Saturday, April 26, 2025
Blog Page 203

Flavours of Europe: making time for good food

Archie Moss
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Flavours of Europe: making time for good food

Welcome to the first piece in a new series I am writing where we will explore some of the exciting flavours of refined European cooking. From Parisian high cuisine, Sardinian regional delicacies or English home comforts, this continent has plenty to offer the food-loving Oxford student. In this term’s sequence, we will delve into Italian cooking and examine some lesser-known regional treats. Later, we will hear from some of our university’s French community on their memories of authentic home cooking, followed by an exploratory piece on the complex flavours of regional French wines. I intend for this series to be interactive, so if you have any thoughts, enquiries or suggestions feel free to email me. (Note to editor, please leave my name and email at the top/bottom of the piece for readers) But for now, I whet your appetite with some thoughts on making time for good food.

Although there is plenty to engage oneself with here at Oxford University, one thing we find ourselves lacking amongst the throes of a busy university term is time. No one is a stranger to having to consume subpar meals in order to free up time for late night studies or various other activities, but finding time to cook meals one finds a pleasure to eat can be difficult due to our positions as students. I have found the cookbooks my parents handed to me, usually written by TV chefs or healthy eating gurus, trying at times, and demanding far too much of my time only to yield bland and boring results. The question is, how can we as talented but time-poor students produce quick meals which satisfy not only our stomachs, but also our souls? I believe a delve into the past can provide the answer in the form of Edouard de Pomaine’s “French cooking in ten minutes”, and from this short but charming book came the recipe I recently followed for “Rib steak with onions”. De Pomaine, a physician by trade, understands the demands of a hectic lifestyle, which is reflected in his frequent use of the second person and frank and direct remarks. For the Oxford university student, delight is to be found in the fact that his recipes can be made on the hob and without an oven, and enough variation on common themes provides a new eating experience every evening of term. I found it took only twenty minutes to cook the selected recipe to completion, and the results were surprisingly pleasurable. Lightly fried potatoes in olive oil with a pinch of salt perfectly provided a base for the juices from the rare steak and chopped shallots. A handful of premade salad adds to the freshness of the plate with virtually no commitment of time, but still ensuring it does not sit too heavy in the stomach which would dampen the mood of evening activity. A red wine from the Médoc or Graves regions of Bordeaux would complement this dish perfectly, although any lighter-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon would do just as well.

I hope a delve into the works of de Pomaine may provide inspiration for the discerning student and prove that a lack of time does not have to lead to a lack of good food. I will address this piece with some words from the man himself – “Modern life is so hectic that we sometimes feel as if time is going up in smoke. But we don’t want that to happen to our steak or omelette, so let’s hurry. Ten minutes is enough. One minute more and all will be lost.”

Image credit: Lukas via Pexels.

The Radcliffe Department of Medicine: Four Year PhD Scholars Programme

Radcliffe Department of Medicine
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The Radcliffe Department of Medicine: Four Year PhD Scholars Programme

The Radcliffe Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford is a large, multi-disciplinary department, which aims to tackle some of the world’s biggest health challenges by integrating innovative basic biology with cutting edge clinical research.

The department has internationally renowned programmes in a broad spectrum of sciences related to medicine, including:


 Cancer Biology
 Cardiovascular Science
 Cellular and Clinical Imaging
 Computational Biology
 Diabetes, Metabolism and Endocrinology
 Genetics and Genomics
 Haematology and Pathology
 Immunology
 Stem Cells and Developmental Biology


Our research spans the translational research spectrum, from basic biological research through to clinical application. A full list of supervisor profiles can be found on our website.

Our PhD Scholars Programme is open to outstanding candidates of any nationality. It provides fully funded awards for students wishing to undertake a four-year PhD in Medical Sciences.


Further details on the projects available and the application process are available on the RDM website.


Before you apply, you should identify an academic member of staff who is willing to supervise you and has the resources to support the proposed research project. Although not part of the final selection process, contact with the prospective supervisor is a key part of the admissions process to ensure there is a good fit between the student and the lab.


The closing date for applications is 12 noon (UK time) on Friday 9 December 2022.


Interviews will take place during the week commencing 16 January 2022.


Offers will be made in February 2023 for an October 2023 start.


The Radcliffe Department of Medicine actively promotes a family friendly working environment.

Varsity cricket match to be reinstated at Lord’s

Isaac Ettinghausen
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Varsity cricket match to be reinstated at Lord’s

The Oxford-Cambridge Varsity cricket match will be played at Lord’s again after members of the Marylebone Cricket Club protested against its planned axing.

In February, Cherwell reported on the plans of the MCC, which administers Lord’s, to scrap the Varsity match, as well as the Eton-Harrow fixture, on grounds of “broadening the scope of the fixture list.”

This was met with support by both Oxford and Cambridge’s cricket clubs, with CUCC stating that it “enthusiastically welcomes the MCC decision to make way in following seasons for a wider range of people to realise their ambition of playing at Lord’s.” 

However, the plans were less popular with members of the MCC, with a group of 212 members writing in an open letter that the MCC “trampled over the history and traditions of Lord’s” by attempting to scrap the two matches.

“By failing to consult and engage with members beforehand, it was also arbitrary, undemocratic and hence disrespectful to all members,” their letter wrote.

An emergency meeting had been scheduled last Tuesday, but the level of anger prompted MCC officials to cancel it for fear of a toxic row. MCC chief executive Guy Lavender wrote to members: “I write to advise you that the Special General Meeting scheduled for 18.00 tomorrow will not now take place. The MCC Committee has agreed to a request, received from the requisitionists this morning, to withdraw the Resolution and cancel the SGM, in the best interests of the Club.

“Both the committee and the requisitionists continue to believe in their respective points of view, but we will now work together on next steps, to include a consultation process with Members with a view to considering the future of the two fixtures at the 2023 AGM. Noting the time needed for this consultation, it has been agreed by both parties that the Club will invite the four institutions to play their respective matches (Oxford v Cambridge and Eton v Harrow) at Lord’s in 2023.”

Image credit: Yorkstar via Wikimedia

The return to Oxford

Phoebe Walls
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The return to Oxford

The return to Oxford university after the long summer vac provokes mixed emotions. My dog was sad at the sight of my looming suitcase. Packing up my belongings and travelling from Edinburgh to Oxford was a bit of a thought. There is undeniably excitement about the prospect of Michaelmas term, catching up with friends after months of living hundreds of miles apart, pints in the college bar, bops, and essay writing in Oxford’s inspiring libraries.

This time last year I was feeling very nervous about starting university at seventeen and moving over three hundred miles away from everything I’d ever known. This year I’m going into my second year at Lincoln college and the prospect of my new role as a college mother is strangely thrilling. My schoolfriends were baffled when confronted with the concept of the Oxford college parent system. My lovely husband and I have welcomed two daughters. They share the same trivial yet all-consuming concerns we once harboured. What exactly are the washing facilities like? Rest assured, the laundry room became my happy place. Are there bins or hangers? 

Accommodation questions aside, the Oxford summer reading lists form a heavy weight on the young shoulders of anxious freshers, stepping into the unknown world of tutorials and collections, the opportunity to collect one’s intellect. I had my own summer reading list to chip away at over the last few months, from medieval French lais to Goethe’s poetry, depicting effectively a ‘sneaky link’ reminiscent of a so-called ‘situationship’ (a non-committal relationship destined to sink without anchors). 

While defrosting the strange Titanic iceberg that had grown in my fridge over the vac, I considered the many connections forged at university.

Staying connected during the vac is made easy through technology. Yet talking to friends on the phone is a jarring experience. My phone voice sounds like a silly schoolgirl. Snapchat messages have a best-before date and automatically disappear, but the app does provide Snap maps, cartoon friends scattered across the globe. Instagram only offers the best bits of students’ summer vacations rather than the reality of mundanity. BeReal provides the most realistic portrayal of friends online. It offers exclusive shots of messy bedrooms, family members in fancy kitchens, and kittens resting on laptops. BeReal boasts pictures of computer screens with all the tabs open. Is it normal to zoom in and find out what exactly someone is up to online?

Sometimes there’s too much to keep tabs on. Stories, posts, messages. Personally, I enjoy channeling elderly energy and sending my close friends letters and postcards. However, nothing beats the face-to-face interactions I crave after the vac, from the simplicity of quick study breaks to Pret to attending a formal hall. 

I am even looking forward to seeing my tutors again and the slightly surreal buzz of hearing them read a snippet of my essay aloud in a tutorial. Oxford throws you straight in at the deep end as soon as you move back, with the return of a challenging workload. A French translation collection before the official start of term was a typically Oxford surprise. There really is no rest for the wicked. Yet there is something uniquely magical about the student experience here. Everyone is effectively in the same boat trying to stay afloat. I’m now eighteen and have learned plenty about circuit laundry, essay writing, referencing, JCR political landscapes and the very flat Oxford landscape. As I bid farewell to Edinburgh, the city built on seven hills with a beautiful castle and beaches, I am reunited with Oxford’s spectacular architecture. Within the medieval core of the ancient colleges, there’s the hustle and bustle of Cornmarket. So as my train leaves Waverly station, like many students, I prepare to embark on my new journey, to go off the rails whilst also staying on track. 

Image credit: Liv Cashman

Gaming the system

Khusrau Islam
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Gaming the system

Big Tech has gripped the video games industry, and they’re squeezing it for all it has. Unfortunately, that means the once multi-faceted industry is slowly morphing into a playground of various conglomerates.

Larger companies have capitalised on the recent boom in the video games market, which allows them to integrate more users into their services. Microsoft acquired Activision, hoping to capitalise upon Activision’s mobile user base as the company seeks to become the one-stop shop for all your digital needs. Sony recently bought Bungie, Inc., Haven Studios, and Insomniac Games, Inc.. Their stated aim is trying to expand into multiplatform live-service, online games. Basically, they want to be your one-stop shop for home entertainment. TakeTwo Interactive, makers of Grand Theft Auto, recently acquired Zynga, the creator of FarmVille. That combines one of the biggest PC/console gaming companies with one of the largest mobile gaming franchises. Something, something, one-stop shop. You get the idea. 

Larger companies are acquiring their potential competitors and disruptors. And the market is expecting this consolidation. The Financial Times reported that after the Microsoft-Activision announcement, many developers’ prices bounced from the “prospect of a round of other deals”. And when Tencent, one of the world’s biggest gaming companies, increased their stake in Ubisoft, the latter’s share price decreased due to fears that it could not be acquired fully. 

I would say that this consolidation is the development of monopolies: a few companies are gaining control over the whole industry. Of course, just because a company controls the market does not guarantee that they will act without scruples. After all, I cannot, for the life of me, think of a single time Microsoft have ever had any issue with antitrust allegations. And Sony would never abuse their market share to control prices! 

The purchase of other companies by Sony and Microsoft have very real-world implications for the consumer. When Sony bought Insomniac, they were able to make a Spider-Man franchise exclusive to Sony consoles. Microsoft, if their acquisition of Activision goes through, have the ability to make popular games like Call of Duty exclusive to their consoles. 

I can probably get over not being able to swing around as Peter Parker without a PlayStation. But as these large companies consolidate larger portions of the market, it becomes harder for smaller, independent companies to grow and develop. If the market is already full of large companies, a new company will struggle to enter it and compete as they would lack the resources. This lack of competition stifles creativity and innovation, and with fewer potentially disruptive competitors, large companies have less incentive to be as good. Now, Sony have pinkie-promised that Bungie would stay somewhat free from Sony overlordship. But the truth is that companies like Sony possess ultimate control over their subsidiaries.

EA are a case study for what the gaming industry could look like across the board if only large conglomerates are left. EA earned its notorious reputation by buying up smaller gaming studios, forcing changes on their products to fit in with their own business plans, and when those products then failed, shutting down the studios. They also have pretty much exclusive licensing rights to most mainstream sports. Since they are basically the only option, they can get away with publishing pretty much the same game every year. And because they, for a time, held exclusive rights to Star Wars games, they only had to “provide players with a sense of pride and and accomplishment”, rather than an actually good game. 

Admittedly, I have focussed on the worst-case scenarios: stifled innovation and creativity, higher prices for the consumer, and lower quality products, if conglomerates sweep the industry. But even though the market is expecting consolidation, it is unlikely that this reality will come to pass: the UK Competition and Markets Authority are probing Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision out of antitrust concerns; over in the US, three antitrust campaigners and activists hold senior positions overseeing economic regulation in Biden’s government. With such champions of antitrust, the reach of the conglomerate may be checked. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the very real threat to the gaming industry posed by Big Tech. 

Image credit: Mateo

How can we cure Alzheimer’s disease?

Matthew Clark
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How can we cure Alzheimer’s disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative condition that affects over 10% of people over 65. The observable symptoms painfully familiar: Difficulty with language, confusion and increasing memory loss. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this disease remain mysterious.

Before the 2000’s, the only way to test if someone truly has Alzheimer’s was to examine their brain after death. This is how it was first identified in 1906 by Alois Alzheimer. He dissected the brain of a psychiatric patient named Auguste Deter and observed ‘amyloid plaque’ under the microscope.

Diagram by Matthew Clark

The substance that made up the amyloid plaques wasn’t determined until 1984: A tiny protein named amyloid beta. One of the reasons why this took such a long time is that amyloid beta sticks together and clogs up the protein machinery you’re using to make it!

Beta amyloid ranges from 36-42 amino acids long. Your genes determine the length and since some are more prone to aggregate than others, this contributes to the hereditary nature of the disease. Soon the gene that encoded beta amyloid was discovered. Amazingly, beta amyloid starts out as an enormous 770 amino acid precursor.

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) is expressed on the outer membrane of neurons. Its exact function is unknown. One would imagine that removing this gene could be a cure for Alzheimer’s, but ironically knocking it out of mouse models causes memory loss and impaired learning.

Many outer membrane proteins must be cut by an enzyme to achieve their function. For example: The Notch signaling protein gets cut by a secretase enzyme. Unfortunately, these cutting enzymes are rather promiscuous and sometimes react with the wrong target. APP is one of these unlucky bystanders.

When APP gets cut, the beta amyloid fragments spill out and aggregate together. Aside from getting in the way, these amyloid plaques cause inflammation and an autoimmune response. For decades, This amyloid hypothesis has been viewed as the driving force behind Alzheimer’s disease.

A key piece of evidence for the importance of beta amyloid is the genetics of another protein called ApoE. This protein helps to clear up the mess of aggregated amyloid surrounding the neurons. There are 3 major alleles of the ApoE gene throughout the population: ApoE2, E3 and E4. The last of which puts you at a greater risk for Alzheimer’s. Since you have 2 copies of your DNA (one from each parent), you can have many different combinations of APOE. 25% of people have 1 copy of E4. ~3% of people have 3 copies of E4.

The main point of controversy is this: Are amyloid plaques a cause of the neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s, or are they just a symptom? So far, the most promising treatment strategies have only been able to slow cognitive decline but not actually cure the underlying problems.

If beta amyloid is only a symptom, what could the cause possibly be? Despite the disappointments with this tiny fragment, I feel we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is so much more to the amyloid precursor protein!

The APP gene is found on chromosome 21. Trisomy 21, also known as Down’s syndrome, is a condition that causes a baby to be born with an extra copy of this chromosome. People with down syndrome are far more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease: It begins to develop at an earlier age, and ~50% of people over 60 will suffer from it.

Some people, without Down’s syndrome, can inherit mutations in APP that make it easier for secretase to cut it. This causes symptoms to develop around age 40-50. The cleavage of APP seams to be very important, but what effect would this have other than beta amyloid production? Maybe we have the wrong end of the stick.

The other end of APP is left inside the cell after secretases cut out the beta amyloid. Binding experiments have shown that this small piece of protein interacts with signaling proteins and can even travel inside the nucleus. This alters gene expression. Some of these genes (such ask GSK3-3b) can cause another type of protein aggregate to form: Neurofibrillary tangles.

A lot of research has been focused on designing drugs to clean up amyloid. Unfortunately not a single one has been successful yet. In September 2022, a beta amyloid binding antibody drug called Lecanemab was found to be successful in phase III clinical trials. This means there is a chance this avenue could prove to be fruitful.

Image credit: Josh Riemer

How did Truss’ Cabinet become so anti-LGBTQ?

Jack Twyman
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How did Truss’ Cabinet become so anti-LGBTQ?

The role of the LGBTQ+ community in politics is a complex one. UK gay rights have advanced rapidly in the space of thirty years since the WHO declassified homosexuality as a mental illness: the age of consent has been equalised, adoption rights were won, Section 28 was repealed, and in the last ten years marriage equality has been delivered to all four nations of the United Kingdom. However, stigma still exists, and LGBTQ+ rights and particularly transgender rights have now been weaponised for political benefit. We cannot forget that this is still a country that up until this year had a Prime Minister that wrote about gay men being ‘tanked top bum boys’ and has never apologised.  We still have a highly revered Archbishop of Canterbury who maintains gay sex is a sin. And one in five LGBT people have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their identity in the last 12 months.

The newly appointed Conservative Cabinet at Number 10 has been heralded for its ethnic diversity and stark contrast to that of Cameron’s only 6 years ago. However, this hides a rather unsettling trend in the top-jobs of politics. The PinkNews article scrutinising cabinet members LGBTQ+ stances is titled in exasperation ‘The good, the bad and the terrifying’. In a parliament that has the most LGBTQ+ MPs in history, we have receded to having no representation in Cabinet. Even in 1997, when the repressive Section 28 was still enforced, the first openly out Cabinet Minister assumed office.1 In a political party where only 2% of current MPs were sitting in parliament during the Thatcher years, it seems her legacy remains strong. Comparisons between Truss and Thatcher on any level are deeply unsettling for the LGBTQ+ community. This, I believe, is a problem worth investigating. This article has compiled voting records, MP testimony, and political commentary to try to understand the current situation in Conservative Politics.  

Let’s start by analysing Liz Truss and her closes allies; their subsequent appointment to Ministry is the source of shock that spurred me into writing this article: 

  • Truss herself has voted in favour of same-sex marriage consistently but her stint as Equalities Ministers was marred by resignations in the LGBT Advisory Panel in protest at ‘hostile’ treatment of the community.
  • Kwasi Kwarteng, the new Chancellor, voted against the legalisation of same-sex marriage twice in 2013 and has been absent for all votes on the subject since. 
  • Thérèse Coffey, new Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary, voted against marriage equality in England and Wales 2013 and in Northern Ireland in 2019. Coffey was then part of a group of 15 MPs who urged the House of Lords to block same-sex marriage after the House of Commons voted in its favour in 2013. Citing her religious values for her stance, she affirmed her view had not changed in multiple television appearances over the past three years. She has opposed mandatory sex and relationship education in schools which coming from the minister at the helm of the NHS during the Monkeypox outbreak is concerning. She has been quiet about her views on Trans Rights, but can be assured to change given the influential voice she now holds. 
  • The new Home Secretary Suella Braveman just led her unsuccessful leadership campaign on the backbone of her “war on woke” rhetoric. She follows her new bosses steadfast support of the Rwanda Policy even as LGBTQ+ rights group express horror at the thought of vulnerable refugees being sent to a country where gay and transgender indivuduals are rountinetly rounded up and detained by the government there.
  • Defence Secretary Ben Wallace ‘has voted against every piece of LGBT+ legislation put in front of him, including the Equality Act and same-sex marriage’. He also voted in favour of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which according to PinkNews will make it harder for lesbian couples to concieve through IVF. 
  • Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch is the former equalities minister who was accused of ‘utterly failing’ LGBTQ+ individuals in the role. he was a key facilitator of meetings between government representatives and conversion therapy advocates. In her bid for party leadership she positioned herself as ‘anti-woke’ and secured an endorsement from far-right group Britain first. She made headlines for adding gendered signage to gender neutral toilets at her campaign event. 
  • Active anti-gay marriage MP Jacob Rees Mogg has been promoted to Business Secretary despite always voting against legalising same-sex marriage. 
  • Simon Clarke, new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, voted against legalising gay marriage in Northern Ireland. 

The Conservative Party’s divisive 1987 general election campaign poster. 

It is commonly understood that David Cameron’s Conservative government led the way for the legalisation of gay marriage. But this is not true. While only 41% of Tory MPs voted for legislation, it was Labour’s unwavering 88% support that got the bill passed. Tory MPs made up 82% of all votes against. Interestingly all 8 Northern Ireland DUP MPs voted against the Bill despite it only affecting England and Wales; the SNP abstained for this reason. Theresa May’s decision to enter into de-facto Coalition with this deeply homophobic party is emblematic of the continued Tory association with anti-LGBTQ+ organisations.

Looking to the 2019 vote to legalise same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland,  while MPs overwhelmingly voted in favour (383-73), it was the Conservatives who were responsible for 89% of those votes against – including several Ministers. No Labour or Liberal Democrat MPs voted against. Notable abstentions include Jeremy Hunt, Boris Johnson, Theresa May (then PM), Ester McVey, Philip Hammond (then Chancellor), Sajid Javid (then Home Secretary). Many Conservatives have voted for some legislation, including Dominic Raab, but continue with efforts to protect churches who were opposed to conducting ceremonies. 

All this may be surprising for a political party that has the most LGBTQ+ MPs at 26 compared with Labour’s 22. Many of these MPs have struggled with their identity and are public about the challenges they have faced. Conservative Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski came out to his constituency already an MP. He told the Shropshire Star in 2019 “I was scared to tell, even to my closest supporters in the local Conservative Association – so much so that I was quietly praying the train would break down so I would not have to impart it”. I approached Daniel for a comment but was declined. Conservative MP David Mundell came out as gay in 2016 while Scotland Secretary after dealing with “conflicting emotions … doubts and fears” He was demoted under Theresa May and has not served in cabinet since. He conceded that he would only ever be happy with himself if he was himself in his public life as well as private. Ruth Davison, former Scottish Conservative Leader, has also spoken of the difficulties of being publicly gay while not seeking to talk about it. Conservative MP Dehenna Davison is the first female openly bisexual MP. She spoke to PinkNews about not wanting to make her ‘coming out’ a big deal.

There are currently 66 openly-LGBT MPs according to LGBT+ in Parliament website. While MPs face difficulty navigating their identity within politics, the proportion of MPs, especially within the Conservative Party suggest that improvements have been made. There is a dedicated LGBT+ Conservative Group who supporting and further the rights of their LGBT+ members. There is no question the Conservative Party has a complex and challenging relationship with LGBT rights, and understadning their current situation of simultaneously having the most LGBTQ+ MPs while also a cabinet that has consistently voted against furthering those MPs rights, was a task only an insider perspective could help understand. I reached out to openly-LGBT MPs of all parties and received no responses from Labour or the SNP. This is a statement in itself and regardless of politics, I would like to personally thank Conservative MP Crispin Blunt for giving this article exclusive insight. 

Reigate MP Crispin Blunt left his wife and revealed he was gay in 2010. He was deselected by his local Conservative Association’s Executive Council soon after in 2013 – many pointing to his sexuality as the reason. In the controversy that followed several members went record to say they would not support a gay candidate. However, he was reinstated and his parliamentary career continued. Being no stranger to the complex relationship his party has with LGBTQ+ rights, Blunt was keen to speak to me about my concern regarding the new cabinet. 

“There will be a natural anxiety for people looking at their [new cabinet members] voting records and their views,” Blunt began. “But as the person who called on Liz Truss to resign as Equalities Secretary after the screw up she made with the Gender Recognition Act, while you might think that I would be partially in your corner, as ever things are a little bit more complicated than they might appear”.

Blunt is a proud advocate of LGBT+ rights and was the founder and chair of the APPG for Global LGBT+ Rights following  his ministerial duties. He seems proud of the advancements society has made regarding this issue: “Over many decades from the period of the 1950s from where you had a police force enthusiastically entrapping gay men in the UK and over a thousand people in prison for consensual sex, the change in attitude over that period has been profound.”

Crispin does not deny his party’s complicated past on the issue. “The step back for the Conservative party in the 1980s on Section 28 is a terrible stain on the party’s record. But it does need to be understood in the context of the time…It became clear to me that in the early 1980s the LGBT cause had been appropriated by a revolutionary left. It had lined up with Peter Tatchell, the miners, and other causes that were seen as a threat to the state itself – the people who wanted to change society radically.” Crispin believes it was Stonewall’s attempts to ‘make amends’ with the establishment that produced a ‘constructive engagement.’ “That first meeting with John Major following Thatcher’s departure produced the unanswerable position that equality was required – first on the age of consent.” While Major’s move in 1995 to equalise the age of consent ‘narrowly lost at the time’ Crispin is insistent that this demonstrates his party ‘quickly starting to move on this issue’ even if ‘Tory backwings in the House of Lords’ delayed the equalisation to 16 that PM Blair introduced a decade later. In the House of Commons, a very large number of Conservatives were now supporting reform, with some very powerful voices like Bernard Jenkin. They had to wake up to the reality of modern society.” He points out that the Labour Blair government did not change the policy to allow gay people to serve openly in the armed forces, having to be imposed in 2002 by the European Court of Human Rights.

“It has always been a reality that a pretty decent minority, if not a majority of parliamentary researchers and those fluttering about in the Westminster space were gay. There were far more gay conservatives than there were in the other parties.” Blunt continues.  “You had people like [openly gay] Guy Black (now Lord) who was a senior member of the Conservative Research department writing speeches for Thatcher on Section 28. Now it obviously looks absurd.”  

Blunt understands the Civil Partnership Act gave ‘legal equality’ to same sex couples “So for many Conservatives – misguided in my view – it was about ownership of the word marriage. Was it owned by the Church or the State? And I think for you and me the answer is blindingly obvious in that we should have progressed to equal marriage in the first place.” While David Cameron’s parliamentary party voted against him “it was only half and those voting against knew they were going to lose so they could make a risk free statement for those people for whom who this was important”. Blunt believes that “in this area some people are always going to put their faith first” however it now safe to be a Conservative candidate and be gay. 

“By 2018 with Theresa May as PM we had the most progressive LGBT equality action plan in the world”. Blunt is noticeably frustrated with his party entering into “a totally avoidable mess over not understanding the Trans issue properly”.

Blunt’s prioritisation of Trans rights in parliament stems from his own experiences as a member of the LGBTQ+ society. “I had to think this through from scratch in summer 2020. “I’m a minority sexuality. What the fuck is it like to be in the wrong gender?” Blunt is critical of culture wars around Trans rights. “Once you convince people that  transgenderism and gender dysphoria are a real thing then you can address the consequences of gender dysphoria.” Blunt claims this can be done through improving the currently ‘woeful’ medical services that treat and help adults and children ‘in a proper and academic and medical way’. When asked about Tory Ministers meeting with anti-Trans groups, Blunt says: “Kiera Bell is the 1% of those people who regret medical transition. But what about the other 99% and transition surgery has the lowest regret rate of any surgery?”  He is clear the greatest threat to women does not come from Trans women and that “the current artificially stoked row” is a reflection of a system that doesn’t have adequate resources.

Blunt shared his own coming out experience with me. After telling his wife, he was advised by Cameron’s Press Secretary Andy Coulson to write a public statement and share it to the relevant platforms. “While all the Saturday newspapers put it somewhere near the front page; most of the commentary at that point is ‘why do we need to know this, what is this to do with us?’. That was the first time there had been a reaction in that way. It was only the Daily Mail who managed to find two more days of news out of it. The Daily Mail decided I had done it to save my career.2 

“This can be contrasted to my colleague Greg Barker, who came out to his wife in 2008 but didn’t tell anybody else. He was seen in a gay club with his boyfriend and the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail then did him for a week. The change in those two years was quite marked”. Blunt says making a public statement got him to where he wanted to be with no effects that he can ‘properly identify’ on his political career – “its path is entirely mine”. While he was ‘ambushed’ in the reselection process, Blunt received a ‘definitive answer’ when 86% of all local members voted to reselect him. “I feel rather sorry for the people who took a rather public position around my reselection because they simply didn’t know how to express themselves”.  

“Nik Herbert was the first gay conservative ever to be selected for a seat he could win as a candidate – and that was in 2005. Alan Duncan was the first Conservative ever to come out as a serving MP and that was in 2001. By 2010 as many gay conservative candidates were being selected for winnable seats as anyone else. By 2015/17 there are more gay conservatives than other parties by a decent distance, which reflects the nature of the Conservative family in Westminster. For the Conservatives to have the first trans MP is another marked social change. Jamie has an important role in achieving rights for trans people in the UK and convincing some of my colleagues they do actually exist.” 

Asking about the Rwanda Policy, Blunt’s view surprises me. “I think if someone’s claiming asylum because of being LGBT it would be rather odd if we started shoving those people on a plane to Rwanda. Hopefully this situation will force a conversation on Rwanda’s own policy into space. This is part of the rather unhappy picture where the commonwealth [British Empire] produced most places where it illegal for people to be gay.  Many countries never changed the laws imposed by the Victorians on African societies that criminalised homosexuality, and which didn’t consider the complexities of African society: the last king of Uganda was bisexual, and so for Uganda to be the poster child for the worst anti-LGBT practises is a devastating misunderstanding of history and their own society. LGBT rights have been seen as a Western imposition, when it’s actually quite the reverse.” I completely agree with this and offer the following research paper for further reading.

Blunt concludes by hoping he has communicated this journey. Sir Peter Tapsell, former father of the house, having been Anthony Eden’s private secretary in the 1950s “says that this was the biggest social change in his time in politics”. “We [the Conservative Party] always would be laggers on social reform, the party of the establishment are inevitably going to be led by the progressive parties on these kinds of issues because they will be institutionally more attached to church and state than the Labour party and its more radical members. It was actually the association of the LGBT equality issue with the radical change in British society that then frightened the Conservatives institutionally from actually standing for equality. Stonewall were the ones that actually worked out that the Conservatives were no different from anyone else on this issue, and if approached properly would be perfectly capable of doing it.  Your generation of 20-year-olds are miles ahead in understanding than people who are 30, Christ help us 60 year olds.” Blunt is right to identify the Conservatives as the party of the establishment, but to the objection of the leadership in his party who are adamant that it isn’t. Is Tory resistance to BLM and Trans Rights a repetition of what Blunt reasons? As the party looks ahead to try to win the next election, the electoral map is beyond recognition. Those who identify as right wing do so now more become of their social values, as opposed to their economic ones.  And this sets a scene for an election fought on battlegrounds of culture, not economy. 

There is no question that the the Conservative Party has made headway in some forms of diversity. While they govern under their third female prime minister, Labour has yet to appoint a female leader. And the new cabinet is historic diversity top jobs of government. Yet there is a clear misunderstanding of why diversity is championed. What is longed for in many communities is for individuals who yes represent them, but also act in their best interest and actively take tactile measures and policies that help these communities. While I cannot speak for ethnic minorities, if a gay man was Prime Minister but did nothing to tackle the homophobic hate crimes that harm our community nor ban conversion therapy then there really isn’t much difference from a straight one. Hollow representation has been used to pedal ideology that would be seen as unacceptable proposed by an individual of a different group. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it does not make everyone right nor worthy of office. For a party whose leadership has consistently played into populist rhetoric,‘fought’ supposed ‘culture wars’ and undermined the most vulnerable groups in society for political capital it is easy to see why the situation for LGBTQ+ people is more uncertain. 

While the politicians in the Conservative Party have varying opinions on the LGBTQ+ community, it is not validation that we need. We know that there will always be homophobes in society, and always people that want to put us down. What matters is that we rise above it as a community. We have many legal protections in the law.  What we need are changes in societal attitudes. We may wish to have politicians that represent and fight for us in the national arena, and I do believe that with time this will come. Times are always changing and the path to progress will be travelled even if we have been forced around a long winding Tory diversion. I wish for a time when sexuality or gender identity are not career defining features in politics, and when there will be no need to champion these figures, as they have already been embraced by a free and fair society. 

1.Section 28 was introduced in 1987 by Thatcher’s Conservatives and prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities and forced many LGBT organisations like support groups to limit their activities or self-censor. Thatcher also vetoed HIV awareness broadcasts during the AIDs pandemic at the cost of many lives.

2.After his speech as Prison’s Minister caused critical headlines No. 10 censured Blunt and indicated his removal.

Image credit: Jack Twyman

A folly in vain

Monty Jones
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A folly in vain

Surrounded by serious suited men on their way to their serious jobs I rest my head awkwardly on the shared table feeling the rhythmic jolts of the tracks as I look down at my feet and try not to throw up. I’m not convinced there’s a state worse for the temperament than being hungover on the train. I travel back up to Oxford only a day after my arrival weary and defeated, like a vanquished soldier returning from battle, I remember the journey to the front yesterday morning, full of anticipation.

I’d let just about every person who’d already arrived in Oxford unfortunate enough to cross my path know of my impending escape, slipping it, ever so unsubtly, into every conversation;

“Sorry man, I wish I could, but I’ve got to head down to London for this modelling thing tomorrow”

“Oh really? Leaving so soon?”

“yeah” I exhale, feigning reluctance, “not much I can do, agent’s making me”.

In reality all my agent had done was casually mention at the end of an email that “some casting call for a modelling job had come up…. if you fancied it” and I had flung myself at the opportunity. Acting and writing sound just about serious enough to suggest a potential career or at the very least the pursuit of some artistic value but with just the faintest scent of high fashion’s superficial allure I had been totally seduced and very willing to escape the stress and toil of Oxford to spend a day mingling with the beautiful and carefree. This, I thought as the tannoy announced our approach to Paddington and I reclined into my seat with a smile, must surely be the life.

I very quickly discovered the kind of life I had really stumbled into less than an hour later when I found myself in the cold expanse of a studio space in soho standing in nothing but my underwear. My choice of blue boxers, made with the same daily impression that I would be the only person to see them, was suddenly called into question as I looked around a room full of taller better-looking versions of myself in tighty whities. They all had a certain ineffable “look” a particular crook of the nose or sharpness of the jaw to accompany the compulsory physique of someone who had never quite found the point of food, like aliens a couple of steps up the evolutionary ladder. With a cluster of unsmiling casting agents approaching, all dressed entirely in black and with varying shades of bleached hair, I half expected to be probed. Instead, they silently looked me up and down as if making a dubious assessment of a secondhand car. I offered my best attempt at a disarming smile. It was not reciprocated. Never had a morning lecture sounded so inviting.

The day proceeded as a series of endless lines parading back and forth, adorned in seemingly endless variations of every possible garment, in front of the same blank faces. By the time they announced the casting was over and we all filed out into the street the light had drained from the sky. Exhausted despite a day spent doing very little I leaned headfirst against a lamppost imagining I was in my room at Oxford spending the evening pleasantly procrastinating over an essay. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder. The compulsion to save a day by going out at night is almost always a miscalculation, the bill for the first round of drinks at the club in soho I was dragged to all but confirmed it. It turns out what models lack in appetite they make up for in the ability to consume vast amounts of impossibly expensive cocktails. I woke the next morning on the floor of a shared flat stepping over the beautiful sleeping faces of people I could not recollect meeting and did not want to meet again and staggered back to Paddington.

I looked out of my train window as we pulled into Oxford with a renewed appreciation for the old place and a powerful motivation to start work in the knowledge that I certainly wouldn’t be embarking on a modelling career post-graduation. This year, I considered solemnly, will be one of diligence and consistency. It was at this point as I got off the train that my phone rang, a shrill torture to hungover ears and recognising  my agent’s number picked up reluctantly.

“Hey, how’s it going?” he asked, moving on before I could answer “and how do you feel about a trip to Italy next week?” I paused for a moment considering the week of important work ahead and my commitment to being sensible and staying in Oxford, “sure” I replied, wincing into the sun as I left the station, “why not?”.
Image Credit: Gracie Oddie James.

Bullingdon Club Announces Diversity Training

Patrick Clinch
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Bullingdon Club Announces Diversity Training

The infamously exclusive Bullingdon Club announced this week that its members will undergo a series of sensitivity courses with the intention of making current members more comfortable with increasing diversity in the historic Oxford society. “We want to eventually open our doors to different kinds of people who didn’t just attend Eton or Harrow. In fact, we’re considering letting in a few students who attended Winchester College and maybe even some from Wycombe Abbey,” said the current President of the Bullingdon, who insisted that he remain unnamed because he will probably be Prime Minister one day. 

“It will be difficult for our members to accept some of these changes, but these courses will help with our growing pains. Most of us, after all, have never even spoken to a man with no title or who attended anything less than the 10th or 11thbest boarding school in England, but the world is changing and so must we,” continued the President of the more than 200-year-old dining club with a reputation for its privileged members and bad behavior. 

“Our club famously was the playground of prime Ministers and Princes, but we’d like it to also be a playground for a few Foreign Ministers and Viscounts, perhaps even a Baron or two,” said another member who spoke on the condition of anonymity so that no one would later be able to find footage of him “doing anything unsavory with… for example… a pig’s head.”

According to the Club, sensitivity courses will feature a session on common courtesy including how to ask questions designed to put people at ease such as, “what is your name?” and “how are you?” 

Another course will train members how to refrain from commenting on the quality of tailoring on another man’s suit as well as a crash course on when it might be inappropriate to throw empty champagne bottles against the wall or trash a restaurant. “It seems such behavior might make new members of, well, lesser backgrounds… such as those from, say, Abingdon or, Heaven forbid, Sevenoaks… rather uncomfortable.” 

The Club will remain closed to female students and also to just about everyone else, but the Club insists that real progress is being made, however gradually. “This is a big step for us and, one day soon, you might even see someone who isn’t even reading PPE in our illustrious society,” said the President. 

New term, new you— whatcha packing?

Freya Buckley
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New term, new you— whatcha packing?

Which clothes to bring to uni? Which clothes to pack that will inevitably end up in a heap on the floor of your wardrobe once term properly starts and you can no longer be bothered to use hangers? When Shakespeare wrote “to be or not to be, that is the question”, I think what he really meant is “to wear or not wear, that is the question”. It may seem silly but I consider choosing which outfits to bring each term akin to choosing which child to love best.

Now I’m going to preface this reasoning with the admission that the top I’m using as my example was not actually bought by me, nor was it technically intended for me.

My lovely mother, my lovely, generous, mother bought it for…herself. However, upon reflection (otherwise known as me claiming it as soon as I saw it in her wardrobe and wearing it every night-out), it was kindly donated to me, and I think we can all agree it fell into the correct hands.

This top is special. It’s entirely glittery, with three stripes – orange, blue and pink (think a sort of disco neapolitan ice cream). It’s also from the nineties, it’s seen dance floors new and old. The insufferable cool points I awarded myself for wearing this top to a nineties night (“I’m so authentic!”) or the fact it fits just perfectly are not the reasons why I find this top so meaningful. This top is always the correct night-out choice. It looks good with jeans, skirts and shorts. But most of all, it makes me feel confident. It makes me want to dance and be free –  it makes me feel cool, ok?!  And to be soppy for a moment away from home at this (terrifying) university, it reminds me of my mam.

I think there is something truly unique about the feeling of putting on a piece of clothing and just feeling utterly, undeniably yourself. Clothes become synonymous with our identities – material extensions of our inner selves. Think of the people in your life and I bet you think of them in that one certain, purely them outfit. When I think of my mam, I think of green scarves and black Doc Martens; my friend Georgia reminds me of glamourous, business woman blazers and silky dresses. And for me, well, I like to think in their mind’s eye I’m wearing my beloved, sparkly top.

Clothes are not just comfortable in the physical sense of the word (and often they’re not at all – ‘suffer for fashion’ and all that nonsense), they’re a source of comfort because they’re a layer of our selfhood we can wear as a badge when we want to shout: ‘This is me!’. But they’re also something we can swaddle ourselves in when we’re in scary, new places. Dancing through the streets of Oxford in my ‘utterly me’ top, I feel unstoppable. And don’t we all want to feel like that? 

Image credit: Freya Buckley.

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