A bed bug infestation led to freshers being evacuated from Magdalen accommodation last week.

The infestation spread through the ground floor of the Waynflete Building, part of the first years’ accommodation over Magdalen Bridge. Alongside the continued flooding of the toilets on the corridor, this has resulted in the exodus of all nine residents on the floor.

One of the students affected by the infestation told Cherwell, “The issue started when I came back after the Christmas holidays. I first noticed something was wrong when I developed a rash on my arm, as I’m mildly allergic to insect bites. Later I found an insect in my room and went to speak to the Waynflete Dean. Despite them cleaning my room again, a week (and several more bites) later I found another insect.”

“Fortunately there have been no issues in my new room, but the whole experience was very unpleasant and not what I was expecting to have to deal with on returning to college after the holidays. 

“I have to say, if it was true that they knew there was a bug problem over the holidays then I’m very disappointed with the college for not sorting it out. It may only be student accommodation, but we are still paying ‘customers’ and I’d expect better than that.

“Although, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised; the whole of the ground floor of the Waynflete have been moved out because the toilets kept flooding the bathroom and the corridor, which was also very unpleasant, and has been happening continuously for over a year, (four times this term alone!). The college are now fixing this issue, and are replacing all the carpets and beds on ground floor. However, it has been a lot of hassle that I would rather not have had to deal with.”

Indeed, one student on the affected corridor told Cherwell, “I wasn’t actually personally affected by the bed bugs on my corridor- despite the fact that I still had to move into temporary accommodation, although this was more as a result of the flooding toilets.”

The accommodation is now being overhauled, with the floors being taken up and all the affected rooms being stripped. It is believed that the rooms will be uninhabitable for the rest of the academic year.

One graduate student at Magdalen expressed their concern. They said, “The fact that this infestation had gone unrecognised for as long as it took for it to spread to multiple rooms is more than worrying for the rest of Magdalen accommodation.”

One St. Anne’s third year expressed his surprise at the way that the situation had been dealt with.He said, “Lord al-mite-y! It really bugs me that colleges think they can get away with these ant-ics. They’d bed-er get their act together to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“I suppose if it came to choosing between living with bed bugs and sleeping rough, it’d be the lesser of two weevils. I used to have an insect in my room, but I got rid of it. Shame really, it was my pest de resistance. Magdalen should certainly follow suit. For a wealthy college, this is really taking the pest.”

When contacted by Cherwell on Thursday, a spokesperson for Magdalen was unavailable for comment.

Oxford Reclaim the Night announced on Thursday the launch of their latest campaign against sexual violence, which will be centred on a march through Oxford on Friday 7 March to allow women to ‘Reclaim the Night’ for themselves.

The march will enable women to walk together through spaces in the city that they might normally avoid due to fear of violence, sexual harassment or rape. Oxford Reclaim the Night said in a statement, “The march aims to raise awareness of the scale of violence against women in our society, the need to prevent it, and the need to ensure women and girls can live free from the fear or violence.”

This year, the campaign is themed around freedom. Oxford Reclaim the Night said of the theme, “We believe that women should have the freedom to express themselves and be safe in public space. Freedom to walk alone is still denied to many women, in a society in which 85,000 women are raped every year and over 400,000 women experience sexual assault.”

Taking place on the evening before International Women’s Day, the march will begin at the East Oxford Community Centre and end at the Town Hall, to join the Oxford International Women’s Festival. While there will be a mixed rally at the East Oxford Community Centre to start the event, the march itself will be restricted to self-identifying women only.

Kirsty Braithwaite, from the campaign, told Cherwell of the march, “Events like Reclaim the Night are important because sexual violence is very common, and because we still have a long way to go before every survivor of sexual violence can speak up about what they’ve experienced, confident that they’ll be believed and not blamed. All proceeds from Reclaim the Night go to Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre (OSARCC), which we’re very happy to do.”

Braithwaite also defended restricting the march to self-itentifying women only. She told Cherwell, “This particular campaign is about gender-based violence, and we want to make sure that women feel safe on the march. It’s also about showing solidarity with other women.”

Lucy Delaney, OUSU Women’s Campaign Officer, commented, “I think Reclaim the Night is vital in recognising the ridiculous fact that women still feel unsafe to simply walk down the road at night.”

She added, “I think men are an important part in the bid to stop violence against women, but in supporting, rather than leading roles. I think the idea behind Reclaim the Night is that it seizes the autonomy and agency long denied to women, so obviously it is important that this is led and carried out by women.”

Abigail Burman, from the It Happens Here campaign against sexual violence, told Cherwell, “The marches are still important because the epidemic of sexual violence and violence against women is ongoing. And we as a society are still far too silent on these issues.”

However, one second year student said, “Although I think that preventing sexual violence is a very important goal, I’m not convinced that a march is the best way to act upon this.

“Instead, we should focus on directly helping women who have been affected by sexual harrassment or rape; simply raising awarenesss of the issues is not enough.”

Reclaim the Night marches began in the UK nearly forty years ago, on 12 November 1977, when torch-lit marches were held across England.

Exeter JCR has passed a motion to boycott hall in protest against the disproportionately high living costs faced by their students compared to other colleges across the university.

The boycott will begin on 17th February and is aimed at forcing the college’s senior management to open a dialogue with students about the cost of living.
The motion was carried by a margin of thirty votes with five students choosing to vote against, although the list of proposers and seconders featured over a hundred names.

JCR President Richard Collett-White explained the reason behind the boycott. He said, “Exeter ranks bottom in Oxford for living costs satisfaction. We pay an £840 Catering Charge annually and yet more for each meal, making us the most expensive undergraduate college. It costs around £13 a day to eat in college taking the catering charge into account. This undermines our access efforts and affordability. Years of ‘negotiations’ have yielded precious little, leading to widespread demand for a boycott.”

However, the college’s Rector, Frances Cairncross, CBE, FRSE, told Cherwell, “We are having conversations with the JCR and MCR about their views on the catering charge, and taking the opportunity to explain to them the true nature of college finances, about which there seems to be some uncertainty in the student body.”

One student commented, “Everyone in the JCR is pissed off, so it is just a matter of whether people think that boycotting will work. I don’t really think we have any other option.”

Another Exeter student, who wished to remain anonymous, told Cherwell, “Our college has been running a healthy surplus for several years – this year it nearly reached a million pounds of unrestricted surplus! Exeter is not a poor college, we’re just shockingly expensive. There’s a feeling that something has got to give – that if nothing is done about it, the JCR will be plagued by this problem for years to come.”

The motion included a mandate for Collett-White to arrange a meeting with the college Rector, Bursar and catering managers where students could air their concerns about the cost of living in college. In an open email addressed to the Rector, along with catering staff, he said, “The hall charge imposed on members of the JCR is widely felt to be unjustly high, relative to other Oxford colleges, and any effort to reduce the cost of living for students is to be encouraged. The proposed open meeting is an opportunity for College to persuade students not to go ahead with a hall boycott. Students at the JCR meeting hoped this would involve an explanation of why the Fellows have set charges at Exeter far higher than other colleges, as well as providing greater transparency and some concrete proposals to reduce student dissatisfaction.”
The boycott follows on from past disputes between the college and the JCR over finance issues. In an email to the JCR, the president said, “College failed to provide any evidence of their financial difficulty or need and failed to produce the schedules (as they agreed to do in 2009). The information College provided OUSU about their living costs was incorrect and did not include the full catering charge.”

The JCR passed a similar motion last Trinity to hold a one day hall boycott. As a result, the college said they would explore alternatives and implement them by this Hilary term, but they have not yet fulfilled this promise. One anonymous Exeter student was optimistic about JCR support, saying, “Last year’s boycott had a 100% turnout! Because this is a longer boycott our focus is on ‘substantially reducing hall turnout’ rather than emptying hall entirely. It’s an optional boycott for students.”

The Campaign Communications Officer emphasised the need for community involvement, stating, “In order to make the boycott last we need to provide Hallternatives for Exeter students. Some colleges and local businesses have already agreed to help out but we would really appreciate any more practical support, so if you are a JCR president and know that your hall would be able to take a few Exeter students we’d love to hear from you.”

The JCR has spent £120 on utensils for cooking in the college’s sole kitchen and have arranged extra support from Balliol JCR.

Oxford Economics, an Oxford-based consultancy, has challenged the coalition government’s commitment to implementing spending cuts. The consultancy firm reported that the government budget deficit will fall naturally at a much faster rate than initially predicted, reducing the need for the austerity package.

The report focused on the output gap: the difference between Britain’s actual GDP and potential GDP. While the output gap was believed to be 1.8 per cent of GDP, Oxford Economics has estimated that it is in fact over twice as large, at 5 per cent. A larger output gap means more potential for economic growth.
The report comes just weeks after the chancellor George Osborne warned that another £25bn of spending cuts needed to be made after 2015. If true, the report would invalidate Mr Osborne’s arguments for the need to make further spending reductions.

Students remain divided on the issue of spending cuts. Jack Matthews commented in his capacity as OUCA President that, “Dealing with the deficit and debt is the only way to return Britain to a strong economy. For the benefit of hardworking people everywhere, it is crucial that the government stick to their long-term economic plan.”

OULC Co-Chair Dan Turner responded, “Since the general election it has been clear that the government has been motivated by an antiquated and destructive ideology. By pushing for premature and severe cuts to capital spending, they caused an avoidable double-dip recession.”

Andrew Goodwin, senior economist at Oxford Economics and co-author of the IFS report, said, “The medicine of austerity could end up being applied in a dose higher than the patient actually needs.”

It is also possible that the output gap doesn’t imply anything about the level of spending cuts needed. Dr Ian Jewitt, an Economics fellow at Nuffield College, stated, “Whether they are right or wrong about the output gap, I’d have thought that issue was second order of importance for the necessity of cuts […] what happens to the world economy will be more important than the output gap.”

Dr Jewitt pointed out that other factors such as the Eurozone turmoil are crucial in determining British economic growth, and as such we cannot expect higher growth simply because there is an output gap.

One PPE finalist told Cherwell, “Everyone knows no one knows anything about macroeconomics. We just have to pretend that we do.”

Will Hutton, the principal of Hertford College, was spoofed on the BBC’s popular programme Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe.

In the episode televised on 6th February, Philomena Cunk, the fake presenter of the ‘Moments of Wonder’ segment, held a mock interview with Mr Hutton. Questions included, “If you have a coin, where’s the money in that coin and if I cut it open could I take the money out of it?” Mr Hutton was “aware it was going to be a spoof”.

At first glance, Mr Hutton is not the type of figure one might expect to either be a fan of the show or have such a keen sense of humour. In a prestigious career he has been editor-in-chief of The Observer, economics correspondent for Newsnight and director of the Guardian national newspapers. He is also a governor of the London School of Economics and Political Science, a visiting professor at the University of Manchester’s Business School and at the University of Bristol.

Mr Hutton commented that his “job was to keep a straight face – and yes I enjoyed it, even though I knew the whole segment could only work to the extent sane answers would be made to sound absurd because of her character’s glorious capacity to get the wrong end of the stick and, better still, her mad follow-up questions. She is a brilliantly funny and original comic, and some of her questions that you didn’t see took ignorant gawkiness to an art form. Great comedy. I laughed a lot.”

Many members of Hertford College do not seem to be particularly enamoured with their principal’s appearance. One told Cherwell that it was, “somewhat amusing but he still hasn’t warmed the cockles of my heart. He’s no Prince Will.”

Another Hertford student called the principal as a “joker”, with a third stating, “I didn’t really realise before how good a sense of humour he has but this has definitely changed my opinion of him! I hope he’s on Charlie Brooker’s show more often, maybe as a regular feature?”

A first year Classics student at Jesus expressed her delight at the willingness of college principals to poke fun at themselves. She commented, “I really like how such important people still have a sense of humour! I found that whole interview segment hilarious and I’m pleased to see that Hertford’s principal is following Jesus’s Lord Krebs, in having a laugh with the rest of us. I hope other principals take note!”

Brooker’s show is notorious for his sarcastic, sardonic rundown of the week’s news. In this episode his targets included the Russian Winter Olympics, Scarlett Johansson, Barry from Eastenders, and the Superbowl.

A group of Oxford students have had their travel writing, based on their experiences in Brazil, featured as a blog on the BBC website.

Covering controversial issues within Brazilian culture and society, from class segregation to the gender inequalities of Machismo, the pieces were written by a group mostly comprising of third year modern language students on their year abroad.

The blog is named ‘Para Ingles Ver’ or ‘For the English to see’, an idiom which roughly translates as ‘for the sake of appearances’. It has attracted considerable online attention, particularly from those affected by the issues it discusses, as the enthusiastic responses in the comment section demonstrate. One reader went as far as to give one of the bloggers his phone number in reaction to their criticism of macho behaviour.

For one of the group, Lily Green, a Spanish and Portuguese student at St Peter’s, the comments are the best part of the blog. “The differing opinions, the frustration, the praise, the despair, the adoration – it all perfectly reflects how it is when you talk face-to-face with Brazilians about their country.”

Having only recently returned from her five month stay in Brazil, Lily told Cherwell about her time there. “I spent the first four months in Recife in the North East because I wanted to really sink into the day to day. The humdrum stuff was the best: catching the bus, making dinner with friends, complaining about the weather.”

Another blogger, Yara Rodrigues Fowler, who is half Brazilian, writes about time spent back home over Christmas. In working for the BBC, she said, “I have learned how to write in my second mother tongue in a personal and yet not too informal way.”

Loukia Koumia, a student departing for Brazil, hopes that blogging will “encourage me to soak in as much culture as I can.”

Michael Gove has attracted controversy by suggesting that Britain’s education system is negatively impacted by unions. In an interview with The World at One on BBC Radio 4, he claimed that leaders of trade unions had been complicit in the declining standards in schools, criticising them for tolerating failure.

The Secretary of State for Education described the problem of the “Blob” – “BLOated educational Bureaucracy” – which had been, he claimed, directly to blame for poor educational standards in the past. Gove told the show that he has “a clear view and a specific plan about how we can drive improvement in state education. That involves challenging people who have been complicit in under-performance in the past.

“It is not surprising that there are some people – some people within the trade unions, some people within university education faculties – who are opposed to this. But what is striking is that the changes we are making – giving more powers to head-teachers, insisting on higher standards of behaviour, recruiting better teachers who are subject specialists – are backed overwhelmingly by the public.”

A Psychology student at LMH commented, “I think the idea of employing teachers who are specialists in their subjects is a positive one, but realistically, it is not being achieved. I come from a grammar school renowned for its good teaching staff, but at least half of my teachers didn’t seem to have that strong a grasp of their subject outside of the syllabus that they had been told to teach, and I don’t honestly see this changing any time soon.”

Gove has also suggested extending the school day in state schools so it lasts up to nine or ten hours, in an attempt to tear down the “Berlin Wall” between state and private schools and eliminate the difference in the standards between the two sectors.

One St John’s second year derided the idea. They told Cherwell, “Most of my friends in college who went to private schools never had such long days, and for the few who did a great deal of that time was spent on extra curricular activities such as playing sport. The state school I attended and many others don’t have the facilities to allow for this, meaning we would have longer days of work and more lessons. With many students already struggling to cope with the stress of their workloads, this can’t possibly be a good idea.”

In further pursuit of equality between state and private schools, Gove has recently announced a new teacher training project, headed by Oxford’s Regius Professor of Greek Chris Pelling, to ensure that state school students have better access to Classics teaching.

The scheme aims to support and train teachers who are interested in introducing Classics to their schools’ curriculum but have specialist backgrounds in another subject.

The move has received broad support, with one first year Classicist saying, “Training more Classics teachers in state schools would go a long way to dispel the myth that Classics is inherently ‘private school’.”

However, a diverse range of groups, including the Confederation of British Industry and members of what Gove termed the “Blob”, are calling for more rounded education systems than those Gove is promoting in his educational reforms. Concern has been expressed over the teaching of arts subjects in particular. Helen Thomas, an English student at St Anne’s, said, “I disapprove of anyone who completely denies the importance of the arts subjects. I did drama A Level and now I’m here – clearly studying Brecht and Chekhov doesn’t turn you into a monosyllabic frog.”

However one third year E&M student noted, “Gove has a tough job to do, and regardless of which policies he chooses to employ, his decisions will always cause controversy among some people.”

JCRs across Oxford are campaigning for the right to fly the rainbow flag from their college flagpole to mark LGBTQ history month.

Some colleges already fly the flag, but others, including Brasenose, have refused requests from JCRs on the grounds that flying one flag would lead to increased demand for the college to express outward support for further causes.

Students at Brasenose protested last week against the decision made by their governing body by flying 50 rainbow flags in prominent areas of the college.

Henry Zeffman, JCR President, said, “I am really pleased that so many Brasenose students are showing how proud we are to be a tolerant and diverse community. The college decided against flying the LGBTQ flag from the college flagpole, and we are showing that we disagree with their decision in a respectful, peaceful and uplifting way. I hope that one day Brasenose will join the many colleges that have flown the LGBTQ flag from their flagpoles.”

Brasenose students have responded positively to the initiative. James Blythe, who seconded the motion, said, “I’m absolutely delighted to see so many Brasenose students showing solidarity with the LGBTQ community, and I hope this will mean that next year, the college will be willing to fly the flag.”

Christ Church College has also refused to fly the flag, and JCR members will be demonstrating in a similar way. “We’re planning on flying flags from room windows again this year on the last day of February to celebrate LGBT History Month, joining a number of other colleges who are also planning on flying the flag on that date (albeit from their college flagpoles). So far we have had an overwhelmingly positive response from the JCR,” said Rachel McCafferty, LGBTQ Welfare Officer for Christ Church.

Wadham College was the first to celebrate LGBTQ history month in this way three years ago, and since then at least 10 colleges have followed suit.

Magdalen College is known to be involved in negotiations with its governing body over this issue, while New College JCR passed a motion last Sunday by 33 votes to one in favour of flying the flag for the third year in a row. The member who opposed the motion was contacted, but declined to comment.

St. Anne’s College will be flying the flag for the first time after permission was granted last year. Christina Toenshoff, JCR President, said,”I’m happy to be able to say that we are allowed to fly the rainbow flag for the first time this year and I wish Brasenose JCR all the best in its protests.

“We have a very big LGBTQ community in our college and I feel like flying the rainbow flag during LGBTQ history month is a great way of showing that St Anne’s supports and fully accepts this community, especially in times where LGBTQ rights are not respected in other parts of the world.”

The reactions of JCRs have been well-received by Oxford’s LGBTQ community. Ashley Francis-Roy, president of the Oxford University LGBTQ Society, said, “The LGBTQ society is delighted that so many colleges will be flying the LGBTQ flag. By flying the LGBTQ flag from the college flagpole colleges can make a bold statement. For prospective students this statement will show that a particular College is welcoming and accepting and consequently such a gesture is significant for ensuring that the best students apply and are not put off by any uncertainties or fears.

Given the huge presence of international students, especially at the graduate level, it will be particularly appreciated by LGBTQ students from those countries were people are still discriminated on the basis of their sexual orientation and/ or gender identity.

Flying the flag does not make a statement about any particular issues but more generally show a commitment to diversity and acceptance. We all have a responsibility to ensure that our college is an accepting place for all and to contribute to an environment that enables people to fully express themselves. Such an environment can only be beneficial for the college’s desire to achieve true academic excellence.”

This February is LGBTQ history month. Oxford University Amnesty International marked the first day of the month with a series of protests outside the Radcliffe Camera against the poor LGBTQ rights record of Vladimir Putin. Partipants were photographed writing messages to Putin, ranging from “Roses are red, violets are blue, LGBT rights are human rights too” to “My gay sister’s partner is giving brith today – f**k you, Putin”.

Central Oxford shut down for several hours on Thursday after a suspicious package was discovered outside the Armed Forces Careers Office on St Giles’.

Counter terrorism analysis revealed that the package was one of seven reported “basic, but viable” explosive devices delivered to recruitment offices across the South of England this week. Speaking on Thursday night, a Downing Street spokesperson stated that the devices bore “the hallmarks of Northern Ireland related terrorism”.

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A St Giles’ Post Office worker told Cherwell that the package in Oxford was immediately treated with suspicion “because the person it was addressed to did not seem to exist”.

Several buildings, local businesses, and roads were closed off and evacuated during the incident. Traffic ground to a stand-still on St Giles’ for much of the afternoon, and pedestrians were prevented from collecting their vehicles or passing through the scene.

Samuel Marks, a classicist at St Benet’s, told Cherwell he first noticed a single police car moving up and down the road outside college at approximately 10.30am.

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“Then one of the Army Reserve guys came out and seemed to be sort of gesticulating about a small package, which I guess must have been the cause of the problem,” he said. “Then things just sort of escalated.”

Approximately two hours later, police ordered Marks and his fellow St Benet’s students to evacuate the college. One St Benet’s staff member reported that the students “left lunch hot on their plates”.

“I thought the bank was being robbed or something like that,” commented Josh Dixon, a theology student also at the college.

“We were in the hall most of the morning. Slowly they extended the perimeter, and said ‘You need to come out now’ just after lunch.”

A series of police cordons eventually closed off St Giles’ from Beaumont Street to several hundred metres up Woodstock Road and Banbury Road. Only fire engines, police cars, an ambulance and a Royal Logistics Corps Bomb Disposal van were allowed through the cordon. Witnesses also reported seeing a police helicopter hovering over the scene.

Such central closures significantly disrupted local and student life for the duration of the incident, which was approximately four hours.

One student tweeted that they were unable to access the Language Centre on Woodstock Road, which remained open throughout the crisis. Others attempting to walk home via Little Clarendon Street were turned away by police. Several local residents had to take alternate routes home after the extending police cordon cut them off from their cars and bicycles.

One woman who travelled into central Oxford to shop for groceries told Cherwell she was forced to leave her car parked less than 100 feet from the Recruitment Office and take the bus home to Kennington.

“What a day!” she commented, adding that stranded residents “couldn’t even get down Abingdon Road as that’s flooded.”

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At approximately 2pm, the gathered crowd of onlookers witnessed body-armour-clad counter terrorism forces unloading a small remote-controlled robot from the bomb disposal van.

Soon after, police lifted cordons, restarted traffic, and allowed military staff to return to the Careers Office by 3.30pm.

One Lincoln postgraduate living on the end of Little Clarendon Street which was not evacuated witnessed some of the scenes from her kitchen window. “Although the idea of what was happening was quite frightening, on the ground things were relatively calm,” she told Cherwell.

One student who had been in the library prior to the evacuation called the incident “the most exciting thing to have happened to St Benet’s Hall in the history of St Benet’s Hall”.

The South East Counter Terrorism Unit reported that suspicious packages were discovered on the same day at recruitment centres in Slough, Brighton, and Canterbury, a day after similar incidents at Kent, Berkshire, and Hampshire armed forces offices.

After counter terrorism analysis, Chris Buckler, the BBC’s Ireland correspondent, described the packages as containing “small devices capable of causing burns or injury”, but added that “none was judged to be potentially life-threatening”.

Responding to the national scale of the threat, David Cameron chaired an emergency COBRA (Cabinet Office Briefing Room) meeting on Thursday afternoon after the “crude” explosive devices had been disarmed. These meetings are the main form of crisis response by the government.

Shortly after, a Downing Street spokesperson stated, “Guidance has been issued to staff at all military establishments and Royal Mail asking them to be extra vigilant and to look out for any suspect packages and the screening procedures for mail to Armed Forces Careers offices is being reviewed.”

Monday 17th February, 15.00: The New IRA has claimed responsibility for the bomb threat on Thursday.

In a statement reported by the The Irish News, the New IRA said, “The IRA claims responsibility for the explosive devices that were sent to British armed forces recruitment centres in England. Attacks will continue when and where the IRA see fit.”

Read the full story here

Friday 14th February: Cherwell’s front page for this week. Get the paper from your JCR, or read the full story with pictures here

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19.00: A spokesperson for Number 10 has identified a potential link to Northern Irish terrorism in the targeting of Oxford and other armed forces offices.

“Seven suspect packages have been identified as containing small, crude, but potentially viable devices bearing the hallmarks of Northern Ireland related terrorism,” a Downing Street spokesperson said at 6.34pm. Read the full story here

Summary: 18.00: Our summary of the day’s events is now online here

Here are a selection of tweets from the day.

Police tape, confusion & great puffa jackets outside Keble #bombscare pic.twitter.com/mxZ2iFs09g

— Sarah Poulten (@SarahPoulten) February 13, 2014

It’s pretty classic Britain to worry about whether “anyone whose car is stuck in the cordon and gets a ticket can appeal” #bombscare

— James Blythe (@McTaggart) February 13, 2014

Police are turning people away as they return to cars trapped in the cordon. One woman came in to shop and will get bus 3 miles home.

— Jack Doyle (@doylething) February 13, 2014

Am now surrounded by police officers and police tape. Students flooding out of Johns to have a cheeky peek #scoop #bombscare

— Aled Jones (@AledR) February 13, 2014

16:51 The BBC reports that David Cameron is chairing an emergency COBRA meeting to discuss the suspicious packages.

Summary of the day’s events to follow.

14.34 The police tape has been taken down and the bomb disposal van is being packed up, Jack Doyle reports.

It seems like it’s all over!

That seems to be that! Can see one bomb disposal van being packed away, police tape away, traffic moving again. Check out @Cherwell_Online!

— Jack Doyle (@doylething) February 13, 2014

14.06 Some more pictures from the scene

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14.05 Keep up to date with live images from the university’s webcam on St Giles: bit.ly/LX2vzJ

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13.36 Cordon being extended to the war memorial on St. Giles, as far as Beaumont Street

13.33 

I feel guilty that I’m happy about missing my class because the #Oxford #bomb scare means I can’t get to the Language Centre

— Matt Stokes (@stokes_matt) February 13, 2014

13.27 Anxious shoppers have been assured by police that anyone whose car is stuck in the cordon and gets a ticket will be able to appeal

13.18 News from Jack Doyle that the cordon is being continually extended, stretching all the way to the Lamb and Flag. Pedestrians are being told to use Keble Road to get to the city centre

13.16 

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13.03 Reports that buildings beyond 42 St Giles are being evacuated

12.45 Thames Valley Police have released a statement on behalf of the South East Counter Terrorism Unit

The South East Counter Terrorism Unit is currently investigating reports of a number of suspect packages found at Army Careers offices today (13/2).

The contents of the package are being assessed and MOD Bomb Disposal Units have been called, as is routine with any suspect package.

The packages were found at Army Careers offices in St Giles, Oxford, Queensmere Shopping Centre, Slough, and Queens Road, Brighton.

Suspect packages were found at a number of Army Careers offices yesterday (12/2) in Aldershot, Reading and Chatham.

Det Supt Stan Gilmour of the South East Counter Terrorism Unit said: “Because suspicious packages were found at various locations yesterday notes were sent out to all the Army Careers offices as well as the Post Office asking staff to be extra vigilant and look out for any suspect packages.”

12.34 Jack Matthews speculates about the cause of the bomb scare: 

My guess is it has something to do with the Army Office – only building with door left open #StGiles pic.twitter.com/uRxiHsQaYG

— Jack J Matthews (@jackjmatthews) February 13, 2014

12.30 

A suspicious package has been sent to the Oxford army recruitment office on St. Giles, according to the Oxford Mail.

The street has been cordoned off and is marshalled by the police. It is expected that the bomb disposal squad will arrive in due course. The package is thought to be one of three sent to various army offices across the country.

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Defence confirmed the sending of the packages, telling the Oxford Mail, “We are aware of incidents currently ongoing in Oxford, Brighton and Slough Armed Forces careers offices. These are being investigated by civilian police with military support.”

The news comes a day after another suspicious package was sent to St. Mary Butts, Reading.