Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
Image description: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab Boris Johnson’s government recently decided to reject the overtures of the US and allow Chinese technology giant Huawei to contribute on Britain’s 5G infrastructure. At first, I had mixed feelings. Yes, of course, there were the security concerns. Could […]
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Image Description: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Sandringham A British Prince abandons the Royal Family for a life outside of the media spotlight with a divorced American socialite. One would be forgiven for thinking that we were actually in December 1936 instead of January 2020. Yet almost a century after the Abdication Crisis, the […]
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The United Kingdom is currently experiencing a crisis of faith in democracy. Polling reveals deep-seated dissatisfaction with the leaders currently heading the main political parties and this year insurgent populism in the form of the Brexit Party briefly stormed to a lead in the polls. Three and a half years ago the United Kingdom voted […]
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Going on holiday always involves a degree of escapism – leaving the realities of everyday life behind you for a while to seek out new places and new experiences, or just to take a much-needed break, far-removed from daily stresses. But why not take the escapism up a gear, and remove yourself even further from […]
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We may not be the croissant connoisseurs or the pizza professionals, but the UK has many delicacies of its own to offer. In keeping with this week’s theme of UK travel, what better way to see our beautiful country than by learning how to cook a few of its best-loved dishes? Cooking workshops are a […]
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“Social apartheid”, “fiefdoms of privilege”, “centuries of entrenched privilege” – such are the damning, yet also all too familiar, condemnatory remarks recently aimed at Oxford and Cambridge by MP David Lammy. According to Lammy: “Only one in four Cambridge colleges made offers to black British students in every year between 2010 and 2015 […] And each year […]
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When I saw that Jared O’Mara had been suspended from the Labour party I felt a rush of relief. My only wish was that it had happened even sooner. If we have learnt anything in the last few weeks, it is that women do not feel always safe; we do not feel safe in the workplace, we do not […]
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The Erasmus Programme turns 30 this year, but its future in the UK is in doubt. With no concrete assurances from the government that it will continue to participate in the programme after Brexit, students and academics alike are concerned that the scheme will soon be a thing of the past. Hal Churchman, just back from an Erasmus year […]
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This year marks two decades since the people of both Scotland and Wales voted ‘yes’ to devolution in referendums promised by Labour’s victorious 1997 manifesto. Blair was confident that devolved governments in Scotland and Wales would mean “the Union will be strengthened and the threat of separatism removed”. Since then, major policy areas such as education, health and housing have been dictated in […]
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‘Strong and stable’ is fast becoming 2017’s equivalent of fake news: that phrase you hear every day which is driving everyone slowly insane. The Conservatives put forward a similar message in 2015, castigating Red Ed and his planned coalition of chaos, and urging voters to choose the long term economic plan instead. But seven years […]
Continue ReadingOxford has once again been named the UK’s least affordable city by the Lloyds Bank’s Affordable Cities Review. Now, the average home price is nearly 11 times the annual gross average earnings. Home affordability is measured by comparing average city house prices and average regional pay. The average city house price across the UK has […]
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The University of Oxford has denied that it intends to set up a satellite campus in France. The denial came after the Telegraph reported that Oxford, along with at least one other Russell Group university, had been in talks with French officials about possible ways of retaining their European links post-Brexit. Jean-Michel Blanquer, a former […]
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As an American going to school in the UK, I believe that the big picture of my university experience isn’t so different from that of my peers in America: we have lectures and classes of varying size, we eat cafeteria food, we consume copious amounts of cheap, questionable alcohol which (let’s face it) more often […]
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It’s been just over a month since Prime Minister David Cameron announced the date of the European Union referendum and already, nearly three whole months in advance, it is dominating political discourse. Everything else is peripheral as the right-wing press runs wild with Europhobia. Despite this there remain spare glimpses of sober political discourse on the […]
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Since returning from Canada in January, I can’t stop noticing one uniquely British taboo. Eating in restaurants, my family will sneakily ninja leftover food and bread rolls into bags under the table rather than face the apparent shame of taking home the food they’ve paid for. On the way to a play last weekend, one […]
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Have you ever wondered whether Groundhog Day is more than just a fiction? The 1993 film features Bill Murray as a selfish weatherman forced to relive the same day over and over again until he learns the error of his ways. In the meantime he engages in mindless hedonism and ends up driving himself off […]
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The “regeneration” of Manchester’s Northern Quarter – from an industrial and predominantly working class neighbourhood to “creative and social hub” – is suspiciously familiar, following a trend that appears to have consumed London almost entirely. Dragged grudgingly onto a night out in town while home for the Christmas holidays, I found myself swept, towards the […]
Continue ReadingThere was public outcry last week when it came to light that residents at a privately run but government funded refugees home in Cardiff had to wear wristbands. The purpose of these wristbands was to entitle them to their three free meals a day, however some compared them to the yellow stars Jews were forced […]
Continue ReadingYes – Claire Simms: Ever since the launch of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in June 2015, he has dominated the headlines in both the USA and the world at large. For a man whose commercial empire has been built upon publicity, Trump must be thrilled – exposure, both good and bad, can only aid his […]
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