Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
‘You cannot pursue peace by a cycle of violence, the only way you can pursue peace is by a cycle of dialogue’. Wise words indeed, spoken by Jeremy Corbyn. To judge him by his own words, Corbyn’s record is one of abject failure. His management of Labour’s problem with anti-semitism has been shocking and wilfully […]
Continue Reading
We are two undergraduate students studying at Hertford College, Oxford, both heavily involved in the Widening Participation sphere within and outside of the University. With one of us having been educated at a state comprehensive and the other coming from a BAME background, we were struck by the results of the Undergraduate Admissions Report and […]
Continue Reading
The NHS is like a sick dog. The doctor has told you that it could be time to say goodbye, but you cannot bring yourself to accept it. You keep reminding yourself about all the wonderful memories you shared together, and you’re certain that need not come to an end. You insist that you can […]
Continue Reading
October 2017 was a month that certainly took the world by storm. It was a month in which a popular social media tag revealed the full magnitude of a scandal that shook society to its core. In the aftermath of the New York Times’ illuminating investigation into widespread accusations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, few […]
Continue Reading
My college, Somerville, was recently in the national press for our initial failure, and then (to use a favourite phrase!) U-turn on the matter of gender neutral toilets. So when I saw Gavin Grimm was speaking at the Union, I knew I had to go. Grimm made headlines in the US and beyond when he […]
Continue Reading
Timid and cowering. Get in line or get out. A grave error. He has to go. When Philip Hammond voiced his hope that any changes in the UK’s relationship with the EU would be “very modest”, the reaction from the Conservative backbenches was anything but. The furious and wearisomely predictable responses to the Chancellor’s Davos […]
Continue Reading
A short biography of George Bell, who had been Bishop of Chichester for 27 years when he died in 1958, begins by acknowledging a recurring pattern regarding the reputation of notable people. It points out that after such people die, their reputations are often reshaped and defamed by harsh criticism not voiced during their lifetimes […]
Continue Reading
2018 has gotten off to a shaky start for the world’s tech giants. The major players in Silicon Valley have come under synchronised public scrutiny; for once, not about the quality of their products, but rather for their addictive nature. Last month, Apple’s biggest investors put pressure on the company to address increasing iPhone usage […]
Continue Reading
I think it’s fair to say that we are no longer shocked. But we are definitely repulsed, outraged and, most of all, exhausted. How many stories of outright misogyny must we hear before something changes? This year’s annual President’s Club gala charity dinner was no different to the other thirty-three, except for the attendance of […]
Continue Reading
Another week, another backbench revolt which threatens to topple Theresa May’s precarious minority government. At this point, it’s all a little stale; a month doesn’t go by without some kind of crisis befalling the current government, with Brexiteers in revolt over anything from the most minute policy differences to fundamental philosophical disagreements (this time sees […]
Continue Reading
The start of 2018 was greeted by a scandal that quickly received international condemnation. Logan Paul, a former vine star turned YouTuber, had uploaded a video as part of his Japan tour exploring the infamous Aokigahara ‘suicide’ forest, in which he stumbles upon a recently deceased individual. Filming at close proximity to the corpse, he […]
Continue Reading
UKIP has been having a hard time post-Brexit. Of course, there’s the ongoing crisis with current leader Henry Bolton and his racist girlfriend, who sent texts abusing Meghan Markle and the victims of Grenfell. Two steps back in leadership and we reach Paul Nuttall, a man who incompetently lied about having a non-existent PhD and […]
Continue Reading
I have never checked, but it is a safe bet to assume that Virgin Trains do not sell copies of Poultry World, the global voice of egg enthusiasts and chicken experts. Annoyingly, they probably do not sell ‘The Gudgeon’ either, a newsletter from my hometown of Bradford on Avon, which includes regular updates from the […]
Continue Reading
It is hard not to be sympathetic to the Democrats in their current congressional battle. They are fighting a Republican Party unwilling to grant the same rights to some American citizens as it does to others, solely because their parents entered the country illegally. Regardless of one’s views on immigration, we should all treat immigrants […]
Continue Reading
It would be hard to fault your average voter for being surprised at Nigel Farage’s damascene conversion to the cause of a second Brexit referendum last week. It is also unsurprising that so many Remain supporters so gleefully leapt upon the chance to use his statements as a weapon in their ongoing fight against “Brexiteers”. […]
Continue Reading
Over the vacation, I took advantage of my free evenings and BBC license to catch up on David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II. Stories of the sea’s rich wildlife were intertwined with stark ecological warnings, and one night, as I watched a baby puffling’s parents clack beaks and kiss, I felt a sudden well of rage […]
Continue Reading
During my first term at the University of Oxford, I’ve seen how important it is to prioritise your mental health to deal with pressures such as a heavy workload, applications for career opportunities, and managing a social life… to name a few. Although my experience of welfare support at Mansfield College has been positive, I’ve […]
Continue Reading
“Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye”: these are the mournful words of the sixth Mughal emperor of India to one of his sons, in a letter in which he expressed sadness and regret for his failures and the sins with which he had burdened himself. Aurangzeb, it seems, wanted to be forgotten; he specified that he wished to […]
Continue Reading
It is that time of year again. November brings a cluster of days marked out for remembrance, with All Souls Day and Bonfire night, but none have become so charged as Remembrance Sunday and in particular the parade of poppies it brings forth. The red poppy has drawn substantial criticism in recent times, with concerns […]
Continue Reading