Russell Brand

Are you a fan? I'm not. I think Russell Brand is a jumped-up, foul-mouthed twat who's used his status as a former drug addict to make himself famous.

I was mad when I found out he was to be 'guest editor' of the New Statesman. It was bad enough the time the magazine was edited by Jemima Khan, multi-millionaire socialite. I deliberately didn't read the 'essay' Brand contributed and I ignored the bits put in by his rich and famous pals. Then he did a TV interview with Jeremy Paxman - somebody else I can't stand - and I heard so much chat about it I decided to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGxFJ5nL9gg

No, I've not turned into a fan of Brand since I watched this but I do understand what he's saying, especially if you look at the UK through the eyes of young people - say folk under the age of 25.

A few figures for you:
- 21% of young people are unemployed.
- the young make up 40% of the total unemployed.
- there are 1,09,000 NEETS in the UK - young people not in employment, education or training.
- 25,000 young people have been on jobseeker's allowance for over a year. There were hardly any ten years ago.
- a young person in his 20s is much worse off financially than his granny in her 80s: jobseeker's allowance is £2,927 a year; the state retirement pension is £5,727.80. Yes, the retired person has paid national insurance but young people pay that too when they're working - and so do their parents.
- young people under 25 get less money in housing benefit, although 45% of those claiming housing benefit have children living with them.
- the age at which 'young' people can afford to buy their own house is now 37.
- only 2.9 million people in the UK now have private pensions - the lowest figure since 1953.
- the student loan companies are going to be privatised so we can expect the interest rates for young people paying their loans back will go up.

It does look as if the young are seen as a 'cash cow' by government: the argument seems to be they're going to be working for a long, long time so we can treat them less well than older people - and then, when they're working, screw every penny we can out of them. Plus, of course, young people don't usually vote. Well, a lot of them are in rented accommodation and don't live anywhere long enough to get on the voters' roll. And they seem pretty clueless about politics so they just ignore what politicians are doing to them.

This I think is where I would disagree with Russell Brand: young people have to be encouraged to vote and be active in politics. It doesn't matter what party. It doesn't matter that you hate the 'establishment' - those at the top of the political and financial tree who are busy looking after their own interests. What matters is that you get your voice heard. But then I suppose the same applies to all of us, whatever our age: if you want the politicians to walk all over you, just carry on not voting. The vote is the best weapon we have. Maybe the only weapon we have.