perspectives | Warwick Politics Society

The Heaton Park attack and the politics of division

By Mhikaella Renee Narciso On October 2nd, 2025, during Yom Kippur - the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, a man drove his car into pedestrians and carried out a knife attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester. The attacker, named Jihad Al-Shamie, aged 35, subsequently phoned emergency services pledging allegiance to the terrorist group Islamic State before being shot dead by armed police at the scene. To many British Jews, this was not just

When the assisted dying bill met the politics of soundbites

By William Raven While not as polarising as Johnson or Truss, Theresa May was, by nearly all measures, a pretty dire Prime Minister. From her proposed Brexit deal being defeated in the Commons by a crushing 230 votes, to her decision to run and hide from the families and victims of the 2017 Grenfell fire, her premiership rarely brought anything but troubling headlines. Nevertheless, following her resignation, and given the extremely poor quality of her successors, her ever

The Futility of Foreign Intervention in the Israel-Gaza Conflict

By Ilsa Nawaz Two years on from the October 7 Attacks, the Israel-Palestine genocide is one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of the twenty first century. It parallels previous apartheid states, such as South Africa, but with violence on a much larger scale. Despite ceasefire negotiations, global outrage including protests, and a push towards resolutions, foreign intervention has failed to achieve any lasting peace. Instead, foreign intervention has been merely virtue s

Global interest and celeb supporters, but did the Sumud Flotilla make any difference?

By Ethan Travica In late August 2025, over 500 people, comprising more than 40 vessels launched the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), in the latest attempt by various humanitarian groups like the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, in order to try and directly provide aid to the peoples of Gaza. On Wednesday October 1st, the roughly 400 activists, whose number had been decreased through illegal interceptions by Israeli forces in international waters, made their final approach to Gaza in t

Vive la confusion! – Departures, division and dire straits for Macron

By Dylan Balch When Sebastien Lecornu resigned as Prime Minister on 6th October, after only 26 days in office, the fragility of the French framework was uncovered for all to see. The French government did not merely witness a personnel change at the top of government; it experienced a shockwave that laid bare the tenuous state of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency. The swift reinstatement that followed - an attempt at damage control - only magnified the sense of crisis. A governmen

Why 'middle ground Meloni' is Europe's greatest asset

By Luke Magalhaes Italy finds itself in a new type of hot water this week: 107% tariffs imposed by the US, and the reaction of Meloni’s government serves as yet another reminder of why the Italian Prime Minister is Europe’s greatest asset in dealing with Trump. For a democratically elected European politician, Giorgia Meloni is, somewhat unusually, incredibly well-liked by Trump. He has described the Italian Prime Minister as a ‘wonderful woman’ , and, from their stances on