Three members of the Oxford Union have brought a no-confidence motion against President Charlie Mackintosh, and a vote will be triggered if the required 150 signatures are received.

They claim the president has demonstrated “gross misconduct and a shameful capitalisation of his office” in inviting Tzipi Hotovely back to the Union this evening, to participate in a panel discussion about the Abraham Accords. 

In their motion posting, the members allege that Israeli security “conspired to intimidate and harass members of colour and pro-Palestinian members” when Hotovely attended the Union in Trinity term. They also state that Mackintosh did not adequately question Hotovely about the killing of Shireen Aby Akleh,despite media conclusions of Israeli responsibility. Twenty minutes of audience questions were also allowed.

In light of this, and the Union’s action in inviting Hotovely back less than a year later during Mackintosh’s term as President has led to the calling of the vote.

A lack of sufficient notice of the events which “typify the double standards between Palestinian and Israeli ambassadors” are also cited by the writers as reasons for the motion. The writers concluded their motion by stating that the President has “deliberately conspired with foreign agents to promote the interests of an apartheid state”.

As yet, it is unspecified if and when the motion of no confidence will be brought before the house. The panel on the Abraham Accords will take place tonight at 8pm.

This story will be updated to reflect ongoing developments.

The Oxford Union has announced several extra speaker events which will be taking place in the rest of Hilary Term, though not previously listed on the termcard.

These events include talks from the former Prime Minister John Major, the Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, and Baroness Rogers of Riverside.

A panel discussion on the Abraham Accords will also be taking place today at 8pm, where the UK ambassadors to Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE will be speaking. This is expected to draw considerable attention in the form of protests, with the Union stating that there will be “enhanced security”.

The Union’s Bicentenary event will take place tomorrow, featuring Michael Gove MP and Amanda Pritchard.

Disha Hegde has been automatically resigned as Librarian of the Oxford Union after missing three access committee meetings. She has also missed the deadline to appeal against her dismissal.

Hegde, who originally volunteered to attend the access committee, has not attended any of the access committee meetings this term. This means her auto-resignation should technically have been triggered as early as the end of 3rd Week, but a union source told Cherwell no one had noticed until yesterday.

Under the Union’s rule 23 (e)(i)(1), “Any Member of any Committee absent without good reason from three Ordinary Meetings … in the same term shall be deemed to have resigned from that Committee … resignations from Committees that a Member is a Member of by virtue of them holding another position shall also constitute resignations from that position”.

The access committee meets every Thursday, and normally the Librarian is not required to attend. However, Hegde emailed the Returning Officers (ROs) at the end of Michaelmas and registered her intention to vote the access committee for the rest of term and during Hilary. Hegde was mandated to attend the meetings this term and failure to do so made her subject to rule 23 and auto-resignation.

Absences can be excused if the committee in question votes that the absence was due to “good reason”. The good reasons listed are attendance at a public examination, “disabling or infectious illness”, “unavoidable” engagements, or doing something “of paramount importance” for the Union. Hegde was injured on the night between Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th February, but by that point had already missed three access committee meetings. She could have presented evidence of “good reason” to the committee 72 hours after each of her absences, but did not.

Following her third absence, Hegde could have appealed against the auto-resignation by submitting a “Special Adjournment Motion”, however she failed to do so before the deadline. 

In an email to the Standing Committee, Hegde wrote: “[S]everal weeks ago, I suffered an accident that left me with broken bones and temporarily unable to walk. As a result, I spent a lot of time in and out of hospital. Whilst I am currently awaiting surgery, I have not been able to attend several committee meetings or pass my absences. Librarians are not obliged to attend access committee under the rules and therefore I did not pass my absences. Autoresignation clauses exist to ensure good governance of our society and while I have been recovering from my injury and spent time in hospital, I have struggled to attend as many meetings as I would have liked to. This does not reflect my willingness to work hard in my position, nor does it reflect how deeply I care about the society.

“There is an ongoing dispute over my position. Spanning 196 pages, the rules of this Society are quite complicated and open to interpretation by the Returning Officer – who is due to issue a ruling. It may be that he decides to rule against me, for my lack of attendance at meetings and therefore announces my resignation. A disciplinary body could overturn this if they believe it to be an abuse of power, but this appeals process will take some time to come to a decision. Pending further developments, I will not be sat in the chair at debates.”

It was confirmed to Cherwell that the RO has now ruled against Hegde.

Hegde noted these developments have “highlighted … even more how important it is that this Society makes our rules more accessible and less convoluted”, and emphasised that she still plans to run for President “[d]espite the health battles I am facing”, as she has “seen how difficult it is for people from non-traditional ‘Union’ backgrounds to excel here, and my experience has made me realise how important it is that I continue”.

Just last term, Ahmad Nawaz lost his Union presidency after his absence at three successive access committee meetings triggered an auto-resignation that Nawaz then failed to overturn in a vote put to the chamber.

Following the auto-resignation, officers will most likely be moved up a rank as per standard practice, meaning Hegde will most likely be replaced as Librarian by the current Treasurer. It does not preclude Hegde from running in any upcoming elections.

This article will be updated to reflect ongoing developments.

The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, is openly resisting the Home Office’s plans to restrict the number of international students that attend UK universities.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the education secretary described the economic contribution of international students as “hugely valuable”. She also said that the UK’s university sector is “something that we should be very proud of”. She wants to increase the higher education sector’s export revenue from £26bn to £35bn through the establishment of further international campuses and partnerships with overseas institutions, clashing with the Home Office’s plans to reduce immigration numbers by targeting international students. In a conversation with The Sun, Suella Braverman suggested that overseas students were exploiting student visas in order to bring dependants who are “not contributing to growing our economy.” 

At Oxford, just over a third of students are from overseas. The university has the 13th highest proportion of international students in the Russell Group. Oxford considers international students to be an invaluable part of life at the university. One student told Cherwell that the opportunity to be part of a global community “must really broaden our perception of the world and different cultures, and I think that university is fundamentally a place where that should happen.”

Financial Times reported that Braverman and Keegan met this week, and discussion topics included Braverman’s proposed reduction of the time period over which an overseas student can stay in the UK after their degree. The current graduate visa allows international students to stay for 2 years, or for 3 years following the completion of a doctoral or equivalent qualification. It was suggested that this could be reduced to 6 months. The ministers also discussed the current possibility for students on “low-value” courses, or those with lower graduate salaries, to bring dependants to the UK.

Three years ago, the government aimed to increase the number of international students enrolled at UK universities to 600,000 by 2021/22. According to the Higher Education Student Statistics for 2021/22, the figure reached was 680,000, which amounts to just under a quarter of all students at UK universities. But, currently, the number of international students is falling. Part of the reason is the rise in tensions between the UK and China, whose student applications at UK universities have fallen for the first time in a decade.  

Moreover, the Higher Education sector relies on the higher fees paid by international students to provide a better experience for all students. To many, including Gillian Keegan, the Home Office’s proposition is ludicrous both financially and culturally.

Walking around Oxford’s Gloucester Green market, plastic is everywhere to be found. It’s littered across the ground, and nearly all of the twenty or so food vendors visibly distribute plastic of some form. Following a recent decision by the Oxford City Council, however, all single-use plastic will have to go by April.

After a year-long campaign by Green and Liberal Democrat Councillors, the licensing committee voted to ban street traders from using single-use plastics in Oxford. The city will rely on monitoring officers, public reporting, and fines to enforce the new rule. At the end of 2022, a public consultation found that 79% of respondents were in favour of the ban.

At The Catchy Greek, a stall at Gloucester Green market, all packaging is made of paper but the forks are still plastic. The stall owner told Cherwell that they “don’t mind” the new policy, as they have almost completely abandoned single-use plastics already, and they usually have wooden cutlery available.

According to Nick from The Java Laksa Co., an Indonesian & Malaysian joint at the market, this is a welcome but difficult change. The stall currently uses containers made of hard plastic, which he says are easier and cheaper to source than quality biodegradable products. Nick told Cherwell that supply shocks have caused a reduction in the available options from wholesalers while also increasing the prices of eco-friendly packaging by multiple times, as most of it is shipped from China. The switch would also be extra costly for Java Laksa because paper packaging for offerings such as soup would need to be thick and high quality. He does not want to be forced to pass on these increased costs to customers.

Nick says that he is “strongly against” the cheap and low quality polystyrene popular with kebab vans and many of his competitors. However, he believes that the hard plastic used by Java Laksa is easy to re-use and recycle, so it shouldn’t be considered single-use. Java Laksa has a sign encouraging customers to “please return plastic containers back to us for recycling … or re-use them yourself.” Nick told Cherwell that he would also appreciate it if the government helped ease the transition by subsidising the cost of biodegradable packaging for street traders.

Hassan from Hassan’s kebab van on Turl Street told Cherwell, “It’s a good idea but it’s bad for me.” He currently uses orange styrofoam containers; he previously used eco-friendly ones but they were just too expensive. An eco-friendly container costs around 90p, so a hundred containers is equivalent to as much as a night’s salary. The extra cost will need to be somehow compensated. Hassan is also wary about the environmental benefits of the switch, as he believes most containers will still end up in the trash anyway rather than be properly composted or recycled.

After the decision, Green Councillor Lois Muddiman said, “We know that single-use plastics have a massive environmental impact – both in their production and their contribution to problems of littering.” According to the other Green Councillor, Rosie Rawle, “Independent, small traders are the beating heart of Oxford’s economy” and accordingly “have an important role to play in addressing our city’s environmental impact.”