Deepening into Brexit

On Thursday 23 June, 2016 a referendum was held to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the EU. The UK has voted to leave the European Union. It is the first exit of the EU in more than 60 years. The results, reasons and consequences of that decision are going to be analysed in the following lines.

Results

As shown in the graph, 52% of voters chose leave, while 48% wanted to remain in the EU. Only 71.7% of the population participated in the referendum. The nations that decided to leave the EU were England, with 53.4%, and Wales, with 52.5%, while Northern Ireland and Scotland decided to remain with 55.8% and 62%, respectively.

The result suggests deep divisions in British society that, in general terms, voted very differently depending on their geographical location, social class and age. Large cities such as London, Leeds and Glasgow, chose to remain in the EU, because the majority of jobs that are generated depend directly on their relationship with Brussels. On the contrary, in the rural areas of the United Kingdom Brexit has triumphed. Several studies also suggested that support for Brexit was significantly greater among those over 55 than among the youngest and with three out of every five voters over 65 declaring themselves in favour of leaving the European Union, the result surely has in them their main driving force.

Why is the UK leaving the EU?

There were many warnings that the Brexit would cause disastrous economic consequences. Institutions such as the IMF and the OECD warned that the Brexit would cause the stagnation of the economy, an increase in unemployment and the collapse of the pound. The fact that so many people decided to ignore the experts suggests that the number of those who have not felt favoured by the economic benefits of five decades of membership in the European Union is greater than previously thought.

In addition, one of the main actors in the Brexit campaign, Nigel Farage, managed to make migration the decisive issue. Although the language and images used in the campaign - especially those introduced by Nigel Farage - were harshly criticized, their messages worked and convinced many that this was a unique opportunity to reaffirm British sovereignty. Concerns about the levels of migration to the United Kingdom in the last 10 years and its past and future impact were more widespread and entrenched than previously suspected.

And, above all, it confirms that the argument that the United Kingdom cannot control the number of migrants if it remains a member of the EU was an effective campaign weapon.

Consequences

Cameron strongly bet on his ability to achieve fundamental changes in the relationship between London and Brussels, but these were disqualified as insufficient by the eurosceptics of his own party. After a divisive campaign, the defeat left him no choice but to announce his resignation. This was the immediate consequence of Brexit, however, the subsequent effects of the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU are still in terms of negotiation.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887

http://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-36619175

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/01/immigration-to-uk-hit-record-levels-in-run-up-to-brexit-vote-latest-figures-show

Claudia Ortuño Ñíguez EPD 11 Grupo: Estibaliz Solana y Mercedes Recuero.

THE SUFFRAGETTES

Do you know when the move for women to have the vote began? It really started in 1897, when Millicent Fawcett founded the National Union of Women’s Suffrage. “Suffrage” means the right to vote and that is what women wanted – hence its inclusion in Fawcett’s title.

Who was Millicent Fawcett?

Millicent Fawcett believed in peaceful protest. She felt that any violence or trouble would persuade men that women could not be trusted to have the right to vote. Her game plan was patience and logical arguments. Fawcett argued that women could hold responsible posts in society such as sitting on school boards – but could not be trusted to vote; she argued that if parliament made laws and if women had to obey those laws, then women should be part of the process of making those laws; she argued that as women had to pay taxes as men, they should have the same rights as men.

Fawcett’s progress

Fawcett’s progress was very slow. She converted some of the members of the Labour Representation Committee (soon to be the Labour Party) but most men in Parliament believed that women simply would not understand how Parliament worked and therefore should not take part in the electoral process. This left many women angry and in 1903 the Women’s Social and Political Union was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia. They wanted women to have the right to vote and they were not prepared to wait. The Union became better known as the Suffragettes. Members of the Suffragettes were prepared to use violence to get what they wanted.

A portrait of Dame Millicent appeared in a 2008 British postage stamp to commemorate International Women’s

The origin of the word ‘Suffragette’

At first, the women’s movement was named suffragist. By the 1900s when newspapermen were tasked about the women's movement, they called it Suffragette in a denigrating way. At that time, the suffix -ette­ was used to convey that the thing was smaller, feminine and female, as well as imitative and inferior. The word suffragette was used to describe strictly women, the type who were disrupting local meetings and spitting on policemen, the type who were getting arrested and going on hunger strikes in prison.

Many high-profile British advocates, particularly those associated with the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), decided to embrace the term that had caught on so quickly in the press. The word might be used to mock them, and it might have connotations of disapproval, but it was also associated with action, disruption and demanding to be heard, no matter the cost.

The colours of the Suffragettes

‘Purple as everyone knows is the royal colour, it sands for the royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette, the instinct of freedom and dignity… white stands for purity in private and public life… green is the colour of hope and the emblem of spring.’, explained Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, editor of the weekly newspaper, Votes for Women.

Therefore, in 1908, the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), adopted the colours purple, white and green, that distinguished them in their political movement and it became a huge marketing success.

One of the intentions of the colours was to promote public awareness of the belief for suffrage in England.

Votes for Women sash in colours of Women’s Social Political Union

Oumayma Oismayo Epd 12 Group 5

English women are still fighting!

                                    ENGLISH WOMEN ARE STILL FIGHTING!

Women have had to overcome many difficult situations throughout history. The first time that women decided to fight was in England before the First World War. They created a small movement that began to get bigger. All these women called themselves “suffragists” or “suffragettes”. The word “suffragettes” appeared for the first time as an insult for them, but they didn’t feel offended by it. They decided to adopt the name, and finally defended it with all their strength.

The suffragettes were all women who worked in factories in very bad conditions, and they did not have any right, that’s why they decided to fight against unequal system and finally obtained the right to vote. Thanks to these women, law and society changed.

There is a fantastic film which shows us these amazing English women that fought for their rights, and all the terrible things that they had to overcome at the time. The film is called Suffragette.

Thanks to them, women began to have more rights and started to have similarities with men, politically and socially speaking. But after all, this fight remains nowadays and not only in England, but all around the world. Even so, English women are still having a big part in this fight. A good example would be Emma Watson.

Emma Watson, the British actress, known for playing the role of Hermione in Harry Potter, is using her fame and her position with the United Nations to shine a spotlight on the problem of gender inequality and sexual assault at universities and colleges around the world. She has created a big initiative called HeForShe.

The British actress made a speech in September 2014 which was focused on gender inequality around the world and the important role that men and boys must play in fighting for equality for girls and women. In that speech, she explained a personal situation of her, in which we can still notice the inequality between women and men in England:

"I started questioning gender-based assumptions a long time ago. When I was 8, I was confused for being called bossy because I wanted to direct the plays that we would put on for our parents, but the boys were not. When at 14, I started to be sexualized by certain elements of the media. When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of sports teams because they didn’t want to appear muscly. When at 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings."

The most important step in the British politics has been the election of a woman as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom: Margaret Thatcher; and today Theresa May. Theresa May has created a movement to bring more women into Tory politics. 

To sum up, I would just say that each of these women have been and are being huge symbols in British history, symbols that are allowing us to reach more equality in this world. What do you think about them? Do you think that there are Spanish women like them? Could you write any example? And finally, do you think that you are contributing in some way to this fight against inequality?

Written by: Isabel García Crespo - EPD 12. The other members of the group: Antonio Riquelme Delgado, Irene Ortega López, Othman Maalmy. 

ISIS or New IRA, who’s the best criminal ?

Don’t worry. It’s normal if you haven’t understood my title at all. You may think that if i’m aware of that, why do i let it like that ? I may be a little crazy sometimes. But anyway, let me introduce you to the black topic of terrorism. (Here you understand why i’ve been trying to make a bit of humour in my first sentences… ;-) )

What is terrorism ? You have probably already read preconceived sentences saying that terrorism is « the unlawful use of violence against civilians… » Bla bla bla…

Come on guys, this is only a kind of barbarism. Sometimes pushed by clear political aims, sometimes by unfounded ideologies. They may have understanding goals, but they use the wrong way to achieve it.

These two friends I mentioned in the title are both terrorist organizations. But a lot of things separate them. So, who are they and the Hell do they want ?!  

New IRA

The first group we will focus on is the New Irish Republican Army. It is located in Northern Ireland. It was created in 1997 after some negociations for a ceasefire between the past Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Northern Ireland Unionists.

The New IRA rejected the non-violent negociations, that formed the basis of the ceasefire. So since 1997 they are a violent paramilitary group based in the Republican districts of west Belfast and having some activity in Dublin. It is formed of Republicans who reject Northern Ireland’s peace process.

The IRA and New IRA were historically aimed at putting an end to the British presence in Northern Ireland. They also fight for making Northern Ireland away from the UK and re-unite with the Republic of Ireland. They are used to publicly claiming their opposition to the UK government, including the Royal Family.

One of their most famous attack had been committed by the past IRA. We are talking about Brighton Hotel bombing. It occurred on October, the 12th of 1984. The objective was to kill Margaret Tatcher.

More recently, in 2016 , some explosives related to the New IRA were found in Dublin. Their targets were police members or MP’s.

And there are much more actions in order to raise awareness about the topic they defend. Incidentally, Teresa May declared the IRA threat as « substancial ».

ISIS

But this is not the only threat Great Britain has to fight against. In fact, we all know the existence of the islamic state. (No, this is not my mistake not to put capital letters here.)

Mostly known as ISIS in the Anglo-Saxon world, this group has turned out to be the fear of all occidental governments. Great Britain is one of its major target. Only in 2017, Great Britain has been victim of three murderous attacks. 4 people died and about 40 people were injured.

In March, a man drove through a crowd of people with his car and then continued walking with two knives and stabbed people on the Westminster Bridge in London.

Then in May, there was a suicide attack in Manchester after the concert of Ariana Grande. 22 people died and about 120 were injured, most of them being children.
Then in June, a white van ploughed into people on the London Bridge and the three men from the van ran down the Borough Market and stabbed people. 8 people died and about 50 were injured.

Facing all these attacks, British people has shown its determination to fight against ISIS by protesting in the streets.

To conclude we can say that in a different way, ISIS and IRA are two major foes Great Britain has to stand up against. The ISIS group has a way bigger operating margin, and it implies modern ways. But it doesn’t mean that the New IRA is less alarming. They unfortunately both have the capacity to hit and impoverish Great Britain.

I hope you’ve found this first draft catchy, and thanks for your attention See you !

By Laure Fourcade, EPD12

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/many-people-killed-terrorist-attacks-uk/amp/

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/new-ira-the-biggest-terrorist-threat-to-state-since-the-provos-35932203.html

https://news.sky.com/story/new-ira-develops-new-kind-of-bomb-northern-ireland-police-say-11016168

https://news.sky.com/story/new-ira-develops-new-kind-of-bomb-northern-ireland-police-say-11016168

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/04/theresa-may-says-enough-enough-fight-against-terror-confirms/amp/

The industrial revolution:  is an advantage or a disadvantage nowadays?

During the mid-18^th century, the Industrial Revolution was occurred including a lot of changes as hand production methods to machines or the development of machine tools and the rise of the factory system, apart from changes in about women and children life.

Furthermor, there was another change that I believe that affected our life as we know it today. Firstly, for instance, social effects. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, almost the entire population worked as land owners, tenants or self-employed farmers… but, what happened later? After the Industrial Revolution machines became a substitute of people. And what happens nowadays? I think it is almost the same. There are machines which can clean the house, wash the dishes, or even cook!!

From my point of view, in some cases it is a good idea to invent and create new machineries but it is truth that this fact makes worse the employment situation. It reminds me what happen currently with the new technologies. Are the mobiles phone preventing children from thinking more? Now there are two different kind of people: on the one hand, those who think that mobiles are a magnificent and useful invention and on the other hand those who do not agree with this opinion. It seems like luddites. They think that they could not compete with machines because they could produce more and in a quickly way. But there is an important question, if people needed to work, why were they inventing new machines to replace them?

How about the women lifestyle? In the past, actually during the Industrial Revolution, women status lowered. Middle and upper-class women always had to confined to an idle domestic existence, while poor women were forced to take poorly paid jobs. I am sure that currently it still happens. In my opinion, poor women or even men must work to have a ‘’normal’’ lifestyle nowadays, because we are suffering a big economic depression. Although in the past women were inflated, we cannot think that it does not happen now. However, women at present can enjoy more than in the past. Women had fought a lot until get some freedom. However, there still being occurrence were women suffer. 

Apart from women and technologies, children had also suffered. They were sended to work and working means hard labour, long hours, difficult and weighed machines… it also hard to think about it. So many children died because of that conditions, but some others grow up living through these tragic situationes. Now I can´t imagine how children can work as young as six years old while there are people who don´t work currently even being 30 years old. It´s a madness!!!

To sum up, the Industrial Revolution affected quite a lot to our world, including machines and some other points of view that currently affects nowadays society. After all that situation and after many years, people got mature and now, I believe that there is some things that it is imposible to do again, for instance, children working at 4,5,6. But we have to recognize that now we have less problems than in those moments, because everything had improved. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution

http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/Baker_00/2002_p7/ak_p7/childlabor.html

Written by Mariam Aleksanyan Tonoyan

Revised by Yeray Aguilar Domínguez 

EPD 12/GROUP 

The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Does it exist?

The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Does it exist?

What can we expect from a society that operates mostly by technology? Throughout the centuries there have been three industrial revolutions and the fourth is about to arrive. It will have nothing to do with what the human being has seen so far.

Revolution	What they use to create production?
1st Industrial Revolution	Water + steam power
2nd Industrial Revolution	Electric power
3rd Industrial Revolution	Electronic + information technology
4th Industrial Revolution	Fusion of technology

As many people think, the fourth industrial revolution is nothing but a prolongation of the third one. However there are some characteristics which we can use to define the fourth as one completely different one: the velocity, the scope and systems impact.

If we compare the fourth one with others industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential pace, which means that it's evolving faster than the others. Moreover, it is disturbing almost every industry in every country.

The unlimited possibilities that we have to stay in touch and connected by mobiles and the power they have to process the information and all the sources, will be multiplied by using technology in some fields as for instance robots, nanotechnology or artificial intelligence.

We might do not know it but we are already surrounded by artificial intelligence. Self-driving cars, drones and software that translate are some examples of it.

As all revolution puroposes, the fourth’s one is to improve the quality of life for population around the world. The purpose of technology is nothing but to be efficient and a pleasure for personal lives. It makes our life easier when ordering a cab, booking a flight, listening to music, watching a film…

To do this, however, we must think over how technology is affecting our lives and our economic, social, cultural, and human environments. There has never been a time of greater progres.

At the end it all comes to be the same. We have to take advantage of this beautiful time but at the same time we have to value things apart from technology! Lift the head of the mobile phone sometimes and play chess with your friends while drinking a beer!

Written by Ángela Bautista Rodríguez

Revised by Yeray Aguilar Domínguez

EPD 12 / Group 4

Bibliography: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/ 

4th Industrial Revolution: are we facing apocalypse?

4^th Industrial Revolution: ARE WE FACING APOCALYPSE?

The fourth industrial revolution will bring out intelligent robots, self-driving car, 3D printing, huge storage capacity, but also hyper connectivity and robotisation. It is going to make some changes on our behaviour and also on the way of distribution, consumption, access to information, on how we meet people and how we work. But how the labour market will deal with automatization?

First of all, let’s take a look at our past progress in matter of industrial revolutions:

From the 18^th to 19^th century, the first industrial revolution took place in Europe, and so in the United Kingdom. Water and steam power were used to mechanized production.

The second occurred in 1850 from the United States and ended in 1914, just before World War I. It was the period of the use of electric power to create mass production, and also of new resources as petroleum.

The third industrial revolution, or digital revolution, refers to the advancement of technology such as automatized production, the internet and information and communications technology. The era started during the 1980s and is still ongoing.

What about hyper connectivity and artificial intelligence?

We are already a hyper connected generation. Every day, around 30 million contains is shared on social medias as Facebook. Every minute 4 million searches on google are identified and at least 72 hours of video are downloaded on YouTube. Electronic machines are increasing in becoming interconnected: in fact, they were 13 million in 2015 and will be around 3 times more in 2018. We also receive far too many mails that are just spam (80% of them). There are other statistics more displeased and frighten: for example, every minute, 345 threats of cyber-attacks are registered which the half aims at energy companies.

Nowadays, the collective thought idealises the 4^th industrial revolution. Maybe we will live surrounded by robots at least almost intelligent as us or we will just be their slaves. A war will maybe profiled against the robot’s independency. Those popular questions about our future lives on the side of robots are being threatened by science fiction authors and producers through some popular movies as I Robot, Artificial Intelligence or Ex Machina.

And what about the 4^th industrial revolution's economy?

From a realistic point of view, the society of the 4^th industrial revolution will give rise to automatization. It is true that for about a decade, robots are replacing workers in factories but other sectors will be seriously affected over time. In fact, according to the World Economic Research Forum, 5 millions of jobs will be already displaced by automatization in 2020. And this time, employees will be really concerned. It also means that for qualified people, a net increase will result in safe and more rewarding jobs. This will probably lead to a labour market more separated between the “low-skilled/low-pay” and the “high-skill/high-pay” people, which is already a source of some social tensions.

Dear women, we will finally find a gender equality… IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE! In fact, the impact is probably going to be relatively equal between men and women: in a few years, 52% of the 5 millions of jobs lost will concern men and 48% women. But unfortunately, nowadays, women seem to be less important than men in the labour market so the gap between men and women could still increase.

An Alarming funding! In my opinion, if governments do not find an answer quickly and targeted to this short-term transition to build a skilled labour force or to reintegrate the “displaced workers” at the economy centre, they will be confronted to rising unemployment and greater inequalities.

Bibliography:

http://enseigner.tv5monde.com/fle/la-quatrieme-revolution-industrielle

https://www.google.fr/amp/amp.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond

Written by Mouloudi Sonia

Reviewed by Bel Kanadil Maïssane

Feminism and the suffragettes

The history of feminism in the UK dates to the very beginnings of feminism movement itself. Throughout this post, we are going to remember how it started, the most significant events and some powerful activist such as Mary Wollstonecraft or Emmeline Pankhurst.

The earliest feminist in Britain is attributed to Mary Wollstonecraft, known as the grandmother of British feminism, who wrote The Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. In the XVIII^th century, it was considered as a very unusual and rescindable act.

Mary Wollstonecraft is seen as one of the most significant figures of the feminist philosophy. She, somehow, settled the bases for the years to come. Her daughter was Frankenstein’s author Mary Shelly.

In the XIX^th and the early XX^th century, the most important issue was, for sure, conquering the right to vote (women’s suffrage), meaning freedom and independence. As I am quite sure you all know about it, we are going to briefly focus on the most significant aspects:

Mary Smith:  she was the first woman to ask for her right to vote in 1832. The result was totally reverse: the number of people who were able to vote increased but only if they were males.

John Stuart Mill y Harriet Taylor Mill: John Stuart Mill was the first member of the parliament to call for women’s suffrage in 1866. His demand was rejected. In 1869, he and his wife, Harriet Taylor Mill, published “The subjection of women’’.

Lydia Becker: scientist and activist pro women rights. In 1867 she founded the committee for women’s suffrage in Manchester and in 1870 she founded and started publishing the “Women’s suffrage journal’’.

The suffragettes: In the XIX^th century women had no place in politics. They could not stand as candidates for the Parliament and they were not allowed to vote. As a result of the industrial revolution many women were in full-time employment, which meant they had the opportunity to meet in organised groups to discuss political and social issues.

We have to make a distinction between Suffragist and Suffragettes:  even though both of them pursued a step closer towards gender equality by gaining the feminine vote (Vote for women), they differed on their methods. Suffragists were more moderated; they formed the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, under the leadership of Millicent Fawcett. On the other hand, Suffragettes formed the Women´s Social and Political Union (WSPU) leaded by Emmeline Pankhurst. They were more militant and violent in their methods of campaign, with tactics such as law-breaking, violence and hunger strikes.

The Suffragettes are better known thanks to their revolutionary actions. Even there is a film about them which most of you may have already seen

Emmeline Pankhurst: Mrs Pankhurst believed it would take an active organisation, with young working class women, to draw attention to the cause. She strongly fought for universal feminine suffrage. She was arrested several times. Finally she saw her dream fulfilled in 1928. Then, she could rest in peace: she died the 14^th of June 1928.

But before achieving the universal feminine suffrage, in 1918 women over 30 years old had the right to vote and, finally, in  1928, thanks to the “equal franchise act’’  they were in equal right to vote as men.

The history of women is a history of conquer and fight for their rights

Sofía Gómez Gutiérrez 

                                                               EPD 12