Oxford In Question
THE DEBATING CHAMBER of the Oxford Union played host to the BBC's Question Time last Thursday, and the debate proved that the political row over Oxford admissions is far from dead.
The panel for the night consisted of Ken Clarke for the Conservatives, the eminent medical researcher Robert Winston, Liberal Democrat Shirley Williams, Labour MP Ann Taylor, and Charles Moore, editor of the Daily Telegraph. Questions from the studio audience covered Railtrack, the government's stance on the euro, cloning, and whether there should be a US-style presidential debate before British elections.
But the debate ended with the inevitable discussion of the well-worn Laura Spence affair, when a Trinity student asked the panel whether they thought the fiasco had damaged Oxford's reputation. The reaction from the politicians on the panel was predictably varied, with Shirley Williams seeming to support the chancellor's stance on the matter. She said, "The general point made by Gordon Brown was a fair one," and also advocated a "blind system" of admissions, where tutors are not told whether their candidates are from state or private schools.
Ann Taylor also defended Williams, saying, "It's perfectly reasonable for politicians to say that universities should be fair. Universities have a disproportionate number of public school pupils." She also hinted at how even Oxford's historic image could be off-putting to applicants, and described the Union's debating chamber as "an intimidating building".
But Ken Clarke, Robert Winston and Charles Moore leapt to Oxford's defence. The former chancellor commented: "Oxford has the great problem of trying to attract the best state school applicants. Gordon Brown made them feel they would be intimidated."
Charles Moore described Gordon Brown's attack as "absolutely outrageous". He continued, "The only admissions criteria should be academic excellence. Politicians should shut up and stay away."
Robert Winston wholeheartedly supported Magdalen's decision regarding Laura Spence, and pointed out that "you have to be committed to the course, and Laura Spence clearly wasn't committed because she didn't even end up studying medicine." The debate highlighted the fact that political opinion is still very much divided and, although no-one actually branded Oxford elitist on this occasion, it would seem that the war between Oxford and its critics is far from over.
26th Oct 2000