In the recent London elections the British National Party gained a seat on the London Assembly.

It is hard to fathom in this day and age where multi-culturalism is a fact in the UK that the BNP is still able to garner votes.

I understand that in some areas there is an overcrowding problem that impacts on housing and public services.

But it escapes me as to why that problem can only be solved by getting rid of all the non British as called for by the BNP.

Their argument seems to be that Britain should only be for The British. Let’s, and ONLY for the sake of discussing it, say ok, fine.

So now we have to define who is British! Are you British if you can trace your family back, say, ten generations? Five? Two? Where is the line drawn?

Am I British as in 1066 we were invaded by the Normans. Therefore I must have Norman blood in me and what about the Romans? Thinking about it I must have several different cultures’ blood in me. Following the BNP argument I must be a foreigner as indeed are they!!   

Or is it purely down to that outdated and deceitful idea that Britishness is based on colour? White equals British and Black doesn’t.

That distasteful phrase, which can still be heard: ‘There ‘aint no black in the Union Jack so why are they here?’ has no meaning anymore.

I am a white Anglo-Saxon protestant male. I as far as I know have no family roots abroad. Ergo I am British?

But you who might be reading this are not white, you have family roots in another country but you were born in The UK. Are you British?

To my mind you are and I celebrate the fact.

The form of racism propounded by the BNP and that’s what it is make no mistake, is as outdated and irrelevant as sexism and religious intolerance.

So let’s just all move on shall we?  

The leading mayoral candidates pointedly walked off the stage when fifth-placed Richard Barnbrook made his speech following the announcement of the City Hall results. But the leader of the BNP group on Barking and Dagenham council was not to be denied, as his party's share of the vote crept over the 5 per cent threshold which guaranteed him a seat in the assembly.

"Congratulations to Richard, and all BNP candidates, activists and supporters," the party's website declared yesterday. "The quiet revolution is getting louder."

Thursday's results, which saw the party claiming 10 more council seats nationwide, have sent a chilling message to the rest of the political establishment. Gerry Gable, of the campaign group Hope Not Hate, which ran a huge operation across the capital to dissuade Londoners from voting for the BNP, said a victory for the party meant "hatred, violence and stupidity".

Dave Prentis, general secretary of the Unison union, said: "We are particularly worried about the effect that the election of a BNP assembly member will have on race relations and community harmony in the city."

Well Mr Prentis, so are we!

The Times reports that as many as four in ten teenagers say that they are getting little or no information about going to university from their teachers and schools, a survey suggests.

The report goes on to say that the finding, published today by the Sutton Trust education charity, will alarm ministers, who have a target of getting 50 per cent of all young people into higher education.

The poll of 2,387 pupils aged 11 to 16 in England and Wales found that nearly three quarters believed that they were likely to go into higher education – the highest proportion for five years. Only 8 per cent said that they were either “very unlikely” or “fairly unlikely” to go to university, a fall from last year’s 11 per cent.

The main reason given by more than half (52 per cent) of those who did not think they would progress to higher education was the desire to “do something practical rather than studying from books”. Fifty per cent wanted to start earning as soon as possible and 30 per cent thought they could get a well-paid job without a degree.

Only 13 per cent reported that they were “worried about getting into debt as a student”, a big drop from the 20 per cent who said this last year.

However, many students did not believe they were getting enough information from their teachers about going into higher education. Four out of ten said they were either getting “not very much” information (31 per cent) or “none at all” (9 per cent).

Sir Peter Lampl, the chairman of the Sutton Trust, said that while it was encouraging that 75 per cent of young people aspired to university, fewer than half that number actually went into higher education and those from poorer families were the least likely to progress. He said that the lack of information for students about university was worrying and students needed more information on the bursaries and maintenance grants available.

“It is a reminder that support and guidance about higher education needs to start early and be a core part of the school day,” he said.

Bill Rammell, the Universities Minister, said that the Government was encouraged by the fall in the number of students worried about debt and he pointed out that a package of grants, helping two thirds of students, would be available from September.

Source: The Times

Excitement is a strange thing these days. Having worked hard on creating a true social networking site for UK based students in higher education that is not over populated with members that have no real connection with student life in the UK we decided that a very real forum should be provided so that students across the UK can voice their opinions, ideas and even perhaps their fears without the censorship be it benign of not.

Thus was born The Studyvox Echo. A unique online student newspaper that is free from editorial control beyond the need to protect the student community and the wider readership from the idiocies of racism, sexism and the growing and completely redundant and hateful religious intolerance that is spreading across this little planet of ours.

So you might ask ‘What does the Studyvox Echo stand for?’ This is not an easy question to answer. Truth, freedom, fairness and equality would be a good starting point. The problem there is that it sounds so pompous that it is hard to write that as the aims of the newspaper without smiling at its patent absurdity coupled with a feeling of nausea?

The whole idea is not to have set aims but to allow the readership, you, to voice the things that matter to you now.

Do we know where this venture will be in say a year’s time? The answer to that one is easy. No we don’t!

All we can do is hope that whatever it does turn into is not something that makes us grin and vomit all at the same time.

Welcome to The Studyvox Echo.