POWE ;AMES He Fight for Leeds, Plus Vw to Pick
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
......." ,-Iiiti Vv' Weds Student RIG NAME S ''''''.'• 4 Exclusive interviews with Blair, Hague and Kennedy • • • •••.• ., • • • • POWE ;AMES he fight for Leeds, plus vw to pick • your perfect party Friday June 1 2001 ELFACTION 2001 3 We are not apathetic Contents Page 4 eventy-four per cent of Leeds cent of you could name all of them). keep its place in Sun during its time in students say they will vote in the But we've also delved deeper into the power. The man that made it all possible of Tony Blair eneral election. It's a decisive murky pool of politics. With many course is Alastair Campbell, Blair's Mgblow to the Idea that students do predicting that this election will have the notorious Press Secretary. But he wasn't not care about politics. Other recent polls lowest turn-out since 1918, something is the first man who span the press round his The PM talks drugs, fees have pointed to mass apathy amongst our clearly rotten in our state • but what is it? little finger We talk to Bernard Ingham and sleaze generation. But not so in Leeds. Turn to page t2 for a cunning plan to put (p.13), who was Thatcher's press man. the people back into politics. Our survey also said that the one thing And the main reason why we don't Page 5 vote, is not that we don't care, but that we But even that might not be enough to you would change about our country is don't feel we know enough to make a re-energise the system. We also asked you tuition fees. When asked, what you would 1141 good decision. Of those who said they who you thought held most power in our do if you became Prime Minister, 22 per William weren't voting, 38 per cent said it was country and a whopping 79 per cent of cent said they would abolish fees. To find because they were too uninformed. you didn't think it was the government. out exactly what the parties' packages will Hague 48 per cent of you thought the media mean for student pockets, check out page That's where this guide comes in. We've The top Tory on what he probed Blair, Hague and Kennedy an your really pulled the strings in Britain. If so, it's t4. behalf. We've sized up the local candidates no wonder New Relax, have a read and then vote - you can offer young people Labour has know it makes sense. and down-sized their manifestoes. Now it's f. up to you to choose between our four been so CR Page 6 lovely lads in Leeds North West (even if keen only 3 per to Charles Kennedy The Lib Dem leader promises to abolish tuition fees Your at-glance-guide to Page 7 what the parties can offer you Mini manifestos Page 8-9 We matchmake you with three Your perfect lovely lads party Page 10-11 Survey results in full The fight -,. for LS6 Will you vote in the general election? Who do you think holds most power in Britain? ,-----.er. , The local candidates weigh in - ' . PI ,... 74% Page 12 ?r , i 00 '.: - - 21% 25% 31% ,e,,d_• 4-.,.....a r- --,,,,,. „-. To fee or :'5,r,:--4 wit 2% Government Media Business Other not to fee 10,10. r. ,;01-r - t °t' Al An incredible 79 per cent of those polled did not think that the What the parties' # - Yes No Don't know government held the most power in this country. The United States and packages mean for the i A startling 74 per cent of students say they intend to vote in the drug barons were also named as the people who really call the shots. forthcoming election. Other polls of students have pointed to mass One person said he thought the people held the most power, student pocket i apathy amongst our generation - not so in Leeds. Name the leaders of the three main political parties Who will you vote for? We talk to Bernard Page 13 A. reassuring 9f1 per cent could name Tony Blair as the leader of the Labour Party. Corning in a close second, 89 per cent were able to identify William Ingham, the first Hague as top Tory. Only 60 per cent knew Charles Kennedy leads the Lib Westminster Spin Doctor Spinning 10% 37% 22% 31% Derns, although most Knew he was 'ginner' and "Scottish", power Name the candidates for Leeds North West Labour Tory Lib Dem Other Not a good sign for our local candidates as only 26 per cent are able Page 14 Is it the system, not the Bad news for Labour as only 22 per cent of those intending to vote to name our current MP, Harold Best, as the tabour candidate; only 12 government that needs name the party in power as their choice on polling day. Good news per cent had heard of Tory Adam Pritchard; a mere 4.5 per cent could to be changed? for the Lib Dems and for the Greens who were chosen by seven per name Lib Dem David Hall-Matthews, despite the fact he is a Leeds Demo-crazy cent of those polled_ University lecturer, and three per cent had heard of the UK If you aren't voting, why not? Independence party contender, Andrew Spence. .%‘'',' .,,,\' til l Page 15 Those who do not intend to vote were asked why. 38 per cent said they If you became Prime Minister, what single change were too uninformed about politics, 19 per cent said they didn't care, 15 would you make? per cent said they had lost faith in the political system and B per cent \ Playground said they didn't think their vote would make a difference. Given the chance to grab the reigns of power, 22 per cent said they would ,.„.- politics How much do you think government policy affects abolish tuitions fees, tight per cent would legalise cannabis before they e L did anything else when they moved into Number 10. Other wannabe your life? premiers declared their intention to cancel third world debt, bring in all Opinion was split as 54 per cent thought government policies make 'a let' night drinking, stop listening to the US and shoot Tony Blair, Several The bully-boy tactics of of difference to their lives, while 15 per cent said government affected people called for polygamy to be legalised while, in a radical move, two of them 'very little'. those polled suggested making election pledges legally binding. our top politicians 3 ELECTION 2001 In this exclusive interview, the Prime Minister tells us why he brought in fees, how he plans to fight sleaze, what he The Blair thinks of cannabis and shares his deepest fears necessities ony Blair is a bit of worrier. In four power-packed yeas he how you deal with them. Where people have fallen down, then has gone from a bushy-haired barrister made good to the action has been taken against them." greying bespectacled premier we now recognise. As he lies The most famous incident of one of his MPs 'falling down' was awake fretting about the forthcoming election. a million of course when his deputy. John Prescott, was pushed thoughts must spin through his brain. There are the worries that wee to the ground as action was taken against him by an hairless Leo may bear a slight resemblance to that other famous angry farm labourer - whom he had just punched. political baldy, Hague. There's Geri Halliwell's assertion that she Perhaps Blair might consider legalising "genuinely admires and believes in him." cannabis. Who knows, it might help to de-stress But as the sweat starts to form, there is another greater fear that people and make them less aggressive? must plague our PM. Something - perhaps the only thing - that could However he believes that heat him when we go to the polls next Thursday. That thing is -decriminalising cannabis apathy. would send out the wrong In the 1997 election only 2 per cent more people voted Labour signal. The evidence than chose apathy. Despite the Leeds Student survey showing that 74 increasingly shows per cent of you will vote, this election is likely to have the lowest serious harmful effects turn out since 1918. Now, for Blair, that's scary. from the regular use of Tackling this shadowy ogre may not be as easy as striking down soft drugs like his other political opponents. Blair's first blow is not altogether cannabis. We are decisive: "Voting matters. It does change investigating, things. Perhaps not as fast as you - and I - would like but don't fall however, whether for this nonsense that all parties are the same and that it makes no derivatives of difference who is in government." cannabis should be With his nemesis momentarily stunned. he tries to consolidate his prescribed as position - and land a cheeky punch on the nose of his other great medicines for those fear. "I realise we have an awful lot more to do to spread prosperity Stith certain health and opportunity to every family and problems." every community in the country. But we have made a real start in It's clear that his building a modern, fairer, more prosperous country. priorities lie elsewhere. "Whether we get that chance or whether the Tories sneak hack in They are, unsurprisingly. through the back door - through the cynicism they are trying to slightly more weighty than an spread - will he down to you on election day," he says.