Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Opinion

Protect the organ scholarship, protect Oxford’s traditions

Should the organ scholarship be abolished? At the time of writing, 23 of the 43 colleges in Oxford offer organ awards. These consist in a mixture of funding, housing...

What Tate’s case tells us about student sexual violence

The Tate brothers “have each other’s backs” and concerns about a culture of impunity are echoed here in Oxford.

Tutorials are the antidote to declining public speaking skills

We struggle in an era where much of our most important communication takes place in writing

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’.

Oxford ball-goers first in line for media’s guillotine

A couple days after attending Brasenose Ball with my friends, I received a surprise notification from a group chat that I had suspected would...

International events and the phantasm of unity

So it is up to us, as viewers, not to be lulled into complacency by the glamour and spectacle they present.

How to fund a university

"The world’s number one ranked university in thrall to one man."

Sunak sets the date

"...the Labour leader is polling nowhere near to his 1997 comparison. The reality, though, is that Starmer doesn’t need to beat Tony Blair: he needs to beat Rishi Sunak."

(Un)real beauty: Is AI the supermodel of our time?

"Comparison culture sneakily divides our true wants from our musts, enacting internal cycles of self-deprecation and a loss of clarity on what we actually desire"

Can the St George’s flag ever be reclaimed?

"Flying the St George’s flag, bellowing that we should be proud to be English, just seems brash, ignorant and boastful."

Eat the rich! (Unless it’s Taylor Swift?)

"Ultimately, if someone does something damaging, we should be able to criticize their actions. Even if that person is a woman, even if that woman is Taylor Swift."

Orange is the new orange – the many trials of DJ Trump

"Trump coming through these trials and remaining electable would be an indictment and a warning for institutional decay which demands a response."

The Rwanda deal: Inspiration for other countries?

"Rwanda still has the chance to be the last line of defence against this policy"

Who are Trump and Biden speaking to?

We should keep in mind when reading about American politics, who the candidates are trying to convince (or scare) in order to win. That is, in most cases, why they are saying what they are saying.

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