion and have "withdrawn" their invitation. This has been done due to the events of the original conference 10 years ago, which the Prime Minister felt was overshadowed by the immoral acts of "deplorable anti-semisitsm."


Now I fully agree with the Prime Minister when the conference took place days prior to the events of 9/11 and that the event was overshadowed by protests of Israel treatment of the Palestinians people by the Arab nations and the anti-semistic world of the draft documents, which led to the original withdrawal of the United States and Canada from the original conference, but the world has moved on since. I think that it would show a sign of unity that the UK agrees and joins the UN's stance on not tolerating any form of racism or abuse against human rights.

The conference has again been boycotted by the United States and Canada, as well as Australia, Italy and Israel, but the argument here is it a show of unity boycotting an event that was overshadowed by forms of racism or is it ignorance where these countries should be uniting in the continued fight against racism and equality across the world. It would show a sign that our government, as well as other are united in this cause and that any problems that the world face's is tackled in an united cause and not ignore the problem by boycotting an event.

We live in one of the most diverse multi-cultural societies in the world and racism is not something that is a problem with the majority, it is only the minority that cause this issue. What we need to realise those is sometimes it takes a twitter rant from a famous singer to spark an debate that will also be rife in society and I felt I needed to comment about something that gets on my nerves when you see something you want to speak up.

 I am also not saying that the government do not tackle the problem of racism at home and abroad because we do, but I do not feel ignore chance to show a sign of united solidarity is the way to do it.

Tomorrow we will be back to normal with my political views of the day, but I just needed a forum to vent my opinion on something that is not right.

Kelis who today felt that the UK showed how they are "racially decades behind progression."

The day that the trade unions realised that they picked the wrong Miliband for the job

The relationship between the Labour Party and the trade unionists has always been close, dating back to the formation of the Labour Party during the late 19th century by the trade unions. The keynote speech from the Labour leader during the annual TUC conference is usually compared to a best man speech at a wedding. A speech full of rapture and applause with a few jokes thrown in as well. However, this was not the case yesterday when the next chapter of “Red Ed” took place yesterday afternoon. 

During Ed Miliband’s speech he was heckled and jeered when he admitted that the strikes taken by public sector workers over the summer was a “mistake.” The Labour leader was referring to the on going saga between the trade unions and the Coalition Government in respect of the changes to pension reform. This was not seen as the best move by the audience at the TUC conference as trade unions currently provides 80% of Labour's funding.

Today it has been announced that the four leading trade unions in the United Kingdom will consult members over the possibility of strike ballots over the pension reform. If the strike action is passed them potentially over 1.5 million public sector workers on strike, starting in November. The changes to pension reform would see public sector workers having to pay more money each month into their pension fund.

This has been met by fierce opposition from the trade unions who feel it is unfair that their members must pay more money at a time when public sector wages have been frozen and many public sector workers are losing their jobs or are being made redundant as a result of budget cuts. In theory, the Labour Party would normally back any action made by trade unions, however in this case they feel that it is unfair to the general public who would suffer from days of no transport or for students whose education could suffer if their teachers are on strike.

David Prentis, the leader of Unison, the biggest trade union in the public sector who had today announced the possible is a strike action has said to the TUC conference that “Now is the time to make our stand” and has admitted that the trade unions could potentially be “vilified” by the general public. The government response has stated that the impending strikes would make the general public “angry” and that the increase in pension contributions is needed to support an ageing population. This has been expressed in the increase to the retirement age with people potentially working until  the age of 70 by 2020. 

Unison has stated that they have amassed a war chest of £32.4 million to help finance any impending strike action, which would be similar to the strike action that has taken place across Southampton over the summer. With having first-hand experience of how the strikes have affected the quality of the living in the Southampton area where wheelie bins have overflowed and the streets in Southampton have amassed a level of rubbish, which was close to becoming a health and safety hazard.

Now imagine this on a nationwide scale, imagine weeks without your bins being collected, the streets  overflowing with rubbish and the increased possibility of transport networks being brought to a standstill with millions of commuters unable to get home… This is not the impending future we want to be living in.

I do agree that we have to save money on a nationwide scale, however I feel that the government should find different ways to save money or to have closer consultation with the trade unions to find a better solution to the problem. It is not just the workers who suffer, it is the general public as a whole whose livelihoods will be affected and may be brought to a complete standstill as a result of the impending strike action.

However, I feel that Ed Miliband and the entire Labour Party should work more closely with the trade unions, supporting the consultation process between them and the Coalition Government because ultimately he would not have been made Labour leader if it was not the change of votes from the trade unions in the final round of voting against his brother David earlier this year. In a time where there is high political unrest and where phone tapping and expense scandals have scarred the reputation of the British government, Ed Miliband needs to remember that it is not just the general public he needs to impress, it is the company's who support and fund his political vision.

In British politics you will never be able to please everyone, but in the case of the trade unions and the impending strike action that could affect the entire British nation it is up to the Coalition Government and the Labour Party to try and find a compromise, which will leave both parties happy and stop risking the tarnished reputation of which British politics has found itself in. If this is not the case then potentially we could see another Miliband taking the trip down from Sunderland in the foreseeable future and the final chapter of the tell of “Red Ed” may not be a happy one. 

The strained relationship between the trade unions and Ed Miliband has turned a darker shade of Red

Have you seen the new map of the United Kingdom? It is painted Blue

Well it has been a long and turbulent summer and I thought it was finally time that I did a blog. With my impending role as Political Correspondent on Winchester News online drawing ever closer, today's events was the perfect excuse to begin my own form of political satire.

The General Election of 2015 will see the biggest change in the Commons in over a century. The proposed plans to slash the number of MPs by 50 to 600 in 2015 and will see each constituency have nearly the same number of voters. The proposals will see a radical shakeup in constituency boundaries with some seats being merged, some new seats being created and some lost altogether.

The proposed changes have seen some of the leading members of the Coalition Government positions come under threat. These include Chancellor George Osborne for the Conservatives, Business Secretary Vince Cable and Energy Minister Chris Huhne for the Liberal Democrats and Shadow Cabinet members Ed Balls and Tessa Jowell for Labour.

I will come back to the changes to the political landscape in the South later, but I would like to focus on one MP whose constituency boundaries have not changed, Prime Minister David Cameron. It is not surprising that the Prime Minister’s constituency, Witney is not affected by any of the changes proposed. However, it is The Liberal Democrats within the coalition government who are who are the worst affected in these changes. For the 77 MPs whose seats are not affected it is another day at the office, but for the remaining 583 MPs it is time to reapply for their own job.

Now let's take a closer look at how the proposed changes will affect the political landscape in the South. Across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight there will be many changes to political constituencies these will include the formation of the new seat for Hamble and Hedge End, as well as the lost seats of Romsey and Southampton North and Meon Valley to be replaced by the new constituencies of New Forest East and Romsey and Fareham and Horndean. This means that MPs like Caroline Noakes and George Hollingbery may lose their jobs. In the case where two political constituencies will merge into one, MPs who lose their seats will have the chance to contest to be representative of the newly formed constituency in the next General Election.

There are also MPs who will gain and lose political wards in the boundary change. These include the Eastleigh constituency, which is currently held by Chris Huhne. The changes will see Huhne lose nearly half the voters in the Eastleigh seat and will gain around 39,000 from the surrounding Southampton Itchen and Winchester constituencies. This has made Chris Huhne one of the MPs most at risk of losing their seats in the next General Election.

In Hampshire one of the major changes, which has baffled me, is the change to the structure of the two Southampton seats and the newly formed seat of Hamble and Hedge End. In my constituency of Southampton Itchen the proposed changes would see the loss of the Bitterne ward, which includes the Thornhill area Southampton and the inclusion of the Bevois ward.

This is where I feel the proposed changes will have a negative effect because it will see areas of the city being represented by a completely different area outside of the city boundary and with these changes will it mean that the next changes will be the boundaries to local councils and unitary authorities.

What is clear is that the bias, which has affected the political landscape of the United Kingdom for over half a century, has still not been changed. The pledge of the government to have a fairer boundary limit were all MPs constituencies would be represented by roughly the same amount of people has not been changed. The government has said that the changes will say £12 million a year but in reality it is the equivalent of a large-scale restructuring plan and Conservative corporate takeover.

MPs who are most at risk and are now staring defeat in the face will now have to decide whether to contest the proposed changes in the 12 week consultancy period up to the end of December or face having to reapply for a new constituency. However, this could see MPs moving to an area where they can beat their fellow colleague to a “safe seat."  

If this is the case then I would advise that all Conservative MPs that Devon and Cornwall may be a nice place to move house from within the foreseeable future and any Labour MP that is looking to secure their job in the next General Election to set their Sat Nav to find the quickest route to Sunderland as soon as possible.

Within the next 12 weeks we will see arguing and moaning of every MP who feels that these changes could see them out of a job and joining the unemployment line. These changes were laid out to ensure there was a less biased political structure within the House of Commons, but it looks as if the real winners are the Conservatives who are likely to take a stranglehold within the House of Commons if the boundary commission's plans to England put in place.

If I was David Cameron then I would not be worried about losing his job at the next general election as it may be the case that the Conservatives will become the sole party in charge at 10 Downing Street. For many MPs today, their future may be summed up in the words of Conservative MP, Andrew Percy who has joked “I’m looking for a job.”  If I were Andrew Percy, I would hope I’m not eating those words in a year’s time. 

The futures bright, the future is Conservative... Possibly a steal of copyright, but this is what we could be waking up to the morning of the General Election in 2015.