THE NEWS EDIT [12/02/18-18/02/18]

Justice for Grenfell launched a powerful three billboards campaign this week in London. It’s been eight months since the tragedy happened and yet, the government has failed to point the finger of blame towards anyone. It represents a serious injustice to the 71 people who lost their lives and to the families, friends and neighbours who struggle to move on in the aftermath of such an agonising tragedy. I wholeheartedly hope that the campaign not only succeeds in resurfacing the injustices of those involved by the tragedy to the national agenda, but I hope a suitable justice materialises. It is only then that those affected can hope to find a sense of closure.

Another senseless shooting occurred in a school in Florida this week while President Trump refuses to break his silence on the heavily controversial guns control debate. Guns kill people, it’s as simple as that. Without them, there would be no indiscriminate and senseless slaughter. I stand in solidarity with the students and teachers in the ‘Never Again’ campaign. Schools are supposed to be safe environments and the fact that such a fundamental belief has been shattered across schools in the US in the wake of the tragedy is a call for radical change and gun control. No child should wake up and fear for their life as they walk through their school gates.

News of the fall of President Zuma in South Africa on Valentine’s Day had a certain irony to it. Zuma’s presidency saw too much power being placed into the hands of soldiers, with irrevocable and often deadly consequences. I regard his fall as an opportunity for South Africa to take on moral leadership at last, with the swift accession of President Ramaphosa into power this week.

In the UK, a Brexit speech delivered by Boris Johnson was a missed opportunity. He rambled on about why leaving the EU is necessary, another attempt to silence remainers if you ask me, but failed to provide concrete details as to the type of Brexit we can expect to see and how future developments will play out. The Tories’ vague, nondescript responses on the matter are visibly beginning to close any sort of divide between Brexit hardliners and remainers through their mutual impatience. Contrary to what the Brexit hardliners in May’s cabinet seem to think, many remainers have just accepted the UK’s political and economic fate. Life really does go on. But regardless of how you voted in the referendum in 2016, it's clear that there is a sense of increasing impatience and frustration as people want as much clarity as we possibly can at this stage in the Brexit process.  

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