Our favourite articles of the year

(c) Muffet

As its christmas we thought we would give you a little present in the form of our favourite articles from this year.

Bobby Dean: What it means to be British

Two very different celebrations of what it means to be British have grabbed the attention of the British public in recent weeks. Diversity’s victory in the reality talent show Britain’s Got Talent epitomised for some exactly what puts the Great into Great Britain. The BNP’s victories in the Yorkshire and Humber and North West regions had their leader declaring it an ‘historic moment’ for the ‘indigenous people’ of Great Britain. Both have had extensive media coverage and both are an important part of the debate about British identity and the term ‘Britishness’.

Simon Stiel: Minarets – Divisive and Provocative or Innocuous religious symbol

Switzerland has usually been quite a free-spirited country. Internationally, they were not a member of the UN until 2003 and at present still not a member of the EU. Domestically, Switzerland is a federal state, containing 26 cantons with wide ranging powers. Public space for heroin in a Zurich park and gun ownership played a role into frightening the Germans into abandoning their plan for invading during the Second World War. However, this weekend witnessed the adoption of a nasty and muddled policy about minarets.

Gary Moore: Western Sahara – One of the world’s forgotten trouble spots

You may be forgiven for not having noticed it but an international crisis is growing between Morocco and Algeria which threatens to escalate into full-blown war. The source of the dispute is, oddly enough, one of the sparsest populated regions on the planet; Western Sahara. The region lies to the south of Morocco and has been partitioned since the end of a sixteen year in which it was engulfed following its independence from Spain in the 1970s. The northern part of the province is controlled by Morocco whereas the southern parts are governed in practice by the Polisario Front, a rebel movement working for the independence of Western Sahara. Algeria’s involvement in the region dates back to the struggle for independence but since then has fought for the province to be independent rather than being added to the territory of its neighbours, notably Morocco.

Chris McCarthy: A Chink in Blair’s formidable armour

Whatever one might think of former Prime Minister Tony Blair – and you wouldn’t need to probe far to find a litany of unflattering descriptions – there is broad consensus that the ex-leader of the Labour Party is a cerebral, intelligent, politically astute individual. This makes his recent choice of words when discussing with Fern Britton the decision to invade Iraq all the more puzzling.

David Moss: Report – UK poverty on the rise

A report has found that UK poverty has been rising since before the recession. This news will be greeted by many as another sign of Labour’s failure. If after 12 years in government, nothing has been done to halt poverty, surely it’s time to give someone else a go? A closer look shows that this attitude is dangerously mistaken. The findings make clear precisely why the New Labour project – greeted with such optimism in 1997 – has widely met with failure.

Tom Hewitson: Healthcare systems and Life Expectancy

Like this article, I had originally intended to write about how the NHS was a dinosaur of a bygone era and in need of desperate reform. Then after doing my preliminary research, I came up with similar conclusions to David (apart from the bit where he says Bush is a good guy) that actually, the NHS provides a surprisingly good deal. Having studied economics as a student I couldn’t resist the temptation to get stuck in with some real world data and see just how well the NHS rates against its OECD counterparts.

Callum Clay: Zapatero’s economy: is socialism the solution?

“Boom, now bust” pretty much sums up Spain’s economic status. Spain is one of the countries most badly affected by the recession. Out of 40 million inhabitants, 19% are currently unemployed. Despite cuts in public spending, the obvious knock-on effect (felt in Britain as well) is the increase in welfare distribution, thus further adding to Spain’s national debt.

Why not let us know in the comments which ones were your favorites?

A very merry christmas from all The Vibe team.