Profile: David Abraham
When David Abraham was turned down by Middlesex Polytechnic for a documentary-making course, after he completed his degree in History at Magdalen, he thought he would never make it in the world of television. Now the CEO of Channel 4, he keeps a copy of the rejection letter framed in his bathroom.
Channel 4 is famously irreverent in its output, and has courted controversy from broadcasting the first lesbian kiss on primetime British TV in 1993, to the debate surrounding the documentary Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, which was dropped in April this year. Publically owned but financially self-sufficient, the 2003 Communications Act states that Channel 4 should “demonstrate innovation, experiment and creativity in the form and content of programs”, “appeal to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society” and “include programs of an educational nature”. The most popular shows since the channel’s inception are Big Brother, Friends, Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and The Grand National. I asked Abraham whether this “tabloid television” was sticking to the Channel’s remit. Abraham strongly challenged this view: “I would refute the suggestion that there is any ‘tabloid television’ on Channel 4. Big Brother ended on the show four years ago, and we’ve rebuilt our channel with brilliant shows like Educating Yorkshire, Educating Essex and fantastic drama like Babylon and Indian Summers. Some people like to come up with that comment but it’s absolutely not the case about our schedule currently”. But, he concedes “we must do shows that are appealing to a broad audience, so that they can generate significant advertising revenue to then pay for things like Dispatches, investigative pieces, or arts shows”.
He cites Channel 4‘s considerable educative output – like Grayson Perry’s BAFTA Award Winning Who are You?(“Two words sum this up – original and outstanding.”- RTS website), or Life From Space (“Probably one of the most ambitious live programs ever made.”- RTS website) that won a Royal Television Society Award for Excellence. Channel 4, Abraham argues, is unfairly criticised, “There’s a balance in the schedule, but often critics want to have it both ways”. They “demand that we should be running wall to wall Open University programmes, but they also want us to be commercially self-sufficient”.
Anyone paying attention to the debacles and controversies of the management of the BBC in the last five years will understand the mire that can surround Public Service Broadcasters and their funding. When it was suggested that BBC should share license fee proceeds with other broadcasters, Abraham was reported as saying he would rather act “with utter impunity” than receive the money. I asked him why Channel 4 turned down this possibility of public funding, and whether he thought the BBC was constrained with what it could produce/report on: “I’m not suggesting that the BBC allows itself to be directly influenced by the government, but it must constantly justify itself to parliament (…) we (a) are smaller and (b) we have a remit that encourages risk taking and are expected to be iconoclastic, that is part of our tradition. By the time I got here that idea (receiving “top slice” funding from the BBC) had run its course: we decided that we had to cut our cloth according to our means”.
Abraham eschews public funding, but believes that private pay platforms (Sky, Virgin etc) should pay Channel 4 for including 4’s channels as part of their service. He first made this argument last year in the James McTaggert Memorial Lecture, a speech delivered annually at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. The speech provoked much furore. Sky spokesman Graham McWilliam, claimed that Channel 4 was calling for a subsidy to compensate for the channel’s “declining performance” and “this would amount to a discriminatory tax on millions of licence fee paying viewers to watch public service content that should be free”.
I put McWilliam’s criticisms to Abraham. He replied that McWilliam was Sky’s “corporate spin-meister” and that Channel 4 was only asking for a fair deal. “It’s a pretty outrageous thing to say….our revenues are approaching record levels last year and this year. We’re spending more on UK originating content than we’ve ever done before, winning more awards and more Oscars…. So I won’t take that too seriously.” “The more substantive point” Abraham continues, is that “more than half the viewing on pay platforms is to public service channels, so if one imagined a world where the public channels were not available on pay platforms, the subscribers would be hugely inconvenienced …. Indeed it’s easy to demonstrate that a number of them would not be willing to pay £40/50 per month without the public channels.” He believes that the value that Channel 4, BBC and other PSBs provide to private pay platforms should be recognised, as it is in other countries: “it’s an argument about fair value exchange between public broadcasters and private companies that are profiting from the availability of these channels for free.”
Channel 4’s content is diverse, ranging from Indian Summers (a show in the finest traditions of BBC Sunday Night Drama) to its Alternative Christmas Message. Given the number of its shows aimed at a younger demographic, and its recent ethnic minorities election debate in the wake of UKIP’s rising popularity, I asked Abraham if Channel 4 saw itself as catering to a more diverse audience than other PSBs. “With regards to young people, E4 has by far the biggest share of 16-24 year olds of digital channels, and a serious documentary on Channel 4 will typically get more views among young people than on BBC and ITV.” In terms of ethnicity Abraham argues that “Channel 4 News has a higher proportion of BAME views than other channels.” Channel 4 traditionally sees itself as the channel of diversity, broadcasting the first black sitcom, the first lesbian kiss, the first disabled and transgender mainstream entertainment shows, and in 2012 it broadcast the Paralympics. The comedian and activist Lenny Henry has argued that a separate fund should be set aside to boost the presence of BAME participants in broadcasting (in a 2014 BAFTA lecture).
I asked Abraham about representation of minorities in Channel 4. “We keep a very close eye on representation across the board, both on screen as well as behind the camera for the production”, he replied. Abraham tells me about the “joined up thinking” that goes on within broadcasters “If you want to change the whole industry, you have to look at it on a genre by genre basis. What matters in investigative journalism will differ from what matters in drama, so we have given ourselves fresh targets on what we can do with each of those genres every three to five years.” Abraham believes that it is equally important for Channel 4 to be diverse in terms of region- “in shows like Gogglebox you can see that we are around the country no particular bias to the south or the north- we represent all voices”.
I’m sure that many of you dear students are familiar with the channel’s online offering All Four, having spent too much of your time watching Raised by Wolves instead of doing that vital essay. You are not alone. According to Abraham, half of all 16-24 year olds in the UK are registered on All Four. All Four can be said to be part of Channel 4’s data strategy: monitoring user profiles and looking at their preferences. In his McTaggert lecture Abraham claimed that “A TV channel without a data strategy is like a submarine without sonar”. Abraham oversaw the introduction of “All Four”, which keeps track of the viewing experience. He explains “what was initially the catch up experience is now a whole range of experiences: live TV, catch up, ‘what’s next?’” What’s become clear in our interview is that for Abraham, innovation and creativity must always be supported by Channel 4’s independence and commercial viability.
There has been much concern in some quarters as to what a publically owned but commercially funded BBC might look like if the licence fee is abolished. The experience of Channel 4 might suggest we do not have too much to fear.
Here’s how to style your career in fashion
Founded in France in 1945, Elle is one of the largest and best selling fashion magazines in the world. I interviewed Elle’s fashion Director, the warm, friendly and straight-talking Anne-Marie Curtis. She has been working at the publication for over then years.
When I asked her if fashion was something she had always wanted to do, I was surprised to find that her journey to become Fashion Director didn’t start as one might think.
Curtis grew up in Essex. She attended a convent school and was cut off from all things fashion, At 15, she discovered a brochure for the Central School of St Martins and, to quote her exact words, “That was it, I just flipped.” On track to study English, she discovered that fashion was something she could do for a living. After studying Fashion at Trent Polytechnic she turned her attention to styling. From there she gained experience at smaller magazines and went on to become one of the founding members of Wallpaper magazine. In 2004, she joined Elle.
Envisioning a Devil Wears Prada-style office, I was curious to know what the average day is like working at Elle. Again, the reply wasn’t what I expected. Essentially, there is no average day. The variety of duties is immense – sometimes you’re in the office brainstorming mood boards, other days you’re being shown collections and other times you’re shooting the next editorial. Less than half the job is office-based.
When asking about where Curtis gets her inspiration from, again, it all came down to variety. The main source is, of course, the catwalk: taking the big trends and then “translating” them to the reader. Photography, art and film are all other sources of inspiration. The best shoots, she tells me, are those using influences outside the fashion world, stepping outside of the box. Talking about stepping outside the box brought me to think about the digital age and the relevance this has for fashion. It is, according to Curtis, a huge one. “Fashion is a reflection of the times we live in – we can’t just stand still and ignore the changes around us.” Nevertheless, she was firm in her belief that print magazines will continue to survive. “The magazine, she tells me, “is about the dream. It’s about having something tangible in your hands. It’s an experience. It’s magical.”
Hearing comments like this, it was impossible to miss Curtis’ enthusiasm for what she does. Here is a woman who loves her job. One can hardly be surprised; shooting celebrities, compiling a 30-page spread for Elle’s 25th anniversary and travelling to the most exotic places in the world isn’t exactly your everyday nine to five job.
I asked what advice she would give to any one interested in going into journalism more generally, including news, sport, and of course fashion. This time the answer was clear and could be summed up in one word: passion. Above all you need to be enthusiastic, willing to learn and driven in looking for as many opportunities and as much experience as you can get.
As the interview was coming to a close there was one niggling question I still wanted to ask. As someone immersed in the world of fashion, who sees the most gorgeous and beautiful clothes on a daily basis, what is her number one fashion rule? As one might imagine, her open- minded approach gave me no rigid answer; as the old saying goes, fashion has no rules. “It’s about finding your own style, feeling confident and empowered. Being playful and fun and not taking things too seriously.” Clothes are something to be loved; they are your friends, she tells me.
Thanking her again for her time, I reflected upon how my new Topshop dress was indeed a much cherished friend of mine
Review: Beachcombing
Beachcombing review As an audience we knew we were in good hands from the opening thirty seconds of beachcombing. It was probably the violence of Pink Floyd’s interstellar overdrive that announced the control and self assurance of Jack Clover’s second directorial foray. As the young Syd Barret continued his LSD fuelled riffing, the wonderful Will Stanford swam and generally scrambled around in a sea of a tarpaulin. This introduced the two other distinguishing elements of beachcombing. The first is the excellent cast, a truly fantastic ensemble that, like few others, exceeds the sum of its well-oiled parts. The second is the sea. It’s prominence in creating both a thematic unity and a presence against which the actors react made it the lynchpin of the play . The north sea and the surrounding Essex coast has been a source of fascination for Clover having featured in his last (cuppers winning) piece of writing. In Beachcombing the sea is witness to a delicate and meditative story about a priest James (Will Stanford) and a girl Amy (Aoife Cantrill). But is not quite a boy meets girl story. In the first place the boy arrives on the scene having already lost the girl (his wife) . In the second place James is in his mid fiftees while Amy is seventeen. They meet one desolate evening as James stares out into the sea, praying or monologing to his dead wife. Amy who is running away from home for the evening, observes him from behind a pew. She asks him to stay the night. A request which for some reason James accepts. It’s a decision which the other characters in the play soon come to find unacceptable and one which indeed on paper sounds a little suspect. But that would be to miss the point. There is no suggestion of pedophilia or undue conduct. Yet in spite of this, Amy clearly has an affect on James . She has some bearing on the memory of his dead wife, but we are never entirely sure why. Shortly after they first meet, we see one of James’s memories of his wife played out, with Aoife playing the wife. The play thus becomes as much about unraveling James and Amy’s relationship as it does about James and his wife’s. The possible connections are left to us to ponder. Accompanying this central story we have several interludes set to music. These very beautiful moments straddle the line between dance and physical theatre to express something of James’s marriage. The best thing about these was the music, it was such a pleasure to hear something other than ‘edgy’ music at the BT for once. Parallel to the James and Amy story is Amy’s own backstory. From the minute we begin to wonder why she showed up at the church at the time, we become ever more curious about what led her there in the first place. To tell this story Clover has enlisted two other equally excellent actors Fred Weinand and Alethea Redfern. Both do an exceptional job in multi rolling the various personalities that James and Amy encounter. Together they really conjure a sense of the quaint pettiness of the small village it is Beacombing is set in. They’re performances (and script) show just how much depth and atmosphere can be created with so very little. This was indeed a very beautiful viewing experience. The craft involved in the staging, acting and writing was top notch. My only fault with the play is its ending. In the end I’m not sure the plays says much about anything beyond itself and its characters. While that’s not really a fault, it did leave me feeling that something was perhaps ever so slightly lacking. But it’s a minor quibble in an otherwise exemplary studio show.
Oxford runs this Town
Two weeks on from the London Marathon, Sunday 10th May was Oxford’s turn to capitalise on the running bug. Nearly 4,000 runners took to the streets for the Town and Gown 10k through the city centre, many more lining the streets to cheer on their friends, family and fellow students.
Starting outside Keble, runners got to enjoy a tour of the city’s most historic sites on traffic-free roads, looping round to Magdalen and back up to St Giles via Cornmarket Street, before finishing in the University Parks. At not quite a half marathon, it’s a challenging but far from overly gruelling trial for most runners, with costumes abounding.
Miles Unterreiner put in the fastest time of the day, with a highly impressive 31:23, a minute in front of his closest rival. Having taken BUCS 10k silver last week, Unterreiner seems to be enjoying an excellent run of form at the moment.
The first woman home was Sophie Carter, of Belgrave AC, who took her third victory in this race in the last five years, clocking in at 36:32.
Much as with the London Marathon, to look only at the frontrunners is to misjudge the nature of the event.
In fact, the race is organised by the charity Muscular Dystrophy UK, with all profits going to the charity which helps those with a variety of muscle-wasting conditions. The most common, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, affects only males and has no cure, with a life expectancy for sufferers of around 20 years. From only this event last year, the charity managed to raise an incredible £155k, and, although final figures are not in, they hope to improve on this figure from this year’s event considerably given the surge in turn-out.
The race was started at 10am by the charity’s patron, author Christine Hamilton. There was also a junior 3km run beforehand. The youth event was not without incident though, after it had to be restarted after about ten minutes when the supporting motorcade took a wrong turn.
For the main event there was a late surge of interest as students and Oxford residents rushed to register on the morning of the race. One race organiser suggested to Cherwell that over 700 runners had registered on the day of the race itself.
A huge amount of credit is due to all finishers, both for raising funds and the training along the way. Following a record Oxford turnout at the London Marathon, it looks very much as though the Dark Blue momentum continues.
Brasenose brave the seas
When I finally decided to hang up my life jacket, five years ago now, I thought that it was for good. Oh buoy, how could I have been so wrong? When the call came in for any able-bodied volunteers, willing to take to the high seas (reservoir), in a desperate bid to defend our college’s pride and naval territories in this year’s sailing cuppers, I knew the time had come. As my old kit no longer fitted me, I donned my dad’s old life jacket, which had a retro and ‘hip’ (so I am told) style to it; it wouldn’t look amiss in Cellar. But in all seriousness, I did learn during the day that for yearly ‘initiations’, the Oxford Sailing Club goes out to Park End in their wetsuits and buoyancy aids.
So, early on Saturday 2nd May, we caught a bus over to Farmoor reservoir, a relatively large basin of water, split in two by a sizeable concrete wall. Whilst being initially confused as to why the reservoir had been divided in two, we wouldn’t have to wait long before our question was answered. As we stood in the clubhouse, staring at the great wall with confusion, we were called over to a dark corner of the bar by an old and mysterious man who we hadn’t noticed before.
“Beware ye who take to the waters on Farmoor reservoir. Beware ye of the killer shrimp! The only person to have encountered the killer shrimp and lived to tell the tale is old Mr MacPherson over there.”
But when we attempted ask this man more about his unfortunate encounter, we were met by screams of sheer terror.
Despite the warnings, we had come to sail and sail we would do. From the start, we knew we would be up against it, with only one of our team of four being an experienced regular Blues sailor. For Sailing Cuppers, as for regular training and inter-university competitions at the club, we were sailing the two-man Firefly dinghies. The Firefly has two sails, the mainsail and the jib, the smaller sail at the bow. Whilst the crew trims the jib and assists in ‘hiking out’, the helmsman steers the boat and controls the mainsail. In the morning, the group stages took place, in which we had eight races, which would decide which of the leagues we would start in for the afternoon’s racing, either bronze, silver or gold.
The short course made for some very close and exciting racing. Before the starting gun goes off, a three minute warning is given, during which time each boat strategically tries to determine if one end of the start line is favourable, and also time their approach to the line.
After a slow start, it was clear that my sailing prowess had gone somewhat rusty. The first leg of the course was up-wind, so you had to sail in a zig-zag pattern up towards the mark. After rounding the mark, there was a short reach (across the wind) to the second mark, followed by a long run (with the wind) down towards the bottom mark, then across to the last mark and up to the finish line.
Although we may not have fared too well according to the results, we brave few were definitely able to draw some personal satisfaction from not having capsized and avoiding an ugly death at the antennae of the killer shrimp.
After a fierce battle in the bronze league, we managed to scrape a respectable result with a nail-biting, yet very amateurish, finish to our last race.
But that’s enough about the minnows; in the Gold league some very strong boats from Lincoln (whose sailing stash was the envy of all the sailors there) and Brasenose battled it out for the coveted title of sailing cuppers champion. In the end, it was all smooth sailing for Brasenose, sinking their rivals and cruising to victory.
Oxford sinks light blue balls
You may have had the fortune of being in Balliol bar on a Tuesday night, supping on a nice pint of their signature Balliol Blue and stood watching a bunch of slightly worse-for-wear freshers gathered around the pool table moments before they brave the Hawaiian wilds of Lola Lo. You may have stood bemused as you watched them try to harness their inner Ronnie O’Sullivan, measuring angles and owning the perimeter of the table with the same swagger as “the greatest player ever to have picked up a cue”. Not that I mean to conflate Snooker and Pool – there is a significant difference, believe me – but, in truth, the only overlap between their game and Ronnie’s is the alcohol.
However, some men and women in our midst have mastered this art that eludes the intrepid punters of the college bars and JCRs across university: the Oxford University Pool and Snooker Club (OUPSC). Armed with just a cue and the clothes on their back, these troopers stepped behind enemy lines at the end of 2nd Week for their varsity showdown. Smarting from a 16 frames to nine defeat in the annual Town vs Gown match, the pool contingent of OUPSC were looking to equal their snooker counterparts who had already demolished the Tabs and their questionable Light Blue waistcoats 27 frames to 5 in Cowley back in March, in the first such clash since 2003.
By contrast the pool varsity has been a more regular fixture in the OUPSC calendar, with a contest having taken place every year since 1987. The format is a familiar one; a total of 90 frames are fiercely battled in both singles and doubles matches over two days. Historically, the Oxford side has dominated, leaving their Cantab counterparts in their wake with a staggering 16 victories between 1987 and 2005, dominance rarely seen in any varsity match across all sports. However, the last 10 years have seen an increased period of Light Blue dominance, in which Cambridge scored six convincing victories, including in the 2013 and 2014 editions of this vaunted varsity.
Hot off the heels of finishing top of their league, OUPSC were in good spirits as they arrived at the Cambridge Snooker Centre, itself a stone’s throw away from the famous Abbey Stadium, where minnows Cambridge United held Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney & Co to a scoreless draw in the FA Cup 3rd Round back in February, before being defeated handily in Manchester. Was this to be a dark omen for the Tabs?
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After scraping victory in the first set of singles, 19 frames to 17, the Dark Blues followed up with victory in the day’s doubles portion 10-8. Rapidly, the pool varsity showdown had begun to closely resemble that fabled cup-tie, as the two sides were almost at deadlock following the first day’s proceedings, as Oxford held a slender lead of just 4 frames at the close of play.
The second day was a different story altogether as Oxford’s class began to show. Oxford’s men began to notch victory after victory, quickly racking up an unassailable lead from what had initially seemed a closely matched contest. Clinical performances from Chris Yates, who notched a powerful 3-0 victory in his second singles match and Ben Green, who sank the winning black, were at the heart of this second day dominance as the Dark Blues clinched a 52-38, their first varsity victory since 2012. The performer of the weekend, however, was Alex Gregory-Allen who was nearly flawless, coming away with eight wins from nine.
Lax revenge for Teddy Hall
Old and new, experienced veterans and green rookies all took to the University Parks last Saturday to play a part in an enthralling mixed lacrosse Cuppers tournament.
The format of the competition was simple with the teams being randomly allocated into four pools of five teams. From there, only the winners of each of the four groups would advance to the semi-finals. Although some teams failed to show up, each group had at least four teams competing. With all the teams knowing that only one side would progress from each group, each match was vital and a series of tense encounters ensued.
Following on from their netball Cuppers success, Teddy Hall managed to qualify for the next round with relative ease after fending off competition from colleges such as Brasenose. Their semi-final opponents were competition favourites Keble, who had struggled to overcome Lady Margaret Hall at the group stages.
In the other half of the draw, it was St Hilda’s who navigated a tricky group which included colleges such as St Catherine’s and Queens. It was in the last group that the battle for a berth into the semi-final was most intense, with no team in the group dominating its opponents. Oriel and Christ Church both started impressively, with Oriel winning their first match 4-0. Christ Church also got off to a hot start, beating their first two opponents, which included Oriel.
However, it was the joint team of Wadham and St Anne’s that were to finish strongly in the group and qualified to the next stage. They only dropped points in the last match in a 1-1 draw against an Oriel team.
St Hilda’s played Wadham/St Anne’s in a tight game that was, in the end won, by Wadham/St Anne’s, surprising given that they had only been formed as a team on the day of the tournament.
Even more surprising, however, was the result of the next semi-final. In a reversal of the recent rugby Cuppers victory over them, Teddy Hall overcame the odds to beat the much-fancied Keble side.
In the final of what had been, up to this point, an unpredictable tournament, there came a match that was never really in doubt. Buoyed by their stunning victory over Keble, Teddy Hall continued in that fierce vein of form and swept into the final confident of their ability to overcome a team that had only been created on the day of Cuppers itself. Wadham and St Anne’s could not quite overcome their opposition and fell to defeat at the last after their own remarkable performance that day. It was a familiar final result in what had been a surprising tournament full of shocks and close fought battles.
GrVIII expectations for bumps
It’s that time of year again: we’re well and truly on the road to Summer VIIIs. With everyone back from training camps and capitalising on relatively clement weather at the start of Trinity, the Isis looks set to host another thrilling set of bumps races.
Starting at head of the river and looking to continue their winning ways this term is Oriel in the men’s league. Strengthened by the arrival of three Blues rowers, they are certain to be confident in holding off Pembroke on the
Wednesday. However victory is far from guaranteed. Rumours are circulating of a Christ Church gunship stacked to high heaven with OUBC oarsmen who have learned from past mistakes and started training as a crew from the start of term. Should they be able to become more than the sum of their parts this crew has the potential to be very quick – definitely one to watch.
Noteworthy too are Keble who look set for another year of tearing up the charts with a ridiculous number of University oarsmen. Sadly, without a serious increase in fi repower, I fear Magdalen will be left rowing over every day. Similarly Trinity without Stan Louloudis and Mike Di Santo will struggle to replicate their strong performance from last year. Prize for the biggest grudge on day one has to go to Balliol who will be wanting to bump Wolfson into the bank after dropping half a division thanks to an unfortunately timed bump in the Gut on Friday of Torpids.
Whilst Torpids was a fairly open and shut case with predictable bumps, the bottom end of division one and the top of division two of VIIIs has some genuinely interesting line-ups taking form. The top end of division two sees New College chasing Hertford chasing Wadham. All three crews did very well in Torpids across division one and the top of division two – it will be interesting to see who comes out on top this time in a direct comparison.
The bottom of division one sees Wadham and Hertford chasing Teddy Hall as sandwich boat. I’m sure either of these crews will be faster than Teddy Hall but can they catch them before Teddy Hall catch Worcester? A correct prediction in this region means guaranteed fantasy bumps success.
Elsewhere Jesus and Mansfield will be looking to build on their strong performance at Torpids. LMH, filled with Blues, will be looking to make up for a weaker start to the season and get revenge on Brasenose.
On the women’s side, Wadham was untouchable at Torpids and I expect more of the same dominant form come 5th Week. Their crew is strengthened with the addition of Madeline Badcott from the dominant OUWBC crew and will be looking to claim a double headship. I expect Pembroke to take at least third place and maybe even snatch second on the river from St John’s with their smattering of Blues. The field further down the division looks set to be filled with very exciting racing; expect very few bumps before Boathouse Island.
Keble, Wolfson and Hertford – all stormed their way to blades in Torpids and now start ninth, tenth and eleventh respectively in division one. Balliol will be boosted by Caryn ‘Superwoman’ Davies so expect them to perform respectably after an average Torpids campaign. Infused with ‘Bostrom magic’, Lincoln will be looking to continue their Torpids success (up three) into VIIIs.
I’ll conclude with a few picks and tips from elsewhere. Teams to look out for include Regent’s Park, who despite being low down the field put in a strong performance at Torpids, and Pembroke W2 and Balliol W2 which both seem to have good depth and strength in their squads.
With well over 10,000 spectators in attendance Summer VIIIs stands out as one of the most popular rowing events in the UK. It’s not to be missed.
Outrage from Oxford left following election result
Oxford Left Wing students have responded to the election result by initiating an anti-austerity movement, whilst Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) has written an open letter thanking Ed Miliband.
Various left wing groups wishing to oppose the government gathered at the Wadham Refectory on Wednesday at an event entitled ‘Oxford Fight Back’, which was organised by Oxford Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century (rs21).
Representatives from Trade Union Unite, OUSU’s LGBTQ Campaign, Oxford Antifascist Network, Mind your Head and Amnesty all attended the meeting.
The group described themselves as “overall anti-austerity” and as “trying to build increased community links and protect the community from the Tory government”.
LGBTQ Society trans rep Rowan Davis, who was chair of the meeting, commented, “In the face of five years of Tory cuts to civil liberties and the welfare state, hundreds of students and community members came together to channel the very personal anger they felt into organising a political resistance and filling in the gaps that Tory austerity will leave in its wake. The meeting successfully brought together a variety of disparate groups and I for one can’t wait to see what the new working groups come up with.”
The group at the meeting did declare, however, that they were wary of creating yet another “patronising” student group that claims to want to reach out to the community.
They plan to “tap into the traditions of Oxford protest” and involve themselves in other activism.
They also showed interest in national demonstrations, particularly ‘End Austerity Now’, which will take place on 20th June in London.
Maryam Ahmed, President of the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) commented, “I am disappointed and upset at all the ad hominem attacks flying around on social media right now. As much as I might disagree with Labour, Lib Dem, Green, UKIP or even BNP policy, I really do believe that people of all political leanings have fundamentally good intentions.
“We’re all in this because we want to help people, we just disagree on the methods. And so I’d never dream of referring to an opposing party as ‘scum’, ‘bastards’ or any of the other unsavoury terms I’ve seen people using against the Conservatives. We’re better than this, guys.”
Meanwhile, Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) has written an open letter to ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband, thanking him for the work he did during his five years as Leader of the Opposition.
Miliband resigned as leader last Friday after Labour’s worst election result since 1987, which left the party on 232 seats, a loss of 26 seats from 2010 and nearly a hundred seats short of David Cameron’s Conservative majority of 331.
In his resignation speech, Miliband apologised for Labour’s poll-defying defeat, saying he took “absolute and total responsibility for the result”.
Madalena Leao and Loughlan O’Doherty, OULC’s current co-chairs, commented, “For the Labour Club, and indeed the Labour movement at large, Thursday’s defeat was both unexpected in its magnitude, and immensely difficult in its implications. We are all of us dreading what a Tory government will do to this country.
“However, we are also concerned that in the aftermath of the election the Labour Party regroup as quickly and effectively as possible.
“In particular we are concerned that the loss of the election will prompt a rightward movement within the party and a loss of interest in some of what we consider to be highly important issues, and in particular a concern with the poorest and most vulnerable in society.
“The letter itself makes clear why we think that Labour lost as it did. We do not, as of yet have any preference for a particular leader, we do however have strong opinions on the move the party needs to take.
“We believe that the party needs to continue to build on its policies that target inequality and injustice within our society.
“Growth is only valuable if it works for those at the bottom end of society, similarly business is only valuable if it benefits all, and in particular its least well paid employees.
“This is not a case of ignoring middle class voters. Greater equality, a stronger NHS, a better education system, a society in which people don’t have to visit food banks, all these things benefit the whole of society.”
