Sunday 3rd August 2025

Opinion

The Encaenia is PR without the public (or anyone else)

Wholesale reform is the last thing Encaenia needs. If only people knew what it is, it would be a well-suited PR exercise for a modern Oxford.

This is how we combat the crusade against universities

It’s easy to think of an arts degree as a fruitless pleasure. But education and academic study are intrinsically valuable.

From pensioners to students, all should fear the Palestine Action ban

If you think this is a win for one side over the other in relation to Israel’s war on Gaza, be careful what you wish for.

Trashing rules save face, not students

Trashing is banned. But what does the banning achieve except pushing students further from...

The rise of the old money aesthetic

The trend for looking quietly (but obviously) expensive has found a new muse for the internet age.

The fire that still burns: the political relevance of ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ and its message of human continuity

"Humans have been fighting metaphorical, and sometimes literal, fires for decades"

Veering east? What Slovakia’s election means for Europe and the world

The recent Slovak election has sent European leaders scrambling to shore up support for Ukraine after a pro-Russia party emerged victorious on Saturday 30th...

Waking up to Russell Brand’s ‘razzle-dazzle’ misogyny 

"it’s all delivered with a cheeky smile and a knowing wink, to the tune of laughter and whoops from his audience"

Long-term decisions for a brighter future?  Must’ve missed that…

"...students beginning their studies in September won’t know how their university has chosen to allocate its funding until August at the very earliest."

Doppelgangers, thrifting, and cereal

"Somewhere along the way though, our identities got mixed in with the breakfast cereal."

The Conservative path to victory in 2024

"How do the Conservatives intend to fight a campaign that current polling and smart money say they’re almost guaranteed to lose?"

Trump, the American left, and political ‘Voldemorts’

"talking about Trump only added to his power and creating endless discourse about him gifted him a status and political validity he did not deserve"

£27,000 for a library card?

'I love Oxford, but I love it predominantly for reasons other than the education'

Sunak’s rollback on climate and the economy

The unanimous agreement of industry is striking: while they might normally be reluctant to directly criticise government policy, the automotive industry has been almost unified in its dismay.

What the RAAC crisis tells us about the state of British education

When the Department for Education declared its concern over buildings constructed with unsafe concrete on 1st September, more than 150 schools were forced to...

Four Year PhD Scholars Programme at The Radcliffe Department of Medicine

This is sponsored content. The Radcliffe Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford is a large, multi-disciplinary department, which aims to tackle some of the world’s biggest health...

The Queen’s Death: To Mourn Without Love

"I would like to weigh in, a year on, as the child of immigrants from within the British Empire, with some thoughts on inheritance, Britishness, and what it means to mourn."

The geopolitics of speech at the University

"Speech is not simply something that everyone has innate equal access to; it is both a right and a resource that can be controlled and bordered."

Why British politics hates the young

Time and time again, the interests of a youthful many have been neglected in favour of an elderly few. What the young need more than anything else is a growing economy; but for the old economic growth is difficult and disturbing

Protesting with Pride

For those of us protesting, the emphasis was very much on the peaceful celebration and amplification of trans voices and joy rather than the hatred and bigotry Stock and her followers thrive on. 

“That’s not misogyny, babe”. 

If I were born four hundred years ago, I’m pretty certain I would have been burnt at the stake for being a witch. Being told to “shhh” and how “scary” I looked by a man on Mayday morning at Magdalen Bridge reminded me of this fact. I forgot how ‘scary’ a woman with an opinion could be. 

The cutback and growth of Britain’s urban hedges

"There are encouraging signs that point towards the restoration of this fascinatingly ordinary part of British life"

The Case for No: Why JCRs should motion to disaffiliate from the National Union of Students

In the last 6 months, student unions from the universities of Warwick, Brighton, Queen Mary and Reading all voted to disaffiliate for essentially the same matters I am now raising for debate: how the NUS treats Jewish students.

The Crown in our republic

I support the people’s re(s)publica, not a republic of the state. The Royal Crown unites us in a manner that no elected politician can, and in so doing protects our way of life in a way that any eventual establishment of a Republic cannot.

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