Dr Faiza Shaheen - Labour candidate, Director of CLASS think tank & Economist - Inspire Aspire Tal…
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Labour candidate and Director of the CLASS think tank came in to run a talk and Q&A session with our year 12 and 13 A Level Economics, Government & Politics and Sociology students.
Faiza started off by recounting her own personal and poignant story of her late mother’s battle with a life limiting heart condition. She recalled how the kindness of strangers from many walks of life (who were experiencing the same difficult situation) inspired her to both appreciate and respect the differences we may have while also welcoming the unity which can arise from such situations.
This was also the driving force behind her motivation to primarily connect more with her home community of Chingford in order to build better integrative relationships but also a deeper understanding of the issues which continue to affect them both on a local and national level. Understandably, Faiza was therefore very keen to encourage our students to engage with politics, regardless of their political persuasion.
In the main body of her talk, Faiza focused her discussion on the multifaceted issue of inequality. This lead to many insightful questions from our students about:
- Higher education institutions and the persistence of elitism
- The UK’s ‘debt crisis’ and how to recover from it
- The housing crisis facing young people and potential solutions
- Brexit and what it means for the UK economy
- The impact of foreign policy intervention
- Building a ‘feminist economy’ – including recognition of the need to raise the minimum wage for women.
- The rise of The ‘Far Right’ and racism
- Immigration
Once those questions were answered, Faiza then found time to address the further topical and/or pressing issues of:
- Challenging the Rt. Hon Iain Duncan Smith’s parliamentary seat
- The impact of Anti Semitism on the Labour party
- The importance of saving the environment through better sustainability policies
We are extremely grateful for the time which Faiza gave to our students to both answer their questions and listen to their concerns. Thanks also goes to Mr Davis for helping to coordinate this event.
More about Faiza Shaheen: