The government wants 50% of young people to go into higher education and our generation have had it constantly rammed home by teachers and parents alike that ‘University = good job = good life’. But is a student loan really a good investment for your future anymore? Few can question that there are now far too many graduates for the number of graduate jobs, meaning employers can demand increasingly higher qualifications and experience for bog standard jobs which used to be filled by school leavers. Soon you will need at least a Masters degree and two years experience to get an interview at McDonalds. Most people I know who graduated around the same time as me struggled for years to get decent jobs that were in any way related to their degrees – and that was before the recession. Many are still struggling, several years after graduation. Meanwhile it is often the people who decided to learn a trade after school that seem to be doing well for themselves.

Average student debt now tops £23,000. Sure you don’t have to pay that off until you are earning over £15,000 per year – but regardless of how much you are earning you will acrue interest on it. If you are earning around £20,000 (a respectable graduate salary) you will pay back around £40 per month (correct me if I am wrong). This is not a huge amount, but certainly an annoying figure that is not likely to go away for many years, quite possibly decades – because if you are earning over £15,000 per year, but not a lot more, then chances are the amount you are paying off each month will not even cover the interest. And for those thinking that the debt will be written off eventually, this will only happen if you don’t earn over £15,000 for 25 years – which is not likely really (or at least you would hope not as a graduate).

‘I don’t care about money’, is a response I have heard from students, ‘I want to learn and have the University experience’. Of course you don’t care about money. Most of you have never lived on your own before and had to support yourselves without money from daddy or the state. But you probably will care about that £40 per month in the not too distant future when you may have kids and a mortgage to think about.

I may sound condescending but personally I think I’m being realistic – because I too know all about receiving money from daddy. I am one of the fortunate ones whose parents could afford to send me to University and to support me whilst I completed an internship – which is another issue. We now have a two tier system where the kids of the rich can afford to undertake the internships necessary to have any chance of securing employment whilst the kids of the poor cannot. Similarly, many young people from our poorest areas cannot even afford to contemplate University in the first place.

Of course for those wishing to go into certain areas of employment a degree is a necessity just to achieve parity with every other potential employee in that sector. But if a degree is not vocational I question whether it is worth the £23,000… and remember that is only an average, so half of graduates owe more than that – and some much more.

I can also understand that securing a good job might not be the only incentive to study, but if you cannot get a decent job after graduating then you have consigned yourself to a debt-filled future before your career has even begun. And you need to question whether that is worth whatever else you think you are getting out of the experience. My advice is think long and hard before sending off that UCAS form!

“Oh no, I couldn’t bear to sit here listening to my colleagues… I’m not staying” was the response. To which I replied, “OK, well could you just move out of the doorway to let others through?”.

At this point the fat, bespectaculed Parliamentarian uttered “Oh no young man, you don’t tell us where to stand! We’re MPs! If it wasn’t for us you wouldn’t even be here!”, with a sniggering glance to those accompanying him.

I was fuming. If I weren’t representing the organisation I work for I would have responded instantly to the ignorant sanctimonious toff. I would have liked to have pointed out that, on the contrary,  MPs such as him would not be in Parliament if the electorate (myself included) had not sent them there and that he was actually there to represent us. In the circumstances I stood in shock for a few seconds, biting my tongue before walking away in anger.

In my line of work the MPs I come across are mainly of a progressive and approachable nature and this was a timely reminder that there are still dozens of these types contaminating the back benches that need to be shown the door if Parliament is ever going to regain its credibility. How ironic that the candidates for Speaker in that very room were debating how to reach out to the country and how to attract more young people into politics.

OK, so not all Tories can be tarred with the same brush. They aren’t all arrogant and they aren’t all claiming for duck islands and moat cleaning… nor are all Labour MPs approachable and squeaky clean. But this incident highlighted just how disconnected from real people some MPs really are and demonstrates their contempt for those they are supposed to represent.

Whoever the new Speaker is, he or she will certainly have their work cut out if they are to restore public faith in Parliament. Should Sir George Young be dragged to the chair we will have an Etonian baronet as Speaker. An Etonian son-in-law of a baronet will doubtlessly be our Prime Minister soon and another Etonian is currently London Mayor. Is this the best set up if the political class is to reach out to ordinary people?

Why he abolished the post of GLA Women’s Adviser, failed to renew the contract for The Greater London Domestic Violence Project which expired last August and cut funding to the Annual Women’s conference where 2000 people come together to discuss such issues.

Why he has suspended the board of the Safer Travel at Night project.

Why the mayor’s support staff has become increasingly white male dominated since his appointment.

Why he withdrew £10,000 of funding from Soho Pride just ten days before the event.

Why he clamped down on the anti-racism message of RISE.

Why he abolished half price travel fares for those on benefits.

Why he contacted Damien Green following his arrest and subsequently stated publicly that he didn’t expect the inquiry to go anywhere, thereby putting the whole investigation in jeopardy.

Why he is planning to put up tube fares above inflation year on year for the next 4 years.

Why he banned drinking on public transport.

Why London ground to a halt after a few inches of snow last month.

Why he is cutting funding to tourism at the exact time when the pound is at a value that would most attract tourists. At a time when the economy is struggling and it is perhaps our greatest asset.

Why he is putting the low emissions zone on hold and drastically cut the congestion charge area when London’s air is the worst in the UK and already responsible for 1,000 deaths per year.

Why he described Portsmouth as ‘full of drugs and obesity’.

Whether he expects the ‘picanninies with watermelon smiles’ of London will ever vote for him.

Why he has scrapped several major transport projects that would have brought jobs and investment to the capital at a time when it is most needed.

Whether he felt ashamed when his own leader sent him to Liverpool to apologise for his gaffe on Ken Bigley.

Why 4 of his closest advisers have been forced to quit within 7 months of his appointment.

Why he forced Sir Ian Blair to resign, politicising the police force and why his relationship with the Police is so poor.

Why even his own party don’t support his ideas for a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

Why he has had absolutely nothing to say about what the biggest economic downturn since the 1930s will mean for London. 

Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK estimates that tax havens cost the UK at least £18.5 billion per year. That’s £18.5 billion every year that could be invested in schools, hospitals, meeting our targets on child poverty or  kick-starting the economy.

It seems that only now - when the casino capitalist system is on its knees and government money is in short supply - that the UK and US have realised the need to crack down on these countries. They offer the super rich a glaring opportunity to dodge their responsibilities to the rest of society and this move to eradicate them is long overdue.

The way in which multinational organisations and their rich owners seek out and exploit tax loopholes around the globe means their companies cleaners often pay a higher percentage of their income in tax than they do. It’s currently one rate for the super rich, with their expert accountants, and one rate for the rest of us. The sooner we change that the better.

When do the media rights to her last rites and her parting breath go on sale? And how about her funeral? You know its gonna happen. Why not wheel her into the O2 arena as she’s about to pop her clogs and flog tickets at £30 a time?

What is Gordon Brown doing talking about the plight of a Big Brother contestant anyway? Hasn’t he got more important things to do like saving the world – I mean the banks. And, no I don’t think she should be applauded. I think Max Clifford should be ashamed of himself for putting her on show to the bitter end in this sick, money-driven  fashion. Let the poor woman die in peace for God’s sake.

As much as I have sympathy for Jade we shouldn’t forget that there are thousands of other people in a similar situation to her and I have no closer a relationship to Jade than I do to them. Secondly, it is symptomatic of our celebrity obsessed society that 1300 people can die in horrific circumstances in Gaza without getting anywhere near the coverage in some publications as the terminal illness of  one person who happened to finish 3rd in a reality TV show a few years back.

Apparently screening for cancer has shot up since Jade’s diagnosis, so at least one good thing seems to have come out of it all.

 Now I know that the streets and transport system in London are busier than that of other places in the UK, but since when does this mean that all manners go out of the window? Only in India have I seen such disregard for others when boarding a bus. It’s called a queue – look it up.

 And yes the tubes are rammed and we all need to get to work. But if it is full it is full! Dont barge into the people nearest the door crushing the faces of people inside into the armpits of others.

 I don’t claim to have the solution to the often overcrowded transport system, but surely if we all thought a bit more about each other and were a bit more polite everyone would feel a lot happier. The daily rat race might not seem so much of a grind.