Politics Society Activities
A former Home Secretary, BBC Foreign Correspondent and a local MP have recently addressed the Politics Society, which has been as busy as ever!
Charles Clarke: ‘Should Religion be kept out of Politics?’
Politics students recently attended a seminar at Lancaster University on the subject of Politics and Religion, and were greatly impressed by what former Home Secretary, Charles Clarke had to say.
The first part of the day was a workshop, with group discussion on specific topics surrounding issues of faith in politics. Charles Clarke, former Home Secretary and MP for Norwich South (Labour), then gave a very informative and engaging talk. Overall, his view was that it is impossible to keep faith out of politics, since we live in a very diverse and multi-faith nation. A very lively question and answer session followed!
Politics students’ comments:
“I found the workshop thought provoking and enjoyable as we discussed a range of issues. My group focused on war ethics, which was particularly interesting as there were many mixed views and approaches in my group.”
“The day gave me a good insight into a range of topics within the field of whether or not religion should be kept out of politics and it was all the better for having someone with such political experience giving the talk.”
An Evening with Martin Bell
A group of Politics students attended a talk given by the former BBC TV Foreign Correspondent and Independent MP, Martin Bell, given at Clitheroe’s Grand Theatre.
Mr Bell was particularly pleased to meet Stonyhurst students after his talk as he had known Tim Hetherington OS – the photographer and film-maker who was killed in Libya in April 2011. He had helped to promote Tim’s excellent film ‘Restrepo’ and has written a poem in his memory; it is included in his anthology ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’:
Tim Hetherington
We spend our lives in trivial pursuits
And little kingdoms much like King Canute’s.
Even our causes are so close to home
They frankly don’t amount to all that much:
The right to demonstrate, the right to strike,
The right to privacy, the right to roam,
Flight paths, foot paths, wind farms and the like:
These are the so-and-so, the such-and-such.
But there’s another harder, darker side
About which we know the square root of damn all,
A world of forced migrations, genocide,
The suicide of Mladic’s own daughter,
Of wars of scarce resources, oil and water,
Of jihadists with children in their thrall,
And continental and industrial slaughter.
This was the world, extreme and actual,
In which he lived as witness and reporter
Bearing the torch of truth, only to fall
The victim of a random Libyan mortar.
(By kind permission, Martin Bell)
Nigel Evans, MP
Nigel Evans MP with the Poetry Banquet Committee and the Headmaster
Nigel Evans, Conservative MP for the Ribble Valley and Deputy Speaker, kindly donated a fine bottle of House of Commons claret for auction at the recent Poetry Banquet. Mr Evans met the Banquet Committee largely responsible for planning the event, and said: “I wish you all the very best as you raise money for the Stonyhurst Chlidren’s Holiday Week – a very worthwhile cause which gives a lot of local disabled children a wonderful time.” The Banquet raised £16,000, thanks to the hard work and creativity of everyone in Poetry (Year 12).