TSR contains way more Tories and neo-liberal types who are all going to make fortunes after uni and wallow in cash until the end of days than it does genuine radical, alternative thinkers.
I stopped describing myself as left wing when I was a teenager as I think it's too narrow and restrictive and didn't really mean anything but I imagine most others would view me as left of centre.
I believe in social healthcare e.g. a properly funded NHS.
I believe in top class education at primary, secondary and third level for all.
I believe these should be funded by a progressive taxation system.
I believe a society is judged on how it treats its most vulnerable.
I believe benefits culture is in fact driven by neo-liberalism because it is in fact easier to give the unemployed money to spend in the domestic economy than it is to acknowledge that generational unemployment is a necessary byproduct of the relentless pursuit of the bottom line and cheaper than investing in upskilling/education and/or economic incentives to generate employment for lower skilled workers.
I believe in financial regulation because I believe in the economic carnage and ensuing hardship I witnessed first hand in the last 6 years- not a Wall Street or City lackey who tells me regulation is a hindrance to money making.
I believe in the inalienable right of the people to choose their representatives free from propaganda, media distortion and Big Business setting the agenda in politics.
And I'm realistic enough to know that such a utopian society will not spring up over night at the behest of some charismatic socialists.
So am I left wing?