September
- 1st – Kirchner assassination attempt – There was an assassination attempt against Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Kirchner in Buenos Aires. Georgie Cutmore is currently studying in Argentina for her year abroad and gave her reaction.
- 6th – Truss elected – Liz Truss, somehow, someway, emerged as the most popular candidate among Conservative members and became Prime Minister. It was doomed to fail from the start and I asked how an earth they had come to that decision.
- 8th – Queen Elizabeth II dies – Queen Elizabeth II passed away and provoked more debate on the future of the monarchy among the student community, culminating in two competing comment pieces from Charlie Mackintosh and Jenny Grehan-Bradley.
- Why we were all Elizabethans vs Why We Are Not All Elizabethans
- The scene at Buckingham Palace: an intersection of modernity and history
- Jakub Trybull – “Whatever one may think of the late Queen or monarchy in general, her death proved one thing – we cannot underestimate the sheer institutional power of the crown. As if by the snap of the fingers, rolling TV coverage begins, businesses close and more than 10,000 police officers are deployed to London; each supporting every second of a carefully orchestrated ceremony. Many might claim that the Royal Family’s non-engagement in political affairs is a good thing; the way I see it is that it allows the monarchy to transcend party politics into a level of power unimagined. This amount of power is both dangerous and disproportionate for a monarchy that has supposedly been reduced to being merely symbolic and ceremonial. I would be hesitant to ever underestimate the hidden power it holds amongst the British upper classes.”
- 16th – Mahsa Amini dies suspiciously after being arrested for not wearing a hijab. Months of protest by Iranians follow.
- The protests that are still ongoing across Iran in response to Amini’s murder offer a glimpse of hope in the resistance against repressive regimes such as Iran’s. Men and women of all ages and from all parts of society have joined the movement across the country and hopefully point to a potential for change in the future. Mass protests in China later in the year did indeed effect real change in their ‘zero-COVID’ policy.
- 23rd – Mini budget – That doomed Prime Minister revealed her so-called ‘mini-budget’ alongside Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng. As I said at the time, I believe that not only did it terrify the markets and further escalate the UK’s economic downturn but it was deeply immoral and neglected the hardest off in our society.
- 22nd – Meloni election – Giorgia Meloni brought together a fragile coalition and saw the far-right return in Italy. Freya Jones explained her fears.
