Every time you turn on the news there is usually something new about Brexit. It can get very confusing, especially for us younger people who didn’t get a say in the whole process.
For all my fellow baffled teens out there, in its simplest form, this is Brexit: Voters decided to leave the European Union, England’s prime minister resigned since he would have voted stay, stock markets plummeted and some people started to worry that they had made the wrong decision. Although it seems like things can only going downhill from here, in the future, there are big plans for the UK that will benefit from Brexit. The changes coming will make it easier for people to move here from other countries and manufacturing companies and trade deals are improving. But whether you were jumping for joy or devoid of hope in bed on the result day there is one thing that many news outlets have discussed and now it's our turn: Would the Brexit results have been different if young people could have voted? 27.2% of legal voters didn't vote in the EU referendum and 25,359 ballots were rejected. Considering this, even without younger voters, the results could have been different. But now let us explore how young people could have changed the referendum. Currently, the voting age in the UK is 18. However, if the voting age was lowered to 16, the result could have been very different. Younger people have grown up in the EU and would most likely want to stay within it when they're older. In fact, small referendums were held in many schools across the UK and most of these schools voted to stay. Luckily, young people are speaking out on social media and in online polls. Many petitions have been published on Facebook, Twitter and other website requesting a new referendum to be held and for the voting age to be lowered to 16. Whether or not the government will listen is another matter. And if you want to know a bit more about the turnout of Brexit, here's a useful website I used to write this article. You can find out how many people voted in your area, what they voted and more. I found it very interesting and I thought you might as well: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/elections-and-referendums/past-elections-and-referendums/eu-referendum/electorate-and-count-information So what do you think? What would you have voted and why? Let us know in the comments! Article written by Rosie “Rue” Beenham
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Donald Trump.
When this name is said I’m sure many people have very strong opinions, most of which are varied. But a lot of people, especially here in the UK, don’t seem to know much about him. The first question most of us asked was ‘How in the world could America's equivalent to Lord Alan Sugar run for president?’. Many of us questioned how he was a legal candidate but surprisingly he abides by all the guidelines. For someone to run for presidency in America they must: Have been born in the USA and have been a resident for 14 years, be 35 years of age or over. In Britain, prime ministers generally come from an upper class family and have higher education from a prestigious university. This is perhaps why many people didn’t take Trump’s candidacy seriously. And now, for better or for worse, Trump has won the election. Although some of his previous (and most offensive) promises seemed to have slipped into oblivion he has confirmed many of his policies. The most well-known policy being the wall on the Mexican border. The wall has become a very popular policy across the internet, mostly through jokes and memes. But how accurate really are Trump’s main policy? Not very. First of all, Trump wants Mexico to pay for the wall. Realistically, the wall would cost around $15 billion. And all the concrete has to come from somewhere. With these facts the Great Wall of America is starting to look more like a picket fence. The second most well-known policy is one that he tried enforcing recently: banning Muslims from entering the country. In his eyes, this may be a way to tackle terrorism, specifically from ISIS. But this is in fact very irrational. Many people, including Muslims, Christians and Hindus go to America searching for medical help and refuge. By enforcing this law, Trump would be denying many human beings some of their basic human rights. Luckily, the law was not enforced and Trump lost the appeal to reinstate it. Trump has around 140 policies. Some of the other notable policies are:
If you would like to learn anymore about Trump’s policies them there is a link at the bottom of this article that I used as an information source. I hope you enjoyed reading this and maybe learning something new about America’s new chief of state. If you want to share your opinions on Donald, say what you learnt or give some feedback, then you can comment on this article. Information source: https://www.politiplatform.com/trump Article written by Rosie “Rue” Beenham |
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