Opinion

‘Expolwed!’: The Oxford Union’s lazy use of AI

A betrayal of the Union’s supposed commitment to free speech, a failure of both imagination and principle.

Representation requires participation: A call to action from the SU

Engage with us, hold us accountable, and see what student representation at its best can achieve.

Why we don’t care about the Student Union controversy

We don’t care about the Student Union, and we have no incentive to.

The fate of the humanities in a digital world

The real problem is that sceptics don’t understand what humanities scholars do.

Protect the right to protest

This summer’s protests have pushed university free speech policies to their breaking point. Scenes of police being deployed at scale on college campuses across...

Unmask the shady investors

The University of Oxford’s new science and innovation district, set to open next calendar year, is a joint venture between the University and Legal...

Oxford can win on both free speech and EDI

Author note: Professor Tim Soutphommasane is the University’s Chief Diversity Officer, and was the Australian Race Discrimination Commissioner from 2013-2018.  Summers in Britain are increasingly...

What Oxford owes Oxfordshire

“Where are you living this year?” For some, this question brings back memories of scrambling to organise tenancies and coordinate renting plans. The panic of...

The Oxford-Cambridge Arc is too good an opportunity to ignore

Now is not a good time to be a nimby. With the return of compulsory housebuilding targets, it is the new government’s ambition to...

The Vice-Chancellor in review

This article is an updated version of a piece in the W0 print. Irene Tracey is used to doing uncontroversial good. She has dedicated...

We need boldness on Brexit

Each time I hear that Labour has dismissed yet another offer from EU states to establish reciprocal freedom of movement deals for young people,...

The relativity of joy in the US election

If there’s one word that Tim Walz emphasised on his first day as Kamala Harris’ running mate, it was “joy”. Since his selection, support...

Shifting gears on affirmative action

Affirmative action in America is gone, but the change in data so far doesn’t show clear racial balancing. Unlike Oxford, the American admissions system...

A glass-half-full perspective on alcohol

The sun rises in the east, all men are mortal, and students drink. Such is life, and Oxford is no exception. University life is...

The BBC: historic failures and future irrelevance

The BBC is no stranger to scandal. From its MI5-assisted vetting of political ‘subversives’ to its contentious relationship with the Thatcher government, the broadcaster’s...

How Oxford defeated fascists the first time

Monday 5th August saw antifascists rally at Oxford’s Carfax Tower in a show of solidarity with communities of colour and a rejection of the...

Riots and resentment: How racist elites exploit working class rage

We are living through history. As we saw in the 1980s and 2011, race riots have once again ambushed our high streets and our towns. Vulgar chants about...

Tories trounced, but are young people really represented?

There is much to be concerned about for those who see themselves as progressives.The Greens will want to build on their results, having come second in 39 seats, but as of now seem consigned to the fringes of parliament.

Macron is right to take on the far-right, even if he loses

"The popularity of the far-right represents a failure of moderate governance, and politicians need to take responsibility for that by charting a new path forward"

Trump’s sentence may do more harm than good

If we truly want to have the best chance at avoiding a second Trump term and maintaining a functional rule of law, it would be prudent to stop focusing on the New York case and instead focus on actual political issues, or even the other cases against the former president.

Local elections: Britain’s greatest fortune-tellers

if the Tories perform better than expected at the general election, it will be because of events that occur between now and then, and not because of the distortive nature of local elections.

Has the term democracy lost its meaning?

“Democracy” covers all that is deemed good, so any regime that wants to increase its legitimacy will bend logical definitions to prove itself.

‘Killing’ the story: Lucy Letby, the media, and the courts

"... there is no excuse, in a system that prides itself on open justice and free access to the courts, for blocking the publication of articles critical of the courts and their decisions."

How much do we really value free speech?

That is to say, you can vehemently disagree with someone, but in dealing with academic research, the basis for these critiques should be ‘this is why you are wrong’, rather than ‘I don’t like what you are saying’.