Being trans, non-binary and/or gender-nonconforming in the UK in 2024 is a mixed blessing. Solace and support networks have been created within trans communities and by their allies in response to an increasingly hostile society.
All in Politics
Gaza's Healthcare Crisis: From Healing to Horror
33,899 killed, including 13,800 children and 8,400 women. Over 8,000 people are missing, 76,664 are injured, and 2,000,000 have been displaced. Furthermore, 301 healthcare facilities lie partially or fully destroyed, with 349 healthcare professionals killed and 520 injured, as per statistics predating the aftermath of the last siege and attack on Al-Shifa Hospital.
What can the BMA do for you?
The British Medical Association (BMA) is the largest trade union for medical students with 20,000 student members, and a growing 200,000 total BMA membership.
Does my period app know too much?
In the many years since, the ruling has come under repeated challenges, and on June 24th, 2022, it was overturned in a landmark moment.
Cost of Living Crisis: Paying the Price in People's Health
In the past year, the costs of basic items and necessities, from groceries to gas and energy prices, have risen exponentially in what has now become known as the cost of living crisis.
2023 Recap - The year in politics
I think it’s fair to say there does seem to be a few people that are a tad upset at the current government right now.
Increased prescription charges: two sides of a coin
Since 1995, free prescription charges have been available for both men and women, relative to the State Pension Age (SPA) of 60 or over. Justified by the fact that after the age of 60, individuals were no longer working and thus the cost of potential prescription would have a greater personal economic impact compared to those who were still working. However…
Great Expectations
It has been one month since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were installed in their respective offices following months of campaigning, Republican-led attacks on the integrity of their election victory, and an insurrection at the US Capitol.
Lunch Lockdown
Due to poverty, many families are not able to afford lunch for their children; leading to concerns about students being malnourished and too hungry to concentrate at school. Access to free school meals has helped to tackle health inequalities, and to improve health issues such as obesity due to their healthy ingredients. Additionally, there has been a large improvement in the academic achievement for pupils living in poverty.
Assisted Dying
Between zoom calls, banana bread- baking and the tsunami of Covid-19 announcements, you may have missed the Government’s most recent decision relating to assisted dying. Earlier in December, Matt Hancock announced that the Government will allow terminally-ill people to travel to Dignitas during the current lockdown.
Right-Wing Coronavirus Survivors
The coronavirus response from the ‘could do better’ countries is oddly familiar to me. It is reminiscent of an essay deadline: pretending it is okay does not make it go away. The pressure simply escalates until you have to justify your inaction over the past few months and desperately try to salvage the situation. Despite England entering its second national lockdown, joining several European countries, some are not keen to enter lockdown.
The COVID-19 Infodemic
A pandemic. Mass technology. A recipe for disaster. 5G radiation caused the Covid-19 pandemic. Hydroxychloroquine is the cure for Covid-19. The virus was genetically engineered in a lab in China. Drinking cow urine can cure Covid-19. Bill Gates wants to use a vaccination program to implant digital microchips that will track and control people. Taking six deep breaths and then coughing while covering one’s mouth will cure Covid-19. Consuming garlic, onions and turmeric prevents the virus. Covid-19 doesn’t actually exist.
Tracking Down the COVID App
At the height of lockdown way back in April, we were promised a contact tracing smartphone app that would help us fight against coronavirus and emerge from lockdown safely. Now 5 months (and a growing second wave) later, we’re at last being delivered an app.
PM pushes for Breech while Brussels Bamboozled by his Brilliance
Boris Johnson, the current Prime Minister whose living it up in an antique four-bedroom suite in one of London’s most exclusive gated communities, at the taxpayer’s expense, has proclaimed in grand imperial fashion, “Screw the rules, I have a hard on for making bad decisions” .
Brexit Hitting Too Close To Home
It’s been more than a month since the Minister of State for Universities, Michelle Donelan, announced the devastating news that “EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for home fee status, undergraduate, postgraduate and advanced learner financial support from Student Finance England for courses starting in academic year 2021/22.”
Hath not a _____ eyes?
“Hath not a Jew eyes?” asks Shylock in his monologue to Salarino and Salanio in Act 3 Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s classic: The Merchant of Venice. “Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?
Protect the NHS - but what about its staff?
The irony in the government’s rhetoric is glaring; today’s “heroes” were yesterday’s villains as the “battle against the junior doctors”, which former health secretary Jeremy Hunt frequently boasted about in the 2019 Tory leadership hustings, becomes the “battle against the invisible enemy”. The army which Mr. Hunt proudly defeated now fights on the government’s behalf.
How to give more effectively to charity
Charity is not synonymous with doing good - it is only as effective as the causes it promotes, and the approaches it pursues. Surely, no-one would argue that public schools, which specialise in reinforcing elitism and hindering social mobility, are deserving of dipping into our debt-riddled accounts? It is unbelievable that they are even given charity status, exempting them from business tax! Let's face it, how often do we research the influence of the latest trendy charity challenge flashing up on our feeds before we dutifully thumb in our card details?
Cutting Deep
In July 2019, I took a taxi from Whitechapel to Heathrow. My driver Rizwan and I sat in bleary 5am-silence for a while, before he opened with the customary “Where you off to then?”…
The United Kingdom's Electoral System: A Systematic Disenfranchisement of Students?
Democracy is merely an ideal - an abstraction that the preferences of citizens should be translated into representative institutions. Electoral systems are designed to most accurately align with the ideals of democracy and dependent on the public perception that these systems are fair and fulfill expectations.