Hello from Rio!

Oh my god it´s so good to feel the heat again!

I´m in Brazil for 2 weeks. I´ve left behind the longest ever winter back in the UK for life in the Sun.

I´m here in Rio for a week before I head north to the city of Salvador.


Brazil is somewhere I´ve always wanted to visit and so far it´s been everything I´ve imagined and more. Everything´s so Brazilian, so South American it´s great.

So far this week, I´ve spent time on the beaches; Copacobana and Ipenema are the two most famous, but I´m staying in a hostel 2 minutes walk from Leblon Beach which I think is the best.

I love watching people playing beach volleyball using just their heads, chest and feet. Would love to have a go but fear my English style lack of technique might just show me up!

Also gone on a city tour which included visiting the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the city and the cable car ride to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain.


The views are stunning, in fact I don´t think I´ve been to a city anywhere in the world in such a natural beatiful setting!

Margret Thatcher 1925 - 2013

Where do you begin when looking back at the career of former Prime Minister Margret Thatcher?

One blog will never be enough. I'd need to write at least 10 blog posts to cover her impact on Britain as Prime Minister. If I had one sentence to try and sum up her career I would say this:

She was the most influential, controversial, divisive, and successful Prime Minster the country has seen in the last 50 years.

If you look back at the 20th Century, only Winston Churchill could be said to have had a greater impact and influence.


One of 'Thatcher's Children'

I'm an 80's child and I grew up with Mrs Thatcher as Prime Minister. Growing up in a household where my Dad was very anti the Conservative Party, I saw Mrs Thatcher as the enemy.

Some of my earliest political memories from the early 80's was hearing about the 3 million people who were unemployed. It seemed her economic policies were detrimental to many working class people around the country.

Her time in office was defined by her battles. Whether it was with her own party and the Tory 'wets'. The trade unions, the Miners, The Falklands War, battles with Europe; there was always conflict with Mrs Thatcher.

Towards the end of her period in power she'd won many of these battles, but this may have given her a false sense of invincibility. She thought she could win any battle - but as we saw with the Poll Tax riots she was beginning to think she could do anything.

By the time I reached my teens, I thought Mrs Thatcher would go on forever, she seemed so powerful nobody would ever topple her.

It was my 15th birthday when she finally left Number 10. Her leaving office was a significant moment and today feels the same.


Her legacy

I was talking about Mrs Thatcher last week with one of my friends at work. He asked me whether I thought Mrs Thatcher was a successful Prime Minister.

I said it all depends on which part of the political spectrum you stand on. For many particularly on the Left she was a disaster for Conservatives she was and remains a hero.

My argument was that in terms of implementing her policies and the affects those policies had - she was the most successful British politician of the 20th Century.

Her influence is significant. Conservatives see Thatcherism as being the defining feature of Conservatism. In truth Margret Thatcher was not a typical Conservative.

She wasn't what was known as a moderate traditional 'One Nation' Tory. She was actually a radical. Tearing up the post war consensus politics and moving the Tories to the Right.

The problem she left for the Tories is that she was so divisive - many people today simply refuse to vote Conservative. The party is still trying to 'detoxify' the Tory brand.

Secondly, she's made the Tory Pary too ideological, they've forgotten the art of winning General Elections through pure pragmatism. This was what historically made the Tories such a successful political party.

Her influence means many Tories seem unable to move on, and accept that her policies may have been right for the 1980s but now the Party needs to find a new way of connecting with voters.


The Labour Party

She didn't just change the Conservative Party, Labour were hugely affected by her time in office. Without her there simply wouldn't have been New Labour.

After a series of election defeats she essentially pulled the Labour Party to the Right of the political spectrum and many of the policies that she introduced and adopted were carried on by New Labour.

Many old Left traditional Labour members would argue this wasn't a good thing - but the party had to adapt to the new political landscape she created.


A changed country

There's so much more I could say, and in the next few days and weeks more reflection and analysis will take place on her period in office.

There's no doubt that in terms of British politics, she will go down as one of the most important and influential politicians this country has ever known.

She changed Britain on so many levels: Economically, socially, and culturally. Being a history graduate and understanding what Britain was like during the 1970s. I understand why she came to power.

I understand the battles she fought and the policies she implemented

Was Britain in a stronger position in 1990 when she left office than when she arrived in 1979?

I would say yes. She gave this country a very tough medicine to take and it wasn't always nice.

Many people will never forget the harsh treatment dished out and it's this lack of compassion and harshness that I'm probably most critical of when it comes of her years in office.

What I can say is that it doesn't matter whether you liked or hated her nobody can argue against her incredible impact on Britain as a country.

What class are you?

I completed the Great British Class Calculator on the BBC website.

I discovered I'm part of the Emergent Social Worker. It means I have no money but I have a varied cultural and social life. Great!

I'm part of a group that's financially insecure, low on savings and house value but I score high on social and cultural factors.

Like many British people, I find class fascinating. It's so much more complex and interesting than in other countries. When I think about class both on a personal and general level, it's so much more complex and subtle issue to debate.

I think what I like about about this new report that's been produced, is that it tries to address some of these complexities.

Rather than having the three traditional classes of Upper, Middle and Working class - we now have 7 different classes in which to identify with.

Your have: Elite, Established Middle Class, Technical Middle Class, New Affluent Workers, Emergent Service Workers, Traditional Working Class and Precariat.

What this does take into account is people's economic, social and cultural capital and interests.

When I look at myself, I know that in terms of my education, job and salary I'm Middle Class. Yet when I look at my background and upbringing I always associate myself with being working class.

It's left me confused as depending on the question and what mood I'm in, I will answer differently if you ask me what class I am.

Even though I still feel I come from a working class background, the working class culture I identify with doesn't seem to fit in with the chav/council estate stereotype that seems to dominate today. Yet when I acknowledge that on many levels I'm now middle class I still feel this is a class I've entered and wasn't born into.

Should it matter? On a lot of levels it shouldn't. Isn't it about

'Where you're at - not where you're from'?

You'd like to think so but being British where you come from and where you are now on the social ladder is still so important to many of us.

Paolo Di Canio - The Fascist?

It's funny that when Paolo Di Canio was managing Swindon Town nobody was interested in his political views.

As soon as he moves to Sunderland and the over hyped world of the Premier League, everyone wants to know whether he's a Fascist or not.

It's been a PR disaster for both Sunderland and Di Canio, but the question is: Should his political views have any bearing or influence on his ability to manager a football club?

Since the end of World War 2 Fascism has become a discredited political movement in many European Countries, but it doesn't mean that extreme Far right views aren't popular on the continent.

Anyone who knows anything about Italy and Italian society will know that politics is far more extreme and polarised than here in the UK. This polarisation is found in Italian football.

Many Italian football clubs have political leanings, with clubs having fans that lean either to the Left or the Right of the political spectrum.

Roma and Livorno for example are known as a Left wing clubs, while the likes of Lazio and Verona have long been associated with far right and Fascist elements. It's something we don't see in English football.

I've recently finished reading the book Calcio by John Foot. It's the definitive guide to Italian football.

When it comes to Lazio, he talks about how many of its leading players in the early 1970s were self confessed Fascists.

It's not really a surprise when you consider that Fascist politicians and political views were still prevalent in Italian society, years after the end of the Second World War and Mussolini's dictatorship.

I don't think Di Canio's political views are out of the ordinary when it comes to how things are in Italy.

Do I think Di Canio is a Fascist? Probably not.

I think when he gave his his Roman salute in a Rome derby it was the equivalent of 'kissing the badge'. He was showing his affinity and loyalty to Lazio's Ultras (hardcore Lazio fans).

Showing that he was one of them, which he is. He's from Rome and group up and supported the club as a teenager.

What I do think and have little doubt, is that Di Canio's politics are to the right of most moderate people. I'd argue he's a right wing authoritarian.

If you're a right wing authoritarian and you make the next logical step to the right on the political spectrum you end up at Fascism.

Unsurprisingly there will be elements of Fascism and authoritarian rule that will appeal to you. I think this is the case with Di Canio.

The problem he has is that Fascism is a discredited political belief - it's beyond the pale politically when it comes to mainstream politics.

Nobody can come out and claim to be a Fascist and still hold a prominent public role. This is why it would be better for Di Canio to come out and actively denounce Fascism and its beliefs.

In doing so he might bring an end to this controversy.

Budget 2013 - Perhaps there won't be any growth

After announcing in this week's budget that his growth forecasts for the economy have been downgraded. The Chancellor George Osborne has had to argue that his economic policies are still working.

Since the last election in 2010, there's been two different arguments put forward on how to deal with the economy.

For the Conservatives the priority has always been about cutting the budget deficit and lowering the national debt.

For Labour, the argument is for less severe government cuts and more government borrowing to help stimulate growth in the economy.

Here's a question for you: What if it makes no difference which plan you agree with. What if there isn't going to be any real growth over the next 10 years?

Labour can say what they like, I'm not convinced that if they were in power the economy would be in better state.

We might soon find out, as there's a strong chance they'll be back in power after the next General Election; it seems the last one was a good one to lose.

I don't think they've fully acknowledged the mistakes they made when they were in government or explained the lessons they've learned.

The impression all three main parties give is that growth will naturally come - I'm not convinced. The reality we might be facing is on of a long period austerity and stagnation with government policies having little or no effect.

A depressing thought I know. Maybe the truth is that the growth we experienced during the first decade of the 21st Century was artificially created and that now were having to deal with a tough economic re-adjustment where living standards and wages are going to decrease.

No politician is going to come out and say we have to accept we're going to be poorer and that there isn't much that can be done. That would be political suicide but I don't see anything improving anytime soon.

I really think there's a crisis amongst the political classes across many Western Governments. Nobody seems to have an idea on how to create growth.

There needs to be a serious think about what the economy will realistically look like in 5 - 10 years time, maybe for governments it will be about effectively managing economic stagnation and nothing more.

Let me know your thoughts.