The Queen’s Speech

The Queen is expected to deliver her eagerly anticipated speech to the House of Lords on the 14th of October.

The Queens Speech typically forms a new start to the parliamentary year for all the members of parliament who are involved. A routine is followed closely to ensure the idea that the monarchy and parliament are two separate forces. Parliament will have to be prolonged due to this.

The last speech was given on the 21st of June 2017, however the speech is typically delivered on an annual basis. This is the case because the old leader of the country, Theresa May, desired “a two-year parliamentary session to focus on Brexit,” which would still be proved as unsuccessful.

The speech is meant to last for approximately 10 minutes and is delivered by the Queen herself. The Queen has delivered the speech “64 times but was absent in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant”.

Boris Johnson had previously tried to use the occasion as a reason to suspend parliament so that parliament wouldn’t be able to discuss the vert relevant topic of Brexit. This was later proven to be “unlawful” by the Supreme Court which means Johnson was breaking the law in his suspension attempt.

This also means that there will be no prime minsters questions taking place on this date which would be a relief to Johnson due to the pure scrutiny that would be received.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32816450

Review

  1. The part I felt like I put the most effort into was the research part of the paper where I had to find out what I wanted to discuss. Then once deciding, I spent a lot of time trying to find relevant articles which would add to the story I was trying to present. I tried to select a story which carries controversy and has a clear two-sided argument towards it. The topic of Brexit is also hard to research and find clear definitive facts so that also presented itself as a challenge. Therefore, this definitely took the most effort as I wanted to find valuable sources which didn’t contain a great deal of bias on either side of the argument. However, I could’ve found 2 biased arguments and bounced them off each other if this wasn’t the case. 
  1. The most difficult part of this paper was trying to write it as a “story” rather than an argument as such… I found like I was trying to argue for or against something throughout the paper which wouldn’t be as productive as writing this piece as story like instructed to do so. Brexit is a story which carries a large amount of controversy behind it so it’s very easy to slip into an argumentative stand-point and this wasn’t the point of the paper.
  1. The biggest problem with this paper is the same as the most difficult part. Trying not to write an argumentative piece of writing. I tried to just write a story about the current Brexit standpoint and basically report what was happening rather than my opinion on what was happening (even though I’m strongly opinionated on the topic of discussion). To combat this, I just emphasized the key parts of the story to ensure the opinion factor was left out.

Broken Boris

Boris’ call to suspend parliament has been deemed “unlawful” by the Supreme Court. (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49813639)

This decision comes with a great deal of controversy. Firstly, this decision implies that Boris Johnson has broken the law in his attempt to suspend parliament.

Johnson had also apparently presented the Queen of England with advice which was unlawful. Furthermore, the leader of the Labour Party (Jeremy Corbin) has called for Johnson to resign from his post.

This is a serious charge to face, given Johnson has only had control of the country for a couple of months. “Even the most brazen Johnson backer cannot simply shrug off,” indicates that this ruling has serious consequences for the PM’s future.

In addition, other political party leaders (the Scottish National Party and Liberal democrats) are also “calling on him to go now too”.

The speaker of the commons has urged that parliament must meet quickly in order to establish the future, especially with what may happen in regards to Brexit.

Tasting Experience

The initial introduction of eating a piroulini is a defining crunch between the teeth. There was also a crunchy noise made once placed between the molars. There was an element of grit between the teeth which is sustained during and after the experience. The texture of the inside is creamy and has a strong taste of milk chocolate. Despite the crunchiness, the outer layer was still soft and caused no discomfort during the experience.  

Furthermore, the aftertaste then remains in the mouth for a extended period of time after consumption which provides an overall enjoyable experience. 

Girls to argue for a pay rise in schools

A top female CEO claims that females “lack the confidence” to approach individuals for a pay rise and that this should be something that is taught in school to encourage the fight against the pay gap.

Cheryl Giovannoni argues that females in school should be taught to develop greater confidence and “accept northing less than salary equality”. Cheryl, who is paid over £270,000 a year for her role as the chief executive of the Girls’ Day School Trust, argues thar women need to become more financially indepedent to develop greater skills. This would combat the growing wage gap that the media continues to hihglight.

The main point of Giovannoi’s argument is that if women were to become more confident in their ability to ask for a raise or question the amount that they get paid, then there’s a great chance that the overall gap between men and women will begin to close. However, if there’s no education in this department then things will continue to get gradually worse overtime.

““Within the first 10 years, they are lagging significantly behind the pay of men for the same work,” which clearly supports the claim that women are being paid less. Therefore, if there were to be greater access to education, women would have a far greater chance at receiving the same pay as men.

The Scavanger Hunt

I spoke with Sheri Benson who works at the front desk of the advising centre. I initially introduced myself and claimed I was from a journalism class and wanted to ask for a signed post-it note. I then spoke with Alexander Milligan in the science centre about his biggest pet peeve.

I explained myself to Sheri (that this was for a class) and asked if she would be kind enough to hand me a signed post-it note as I saw some on her desk. She was vert happy to do so and the whole process was very easy. We had a small chat about the class and I explained how this was an activity to talk to people and become more comfotable doing so.

Post-it note

I then went and spoke with Alexander about his biggest pet peeve. His answer was very quick and precise which he said “misspelled words,” were his biggest pet peeves. I then continued to ask him why this was the case. He responded that it probably is due to “incorrect spellings on advertisement,” which he simply couldn’t understand. He was very passionate about not understanding why companies would put out promotions or promotional campaigns that carry obvious errors. He continued to add that he had identified a spelling error on the MySide page “just this morning”.

Beckham Jr flashes expensive watch on the first NFL Sunday of the year.

The highlight of the game wasn’t the fact the Titans blew out the highly anticipated Browns, but instead the fact Odell Beckham Jr was wearing a $350,000 watch during play.

The wide receiver made his first start for the Browns on Sunday and wanted to leave an impression. During play, he wore a Richard Mille on his left wrist which attracted the attention of many viewers, but most importantly: the NFL. The NFL doesn’t allow players to wear “hard objects” during play which would mean Beckham shouldn’t be allowed to wear the timepiece. Beckham claims he will continue to wear the watch during play and believes the NFL is only bringing up the issue before it involves him. Individuals believe that Beckham should ditch the watch and focus his efforts on the team rather than attracting media attention to him.

Brexit means Brexit

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was able to successfully suspend parliament at the end of August and they won’t be allowed to sit again until the 14th of October. The whole idea behind this is to limit the amount of time the government has to openly debate the topic surrounding Brexit (according to his opponents). However, Mr. Johnson called for the suspension to give way for the Queen’s speech which is an annual event which allows for a new session of parliament to begin.

On the 23rd of June 2016, 51.9% of the United Kingdom’s population voted in favor of leaving the European Union for several reasons. Many individuals felt like the European Union was taking advantage of the UK and that we were losing a lot of money to an unelected system which was joined back in 1973. Both campaigns were poorly led and there was always a high amount of controversy surrounding the debates. The remain campaign would often use the term “project fear” which was designed to influence voters to stay in the UK. The purpose behind project fear was to convince the UK people that leaving the EU would be a disaster and there would be a large amount of uncertainty. They also threatened that many people would lose their jobs and that the economy would come to a crashing halt. With all these claims, many people were in fear of what may happen if the UK was to pull itself out of the UK. Under the initial leadership of Theresa May, a great deal wasn’t achieved and the controversy continued to grow higher and higher. Until recently, where the controversy escalated when Boris Johnson took over as the new leader of the conservative party.

The issue of Brexit has been surrounding the UK media for a very long time and there hasn’t been a day without the word ‘Brexit’ on the news. In an article written recently by CNN, Bercow was quoted saying “Shutting down Parliament would be an offense against the democratic process and the rights of Parliamentarians as the people’s elected representatives”. This implies that shutting down parliament would be an undemocratic offense as parliament can’t debate the terms. It is understood that Boris wants to leave the EU on the previously set date of October 31st and wouldn’t mind doing so with a ‘no-deal Brexit’. A no-deal Brexit would consist of the UK leaving the EU without a set trade deal or anything at all established between the UK and the countries which currently exist in the EU. This means the UK would be more likely to establish itself into the WTO where trade is very effective. The controversy exists as the UK government voted to leave the EU, however, it is equally undemocratic to not grant the wishes of the UK people when the vote was put out to them.

However, Mr. Johnson continues to try to push for Brexit even though he can potentially face “face legal action for flouting it,” according to BBC news. Members of parliament are accusing Johnson of attempting to break the law by suspending parliament due to the undemocratic nature of the act. To add to this, there is a deadlock established in the commons due to the fact no party holds a majority share of seats. For the prime minister to get his way with Brexit, he will need to hold a majority of the seats in the commons which calls for a “snap election,” as quoted by the BBC. A snap election is where a general election is held to see who holds a majority of seats in the commons to establish themselves as leaders of the United Kingdom. The Times (an English news source) gathered the information that only “one in three voters backs a snap general election before Brexit,” which doesn’t stead in good stead for the leader of the conservative party. If they were to achieve the majority vote, the PM would have a great chance of achieving a no-deal Brexit. The controversy will continue to rise as the date set becomes closer and closer. For now, the future for Brexit is very unclear.

Brexit and Boris

The story I selected this week was to do with the issues surrounding Brexit. The PM was asked earlier in the week on his thoughts about delaying Brexit to which he responded he would “rather be dead in a ditch”. 

Earlier in the week, boris was broken down by parliament in four defeats and his own brother even quit his own government. Boris’s plan to counter such a defeat was to propose the idea of a snap election. However, his own government was quick to shut down the plan and review for the future. The future for Boris currently is in question, with his governemnt and supporters working firmly against him, it seems like he doesn’t have a wide range of options avaliable to him.

The article was well written and clearly organised. It progressed through nicely from the outstanding issue of boris losing control to the government turning against him. The article came from sky news who often provide a fairly non biased report on the issue and have done for some time. The article was easy to read which means all ages and political ability are able to read and understand accordinly.

Parliament Suspension

This article goes into detail about the recent events that are happening with Brexit. A couple of days back, Boris Johnson was able to get the right to suspend parliament with the permission of the queen. The article claims that Boris made this bold move to try to push forward Brexit and allow a smooth transition out of the European Union by October 31st. The article continues to quite various figures in UK politics such as Phillip Hammond who states “It would be a constitutional outrage if Parliament were prevented from holding the government to account at a time of national crisis”. From now on, the government only has two periods available to them where they can attempt to block a “no-deal Brexit”. In conclusion, the source is very ambiguous in saying whether the plan will work. The article states it’s a very “high risk’ strategy, but there is a chance Johnson could pull it off.

In my opnion, I think this is a very bold but intelligent move by our new Prime Minister. To take parliament out of the equation caused great controversy and caused an agreat amount of hate from the opposition (being the remainers). It was a bold move that I believe will enusre a successful Brexit campaign and will certainly push the UK in the right direction for the future. Theresa May was unable to produce the result which was desired by the public, so I’m glad to see our new PM try to make a change.

The article itself was well organized and had good flow. The important factor is that the public are able to engage in the article and have a good understanding. The Brexit topic is a very important topic for a mjaority of households in the UK, so an uniabsed report is essential.

I believe there is always an element of bias involved in the sources written about Brexit. To me, it appears the public of the UK always want to hear the doom and gloom of the story so the writer has to accommodate for that. The idea that Brexit will be a huge disaster is far more popular than the idea than the idea that it’ll be a success. Therefore, in order to increase sales, the best option is to sell the idea of a terrible Brexit.