Here’s another update on the Journalist training – it’s all getting a little intense now, everyone is finding out whether they're made of strong stuff. Someone has been booted off the course for poor attendance, and there have been murmurings of quitting from one or two people. But we are all supporting each other and we will all make it to the finish line!
A recent development: I have co-written a feature article with my lovely classmate Zoe Gray. Zoe and I attended a recording of a question and answer session on BBC Radio 5 Live - the show was broadcast during the Labour Conference here in Brighton. We were treated to a lot of high profile guests, such as: Jack Straw, Tessa Jowell, Kitty Usher, Caroline Flint and David Blunckett (with his faithful guide dog Sadie). The show was presented by the cheerful Victoria Derbyshire, who got us all to rehearse clapping and encouraged questions from the audience. It was great to be part of the recording of a serious live debate show, and also fascinating to see the logistics of a live broadcast – producers, presenter, and assistants moving round the audience with microphones on sticks.
Zoe and I felt the Journalism bug – we managed to get an exclusive interview with Kitty Usher, former Secretary of the Treasury (right), just as she was about to get a taxi after the show. We also got to ask a couple of questions to John Pienaar, former BBC Chief Political Correspondent. A great day for two budding Journalists!
Since then we’ve put our heads together and written an article for an upcoming student newspaper to be launched in the Brighton area – covering both Sussex and Brighton Universities and City College. Circulation should be around 35,000. Here’s a draft of it, changes are still to be made for final publication - so all comments are welcome to help with that process!
Thanks,
Matt 
‘All's lost for Labour’: students speak out
By Zoe Gray and Matt Tucker
Brighton seafront is once again free from police with machine guns, suited MPs and campaigners armed with placards. The Labour conference, in all its frenzy, has come to an end. But with the general elections less than a year away, politics is still as relevant as ever for students in Brighton. With the country in recession, many of us are well and truly fed up: is there any hope for Labour?We asked students whether Labour should win the next election. Jordan Pinto, 23, from City College Brighton & Hove, says: “Probably not, no. They've had 12 years now. They haven't come good on all their promises. I don't like the Conservatives either, there doesn't seem to be much difference between them all. People have lost faith in politics”.
Ashley Maguire, a 17 year-old student from Portsmouth college, told us: “University fees will put a dampener on my career. I am angry, I want to get on and do what I want to, but because of the fees I can't”. Ashley’s comment sums up what’s on the minds of many learners in 2009: student debt. The question of fees at university has been a contentious area of debate ever since they were introduced by David Blunckett in 1998.
Moreover, the sting of fees goes far beyond graduation day. Oliver Peart, 23, a recent graduate living in Brighton, has just been made redundant for the second time this year. Oliver says that the only way Labour can save themselves is if they connect with youth bases. He attended a recent recording of the BBC Radio 5 Live Show where some of the top MPs and Ministers of the Labour Party, such as David Blunckett and Jack Straw, were on the show’s panel at the Brighton Conference Hall. Oliver asked the panel how the government was going to manage growing student debt and graduate unemployment. The responses given did not convince Oliver. We spoke to him after the show: “Labour talk about achievements but don't talk about the future, they only do when reacting to a statement from the Conservatives. They don't appreciate the situation young people are now in. Student debt is between £12,000 and £30,000 – all because of tuition fees and the added top up fees. Labour has burnt a bridge with a generation of future voters”. It’s not just Labour that Oliver feels let down by, he adds: “Unfortunately the Tories also support the top-up fees, and the Lib Dems have now dropped their opposition to top-up fees”.
The scandal of MP expense claims was also a major issue raised at the radio show - the strength of feeling was clear as audience members asked whether there would be further resignations from MPs and if police prosecutions were in order for those who have been caught in the scandal. Tony McNulty, one of the MPs under investigation, looked uncomfortable when grilled by the audience at the BBC show about expense claims he made on a second home, which he shared with his parents. Tony McNulty is awaiting the findings of an investigation into his actions and preferred not to comment on the issue. Whether his name is cleared or not, nobody would like to be in his shoes. Wendy, from City College Brighton & Hove, said of Tony McNulty: “If he has any sense of honour he should resign”. Romany Sharp, 17, from Portsmouth college added: “Labour keeps defending what they've done but not saying sorry, not saying what they'll do to help”. Romany compared the MPs’ answers on the radio show with those at the Liberal Democrat Conference, which she attended the previous week, saying: “[Lib Dems] told us what their policies are, unlike Labour.”
Just as we left the BBC recording, we managed to speak with Kitty Usher, the former Secretary of the Treasury, who recently resigned during the expenses debacle, she told us: “Labour needs to set out a clear vision on what type of country they want to see. The public may be grumpy with us but they are not so in love with the other side. I firmly believe Britain does need a Labour government in the next phase”.
With opinion polls for Labour dipping steeply at the beginning of this month, the party have a big job on their hands to win back votes. It appears many students need to be reassured that now, more than ever, the current government has their best interests at heart. What better way to do this than to speak with students and to listen to their concerns and to explain their choices. As Kitty Usher says, Labour needs to find a way to connect with the people.
