Social Justice Challange

Fill Her Up

Fuel is a big topic of conversation amongst environmentalists; when is it going to run out, how safe and clean is it, why aren’t alternative fuels being taken seriously? These are all good points and ones that need to be discussed in some depth, by governments as well as green pressure groups.

Many people don’t realise how easy it is to use green fuels like bio diesels. Many makes of car will actually run perfectly well on fuel made from rapeseed with little or no conversion, the only major problem is usually finding somewhere to buy bio diesel fuel in the first place.

If you have a diesel car and what to give a more natural fuel a try, you should probably check with the manufacturer first, especially if you are still under warranty. After all, chucking some experimental fuel in an engine which then dies is a sure fire way to make sure you get a hefty garage bill for repairs. Some car manufacturers have already said that certain models of theirs are suitable for bio diesel; Audi, VW and Seat cars made between 1994 and 2006 have already been approved for 100% RME, the bio diesel made from rapeseed. If something goes wrong after that, your warranty should not be affected. If you have a newer car they should be OK too, but check direct with the manufacturer, not just your local showroom.

There are currently over fifty businesses that sell bio diesel, ranging from industrial estate units to remote rural farms. Bear in mind that these do not operate like regular petrol stations; you can’t drive up at 3am and expect to get fuel and a cup of coffee to go. It’s best to contact your nearest sales point and make an arrangement to pick up the fuel as regularly as you need to.

It Is A Matter of Self-Defense… Or Not?

English law has always been admired by every single jurisdiction in the world because of two reasons - the forst one is because of the common law of precedents where the court decides what the law is. Additionally, the Perliament-made laws are just as essential as the judge-made and the Acts of the main legislative body fill in the gaps of the common law approaches. Undoubtedly, a perfect system … but on theory.

In practice, the system has its many lacks - a particular example is the law on self-defense which bothers almost 79% of the UK population and threatens to become a matter of political discussions for upcoming Parliamentary elections and explode as a diesel fuel storage tank at the next elections. Probably everything started with the famous Tony Martin case where a farmer killed while defending his farm. He was convicted and even now when we read the law we see something contraversial - ’the reasonable force'requirement for protecting yourself.

What is that supposed to mean?? Well; suppose you are attacked by a huge strong Scandinavian man twice taller than you and in his best physical shape… then image he doesn’t have a gun but still a punch in your face would be enough for you to spend three years in a wheelchair because of desorientation issues and instability. Then you pick up your legally owned gun and shot the guy in a moment of fear and preservation instinct. In this case you will be… convicted! Becase fists and a gun are not matching means of attack - the one cannot compare to the other so you have misused force, you have applied grossly unreasonable force to protect yourself. And this is when the issue comes in place - can someone please define how many times do we have to read the statute and the relevant legislation before being able to protect ourselves.

Or should we ask our attacker for a timeout until we read a few lines from the specially prepared copy of the Homicide Act that we always carry with us?

The Issue With the Commonwealth

Surprisingly, in days of democracy and proclamation of independance and basic freedoms, the UK’s Commonwealth system of ex colonies still bothers many of the international organisations. The two sides of the story are somehow completely opposite - on the one hand, there is no issue because while being associated as commonwealth many countries are being supported by the UK directly or indirectly, but on the other hand this gives grounds for a consideration - is actually the UK interfering with the authonomy of these ex colonies?

Historically, the commonwealth consists of countries that were conquered politically or by means of war by the British Empire and that have been influenced by the West for centuries. The good things comes up immediately and there is no doubt this is something quite positive - after the settlement of English authorities within the Commonwealth, the regional development of these states dramatically improved - technologies, science, social services, economic development and public support are just a minor part of the innovations that the Europeans brought to these countries. Even nowadays, the Commonwealt, even being said to be completely independant, receive quite a lot of money and funds for development from private and public English organisation (however, they do not receive any cheap ipods from the Brits ) so we can generally conclude - this is the good part of being a Commonwealth country.

But there is something else that bothers the international political organisations - these ex colonies are actually still being influenced by the UK politically, judicially and economically. A political and judicial domination can be observed in Jamaica for example as an ex colony - politically the country is still under the rule (even though formally only) of the Queen and judicially, the legal authorities in Jamaica must consider cases from the English Privy Council (resposible for cases from the Commonwealth). This is definitely an example of interferance from the UK in the matters and affairs of the Commonwealth and this is what rises the issue - is the Commonwealth system actually composed of INDEPENDENT countries?

Exploring the moral issues of the pope’s UK visit

The pope’s visit to the UK has been met with strong hostility from the British public. Whether this is due to his personal views regarding issues such as abortion and women in the church, or his views on gay rights, or the use of contraception, his visit is highly controversial.

Not least due to the costs to the taxpayers, which are estimated to amount to £12 million. This comes at a time when radical spending cuts endanger many of our More

Parliamentary expenses and why they should be axed altogether

It is difficult to understand how politicians can get away with claiming taxpayers money for dog food and speed boats, let alone for second homes and other expenses. However, the idea of using other people’s money for your own advantage is clearly unjust. Politicians claim that they must have expenses for second homes in London if they are to perform their jobs to the best of their ability.

Why is, then, that people who work abroad or around the country More

Should Britain have a ‘Britain day’ dedicated to celebrating national pride?

It seems that the subject of ’national pride'in Britain is rather awkward at best. It may be that the British are particularly self-critical of their history, to such an extent that it is almost frowned upon to patriotic in a cultural sense. Or it could be that ’British pride'is seen as corny, un-British and unreserved. Whatever it may be, it is clear that being proud of being British is something that does bring many Britons together. Rather than pride in More

The thin end of the wedge

The current government is proposing to have spouses of UK residents pass a mandatory English Language Proficiency test before they are able to emigrate to the UK. While from one point of view this might seem like a common sense measure, realistically, it is based on some underlying assumptions that show a complete disintegration of our collective understanding of basic human rights for citizens and non-citizens alike.

1. Living with your spouse is a privilege and not a right
2. UK citizens More

Attitudes to the wearing of the burka in western countries

In Britain, all girls have been left the choice to wear whatever womens clothing pleases their attitude, sensability, and way of life. There are no laws (political or religious) implemented regarding what a woman can or cannot wear in public, however the wearing of the full Islamic veil is something that causes considerable stir both in society and in government. The problem that many people have with the wearing of the burka and the niqab is that they disguise the More

Is The Media Affecting British Youth Culture?

The manner in which the youth is represented by the media has a significant effect on the way the general population perceives them and thus can also play a role in getting public support for legislation regarding the controlling of the youth. British media has certainly affected the youth culture of Britain by their constant obsession with finding the next trend, be it fashion or music or Smart phones. Studies seem to indicate that young people are so tired More

How Inequality In Britain Leads to Social Problems

With the rising social inequality in Britain, it has been observed in the past two decades that the anti social behavior, violence, teenage pregnancy, obesity and similar problems like these are making their mark on the society. Inequality especially in terms of income and wealth has also grown amongst those widely known as the “working class”.

This basic inequality is apparent when one considers that those who own most of the wealth in the UK are those many people work More