Saturday 11th April 2026
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Lord Patten condemns Brexit immigration plans

Katherine Pye
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Lord Patten condemns Brexit immigration plans

The Chancellor of Oxford University, Lord Patten, has urged the government to stop treating international students as “economic migrants”.

Patten blamed the government’s “obsession” with immigration number targets, which, he argued, it had failed to meet multiple times. Although this claim has been rejected by the Prime Minister, who has insisted on counting students in official immigration figures, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has backed excluding overseas students from the government’s target to get net migration down to the tens of thousands.

Immigration targets have previously helped the government crack down on bogus colleges used as a back route to work in Britain illegally.

However, Lord Patten warned about the detrimental impact of classing students in the same category as economic migrants.

Patten, who backed the UK remaining in the EU, referred to Theresa May’s speech outlining Brexit plans to build a “global Britain”.

He commented: “It would be extraordinary if having become global Britain we were to prevent the huge numbers of international students coming to study.

“Why do we deny ourselves, our universities, the benefits of educating more young people from around the world?”

He insisted that people understood the difference between a student and an immigrant and the contribution they made to the economy.

“So why do we behave so foolishly? Because of our fixation with an immigration target.

“We put higher education in a more difficult position, we cut ourselves from a great deal of economic benefits because of that obsession with an immigration target, which we fail to reach, very often because we are growing so rapidly, year after year.”

Patten emphasised growing demand in Asia for western higher education. He said: “We have made the choice, global Britain, to cut ourselves off from that. It’s completely crazy.”

This news comes amid comments from Oxford’s incoming Head of Brexit Strategy, Professor Alastair Buchan, speaking to the Education Select Committee held in Pembroke college, Oxford, two weeks ago, that a hard Brexit would be “giving up 500 to 950 years of exchange—I think we need to be very cautious.”

Carl Gergs, a third year at Pembroke and a German citizen, told Cherwell: “subjecting all international students to a blanket immigration rule in order to ‘clamp down’ on a misusing minority doesn’t seem very efficient at all. Most students are net economic contributors and enrich UK university life – some of them will be excluded or deterred by this system. I can only agree with Lord Patten that this approach is at odds with the vision of a ‘global Britain.’”

Steve Sangbeom Heo, international students’ rep at Brasenose college JCR told Cherwell: “I think it’s very unfortunate that the national mood’s becoming more and more insular. To be honest I can’t really think of a good reason why students should count as economic migrants nor understand what  motivated May to argue for this other than political bluff to show that she’s ‘hard on immigration’. But I also think this is hardly surprising given that Theresa May’s currently trying so hard to pander to Brexiteers.”

Somerville JCR debates merits of women-only principals

Christine Jiang
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Somerville JCR debates merits of women-only principals

Somerville College JCR is discussing whether gender should be taken into account in the selection of the next principal.

Dr Alice Prochaska, Somerville’s current principal, announced in October 2016 that she will be stepping down after a seven-year term at the end of the academic year. The college is due to announce her successor some time this year.

Alex Crichton-Miller, president of the Somerville JCR, told Cherwell: “Given that there are several colleges in Oxford that have only ever been led by men, there were some mem- bers of the Common Room who felt strongly that Somerville ought to continue to have a female principal.

“This point was made, clearly, on the basis that the proposed female candidate possesses all other required qualities for the leadership role.

“Others held the view that it would be unjustified to discriminate on the basis of the candidate’s gender, even in the case of positive action.”

Of the 38 Oxford colleges, only nine of them (or 24 per cent)—Green Templeton, Mansfield, Oriel, Pembroke, St Anthony’s, St Hugh’s, St John’s, Somerville, and Wolfson—currently have female heads of colleges.

Somerville, a women’s college until 1994, became the only college in Oxford that has only had female leadership when St Hilda’s appointed its first male principal in 2014.

It is unclear what role the JCR discussion will play in the formal selection of the next principal.

Sarah Hughes, communications officer at Somerville, said: “A college with a history such as ours is very alive to gender issues, and it is appropriate that students also seriously reflect on them.Their views will be reported and taken into account by the Governing Body, in whose hands the final decision entirely lies.”

Whilst positive action is lawful under the Equality Act, Somerville’s Equality and Diversity Policy states: “In respect of staff, ensure that entry into employment and progression within employment are determined solely by criteria which are related to the duties of a particular post.”

In December 2016, released National Archive files revealed Margaret Thatcher’s attempt to fight the admission of male fellows at her alma mater, Somerville. This resistance came at odds with directives of the European Commission’s equality legislation.

Dr Prochaska is also a vocal critic of sexual harassment and rape culture at Oxford. She has penned a column in The Guardian on fighting “sexist laddism and abuse” at Somer- ville, and has prompted a JCR resolution to condemn aggressive behaviour in college.

The JCR’s motion to hold an open discussion was passed. No vote was conducted at the end of the meeting to indicate the JCR’s stance on the appointment of a candidate on the basis of gender.

Drunk students buy from Hassan, but cashew Hussein

Felix Pope
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Drunk students buy from Hassan, but cashew Hussein

Students have been accidentally paying Hussein through the Cashew payments app for post-club kebabs bought from Hassan, it has emerged.

Earlier this week, Hassan discovered that his intoxicated clientele had been misspelling, or simply mistaking, his name for that of rival kebab van owner Hussein.

He told Cherwell that he didn’t know how much money he had lost but that, “mistakes happen,” and despite the loss of income he bore no ill will.

Hassan has been trading from his van—ranked 68th out of 460 Oxford restaurants on Trip Advisor—on Broad Street since 1995, before which he worked in a French bakery.

In a 2016 interview with Cherwell he revealed: “My favourite item on the menu? Well, I love my chicken wrap, with cheese and chips, chilli sauce and garlic mayonnaise… just a little bit of chicken and just a little bit of chips and I’m done for the whole night.

“The most ordered item has got to be chips and cheese, and then chips and cheese and meat – chicken or lamb.”

Cashew is an app based payment system created last year by Oxford students. Hassan’s, Hussein’s and Ahmed’s kebab vans, as well as several other cafes, restaurants and venues, now all accept payments made through it.

Hassan’s name on Cashew has now been changed to ‘Hass Kebabs’. He requests that students use it.

College denies telling students to use gender-neutral pronouns for God

Jack Hunter
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College denies telling students to use gender-neutral pronouns for God

The theological college Wycliffe Hall has denied claims it asked students to refer to God using gender neutral pronouns in an attempt to tackle gender bias.

A report by The Sunday Times claimed the college’s Inclusive Language Policy told students and staff to refer to God using “the one who” instead of “He”.

It claimed that the policy intended to change phrases such as “mankind” to “humankind” in its preachings.

However the college, a Permanent Private Hall training Church of England priests, has strongly dismissed the claims, saying the college “does no such thing”.

The college’s principal, the Revd Michael Lloyd, said the policy contains “no suggestion that the traditional gender pronouns concerning God should be altered in any way. Indeed the Hall’s policy reaffirms that we should continue to speak of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as Christians have always done”.

The Sunday Times had drawn comparisons with guidelines at two top US divinity schools which reportedly recommend professors use “inclusive” gender-neutral language when speaking about God.

Yet Lloyd said: “Inclusive language is encouraged at Wycliffe Hall in our preaching and our writing when describing people – not ‘man’, ‘mankind’, ‘every man’, but ‘human’, ‘humanity’, ‘everyone’. Therefore careful thought is required when using older liturgy, hymnody, or Bible translations, in order to include the whole people of God. This is common sense and is common practice throughout the churches.”

The article received angered responses, with comments saying: “Didn’t God create Adam in his own image? Last time I checked, Adam was a masculine name.”

But others expressed positivity for the initiative. Mark Woods, writing in Christian Today, wrote: “Wycliffe’s inclusive language policy, in fact, looks eminently sensible. It notes that language changes and that while once it was common to talk about mankind, man, every man, we don’t do that any more.”

The college’s Inclusive Language Policy states: “The patriarchal masculine has become a form of alienation for many women and indeed many men. It reduces women to Other by normalizing the masculine.”

It encourages a use of inclusive language in the Hall “not because we have to but rather as a sign of our love for each other in Christ”.

While acknowledging that older hymns and the Book of Common Prayer are “by definition written in the language of patriarchy”, the policy says that services and preachings will continue to use them in order to respect “integrity”.

It states that the college expects teachers and visiting lecturers to reflect a “gender balance” in their topics and language, for example by using biblical passages which involve women.

The Sunday Times report, which has since been removed from the paper’s website, is the latest in a series of articles concerning the use of pronouns at Oxford which have faced claims of misreporting.

In December, following a Cherwell investigation, a claim published by The Sunday Times that OUSU had instructed students to use the ‘ze’ pronoun was revealed to be fake. The paper published an apology in January.

Christ Church votes to create controversial new Staff Liaison Officer

Cherwell News Team
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Christ Church votes to create controversial new Staff Liaison Officer

In its first general meeting of Hilary term, Christ Church College has voted to attach the duties of a Staff Liaison Officer to a member of the JCR committee.

The motion, which will create a role for the JCR committee primarily involving issues concerning scouts, mandates that committee member to survey the JCR to ask them about any issues concerning housekeeping and to ask for anonymous feedback.

It will also allow JCR members to report any suspected issues between the college and scouts, after students in the meeting expressed concerns that some scouts were asked to take an English test.

The motion has provoked considerable controversy in Oxford, with ex-Wadham Student Union President Taisie Tsikas writing on Twitter that it was “so incredibly disrespectful” to scouts and that “Staff Liaison Officer in other colleges means working for living wage accreditation and helping make sure students aren’t taking advantage”.

JCR Vice President Stuti Sarin told Cherwell: “At the last Christ Church GM, we voted to create a Staff Liaison remit for our ABE rep’s responsibility of carrying out an annual survey regarding JCR views on housekeeping issues.

“This does not entail “rating” scouts, as has been made out, and, as a result of an amendment in the GM, individual complaints against particular scouts actually don’t come under the survey’s remit. The main point is that there needs to be a centralised position in order for the JCR to be able to direct questions about housekeeping.

“It’s truly unfair that simply because the words ‘scouts’, ‘surveys’ and ‘Christ Church’ have been used in the same sentence, a few people have decided that members of the Christ Church JCR are entitled and disregard issues important to our scouts’ welfare. That’s not the case—this is a positive motion for dealing with the JCR’s housekeeping questions.”

Louis McEvoy, a student at Christ Church said: “One individual has taken a motion designed to help scouts enormously out of context. Whatever her intentions—she seems to have something of a vendetta against Christ Church—it’s an unfair and egregious misrepresentation.

Oxford graduate Niamh Mcintyre commented: “Scouts do a difficult, tiring job for very little money. Although the Living Wage campaign has made strides in recent years, many colleges still refuse to pay their staff enough to live on, in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

“If certain members of Christ Church JCR are unhappy with the state of their rooms, maybe they could try picking up after themselves, instead of harassing some of the lowest-paid staff at this University.”

Revealed: Rowers in row with houseboat owners

Felix Pope
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Revealed: Rowers in row with houseboat owners

Oxford rowers claim they have been the victims of homophobic abuse and numerous attempts to force them from the river as tensions between rowers and houseboat residents escalate, Cherwell can report.

Rowers from a number of different colleges allege that they have been targeted by houseboat owners who placed tacks on the towpath and thew eggs and tomatoes at them.

Rowers have further alleged that residents have driven close enough to disturb the water in an attempt to capsize them, have intentionally driven into boats, and have hospitalised an Oxford town rower.

These incidents have been brought up at the college rowing captain’s meeting, the minutes of which report that Oxford University Sabbatical Officer for Rowing Tom Coles “had been in contact with the police and the Environment Agency about the houseboats on the bottom stretch”.

Describing one incident that occurred last term, University College team captain Ben Norbury told Cherwell: “Just as we passed the houseboats, our cox heard some splashes around our boat and then a bang as an egg hit our stern. Not really realising what was going on we kept rowing.

“On the next lap, rowing up to the top again, in the same place, we saw two guys with a dog on the river bank. This time, apparently having depleted their stock of eggs, they just threw homophobic insults at us.

“They began to follow us as we rowed to the spinning area, but gave up as we sped away. After spinning and rowing past them again we got similar shouting etc.”

Norbury also claims that during one race last week a houseboat continued to sail down the middle of the river as a boat from St Catz college approached. The houseboat collided with the rowers as they turned, ripping off half the boat’s riggers.

On rowchat.org, a forum for rowing discussion, one commentator said: “Barge driver clearly not a fan of rowing, ignored a load of marshals and then carried on afterwards without bothering to stop and see if anyone was hurt.”

In a separate incident, a Wolfson college boat was intentionally rammed by a houseboat.

Norbury believes that the boat that hit the St Catherine’s boat was only in Oxford temporarily, but that the boat that hit the Wolfson crew is permanently based here.

Rowers believe that the houseboat owners hostility comes as a result of being disturbed by rowing crews, but could not understand why it had so suddenly developed this academic year.

Mack Grenfell, a rower for University College, told Cherwell: “They claim that the antipathy is generated by us scraping/touching their boats with our blades.

“I have been rowing for 3 and a half years, and I have got no idea why incidents are occurring now more than ever.

“However, this happens relatively often unfortunately, but I think much less since all these major incidents. It’s odd though as to me this would be a minor issue.

“My guess is that a lot of them hold resentment to the student population, or are just aggressive people.

“Pretty much every day you’ll see loads of them drinking on the towpath, sometimes shouting at crews. Sometimes you’ll get a boat reeking of weed.”

This was confirmed by Alastair, a houseboat owner resident on the Thames for over ten years, who said that rowers did knock into boats regularly and wake him up due to their use of megaphones to communicate, but that he accepted it as “part of life on the river”.

He claimed that while most houseboat residents were content to share the river there were a small minority of “arseholes” who didn’t share that attitude, and that recently several “raging alcoholics” had moved their houseboat into the Oxford stretch of the Thames.

Alastair alleged that they stole coal from other boats, threw beer cans around, and were regular drug users.

Grenfell claimed the police “have a fat file on all the incidents”, but that they are unable to act as the water is not within their jurisdiction. He further stated that the incidents that took place of the towpath were considered by the police to be a “nuisance” and not worthy of investigation.

Thames Valley Police have been contacted for comment.

Applicants of colour still less likely to receive an Oxford offer

Felix Pope
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Applicants of colour still less likely to receive an Oxford offer

New admissions data released by Ucas has revealed a continued racial deficit in Oxford admissions. Of the 2,555 offers made in for 2016 entry just 45 were to black applicants, compared to 2,090 to white applicants.

This represents a drop compared to the 50 offers made in 2015, but is higher than every other year since 2011.

The percentage of offers given to black and asian applicants was also significantly lower than the percentage rate for those that are white. Offers were made to 26.3 per cent of white applicants, but only 16.8 per cent of Asian and 16.7 per cent of black applicants.

Across all universities only 70 per cent of black applicants received places, compared with 73 per cent of white applicants and 73 per cent of those from Asian backgrounds.

The Ucas data also revealed continuing disparity in terms of the wealth of applicants. Oxford received over 5,000 applications from the richest fifth of teenagers but just 420 from the poorest fifth.

Of those that did apply 20.2 per cent of the poorest received offers compared to 26.2 per cent of the richest.

The data follows David Lammy’s critique of Oxford’s “unconscious bias” that he claimed systematically disadvantages applicants from ethnic minority backgrounds. The Labour MP, speaking at a symposium at Lady Margaret Hall, said that “we all tend to recruit in our own image”.

Dr Samina Khan, Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach at the University of Oxford, told Cherwell: “The number of offers given to students from Black, Asian and mixed-heritage backgrounds has risen significantly over the past five years, which is encouraging.

“However, we are aware that there is still work to be done, particularly in terms of offer rates to Black and Asian students.

“We have therefore introduced a number of tailored outreach programmes aimed at high-achieving students from under-represented groups, which we hope will pay dividends in the coming years and help make Oxford an even more diverse community.”

In terms of gender the picture is more balanced, with young women and men securing Oxford offers at exactly the same rate. 1,275 applicants of each gender were made offers, however 30 fewer women applied than men.

This meant that for the second time ever a higher proportion of female 18 year olds were given offers than male 18 year olds, as there are fewer female 18 year olds in the population.

Dr Wendy Piatt, Russell Group director general, said: “The root causes of under-representation are complex and a wide range of factors need to be taken into account to fully understand them.

“Our universities are working tirelessly to encourage bright candidates to apply as we want talented, able students from all backgrounds to know that a place at our universities is well within reach.”

Pink Week in Oxford

Cherwell Broadcasting
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Pink Week in Oxford

It’s Pink Week in Oxford! This initiative has been run by students to raise money and awareness for breast cancer treatment in the UK. Cherwell Broadcasting went along to one event to talk to a leading figure in breast cancer medicine, Professor Stephen Johnston, and talk to the organisers about why the initiative is so important.

Think Pink

Jasmin Yang-Spooner
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Think Pink

Styled by: Anoushka Kavanagh

Models: Isabel Nield, MollyCarlin, Jojo Dieffenbacher

Make-up by: Angelica Wolanska

Cocktail of the week: negroni sbagliato

Julia Alsop
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Cocktail of the week: negroni sbagliato

Normally a drink that involves replacing gin for another type of alcohol is totally off the cards for me, but I’ll make an exception in the case of the Negroni Sbagliato. The decadence of this drink makes it not only acceptable, but totally worth it. Traditionally, a Negroni is made from Campari, a sweet vermouth, and gin. ‘Sbagliato’ is the Italian word for ‘mistaken’—the drink was created, supposedly as a fortunate accident, when a bartender used prosecco rather than the intended gin. As such, it makes for a good celebratory aperitivo or an exciting brunch drink, if you want to switch up your mimosa.

There are lots of variations on the ratios in a Negroni, but I like to make it 1:1:1.

Ingredients:

Campari
Sweet Vermouth
Prosecco

Method:

1. Pour your Campari and Vermouth into your mixer with ice to chill, before straining it into your champagne flute.

2. Top up your glass with Prosecco.

3. To garnish, cut a circular slice of an orange; detach the peel from the pulp and cut one part of the peel such that you have a strip of peel. Twist the peel into a spiral (it will hold the shape), and place it in the glass.

Salute!

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