A panel of medical experts have recommended that the UK's age of consent should be lowered to 15; they say that as 1/3 teens have had sex by 16, and the UK has an exceptionally high rate of teen pregnancies and STIs, we should really make a big push to convince 14 year-olds to abstain. All 3 of the big political parties (Tories, Labour, Lib Dems) very quickly rejected this advice. Perhaps they judged that supporting this would leave them open to negative media coverage?
What do YOU think? Remember, the age of consent varies widely from country to country - some of our European neighbours have a lower age, but some nations set the age as high as 21 - YOU might think the age should be increased rather than be lowered.
If you want learn more about this, you could read the Wiki on this; a Guardian editorial on the issue and politicians' reaction; or this debate on the Daily Mail's website for further info. You can find more useful articles at The Guardian's microsite for news and articles on Sexual Education.
This paper argues that the real issue is the need for better sex education - what do YOU think?
The money raised by the government through taxation, assets and borrowing is its revenue, whereas the money paid out is known as government spending. We are currently experiencing widespread government spending cuts. Your generation could grow up with austerity the defining approach to government finance.
Every year the Chancellor of the Exchequer, second only to the Prime Minister in terms of seniority and authority within the government (and many would argue that Gordon Brown was more powerful as Tony Blair's Chancellor than when he became PM himself), sets out the government spending plans, including any changes to revenue-raising (taxes etc), in the Budget.
The Budget is the single most important economic and financial statement
made each year by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to Parliament and the
nation. The Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011 require
the Government to produce a Budget Report for each financial year. The
Charter for Budget Responsibility sets out what the Budget Report must
cover.
[source: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget.htm]
Here's a short history of the Budget:
Every budget has winners and losers. In theory at least, Labour governments (at least before Tony Blair) would set budgets that reduced tax on the poor whilst increasing spending on the poor, using increased corporation (business) and wealth (income) tax to pay for this, while the Tories would cut public spending overall, especially welfare payments to the poor, and focus on reducing tax on the rich and business. The 2012 budget was extremely controversial: the so-called pasty tax(here's the BBC's take) seemed to penalise the poor while the richest saw their income tax cut from 50% to 45%.
After every budget the media quickly calculates who they think will the winners and losers, as do think tanks such as the IFS. The Guardian analyse the 2012 winners and losers from the autumn 2012 statement, which was heavy on welfare cuts, here.
TASK 1: LIST FORMS OF TAXATION
This
is a very simple task that you can achieve by quickly browsing the
relevant Wikis, hyperlinked above, and looking for the different forms
of taxation they list. You should be able to find at least 9. They don't
list Council Tax as they focus on national taxation. Write or type
these 9, + Council Tax.
familiarise yourself with the resources offered on this blog!
look back at some of the key terms and concepts you learned last year
research an area arising from this and...
create a '3 facts 3 questions 3 sources' briefing/quiz for the rest of the class
By the end of the lesson you should have answers to the initial quiz worksheet questions (25 in total); have researched a topic; created a PowerPoint with 3 facts and 3 questions and 3 useful online resources listed on this topic which can be shared with the class; have heard the other groups' 3 briefing facts and had a go at answering their 3 questions.
TASK ONE: 6 GROUPS TACKLE 4 QUESTIONS EACH FROM THE QUIZ SHEET
I'll add video clips used later.
Below you can find two news articles on the news story that will lead your new TV show aimed at 14-19s. One is from The Guardian, a fairly left-wing newspaper (which therefore favours higher taxation and public spending, and is generally pro-unions and positive towards public sector workers, and traditionally very anti-Conservative Party), and one from the very right-wing newspaper Daily Mail (which therefore favours lower taxation + public spending, and is generally hostile towards unions and public sector workers, and traditionally very pro-Conservative Party).
