Wednesday 9th July 2025
Blog Page 1517

The Cherwell Profile: Ken Livingstone

0

“If Cameron gets re-elected I would probably emigrate, so that my children have a chance for survival and [don’t] fall back into cannibalism. The last thing people do in a society if it is collapsing is eat their own children. The archaeologists tell us this all the time – when every other chance of life is gone, you eat your children. It happened in Egypt when the Nile dried up, and has happened much more recently in recent societies.” So says Ken Livingstone, not the Tories’ biggest fan.

Politicians are often described as having an affinity with reptiles. In the case of Ken Livingstone this is more relevant than you may have first thought. He has been Leader of the Greater London Council, a Member of Parliament, and the Mayor of London, but had originally planned to be a zookeeper.

Dropping out of school at the age of 17 with 2 O-levels, Ken entered an apprenticeship programme. “If I had been accepted on the course, then I would have probably stayed there for the rest of my life. I am still involved in the Zoological Society, and I meet people who started at the same time as I did and have been working as zookeepers for 50 years.”
Having dropped out of education, I was interested to hear what he had to think on universities, and in particular the Oxbridge system. “I think we need these top institutions. In Russia they had special academies for the top few percent of the population. These hot houses turned out geniuses. My problem with the system is that admission into them is still unfair. Black students are underrepresented, and private schools still dominate. I remember in the 1980s, when girls first started attending, there was this one story about a professor who lay on the couch and made his female student lie on the ground behind him so he didn’t have to look at her as he found her presence that strange.”

Ken has often been admired for his ‘everyman’ style of politics; there is no polish, no veneer. He swears, he grumbles, and is not afraid of speaking his mind. He is as far from the airbrushed, model career politician as it is possible to be. As he bumbles out of Oxford station, rucksack fixed around his shoulders, he draws the attention of those around him; but he appears to have no interest with chumming up to the public.

This is the striking thing about him; he is a man who seemed not to care about how he is perceived. When told that I was interviewing him, there is no change in demeanour, just a single “whatever”. He seemed no more impressed that he was doing a brief interview with the BBC later that evening. He does not seem to care about how he is perceived, yet when it comes to policy and debate he is never short of something to say. The job of being a politician seems to bore him, yet politics is still at the centre of his life. Before we have started the interview, he has rattled through Europe, the proposed congestion charge in Bristol, air pollution, and the “right wing media’s control of public opinion”. This is in the three minutes between the station and the Union where he opposed the motion ‘This House remembers New Labour fondly’.

“It was style over substance. Britain was ready for change, and they wanted a transformation in 1997. Except Blair and Brown had spent all their time making sure they got elected. When they got in, they had no idea what they wanted to do. I mean, Tony Blair is a very nice guy; he just didn’t know anything about politics. This is the tragedy of New Labour, they squandered their opportunity.”

His contempt for New Labour is in complete contrast to his faith in Ed Miliband’s party. He seems to have a genuine belief that the ‘Eds’ as he calls them, have a real opportunity to change the course of politics; he compares their prospects to Thatcher and Attlee.

As a strong opponent of Thatcher, I was intrigued that he would make this comparison. “I respected the fact that, unlike so many other prime ministers, she believed in something and wasn’t afraid to risk her job to get it done.” He added, “I think Ed is going in the right direction. Whenever I knocked on Tony’s door, he always said ‘yes’ to whatever I had to say, and then just ignored it. Ed is not afraid to say ‘that’s bollocks.’” He quickly corrected himself. “Well, not bollocks, but ‘I disagree with you, and this is why.’”

The conversation turned to his previous job, and I asked him about the prospects of Eddie Izzard, who has announced that he plans to run for London Mayor. “Oh yes, Eddie – he worked for me on the last campaign. He says he wants to run in 2020, but I keep saying that he should run in 2016. If Boris honours his promise to resign, then that is the ideal time. If he waits another four years, he will be facing someone seeking re-election. Everyone knows who Eddie Izzard is. No one cares about his sexuality. No one gave a damn about Boris’ women. No one cared about my five children by three different women.

“Elections are about personalities rather than issues. It’s crap ‘politics’. ‘Politics’ is about ideas.” He cites Nigel Farage as his perfect example of this. “Everyone loves him. He is great fun – but do I want him running the country? No I don’t, He’s loveable, but completely mad.

“Boris makes them laugh. When he first announced he was running, my staff and I went through all of his writings and speeches, and we concluded that he was the most hardline right-wing ideologue in British politics. But in the end it turned out Boris doesn’t believe in anything except that Boris should be prime minister.” I asked Ken about the infamous Eddie Mair interview a few weeks ago. A wry smile tinges his mouth. “I wish we had the interview the week before the election.”

Abortion campaigners clash on Cornmarket

0
Oxford students have been involved in an angry confrontation with religious group UK Repent. The group have been preaching on Cornmarket this week. They held banners which stated that ‘Fornicators, nor Idolaters, nor Adulterers, nor Homosexuals, nor Sodomites, nor Drunkards, nor Revilers’ would enter the kingdom of God.’
 
[mm-hide-text]%%IMG%%7539%%[/mm-hide-text]
 
They were met by student protesters who disapprove of the religious group’s interpretation of Christian doctrine.
 
Students gathered on Thursday in what they described as a ‘spontaneous’ reaction to the preachers. One Queen’s student told Cherwell that “[Repent UK] are spreading lies that apparently are about Jesus and claiming that we’re all going to go to Hell and we’re making a stand here and saying that all that you’re talking about is utter lies.” 
 
[mm-hide-text]%%IMG%%7541%%[/mm-hide-text]
 
Joe Miles, a first year student at Wadham, told Cherwell that he felt that “it’s a good idea to protest against extremism. Obviously, I support their right to speak, but, equally, we’re just exercising ours.”
 
Some of the protestors held up signs in front of the preachers’ faces. Placards of the protesting students included the slogans: ‘Your body, your mind, your choice’, ‘Adam and Eve, why not Adam and Steve?’ and ‘End Rape Culture’.

Canadian Double Olympic medallist named as OUBC President

0

Oxford University Boat Club named Malcolm Howard, a Canadian twice-Olympic medallist, as their President. Howard will take up the presidency for the 2013/14 season, and hopes to lead the Blue Boat to victory in next year’s BNY Mellon Oxbridge Boat race, to be held on April 6th 2014.

Howard, thirty, is currently studying for an MRes in Clinical Medicine, at Oriel College, after completing his undergraduate degree at Harvard. He is one of few Olympians to row in the Boat Race, including last year’s fellow Olympian bronze medallist, undergraduate Constantine Louloudis. Howard has already won two Olympic medals for Canada, where he grew up, when he competed in last year’s race rowing stroke. He is the second Canadian to be President of OUBC, after Barney Williams (2005/6).

Following the news of his election, Malcolm Howard told Oxford University Sport: “It is an honour and privilege to be elected the OUBC President.  Becoming a part of the Oxford University Boat Club and its great legacy and tradition has been a thrill.  I admire the work that Alex Davidson accomplished and I am determined to continue Oxford’s success from this season. To repeat as Boat Race winners is a great challenge and I look forward to using my experience and commitment to lead our crews in the 160th Boat Race.”

Oxford sex ring trial comes to a close

0
Seven Oxford residents have been found guilty of child rape, torture, trafficking and organised prostitution in one of the biggest child sexual exploitation trials of recent years.
 
After over 17 hours of deliberation, an Old Bailey jury convicted the gang of a total of 43 charges relating to six victims, aged between 11 and 15. The court heard that the girls were deliberately targeted as they were seen as ‘out of control’ and extremely vulnerable.
 
The gang is reported to have first been made known to Thames Valley Police in early 2006, when one of the victims complained to the police twice, but the Crown Prosecution Service took no action.
 
Jon Brown of the NSPCC has criticised social services and police, saying “The girls were let down by those who were meant to care for them and obvious signs of abuse were missed.”
 
The Chief Executive of Oxfordshire County Council, Joanna Simons, stated that the council “take enormous responsibility for what’s happened.” However she said “My gut feeling is that I’m not going to resign because my determination is that we need to do all that we can to take action to stamp this out.”
 
She added, “We are incredibly sorry we were not able to stop it any sooner. We were up against a gang of devious criminals. The girls thought they were their friends.”
 
Oxfordshire County Council’s statement said the council “would like to pay tribute to the courage of the victims whose evidence in court secured the convictions of these violent criminals.”
 
Simon Morton, the detective chief inspector who lead Operation Bullfinch and built the case against the gang, said, “This was happening in Oxford – the city of dreaming spires. If it was happening there, the ramifications for all cities are huge.”
 
Andy Dipper from OXCAT (Oxford Community Against Trafficking), said, “The decade-long catalogue of torment and abuse suffered by these young women has been horrifying. But it has been going on right under our noses; in our streets, outside our schools and behind closed doors in Oxford homes and hotels.
 
“This is not an isolated case, more and more incidents are being uncovered across the country. We cannot stand for this kind of abuse in modern day Britain.”
 
Catherine Bearder, an Oxford-based Member of the European Parliament for South East England, added, “Trafficking is happening in this city and we cannot allow the suffering to continue.”
 
Of the nine accused, two men were cleared of all charges. Fighting broke out in the dock at the Old Bailey as Zeeshan Ahmed punched one of the cleared men, Mohammed Hussain.
 
Judge Peter Rook told the group, “You have been convicted of the most serious of offences. Long custodial sentences are inevitable.” They are due be sentenced on 26 June.

City Council approves new Blavatnik building

0

The Oxford City Council voted to pass the proposed plan for the Blavatnik School of Government building on Walton Street. This will be Oxford University’s biggest development project in a century. The project has received criticism from residents and groups affected by the construction in the past.

Calum Miller, the Chief Operating Officer of the Blavatnik School of Government, issued a statement saying, “We are delighted that the Councillors have voted to approve our planning application. Throughout the consultation process, we made strenuous efforts to engage with the community and provide clear and detailed information to explain the rationale behind the building design and respond to concerns and questions raised.”

The Jericho Community Association, an active local organization representing the historic suburban district of Oxford, have expressed their opposition. David Freud, owner of the Freud Cafe, which will neighbour the Blavatnik building, condemned the council decision as “a shocking travesty of the planning process” and said at the West Area Planning Committee meeting, “It was clear that a decision had already been made before the meeting had begun”.

Freud’s objection stems from the blockage of light into the stained glass windows of the former St Paul’s church, now his cafe, by the proposed building. Another major concern is that the construction would disrupt half of the graves of patients who died at the former Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford’s first hospital.

Freud wrote on the wall of a Facebook campaign group named “Trouble in Wonder”, “My family has had the pleasure of caring for the former Church of St Paul for the past twenty-five years. If the Blavatnik School of Government is constructed, in the form currently proposed, on the burial ground of the former Radcliffe Infirmary, the Church and the protected nature of Jericho is in danger of irreparable damage.”

The Blavatnik School of Government has responded to these concerns with a new information page regarding the building on its website. The school official told Cherwell “The Blavatnik School of Government’s planning application sets out in detail the faculty we have received from the Diocese of Oxford to exhume any remains found on the site. The remains will be exhumed with the utmost care and respect, in strict accordance with archaeological and Diocesan protocol, and laid to rest in consecrated ground.”

Besides local protests, another controversy surrounding the building is its 22 meter height in violation of the city’s Carfax Height policy, which prohibits buildings taller than 18.2 meters within 1,200 meters of the Carfax Tower.

Alison Stibbe, Head of Communications of the school, explained to Cherwell in an email, “The purpose of the Carfax Height policy is to prevent harm to Oxford’s skyline. A majority of Councillors agreed that our building would not harm the skyline and therefore the policy was not breached. Where it is visible, we believe it will be a positive and beautiful addition.”

She added, “The Councillors were clear to stress that their decision on the Blavatnik School’s planning application does not set a precedent for future applications.”

Jonathan Beddall, a current MPP student of Blavatnik said, “I am hugely excited by the new Blavatnik School of Government building as it combines cutting-edge architecture with world-class teaching space. The city council’s approval will enable the School to meet students’ needs whilst the School continues to grow.”

He continues, “The new Blavatnik building is carfeully designed to respect the local area and is, in my view, a beautiful and sensitive addition to the City.”

When asked about his feeling about the City Council decision and whether he will carry on the fight, Gideon Freud, campaign member and St John’s College student, replied that he had no further comments.

Univ freshers tan for charity

0

A septet of University College female freshers have completed a charity tan-a-thon, applying spray tan to themselves in an effort to raise money for The Life Foundation, an organisation that supports orphaned and abandoned children and those with mental disabilities in the Oltania region of Romania. 

The decision to raise for Romania was inspired by the work of Abi Karas, one of the tanners, who is headed back there this summer for further volunteer work in Oltania. The group’s Facebook event boasts, “We’ve rounded up our pastiest and most self-conscious friends to embark on a journey of humiliation all in the name of The Life Foundation which, if you’ve ever spoken to Abi (ever), you will have heard about.” 

The group’s page on Charity Giving promises, “The more you raise the darker we go,” with additional goals including “If we get to £500, Abi will stop talking about Romania for a week,” and “if we get to £600, Sybil will get the darkest tan again for Univ Ball.” The first round of tanning took place on Tuesday, with an effervescent, ersatz orange glow emanating from the tanners. 

The tanners have additionally promised that if they reach £1000, they will shoot a nude calendar. As of Wednesday, £789.50 has been raised. The nude calendar has been a popular charity raising method in Oxford recently, with many college sports teams making their own. 

Tan-a-thon participant Sybil Devlin explained the impetus behind the group’s decision to spray tan. She stated, “We always joked about one of the girls being akin to a vampire in her paleness but then realised that we were all, unfortunately in the same boat, so it seemed like a natural progression from forcing her to get one to cheer everyone up during Prelims to actually doing something worthwhile with the humiliating idea.”

Fire at Gloucester Green Falafal House

0

Fire fighters were called to tackle a small blaze in Gloucester Green on Saturday evening.

The fire was at the Falafal House in Gloucester Green. It was started by cleaning cloths being left on a hotplate, where they ignited.

Called at half past six in the evening, the fire service attending included two fire engines and roughly twelve fire fighters. They came from the depot at Rewley Road, which is situated close to the Falafal House.

No-one was hurt in the incident.

First year PPEist Emma Alexander expressed her relief on hearing this, saying, “It’s a good sign that no one was hurt, especially since incidents such as leaving materials on hot surfaces are not uncommon amongst negligent students.”

David Harris, a Keble College physicist, had some cautionary words about the incident, saying, “This is a burning issue which won’t just extinguish itself. Still, there’s no need to fuel the fires of popular opinion by making it the latest hot topic, and we should let the smoke die down before drawing opinions as to the disregard of safety measures that may or may not have occurred.”

It is not thought that the incident will damage the Falafal House’s business, however, which has on-line reviews praising its falafel wraps and the politeness of its owner.

Oxford Scientists take to the pubs

0

Scientists from Oxford University have been explaining their research to the public over a pint in a series of talks in pubs across the city this week. The events were part of the first national ‘Pint of Science’ festival, aimed at raising public awareness about current scientific discoveries.

The talks were aimed to make science accessible to the general public. “We are bringing science out of labs, seminars, lecture halls and classrooms to a place where everyone feels comfortable voicing their opinion over a pint,” said festival organisers. They focused on the categories of brain, body, and biotechnology, with nine events in three different pubs. They were organised by the cortex club, and the Oxford branch of the British Science association, and are synchronised with similar talks in Cambridge and London.

Speakers at the the cutting-edge of research, and explained their latest discoveries to the audience. The festival was free to attend and the format of the nights was varied, ranging from myth-busting games, to musical performances, to open debates. It attracted big name speakers, such as Professor Marcus du Satoy, who spoke on ‘The Hunt for Artificial Intelligence’ in the upstairs room at the St Aldate’s tavern on Wednesday. The events were well attended, with places for every single one being fully booked up.

The Oxford organiser, Thaddeus Aid, said that the talks would demonstrate “how technology will help us in the future, from predicting how the heart functions when new medicines are introduced to the circulatory system, to how artificial intelligence will change our lives, to how robots will drive us in the future.”

Aid added that “It seems that at the moment public understanding and trust of science and scientists, from evolution to global warming there is a disconnect between what is generally accepted in science and what is generally accepted in the general public.” 

When asked how scientists would make the talk accessible to normal, slightly inebriated people, he explained, “We have requested the speakers remove the maths from their talks and to target it at a level that the general public would find engaging. What this means in reality is that the speakers will be speaking more at a concept level than at an implementation level.”

The speakers taking part in the event were enthusiastic about bringing their subject area to the masses. David Gavaghan, Professor of Computational Biology observed that many of the challenges that society will face in the future are of a scientific nature, and so he said, “To tackle these issues will require widespread support from the public either to support or to put pressure on politicians to fund the necessary research, and to translate that research into practical solutions and technologies.

To get this support we’ll need more people to understand the issues, and the only way to do this is to try really hard to explain what we (as scientists) are trying to do in our research.”

He added “I hope that events like this will make a small contribution to the wider understanding of the importance of science in our everyday (and future) lives.”

Professor Paul Bolam, who gave a talk on aging and diseased brains, added, “It is the responsibility of all scientist to engage the public in science.  The public fund science, they need to know what we do with the money.”

Oxford MP and Oxfam CEO launch Oxfam’s Syria Crisis Appeal

0

Oxfam Chief Executive Mark Goldring and local MP Nicola Blackwood briefed Oxford residents on the Syria refugee crisis at Oxfam House in Cowley on Thursday. The event was the launch of Oxfam’s Syria Crisis Appeal in Oxford.

Goldring recently visited the crowded refugee camps on the Syria/Jordan border and Blackwood travelled with Oxfam to work with refugees in Lebanon.

He stated, “The people I met arrived in the refugee camp with virtually nothing, having fled terrible violence in Syria. Often their homes have been destroyed and they have no idea when, or if, they will be able to return.”

Goldring continued, “Oxfam is doing everything we can, but we urgently need to raise funds so we can continue our life-saving work.”

Currently, nearly seven million are in need of humanitarian help in Syria. Local supporters of the Appeal include Oxford Oxfam Student’s Group and the 02 Academy. Oxfam hopes to receive further support from other businesses and individuals over Oxford.

A major street collection will take place over Oxford on Saturday 8th June among other fundraising events.

MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, Nicola Blackwood, said, “Having seen the desperate situation that thousands of Syrian refugees are experiencing in Lebanon for myself, I feel very strongly that this is a humanitarian emergency the people of Oxford simply cannot ignore.

“I know the Oxford community is extremely caring and I hope local people will be moved to get behind Oxfam’s emergency appeal.”

Spotlight On… Some Funny

0

There’s a new sketch show in town, promising to provide the audience with, at the very least, Some Funny and maybe, if you’re lucky, a little more. The troupe of five actors, made up of Will Hislop, Barney Fishwick, Barney Iley, Phoebe Hames and Kieran Ahern, who go by the name “The Buttless Chaps”, tell me about their comedy and the experience of putting together their first ever show.

Barnaby Fishwick and Will Hislop multi-task as performers, writers and directors of Some Funny and their collaborative relationship is passionate. They’ve spent many hours together writing and rewriting, laughing and not laughing. “It has strained our relationship,” admits Hislop, “this will be our first and final collaboration”.  He is tired of having to drag Fishwick’s sketches up from their “seedy depths”; he says they simply possess “inferior levels of Funny”. Fishwick retorts that he is “hurt and disappointed” by Hislop’s remarks. When I ask about their expectations for the show, Fishwick tells me plainly that “if the audience get more than Some Funny they should be fucking grateful really.”

Despite some creative disagreements at the top, the five-person troupe works well together. Barney Iley, who moonlights as the director of the Oxford Revue, assures me he enjoys the rehearsals saying “Barney and Will constantly encourage us, and we get to put any suggestions in a suggestion box”. I ask if I can see the suggestion box, and he points to the JCR dustbin.

In terms of comedic style, it’s difficult to pigeonhole Some Funny. Hislop’s previous experience with musical stand-up sets him up well to include certain musical numbers in the production – “It has been alleged that there may be maracas involved”, he says. Of the style, Hislop says modestly “We’re creating a whole new brand of comedy. It’s a melting-pot”. “There are five cooks and lots of broth,” adds Fishwick enigmatically. The stylistic diversity seems tactical; Iley explains the aim was to “maximise the frontiers of comedy, in order to maximise the funny.”

“Tarantino Classics” was a first taster of the fresh, creative comedy offered by Some Funny: a series of fast, sharp, hilarious mini-sketches presenting familiar children’s stories in the style of Tarantino. Despite the excessive violence of these sketches Barney and Will assured me that the show is only 12A rated. Their comedy is “mature, but not gratuitous.”

The Chaps are also not afraid of grappling with intellectual content in their work. ‘Freud’, a “subtle exploration of Freudian theory in sketch form”, proves the Chaps are not afraid of challenging their audience. “We’re aware it’s quite high-brow but we aim to push intellectual boundaries first, and to entertain second”, Hislop muses, tongue firmly in cheek.

Other sketches include ‘Downton Abbey in ADHD’ and ‘Snooker Commentator’, social commentaries more accessible to the average Oxford viewer. Elements of the absurd inject some sketches with a Pythonesque feeling, but their sketches also incorporate darker humour, physical comedy and of course musical interludes. A professional jazz pianist will feature. The selection of props is equally eclectic: watch out for an AK-47, a severed arm, and a cosmonaut suit.

When asked about corpsing – laughing while on stage – the Chaps admit this is a danger, particularly given the likelihood that they will be “enjoying the sketches more than the audience”. They quickly add that they’re “self-deprecating because [they’re] just so hugely confident.”

And the Chaps have reason to be. Expect music, expect parodies, expect gender-bending, and definitely expect much more than “Some Funny”.