This week I had the chance to ask Nigel Farage a question, and as someone in the category “least likely to vote” – in other words, an 18- to 35-year-old – I felt a responsibility to make my voice heard. The setting was the ITV EU referendum debate between Farage and David Cameron, and this was my chance to address my concerns about the nature of the debate so far. Specifically, why are we hearing so many controversial comments regarding immigration? And where are the clean, honest facts?
I support the remain campaign, but have become concerned about misleading statements on both sides of the debate. With the opportunity to ask the leave representative a question, I decided to focus on the rhetoric around migration. My question was: “Nigel Farage, what I would like to know is, how can you have the audacity to use such blatant scaremongering tactics for the leave campaign?” I then went on to highlight his suggestion that a vote to remain would be a vote for British women to be subjected to the treatment women in Cologne experienced over the New Year, when there were a series of sexual assaults in the German city.
I felt empowered when I put the question to Farage, but patronised when he told me to “calm down”; he proceeded to give a vague and off-topic answer. I didn’t ask about the “Australian-style points system” and yet this is what Farage started to speak about. It left me with one overwhelming feeling though. Pride that I had been able to challenge one of our country’s authority figures, calmly and appropriately.
Young people in the UK are often scolded for their non-involvement in politics and an uncaring attitude when it comes to these debates, yet are usually not properly included when they do wish to get involved – or are allowed to participate only to a certain extent, so as to tick an inclusion box. I believe Farage’s vague reply exemplified this. He didn’t feel that he had to properly engage with what I, or other young people in the audience that night, were asking. Which disappointingly reinforced my belief that those in positions of power too often don’t fully understand the needs of young people today or, for that matter, some other groups in society. These politicians don’t understand what it is like to graduate from university with around £30,000 of debt, or to not be able to get a foot on the housing ladder.
It is our right as citizens to be able to ask questions of our politicians, to seek proper answers, and to hold them accountable for their words and actions.
The programme I work on at an east London charity is called Talent Match London, and it’s an innovative youth-led employability program for 18- to 25-year-olds. We strive to help London’s young people build sustainable careers, not just find jobs. Companies work with us for the long term – we offer peer mentoring and sessions to help young people develop skills vital for the workplace. As I work in the London borough of Newham, one of the capital’s hotspots for youth unemployment, every day I meet struggling young Londoners, from hugely diverse ethnic backgrounds, and some who have left the care system.
The barriers to employment they face include difficulties with mental health and wellbeing; they may be carers, or single parents. My work has made me passionate about youth leadership and youth participation – I believe my peers and I must become actively informed about what is happening in the world, as today’s decisions will shape our futures.
Come 23 June, if the UK votes to leave the EU, I fear that my generation will be hit hard in the near future: unemployment, financial difficulties and even restrictions on opportunities to study in Europe are just a few of the repercussions we may have to face. I feel that the extensive media coverage of the two ITV debates this week is due to people’s longing for answers, solid information and unbiased facts. It’s something that has been lacking from both sides. How are we supposed to know what to believe when both camps peddle different figures? The facts have also been overshadowed by the personalities of the campaign politicians.
My final advice to my peers is not to be intimidated by politics or by political leaders, but to get involved. It was nerve-racking being on camera and putting my question to Farage, but a few days on from the debate, I feel proud to have stood up and had my voice heard. Let’s not leave the older generation, who may not be around for the consequences of these decisions, to decide our fate alone.
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