Ms Dynamite attacks politicians

LONDON, UK (BBC TV) - Ms Dynamite, who has positioned herself as a positive role model for young people in the UK, has attacked politicians for being out of touch. Politics means "middle-class, rich white men that don't give a damn", the 21-year-old told the BBC's Newsnight.

There would be more interest in politics if politicians listened to young people more and stuck their necks out to improve their lives, she told the programme.

People of her age were interested in the way the world was run, she said - but turned off by the current political scene. "I don't feel that there's anyone in the cabinet at all that I can relate to or that relates to me - there's no-one," she told Newsnight.
"They don't really listen to young people - they don't actually listen to how we're affected every day, and even if they do, they don't really stick their necks out to do anything about it."

Many young people who said they were not interested in politics would say they were interested in the state of hospitals and schools, she said. "I think young people are very, very interested in the way that the world is run."

Ms Dynamite, from north London, said she did vote in the last election - but turned down her first chance when she was 18.
"I did feel like 'What's the point?'" she said. "'What difference is my vote going to make? No-one listens to us, no-one cares what we have got to say.'"
She also hinted that she may move into politics in the future.

Song warnings

"I'd love to. You know, for me, right now... I'm enjoying the point of being young and free and able to express myself," she said.
"I've got a responsibility I feel to young people, but that's my only responsibility."

During the last 12 months, Ms Dynamite has emerged as one of the biggest new stars in the UK, winning the prestigious Mercury Music Prize and three Mobo awards.
She has denounced the violence of the UK garage scene, and her lyrics include messages against drugs, bad relationships and unsafe sex.