Tuesday 8th July 2025
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Amelia Hamer removed as Oxford Student Editor

Helen Thomas
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Amelia Hamer removed as Oxford Student Editor

Amelia Hamer has been removed as Editor of The Oxford Student following the publication of an online article in June. 

The decision was taken by the board of OUSU’s Oxford Student Services Limited (OSSL), which publishes The Oxford Student newspaper. In a statement made on their website, OSSL said that the decision to drop Hamer as Editor has been taken as the board has “lost confidence in her because of her handling of an article published (briefly) on The Oxford Student website on 29 June 2014”. They also stated, “Hamer is entitled to appeal the decision to OUSU Council”. The OSSL Board is made up of the OUSU President, Louis Trup, the Vice Presidents and an OUSU staff member.

The article, published under ‘The OxStu News Team’ byline and entitled ‘Oxford Union ‘rape victim knew her claim was false”, featured messages between ex-Oxford Union President Ben Sullivan, who was accused of rape earlier this year, and his alleged victim. The article was subsequently accused of victim-blaming and compromising the identity of the victim in question, and removed. However, an identical article, also co-written by Hamer, remains published on The Telegraph website.

Thames Valley Police and the Crown Prosecution Service decided against pursuing charges against Ben Sullivan in June; a week before Hamer’s article was published.

In an online petition that currently has 316 signatures, Siobhan Fention, former Editor of The Oxford Tab, called for The Oxford Student to “issue a full apology acknowledging that the victim blaming in your article was wrong and irresponsible. Amelia Hamer, writer of the article and editor of the OxStu, must resign.” In light of Hamer’s dismissal, Fenton said, “I am relieved by the OSSL board’s decision to now remove Amelia Hamer as editor of the OxStu. I hope that the university strives to support its students, to engage in progressive discussions about rape myths and to send the message that no victim is ever responsible for their attack.”

Earlier this month, OUSU responded to the claims made against the article by announcing that they would send the two Oxford Student Editors on a media law training course worth nearly £200 each. In an article for The Tab, Fenton said, “Such a response is at best meek and at worst insulting”. 

Caitlin Tickell, from OUSU’s WomCam, stated, “It is right that Amelia Hamer has been sacked for the horrendous article written last term, which peddled rape myth after rape myth, and may well have compromised the anonymity of the women mentioned.”

She added, “There is no place in our university for that kind of victim blaming and it is incredibly important that we work towards making safe spaces for victims of sexual assault and this action is a step in the right direction. I hope that all student journalists will think about how they report on issues of sexual violence, and that measures are put in place to ensure nothing so offensive happens on our campus again.” 

However, in an e-mail to her editorial team, Hamer responded to the accusations and her dismissal by stating, “I’ve been called all manner of things over the past three months – “rape apologist”, “slut shamer”, “victim blamer”. I can assure you that I am none of these things. What I am is someone who cares about the truth.”

When answering why The Oxford Student chose to publish the article, Hamer stated that it was “not because we were attempting to “shame” a supposed rape victim or support Ben Sullivan, but because the information was in the public interest. There is little point to a newspaper if not to reveal information that people have a right to know.”

She continued, “The copy was far from perfect, but it was not illegal and did not break the PCC’s Editor’s Code of Conduct.” In response to Fenton’s petition, Hamer wrote, “People demanded an apology: we largely didn’t issue an apology because the OxStu legal advisors advised against it.” She described OSSL’s actions as “unjust,” and said that “the OxStu as a legitimate, independent publication is dead”.

Cherwell has contacted OUSU President Louis Trup for comment. 

The melting pot of the Middle-East

Zena Agha
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The melting pot of the Middle-East

I’ve often heard it said that Amman is one of the most boring cities in the Arab world. That judgement is not altogether untrue, it lacks the key ingredient that makes the Middle East the richest place in the world: history. Amman has barely been around since the 18th century, practically an embryo when compared to Damascus, which is the oldest inhabited city in the world, not to mention Baghdad, Jersusalem, Cairo et al. They also say Amman is devoid of culture: the markets aren’t as bustling, the mosques aren’t as beautiful, the food (a big part of Arabic society) isn’t as flavoursome and there are malls, McDonald’s and consumer brands galore.

Having said that, Amman’s young history is precisely why its people are carving out their own. Jordan – especially Amman – is a nation of refugees. Over 60% of the population are Palestinian refugees, be it from the Nakba (1948), 1967 or any of the other contentious points in the demise of Palestine. Since then there has been an influx of Iraqis post-2003 and (of late) Syrians, not to mention the six million economic migrants from Egypt. Jordanians, such as they are (remember these borders and ethnicities are not our own and have existed for less than a century) are very much in the minority and that has been reflected in the demographics. Jordan’s relative stability makes it the first port of call when calamity strikes the region. The results of this – though tragic – are rather beautiful: Arabs from all over the region who have endured civil war, ethnic cleansing and persecution have found a tentative solace in Jordan and their creativity is rapidly burgeoning. There are bars and restaurants, courses in Arabic and fashion, there are web designers, actors, musicians all meeting in the creative waiting room that is Jordan.

Amman itself is a mountainous city, comprised of seven or so ‘circles’ (roundabouts) which connect the sprawling centres. The trendy Paris Circle in Jabel Webdeh is rapidly becoming the haunt of edgy tourists and locals alike who work in the cool cafés with MacBook Pros, harem pants and drink watermelon juice or Iranian coffee (yes I’ve deftly just described what I’m doing now – is this the Arab equivalent to Champagne socialism?) These people frequent cool parties on rooftops overlooking the city and talk politics. Indeed Jordan has an inherently politicised population. Arabs are perpetually gripped in discussions about the future of the Middle East – particularly the role of Israel. You cannot enter a café without hearing (watermelon juice in hand) the young fiercely debate the future in accented English and Levantine Arabic.

The politics is both a relic of the outgoing refugee population and an indicator of what’s to come. The discussions are simultaneously harrowing (the stories one hears are truly heartbreaking) and inspiring: here is a population that is unafraid to vocalise its hesitations about dictators, revolutions, gender, sexuality – and pivotally – its Zionist neighbour. They are increasingly engaged and educated. Provided the peace remains, (a legitimate concern considering the early signs of ISIS in the country) we will see a generation of intelligent and ambitious minds. It is precisely these discussions that make Amman worth visiting. The politics of the region will undoubtedly get dirtier but the young are rapidly seeking out solutions, not just settling for the status quo. Amman used to be a stepping stone to the rest of the region but now, with war raging on three borders and these young minds mixing together, there’s a lot to be said for visiting the Middle East’s melting pot.

 

University and OUSU move to tackle sexual harassment

Tom Calver
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University and OUSU move to tackle sexual harassment

Both OUSU and University authorities have promised new measures to tackle sexual harassment, starting with OUSU’s compulsory consent workshops to be held in freshers’ week.

The University has also promised that a revised harassment policy, to be released “during the course of the term”, will make “explicit its inclusion of all aspects of harassment, including sexual violence, assault and stalking”, as well as “encourage disclosure”,

The announcements follow major concerns about the ways in which University officials deal with cases of sexual harassment.

A recent survey by the NUS reported that 37% of women and 12% of men say they have faced unwelcome sexual advances in the form of inappropriate groping and touching, while at the start of the month an Oxford student using the pseudonym Maria Marcello wrote a blog describing how she had been raped while she lay unconscious at a party.

She describes how the University largely ignored her requests for help, and that the police – in forcing her to make a decision whether to press charges or not, while emphasising that her case would not stand up in court – pressured her into dropping the case.

When queried about the failings of the existing harassment policy, a university spokesperson told Cherwell that the review for the new policy “in formulating a procedure for students, has focussed on providing the complainant with a greater right of inclusion within the process, with a consistent point of contact for advice and support.

“The procedure details the stages of the process and also provides clarity for students as to where they should go for professional and practical advice. Where the matter is potentially a criminal offence, the student will be encouraged to report allegations to the police.

“All forms of harassment are unacceptable at Oxford and all members of the University community are expected to play their part in creating an environment which is free from it.”

Commenting on the new policy, OUSU Vice President (women) Anna Bradshaw told Cherwell, “Over the last few years OUSU has put a lot of work into improving harassment policies and procedures at Oxford University.  OUSU’s It Happens Here campaign, successive Vice-Presidents (Women), and members of the Student Advice Service team have worked with the University to update the University’s harassment policy. 

“The new policy is in the final stages of edits and approval, and I am personally really pleased with how much of an improvement it will make to the current policy.”

The University is also working on new training methods for its staff – a spokesperson explained that “pilot workshops were run in spring 2014 for front-line staff in colleges to build their confidence in responding effectively to reports of any type of abuse”, while in particular, staff have been guided on signposting students to sources of specialist advice and support, as appropriate to the incident.

Meanwhile, at least 24 colleges will be holding OUSU sexual consent workshops this freshers’ week, with 20 of those compulsory for first year undergraduates. The workshops have been running across the university since 2011, while Wadham was the first to make theirs compulsory last year.

The aims of these workshops, as an OUSU statement explains, are to “provide a safe space in which to evaluate and develop our understanding of sexual consent, and to stimulate community-wide conversations about sexual consent. This helps to create a culture of enthusiastic and informed consent, and may also help to reduce harmful attitudes towards sexual violence such as victim blaming.

“The workshops deliberately validate the stories of survivors of sexual violence, and send a clear message that sexual violence is not tolerated within the community. We believe that all of these measures are desperately needed.”

The workshops will last for one hour, and take place in groups of about 10 students, while all facilitators are trained by OUSU. In March 2013 the workshops were a finalist in the UK Sexual Health Awards in the category ‘Adult sexual health service/project of the year’.

While they may be nationally recognised, organisers are keen for them to become compulsory for all new Oxford students. Jesus’s JCR women’s representative Emilia Carslaw explained that if the workshops were optional, “Only those who were already interested in consent-based issues would attend.”

Bradshaw has however expressed her excitement at the number of JCRs who have so far agreed to run the workshops, telling Cherwell, “[the workshops were] a central election pledge of mine in November, and it has been wonderful to work with so many students who recognise the importance of starting college-wide conversations about sexual consent.”

However, because of the relative autonomy of each college, it is not certain that the policy will be immediately adopted across the entire university. “A big piece of work for OUSU this year, led by our campaigns and working with the University, will be to pressure colleges to update their harassment policies to match,” Bradshaw explained.

“The updated policy is a step firmly in the right direction, but we need to change the culture as well as the policy. This is why growing the OUSU Sexual Consent Workshops is a key focus for me this year, because a shift in culture is what they are all about.” 

Details about the University’s current harassment policy can be found here.

Hertford hall now decorated solely by portraits of women

Alex Stronell
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Hertford hall now decorated solely by portraits of women

Hertford College has commemorated the 40th anniversary of the first admission of women to the college by replacing the formerly all male selection of portraits hanging in the hall with those of women.

The project, pioneered by Hertford fellow Dr Emma Smith, includes images of the college’s first woman fellow, Julia Briggs; former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith; museum curator Xanthe Brook; and BBC News reporter Natasha Kaplinsky. 

Smith remarked, “We haven’t gone for our most famous, most successful or richest. They’re not necessarily intended to be aspirational figures – they’re just some individuals who have done some interesting things.”

Twenty-one photographs were commissioned, most from photographer Robert Taylor. As part of the initiative the college even attempted to source a doe’s head to replace the stag trophy hanging in the hall. “Alas, there’s no doe so far”, Home Bursar Dr Andrew Beaumont told Cherwell. “Funnily enough, hunters don’t tend to keep does’ heads as trophies – the conspicuous lack of antlers among female deers being a fairly major reason – so try as I might, I’ve not been able to source one. The stag will be sharing my office for the time being. You’re welcome to visit and pet him if you like”.

Florence Kettle, co-founder of the Hertford Feminist Society told Cherwell, “I love what the portraits represent – our college’s commitment to equality and progression. Sitting in hall, we’ve joked about not being able to relate to all these anonymous historical white men or the anonymous stag, and it’s fantastic to see change in our environment, provoking us to think about what we surround ourselves with and why.” 

She continued, “Seeing these women on our walls challenges what we value and how we express that as a college and university, and gives us a chance to stick it to the racists and sexists of the past. Hertfordians are not all men, not all white, and are very much alive and delighted to see these portraits change. It is about time we saw physical manifestations of who we are today as Hertford, and who we want to be in the future.”

Under the initiative, which has been in the pipeline since last year, the portraits are intended to hang for one year, but Dr Smith seemed hopeful that their stay might be extended. Speaking to Cherwell, she said, “We will wait to see what people think – especially our students – when they come back in a couple of weeks, before making a decision about what happens after that.”

Second-year Hertfordian Rebecca Grant added, “This is a very visible commitment to reflecting women’s achievements and contributions to Hertford and the world. Hertford’s Hall, like that of other colleges, is an important social and ceremonial space – as sixty percent of our undergraduate body is made up of women, it seemed odd that the pinnacle of success was represented exclusively by deceased white men – that’s my excuse for not getting a distinction in Prelims anyway.”

Meanwhile when asked if other colleges should do the same, Hertford student Ellen O’Neill commented, “it might do something to combat the Riot Club-style perception of this university. We absolutely should celebrate such great C16th alumni as we have, but I am looking forward to sitting in the hall every day and seeing people who are really worth my admiration (and whose identities are actually known) as well as knowing I am in an institution that publically accords the same respect to living women as dead white men.”

Review: Magic in the Moonlight

Damien Shannon
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Review: Magic in the Moonlight

★★★★☆
Four Stars

Woody Allen’s sheer capacity for work puts most film directors to shame. He has written and directed a feature length film almost every year since the early 1970s, taking lead acting roles in many. 2013’s effort was Blue Jasmine, a rework of Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire so good it earned its lead actress this year’s Academy Award. For 2014, we have Magic in the Moonlight.

Set in the 1920s, the film opens with a magic show performed by ‘master magician’ Stanley (played by a typically superb Colin Firth). After the show, he is approached backstage by an old friend, also a magician, who requests his help in exposing as a fraud a purported psychic medium. This invitation Stanley accepts enthusiastically, and in doing so travels to the south of France.

Here he meets Sophie, the supposed psychic, played by Emma Stone. Sophie is beautiful, likeable and disarming. She is also without wealth or status. Encouraged by her mother, she has been using her ‘gift’ to win the affections of a wealthy aristocratic English family with whom she has taken residence. One of the young men in this family – a future inheritor of its estate – has blindly fallen for Sophie, and after inflicting upon her a dreadful self-sung serenade, makes a marriage proposal.

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Stanley is a child of late Victorian England. He is avowedly and eloquently committed to the power of science and reason. He elevates rationality as the highest human ideal, and abhors sentiment and emotion. He espouses a Hobbesian view of humanity, seeing life as nasty, brutish and short. He quotes Nietzsche approvingly, and is a firm atheist. His intellectual dynamism enables him to successfully manipulate audiences into believing his magician’s act, and his proficiency as a magician he fully expects will equip him to expose Sophie as a fraud.

Events turn out quite the contrary. Sophie’s abilities seem to defy reason. She has personal knowledge of Stanley and his aunt despite never having met them. Unable to formulate a rational explanation for Sophie’s ‘abilities’, Stanley becomes spellbound by her. He abandons his earthly rationality, and with it his Hobbesian views. He begins to appreciate beauty, art and nature. His entire life changes.

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All of Allen’s films are at least in part confessionals. Perhaps twenty years ago Stanley would have been played by Allen himself. Magic in the Moonlight continues a long-running Allen theme – man’s power of reason eluding him, confounded by love. Stanley’s pessimistic view of the world is symptomatic of the absence of genuine romantic love in his life. When he finds this in Sophie, all of his beliefs crumble and he finds himself questioning the very nature of existence. Of what worth is rationality if it proves so frail?

The critical press has been near unanimous in its verdict – this is not Allen’s finest effort. That assessment is fair but ultimately misguided. This is a delicate, clever and humorous exploration of male frailty. While not quite on par with Manhattan or Everyone Says I Love You for sheer enjoyment, like all Allen films, this is essential viewing.

Review: Night Moves

Sam Joyce
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Review: Night Moves

★★★☆☆
Three Stars

A corkscrew wind chime hangs from a tree, spinning in the wind. Its edges grow and shrink as it turns, in and out, in and out. It’s always there, yet seems to disappear and reappear. This image defines Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves, an ecopolitical thriller which follows three activists in the build up to, and aftermath of, their attempt to destroy a hydroelectric dam.

The film is obsessed with this apparent magic trick, with the idea of hiding in plain sight. Unfortunately however, just like the wind chime, an illusion can only hold your attention for so long and, after a promising start, the film gradually squanders our interest as it runs out of places to go.

A slow burn from start to end, the film takes its time introducing its characters and revealing the plot. We’re first introduced to Josh, an introverted, calculating presence played with surprising shades of vulnerability by Jesse Eisenberg.

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Josh is soon joined by Dakota Fanning’s Dena, and Harmon, a lackadaisical ex-marine perfectly played by Peter Sarsgaard. The film shines in the quiet moments of miscommunication between these three characters, who must trust each other with their lives, but know and say so little to one another.

We feel the anxiety of the characters as we follow them through the minutiae of their preparations. We watch them procure a boat, acquire 500 lbs of fertiliser, and navigate a police check. Reichardt wrings every drop of tension from these situations – we watch in terror as the characters push the needle between making progress and attracting attention.

For much of the film’s midsection, Reichardt wisely puts the focus on Dena, whose humour and passion make her the film’s most likeable character, even as she remains something of an enigma. Fanning’s slightly rehearsed quality becomes a virtue in the role. Her behaviour is learned, copied, and replicated from those around her. We, like Josh and Harmon, never know exactly who we’re looking at.

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The film is really a film of two halves, the first perhaps the least glamorous heist movie ever shot, the second an attempt to dramatise the human costs of secrecy. The first half’s slow, steady pace does nothing to hinder its sense of purpose, thanks to Reichardt’s controlled direction and three strong performances from her leads.

However, the script takes a risky gamble by placing the heist as the film’s centrepiece rather than its climax, and it’s a bad bet from which the film never truly recovers. The explosion sends the gang scattering in all directions, off to hide in the normalcy of their everyday lives. Reichardt cuts short the film’s most compelling aspect – the paranoia and mistrust between the conspirators – by separating the characters for the final hour, and as a result the film drags without a clear direction.

The motivations of the central trio are sketched only lightly – ideological, humanitarian, perhaps a little anarchic. This lightness of touch allows the film to engage politically without having an agenda itself. It seems content to act as a conduit for discussion, rather than attempt to provide conclusions.

An early scene sees Dena and Josh watching an activist’s film screening. The film is crude and amateurish, but they are inspired to act by its message of small scale resistance. Later a character remarks that blowing up the dam was “just a piece of theatre.” In this way the film offers differing perspectives on the medium of terrorism, but they never loom too large over the human story at the film’s fore. It’s a tricky balancing act, and not a wholly satisfying one.

Reichardt, as she has in her previous films, wonderfully captures the dichotomous tranquility and wildness of nature. The score is minimalist but ominous, the editing sparse but deliberate. Her style is austere, but it brims with portent.  She presents us with her story, with her images, but we are left to infer their meaning; we are, like that wind chime, twirling in the breeze.

Oxford City Council divests from fossil fuels

Luke Barratt
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Oxford City Council divests from fossil fuels

Oxford City Council has become the first UK Council to commit to divest from fossil fuel companies after an online campaign reached almost 700 signatures.

At a meeting of the full council on July 14th 2014, a motion proposed by Green Party Councillor Craig Simmons was passed, committing the council to end direct investment in fossil fuel firms.

The motion was seconded by Councillor Ruthi Brandt. 

Campaigners waited until September 16th to announce the historic event, so that it would coincide with the lead-up to the UN climate summit in New York this week.

The action by Oxford City Council is a landmark in the rapid progress of fossil fuel divestment campaigns. A recent study by the University of Oxford found that the current campaign was growing faster than any previous one, and could cause significant damage to coal, oil and gas companies.

Miriam Wilson, from the Turl Street-based People and Planet, commented, “Oxford City Council’s decision to divest from the fossil fuel industry is a great triumph for the UK Fossil Free campaign. As the first council in the UK to divest, Oxford is leading the way forward for other institutions to follow suit. In the absence of bold action on climate change by our world leaders, it is absolutely vital that our municipal governments take significant steps to address this most pressing threat. I hope that Oxford City Council will be the first of many in the UK to do so.”

While the news was greeted enthusiastically by campaigners at Fossil Free Oxfordshire Divestment campaign, many were quick to point out that this is not the end of the road. The Oxfordshire Local Government Pension Fund, according to information obtained by the Oxford Mail, still invests £27.9m in fossil fuel firms.

Councillor Bob Price, Leader of Oxford City Council, told Cherwell, “The City Council’s direct investments have historically been restricted to a limited range of banks and building societies with high security ratings; equity investment has not featured.

“However, Oxfordshire County Council manages the Oxfordshire Local Government Pension Fund, to which City Council employees’ contributions and the employer element of the Scheme funding are directed, and some proportion of that fund is invested in equities. The City Council has sought the Fund’s agreement to move away from investing in fossil fuel companies but that has not been accepted.”

But a spokesman from Oxford County Council insisted that the authority had no legal power to choose its investments on ethical grounds.

The news of Oxford City Council’s commitment to battling climate change comes soon after some 67 Oxford academics, including Lord Professor Robert May, former Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and Head of the UK Office of Science and Technology, wrote an open letter to the University asking it to end its own investments in fossil fuels, something a number of American universities, including Stanford, have already done.

Oxford medics question proposed bus link

Emilia Belli
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Oxford medics question proposed bus link

A new bus service will halve the time taken to travel between Oxford University’s science corridor on South Parks and the John Radcliffe hospital, transporting “thousands” of students and staff.

The 600 will run from Pear Tree Park and Ride through to the John Radcliffe Hospital via Woodstock Road, Banbury Road, St. Clement’s and Headley Way. The service will cut a 30 minute journey, including a walk to the High Street, to just 14 minutes. The service will be available from September 29th and will run from Monday to Friday between 9.50am and 3.20pm.

The University has greeted the new service with enthusiasm, with William James, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Professor of Virology, stating, “the new 600 service is an excellent initiative that I hope will enable not only further collaboration between our medical sciences departments and a closer partnership with the NHS, but also help reduce traffic and parking in Oxford.”

Ed Wigzell, travel officer for Oxford University, said, “the main aim is to provide a link between the science area and the Headington hospitals. There’s more than 4,000 staff and many more students working and studying here in the science corridor and many of these need to travel to and from the hospitals.”

If it proves popular, the Oxford Bus Company may increase service to run during peak times and at weekends.

While the service will clearly benefit residents of North Oxford by providing them with direct links to the hospitals, Medical Sciences students remained less convinced. Ealish Swift, a 3rd year medic at Jesus, thought that it might help “the hit-and-miss nature of trying to catch a bus to the JR from the High Street from lectures” but added, “I probably won’t benefit this year. However, those who are doing research projects based at the hospital might appreciate this.”

Gareth Davies, a Wadham 4th year, was more skeptical, telling Cherwell,“I can’t see myself ever using it. The fact it’s only 9:50-15:20 means that most medics won’t find its service hours useful.”

Sam Skillcorn, a second year medic, echoed this cynicism, saying, “the only time I’d ever get this bus is if I fall over on my way to a lecture and need to go to A&E.”

 

Should the rest of the UK care about Scottish independence?

Tom Carter
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Should the rest of the UK care about Scottish independence?

I did not intend for this article to happen. Instead, I imagined myself commissioning a friend of mine, notorious for his ideological flexibility, to write an I-don’t-give-a-shit article about Scottish Independence. After all, Scotland only comprises 8% of the UK’s population and independence, whilst it would inevitably cause seismic change up north, would not change much down south. Indeed, a recent survey showed that only 55% of English people cared about the referendum and that the majority thought that secession would leave the rest of the UK’s place on the world stage either unaltered or even magnified. Heck, after all the English hate that the most militant yes campaigners express, and their shocking overconfidence in an independent Scotland, it is unsurprising that the reaction of many of my friends to Scottish independence is one of mirth; intrigued by the idea of a constitutional shake up but at the same time ready to laugh when Scotland goes to the dogs. When one considers that independence would get rid of the great inequality in UK public spending whereby Scotland receive £1,623 per head more than the rest of the UK, a case could be made that, if anything, independence would be great for the average Oxford student.

Yet, as with much of what has been said in the campaign, this view is painfully narrow-minded. Both campaigns seem to suffer from an acute case of short-termism. The Yes campaign’s biggest asset undoubtedly is hatred and distrust of Westminster as epitomised most poignantly by the twin evils of Thatcher and Cameron. Their economic case is predicated on oil revenue that can only be predicted with any certainty in the short-term future. So the reference points for this campaign only really extend 30 years either way. For sure, the present is important and it is very easy to see the case for independence in the light of the damage Thatcher wreaked upon Scotland. Never again would be seemingly a good enough motive for any Aye voter.

Even the No campaign have been focusing quite rightly on the technicalities of what a split would actually entail for Scotland in the next 10 to 20 years. Yet, there is so much more to it than that.  The Union has not existed for only 30, or 60, or 150 years, but for more than 300. Its importance transcends generational problems, the problems that both campaigns seem to be focusing on. Nothing annoys me more than when Alex Salmond pops his head up and says that this is a ‘Once in a generation’ choice. It is not and to say so mitigates its importance. Constitutionally at least, its not even a ‘once in a lifetime’ choice but a ‘once in half-a-millennium’ one. So, the very notion that the outcome of the referendum could turn on a hatred of David Cameron is a rather grating one.

I am not saying, however, that the two campaigns are wrong to take such a short-termist approach. Nothing motivates the voter more than the immediate future. I am rather saying that despite the temptation to view the referendum as a far off distraction, when looked at through a longer-term lens it becomes very important indeed. There has always been a curious tension between our national identities (English, Scottish et cetera) and the supranational Britishness, one that this campaign has brought to the fore. Yet, after 300 years of Union, the interconnectedness of the Scottish, English and Welsh is undeniable. I am but one of many whose roots are as Scottish as English, having been born in Edinburgh and in possession of Scottish ancestry.

Indeed, whilst Scotland itself has five million residents, 800,000 further Scots live in the rest of the UK, disenfranchised in the upcoming referendum. Politically, the last Labour government counted a Scottish Prime Minister, Chancellor and Defence Secretary within its ranks. It is undeniable, to use clichéd terminology, that Scotland is an inextricable part of the family. We may formally be separate peoples but practically we are anything but. Thus, that is my first reason why the English should care: Scotland going independent would be more akin to our family being broken up than the ejection of a tenant.

A second, and closely related, reason is the extent to which we can achieve more together than apart. Being in the United Kingdom has undoubtedly given Scotland an advantage, not least free trade with the rest of Britain – its main trading partner – one of the primary reasons behind the establishment of the Union in the first place. The UK has given Scotland a platform to do things that it could never have accomplished otherwise, from a pioneering role the Industrial Revolution to extending its influence to all corners of the globe.  Yet Scotland has also itself been integral to the great success that we, the United Kingdom, have achieved in the past few centuries. Scots stood shoulder to shoulder with Englishmen in both world wars. The State that we have forged today, as much Scottish as English, is the envy of the world, with a national health service, free for all.  Alexander Fleming, a Scot, discovered penicillin in an English laboratory. To use an example closer to home, without the 14 Scottish medallists at London 2012, Team GB would have plummeted down the rankings. Thus, a Yes vote on Thursday would put an end to one of the most successful partnerships of all time.

Admittedly, this all seems slightly romanticised and emotional. After all, isn’t it the future that counts? Well, an independent Scotland would be damaging for that too. Not just for Scotland itself but for England as well. It is predicted that GDP growth for the rest of the UK would dramatically slow as a result of independence whilst the UK would lose 32% of its land mass. A lot of time and money would have to be expended on the transition, thereby forcing the English to neglect other pressing issues such as the rise of Islamic State. Trident alone would cost up to £3.5 billion to relocate. But it is far more than money or time which England would lose due to a Yes vote. It would also lose considerable prestige and power on the world stage. Its prominent place in Europe would be diminished whilst its permanent seat on the UN Security Council would be threatened. It is of no surprise therefore, that foreign leaders across the globe, from China to Australia to the USA, are worried enough about the damaging consequences of a Yes vote to interfere and state publicly their support for the Union.

Thus, in the present, past and future, this referendum will have a dramatic impact on the rest of the UK as well as Scotland: a family member lost, a promising future dampened. For centuries, we have forged our identity with the notion of a United Kingdom at its core. If, therefore, we are no longer united, our very identity is threatened. It is for this reason, above all others, that every part of the UK should care about this referendum. 

Oxford film wins big at Portobello festival

Tom Calver
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Oxford film wins big at Portobello festival

A film directed by and starring Oxford students has beaten 600 entrants to claim a prize at the Portobello film festival, signifying the recent meteoric rise of Oxford’s film scene over the past year.

The Wishing Horse, directed by Oxford Broadcasting Association president and New College student Alex Darby, received ‘Best London Film’ at the festival, which was dubbed by the Independent as “the largest celebration of independent film in Europe”.

Starring Imogen West-Knights, who graduated from Exeter College in 2013, the ten minute film explores the grief of a young girl, Lily. She is unable to cope with her father’s failing health and a difficult relationship with her mother, until she is reminded of a folk story her father – voiced by Richard E. Grant (of Dracula, Corpse Bride, and Downton Abbey fame) – used to tell.

Delighted with the achievement, Darby told Cherwell, “The award was a massive surprise and is a huge help – it really puts the film out there and boosts our distribution budget. We were pretty humbled and shocked at the awards ceremony – we didn’t expect to get anything so we were very glad we turned up!”

West-Knights, who plays Lily, shared Darby’s delight. She explained, “The award was certainly a surprise. Making the film was a great experience – everyone involved with the process was really committed to making it as good as it could be within our capabilities, which made all the difference to the final film I think. Hopefully there are more pleasant surprises to come as we hear back from other festivals!”

Founded in 1996, the Portobello Film Festival describes itself as a “reaction to the moribund state of the British film industry”, and it aims to “provide a forum for new film-makers and give exposure to movies on different formats.” Many of the filmmakers shown at the festival have since been recognised by the mainstream film industry – Guy Ritchie, for instance, was shortlisted in 1996 for his film The Hard Case.

The Wishing Horse is the first film produced by ABG Productions, founded in May 2013 by Aidan Grounds and Emily Precious, the latter having recently worked on The Man Who Knew Infinity, starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons.

Grounds told Cherwell that they were “delighted to win the award … The Wishing Horse was the first film we made, and we can’t wait to keep making more in the future.”

Darby was keen to credit ABG with spearheading Oxford’s rising film scene, explaining, “Over the last two years loads of people have been making interesting films, the scene has really gone from zero to hero.

“When I was at the end of my first year there wasn’t much of a film scene at Oxford. Aidan and Emily were keen to make sure that the profits made from their student productions at Oxford were reinvested to support the development of a film scene in Oxford. I had the idea to set up the film fund, and Thelma Holt found additional funding make it a reality. That’s now been turned into the Oxford Broadcasting Association, which I run with Ksenia Harwood after Anatole Sloan set it up last year.

“The majority of the team [working on the film] were Oxford grads who had only done theatre before – they pretty much all work in film now.”

The project was funded with support from Oxford’s Vice Chancellor, Andrew Hamilton, to whom Darby is extremely grateful. He explained, “We also had help from various kind friends through a Kickstarter project and Oxford student drama bodies. Later down the line we were generously supported by Exeter and St. Catz JCRs.”

While he describes the project as a “ton of work”, “exhausting”, and “painstaking”, he told Cherwell that “working with the cast was one of the most enjoyable bits of it as I had much more experience in that area, and Imogen (West-Knights) in particular was fantastic to work with – she is a very responsive and subtle actress.”

Darby continued, “We’re planning on using the prize money to submit to more festivals – we’re screening in Southampton in October, and are waiting to hear back from a quite a few others.”

Darby hopes for more of the same success when his next films – titled “Waterbird” and “Catkins” – are released over the next few weeks.

See the film’s website for more information. Details about Darby’s next films, Waterbird and Catkins, can be found here.

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