Green or Labour - my voting dilemma

The general election is just around the corner and here I am, having read the manifestos, still unable to decide who to vote for. Most people I know are against another right wing government. Most of those people also do not want to vote for the Liberal Democrats after their performance in the coalition. 

The Liberal Democrats have got some really promising policies but they stand very little chance getting anywhere in this election. Everyone has seen their performance in the coalition and it does not reflect well on the party. This leaves two main candidates – Green or Labour.


Green party – what they want to achieve

• Limit climate change: obviously the environment is a big topic for the green party. Their focus is on renewable energy. This is a great thing for everyone, it ensures future generations a place on this planet.
• Equality and diversity: one of the key reasons why a lot of young people want to vote Green is because of their focus on equality. The Green Party want lessons on this in schools, they want to work to end the stigma attached to mental health. They are also looking to spend more money and time on supporting women who are victims of violence. This seems promising. These policies show the Green Party to be accepting and forward thinking. There is no doubt that these views are the most accepting and tolerant of all people.
• Young people: the party has proposed an increase in the minimum wage to £10 an hour by 2020. They also want to scrap tuition fees (and herein lies a big issue…) which a certain party promised before. This led to Lib Dems getting a lot of votes from students but as we all know, this did not end well. Now, while I do not think that the Green Party would increase tuition fees, I am sceptical about whether they could possibly get rid of them altogether.
•  Economy: this is the main issue for all the parties in this election. The Green Party take a completely different approach to the others. They want to stop focusing on growth and focus on a fair and equal society. They believe this will improve the economy. This, to a very liberal and left wing person, sounds wonderful. After all, so many problems stem from trying to get more money. But, this is the sort of policy which could be initially damaging before any real progress is made and we have to be aware of that.
• Mental Health: it makes me happy that all the parties are addressing mental health so clearly in this election. The Green party wants no more than 28 days wait for talking therapies. Importantly, they also want to give priority to the mental health of minorities. They plan to do this by increasing mental health funding.

So are these policies achievable? How are they going to do it?

• There is a lot of money needed for most of these policies. Where it will come from is a question that everybody wants to know the answer to. The Green party has proposed that money will come from increased tax (due to increased wages), increased tax on tobacco and alcohol (which will also tackle drinking problems), ensuring that tax avoidance is kept under control. These are just a few and you can view the full financial plan in their manifesto. I was initially sceptical but it all seems to make sense.
• There are concerns that voting for a small party is pointless because they will not know how to run the country. The policies seem great in theory but whether it would happen in practice is a different story.
•  One thing I did notice about the Green manifesto is the detail and length of it. This is a party that is passionate and really cares about their policies. However, it might be that they have set themselves too many targets which they cannot possibly achieve.

Labour Party – what they want to achieve

• Health: GP appointments within 48 hours, more investment in mental health care and stopping the privatisation of the NHS. These are all things which are important to so many people in the country.
• Young People: Labour wants to give the vote to 16 and 17 year olds. I agree with this idea because I think that the more people who get to have a say, the better the representation will be. If schools provide better education on our political system, these young people will be able to make informed voting choices. Labour have also said that they guarantee all young people will have a job after 1 year of unemployment. If they do not take this job, their benefits will be stopped. That is all well and good in theory. But, if a young person has various issues with accepting whatever job it is then they should be able to decline it without being pushed into poverty. Labour have promised to reduce tuition fees to £6,000 a year which seems realistic but hopefully will be the start of reducing them further.
•  Economy: Labour want to promote the living wage and increase the minimum wage to £8 an hour. They have policies aimed at getting fairer rents and banning high letting fees. These are all things which many people over the country would benefit from.

How are they going to do it?

• Labour claims that none of their policies in their manifesto require any more borrowing of money. They have said that every policy can already be paid for within budget. This sounds great. However, I remain unsure of whether this is entirely true. Surely, they will have to spend some money to change things?
•  In order to achieve shorter waiting times for GP appointments, labour will be employing more GP’s and nurses. They aim to pay for this by enforcing mansion tax, something which I am sure will push rich people towards the tories.

Who to vote for?

I am completely behind all of the Green Party policies. I am behind some of the Labour party policies. I have more faith that Labour can achieve their aims as the Greens seem to have set the bar very high for themselves. So it all comes down to this: do we vote for policies or parties? If the Greens had been in power before and we had evidence that they could achieve certain things then we would be quicker to vote for them. That is why Labour and Conservative are always at the top of the poll. We have seen history and we trust that the big parties can act, even if they do mess up. However, there is uncertainty with the Green Party and any other small party. This time round, I think I’m going to give the Green Party a chance. If they did get in and achieve their aims, this country would be a much better place to live after all. As I have said in a previous post, politics will never change unless we start realising that we have more options.

Still unsure who to vote for on the left? Want to keep the tories and UKIP out? Head over to vote swap to see where your vote would make the most difference in your constituency!

Plus Size - celebrated or shamed?

More and more shops are beginning to sell 'plus size' clothing. More and more 'plus size' women are being outspoken about embracing their bodies which society tells us are unhealthy and unlovable. These issues have been widely discussed in the media recently, a lot of the conclusions by people have been very negative but I think people need to have a more balanced view.

The term 'plus size' - is it offensive?

There are two sides to this. Some people think the term should be embraced and is not offensive but a way to distinguish between sizes in fashion. Others believe the term suggests that people who are considered to be in this category are not normal. The term could be taken to mean that people have a surplus of something and who should be allowed to define what normal is?

Personally, I would not have an issue with the term if there was not so much discrimination. By this, I mean that being 'plus size' is equated with being unhealthy and abnormal. It is this idea of excessiveness that society refuses to accept. The truth is that, for most people, it is not just a distinguishing of groups of sizes. It is often used as a way to shame people into losing weight.

What sizes are covered by the term 'plus size'?

This has always been an issue. While some shops consider a size 12 to be 'plus size,' it does not start until a size 18 for others. Again, this raises the issue of who is allowed to decide what should be considered outside of the norm. People come in many shapes and sizes, there is no way to really decide who should have to look for clothes in the 'plus size' section.

I have been 17lbs overweight and at that point, in some shops, I was considered to be 'plus size.' I was not obese but overweight. Where do we draw the line with this? Why does it even matter?

Being plus size means you are unhealthy

It is really damaging to continuously link weight and health together. You can be considered to be overweight and still have perfect health, you can be unhealthy at a 'normal' weight etc. Although there can be a link between weight and general health, it is not the only contributing factor and people need to acknowledge this.

Selling plus size clothing encourages obesity

There are many causes of obesity. There are vast reasons why people struggle to lose weight. It is very common for someone who is obese to fail to lose weight despite their best efforts, why should they be made to feel bad? Seeing the possibility of being able to buy clothes if you were bigger will not necessarily encourage you to eat more food and put on weight. The sale of plus size clothing just says that we know that some people are bigger than others and also need to buy clothes like the rest of society.

Some may argue that selling plus size clothing in shops will deter already obese people from losing weight. Erm, do people realise that these people have not been walking around naked until now? There will always be sale of this clothing as long as there is a demand for it. You never hear people complaining about the availability of size 4 clothing for adults and this can be equally damaging on the other end of the scale. Besides, plus size clothing is often more expensive anyway so people are having to pay for being obesity in many ways.

Being 'plus size' is not something to be ashamed of. Being 'plus size' does not mean someone is unhealthy. Everyone is different shapes and sizes and that is why the body is so amazing. As long as we need to wear clothing everyday then shops will need to cater to all body types! Do you expect obese people to stay at home until they are a size which is acceptable to society? While obesity is not something to necessarily be celebrated, it is something which needs to be accepted as a part of modern society. The world does not cater to obese people, the world shames them every single day and they have to live with that. If shops selling clothing in their size makes their lives a little easier then so be it, they already have to deal with discrimination and being shamed by society every single day.

How to get through studying with a mental illness

When at college or university, a lot of people can get stressed and overwhelmed with work. If someone has a mental illness to contend with as well then studying can be even more difficult.

Imagine having depression and exams coming up. All you want to do is lay in bed and cry and avoid the world. However, you know you should be studying for upcoming exams. This leaves you feeling guilty for not doing enough. You might beat yourself up about it. This can lead to your depression worsening. It becomes a vicious cycle of being unmotivated and self hatred. You may even reach the point where you do not see the point in studying because failing seems inevitable.

I was in a similar position several times throughout studying for my A Levels and my degree. But, I got through both and I thought I’d share some things which helped me manage my mental health and work.

Take each day as it comes
It is often suggested that a revision timetable is a good idea and it can be useful for some people. However, if you have a mental illness, timetabling can be detrimental. If you are having a particularly bad day and cannot follow what you have set for yourself, this can lead to feelings of failure and disappointment. At the beginning of my revision period, I would write a list of everything I had to cover. Then, each day when I woke up I would decide what topics to cover on that day. That way, if I was having a bad day, I did not feel obligated to cover really difficult topics or lots of things. I did not push myself to do mountains of work when I was not mentally well enough to do so. This meant that I avoided the feelings of “I haven’t done everything I was supposed to so I am an awful person.”

Leave plenty of time

Your mentally well friends might start revising a month or two weeks before they sit an exam. If you are mentally unwell, I really recommend ignoring what everyone else is doing and giving yourself more time. Start 2 months before the exams. This means that you can afford to take time off and you do not have to cram which can increase negative symptoms. This applies to all pieces of work. If you have 5 weeks to do something, start now. It will mean you can do small amounts each day until it is done. It will mean that when you are in bed wanting to die, you will not have to force yourself to get to the library and finish an essay. It makes everything seem less intense and is what got me through my final year of university without getting too overwhelmed.

Your mental health comes first

I completely understand that it is hard to take care of yourself when you are trying to get good grades. However, you will be more likely to achieve if you are in a mentally healthy place. Do not, under any circumstances, ignore negative symptoms just because you do not have time to deal with them due to studying. They will build up and things will get to the point where they cannot be ignored.

Personally, I had to be really careful with eating during exam periods. I would start using the excuse of not having time to eat because I was so busy. This is not an excuse. If you are too busy to take care of yourself then you have taken too much on and need to adjust things.

If you see a counsellor, do not stop going because you want to use the time to revise. Those counselling sessions or whatever it is that you do to help yourself could be what gets you through. I would also recommend not coming off of any medication or going onto new medication during an exam/deadline period. Side effects could render you unable to do anything. So aim to take your medication every day and be aware of any potential side effects of new medication you are prescribed. When my doctor wanted to change my medication during exams, I explained that I did not wish to take the risk of side effects right now and they understood. I did not want to have a sudden bout of vomiting during an exam!

It may even be necessary to take time out if you get so unwell that you cannot continue. This is perfectly okay. In this time out, you will have a chance to put all your energy into learning how to cope with your illness and can always go back to studying at a later time when you feel better.

Take time off

It is really difficult to get the work/life balance that everyone goes on about. But it is also vital to try. If you go through two months of studying constantly and isolating yourself… well, clearly that is unhealthy. If you wake up one day and feel like you cannot handle anything then that is okay. Stay in bed and cry if that is what you can do. Forcing yourself to work when you are in a bad frame of mind will end up being counter productive.

Focus on you

I know that when I was at university, everyone was constantly asking each other how much work they had done/were planning on doing. You will always have those people who claim to do very little and those who never stop working. That is okay for them if that is what they want to do. Try not to compare yourself to others; it will only make you feel bad about yourself which is never good for mental illnesses. Besides, just because someone is in the library for 12 hours a day does not mean that they are actually working that whole time!

Talk to your tutors

If you have a mental illness then it is okay to tell members of staff. It is likely that you will be able to fill out an extenuating circumstances form. This is then considered when your results come in. If you have consistently got a certain grade and miss out by a few marks in the exam, they might take your health into account. Even when I did not feel like my mental health was impacting my work, I would still hand one of these in. That meant that I had room for error, if I had a breakdown in the middle of deadline week or exam period then knowing about this form made me feel safer. Just make sure you hand the relevant paperwork in on time!

Look after your physical health

There is a big link between mental and physical health. Even something like lack of sleep can make your mood a lot lower. So eat well, exercise (I just went for walks, the gym is awful) and get enough sleep. This is obviously easier said than done when you are in a bad state but it is something to keep in mind.

So there you have it, this is pretty much what I did to get through my degree whilst unwell! Lots of time, planning, relaxing and talking about things really makes a huge difference. Do not let anyone make you think that you cannot achieve something because of your mental illness.

There are more than two parties...

I am fairly interested in politics but I am so fed up with the run up to the general election. It seems to me that this election is about choosing the worst from a bad bunch rather than anyone talking about their policies. ‘Vote for us because we won’t fuck things up quite as much as them.’ Well that is all well and good, but what am I going to be voting for?

Let’s be honest, we all know that politicians make a lot of promises they cannot or will not keep during the election build up (see Lib Dems and tuition fees…) and that leaves a lot of people not even wanting to vote. It’s a case of why bother voting when very few of these policies will go ahead? So how are we supposed to decide who to vote for?

I have found the BBC policy guide to be really useful and simple to understand. You can find it here.

As it stands, it looks as though there will either be a Conservative or Labour government. This is leading to a lot of people considering voting for one of these parties purely because they do not want the other. Many of my friends who want to vote Green are planning on actually voting Labour to avoid the Conservatives winning.

While I completely understand the thinking behind this, consider what might happen if this was not the case. Who would you vote for if there were no statistics and polls flying around? Who would you really want leading our country for the next 4 years?

If people continue to see it as a two horse race and just choose between the two big parties then it will always be this way. Vote for the party that you really support rather than who is likely to beat the party you hate. If you support a smaller party then vote for them, give them the chance of getting bigger. There are more than two parties and as long as we keep failing to see this then there will only
really ever be two options.

Personally, I do not like the thought that in a so called ‘democracy’ we are led to believe that we only have two options – Labour or Conservative. That is not true. We have more options and we should remember that. So I urge you, in the general election, to vote for the party who you would want to win if we had no idea who really stood a chance. If people start voting this way and looking at all the choices then politics might actually slowly start to change in this country and become more representative.

I really believe that things would be different if people realised that voting for smaller parties is not a ‘wasted vote.’ It is encouraging those parties to keep going because there are people out there who share their values. It is showing the bigger parties that they might need to adjust their policies. Otherwise, they will keep doing what they have always done knowing that they will get votes because people have no hope of anything changing.

Politics in this country can change. It does not always have to be Labour or Conservative if you do not want it to be. Do not let the past define your vote. This vote is possibly the only chance you will get to voice your opinion and have it make an impact in the next four years. Use it wisely.

Do not let the political system in this country fool you into thinking that Labour and Conservatives are the only parties in this election.