A new study published in Nature Communications recorded the work of an international team led by Oxford University scientists. The study reports that rapid bacterial evolution interacts with the host’s immunity to shape both the rise, and fall, of resistance during infection. It also emphasises the need for greater understanding of how our immune system works with antibiotics to suppress bacterial infections.
Antibiotic resistance poses a severe threat to human health. Causing over 750,000 deaths per year with an anticipated increase to 10 million deaths per year by 2050, resistant infections are shown to be rising at a significant rate. The treatment of patients with antibiotics is widely associated with the emergence of resistance and worse outcomes for patients. Although, the question of how resistance emerges during infections remains inadequately understood.
Co-author and Professor of Evolution and Microbiology at the University of Oxford, Craig MacLean, said: “Our study suggests that natural immunity can prevent resistance during infection and stop the transmission of restraint strains between patients. Exploiting this link could help us to develop new therapeutics to use against bacterial pathogens and to better use the antibiotics that we have now”.
The research is part of a larger ASPIRE-ICU study, which stands for ‘Advanced understanding of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections in EuRopE – Intensive Care Units’. Conducted by the COMBACTE consortium, the ASPIRE-ICU trial united multiple collaborators from leading academic research labs along with AstraZeneca scientists. The COMBACTE consortium is a major academia-industry collaboration investigating new approaches to antimicrobial resistance.
What was revealed in the study was that antibiotic treatment killed the overwhelming majority of bacteria causing the infection, but bacteria with resistant mutations continued to grow and replicate during treatment. However, they also discovered that the resistant mutants had low competitive ability, leading to the loss of resistance after treatment after treatment as resistant mutants were replaced by sensitive competitors that managed to escape the antibiotic treatment.
Professor Maclean said: “Both the rise and fall of resistance during infection are simple and elegant examples of evolution by natural selection”.
In its removal of around >90% of resistant mutants that were present at the start of antibiotic treatment, it was observed that host immunity helped to suppress much of the infection. It was also host immunity that eventually eliminated the resistant populations that were present after treatment.
These insights were procured by tracking changes in the bacterial population in a single subject at an unprecedented level of resolution and combining this with data on patient health and immune function. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the bacterial pathogen in this case – it acts as an opportunistic pathogen that mainly causes infections in hospitalised patients and in people with cystic fibrosis or bronchiectasis.
Professor MacLean said: “This is the kind of study that I could have only dreamed of 10 years ago. Technological progress was certainly important to this project, but the real key to our success was increased collaboration and cross-talk between medical researchers and evolutionary biologists.”
John Gloag, Estates Bursar at Merton College, Oxford, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to create a high-quality, mixed-use scheme with cutting-edge sustainability that will be a fantastic place to live and work. Merton College is delighted to be partnering with St Modwen, which shares our sustainability ambitions, brings multi-disciplinary expertise, and has a proven track record of delivering residential and commercial together to create new communities.”
I joined my Zoom call with Zac on a warm afternoon in the middle of March. The first time I came across Zac’s name was last year when I wrote on how he proposed the motion to replace meat eating with vegetarianism as the default diet at his college. At the time, little did I know that this was just a drop in the bucket in terms of the impact he made towards climate change efforts.
Zac is a second year Biologist at Christ Church and an environmental activist who protests and engages in direct action alongside organisations across the UK and Ireland to encourage the government to respond to the climate crisis and has made local and national press as a result of his work. I sat down to understand how he got involved, his thoughts on the current crisis and how more young people can join the movement.
How did you get involved in activism?
I’ve known about the climate and ecological crisis for quite a long time. I first learned about it when I was about 10 through kids’ magazines. It was like ‘the planet is dying’, ‘turn off the taps while you clean your teeth’, and ‘turn off the lights’. Through reading about the extinction of species and projections for six major cities being underwater, I was terrified, because I was 10 and I was like, ‘why is this happening?’
I kind of managed to park it for a while, because I was kind of like, ‘ll become a scientist and I’ll fix it.’ I worked hard and got into Oxford to do biology.
And then I had another awakening where I realised [that] there’s so much science here, but that doesn’t really seem to matter. It’s a lack of political action and political willpower that’s causing the climate crisis, not that there’s not enough information about it, which was really depressing.
I had a bit of a relapse in mental health issues at the start of my second year, from general stress of the workload but also [having] this information in the back of my mind. I ended up suspending for a year, and during that year I recovered a bit, but I also did a lot of reading and a lot of learning about the political situation, activism, the climate, and ecological science.
That led me to get involved in activism. I’m from Cork in Ireland, and I got involved with Extinction Rebellion Cork and Animal Rebellion Ireland. With Animal Rebellion, I did a protest at the Department of Agriculture, where I climbed up onto a mini roof above the door with another activist and we did a banner drop. That was my first direct action.
Why climate issues? Why is that the most important thing?
Social justice movements are all really about the same thing: preventing harm and empowering people. I think the climate emergency is what needs to be focused on at the moment just because of how urgent it is.
Back in 2015 when we had the Paris Agreement, they finally said we’d try and limit warming to two degrees. But that was non-binding. And ever since the Paris Agreement in 2015, we’ve just seen increasing emissions and accelerating loss of biodiversity. Even if every country did meet their climate targets under the Paris Agreement, we’d still be headed for three degrees of warming anyway.
Quite frankly it’s terrifying, and we’re already seeing the effects across the world, particularly in the Global South. We’re destroying the very system that is keeping us alive.
The climate emergency is a massive, sprawling problem. If you could have one tangible step be taken, what would you like to see happen?
I’m a really big proponent of direct democracy, specifically citizens’ assemblies. Citizens’ assemblies have been used here in Ireland successfully, and the general idea is that you select people from the population randomly, ensuring that its representative of the population.
That citizens’ assembly meets for a couple of months and they get talks on particular issues from experts. Then, there’s debates, discussion and more education. Eventually, the citizens’ assembly comes out with policy resolutions.
The reason I really, really like citizens assemblies is they’re more representative of the population than representative democracy, which tends to select for a certain type of person. Because of that, the decisions are usually really well thought out and they account for people who are marginalised or disproportionately affected by things like austerity.
Personally, I describe myself as a leftist, and inherently, direct democracy is a leftist idea because it grants more power to people.
You’ve faced criminal charges in the past for your work. What’s that been like?
It’s been an important learning curve for me. The theory of social change that I subscribe to is using nonviolent civil disobedience. For more than 40 years, conventional lobbying methods of effecting change have just completely failed. For decades, scientists have warned governments [about] the risks of this emergency, and they’ve been completely ignored. We’ve seen our emissions rise past pre-pandemic levels, despite so many calls for a green recovery.
If we look at history, nonviolent civil disobedience is the most effective method for effecting change. Think about the suffragettes, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Quit India Movement. All these involved just lawbreaking. And essentially, using that sort of political understanding of political theory, I’ve incorporated that into my activism.
So, for example, in previous protests, I used a green dye called fluorescent. It’s the same stuff that they use to dye the Chicago River green for St. Patrick’s Day. I covered a monument in that green fluorescent material and was arrested for that. That’s actually coming up in court.
Another example took place on the global Friday’s for Future day on the 19th of March this year. My friend Orla Murphy, who is a climate activist with Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion, engaged in protests against the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin. The reason for this was because Ireland has recently been elected to the Security Council of the UN Security Council.
As a country, we really do have quite a lot of influence per capita. We have an extremely important duty to be a world leader on the climate and ecological emergency because if we let this get further out of hand, there’s going to be war and conflict. As a rich country but also a country with a history of famine, we have this duty to prevent massive loss of life obviously. So she threw paint at the Department of Foreign Affairs and wrote ‘no more empty promises’. I went to film, so I live-streamed the event and narrated, giving some climate facts.
Both of us were arrested for this. I was held overnight in a cell and I did a bail hearing the next morning, and was granted bail. But I was only given 40 minutes to get all the conditions together, including some money. So, I ended up spending two days and two nights in prison before being released, which was all a little bit of a shock because I was not expecting to be arrested.
My friend is still in prison because she was offered bail as well, but refused it on principle grounds. And she’s been inside now for nearly three weeks. She’s an amazing activist and really strong and I’m really proud of her.
(Interviewer’s Note: Orla Murphy was released from prison on April 22nd, 2021, a month after the interview took place.)
How can young people get involved in climate activism, advocacy, and the kind of stuff that you do?
There’s hundreds of grassroots campaigns just across the UK, and even more across the world. A lot of these movements are intersectional by nature because they’re all about social justice, and in my opinion, about democracy. But there’s a map which shows all of the grassroots climate campaigns in the UK so you can find one that’s nearest to you.
There’s Extinction Rebellion groups, Youth Strike, Friday’s for Future and more across the country. But in some ways, it doesn’t matter what banner you do it under. A lot of people move between banners just based on whatever protest is happening. But if there is nothing going on in your area, start something because there will be people interested. A recent study showed that 84% of people in the UK believe there’s a climate emergency. So if you do start something, you will find other people who are interested.
In his adolescence, the Church told Montero that being gay would send him straight to Hell – so the singer reckoned, why not get into his thigh-high stilettos and slide down there on his own terms? Lil Nas X rose to fame following the release of his single Old Town Road, which received viral popularity on TikTok before climbing music charts internationally and earning diamond certification. If the bold country/rap hybrid track hadn’t already caught my eye, then the following certainly did: the artist came out as gay while ‘Old Town Road’ was atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the only artist to do so while having a number-one record. From there on, I was convinced that Lil Nas X would be a game-changer. He has since served as a public figure representing the LGBTQ+ community with other celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Elton John. Returning to No. 1 with his new single, ‘MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)’. Lil Nas X shares with us an uninhibited celebration of his sexuality.
“In recognising the pressure the LGBTQ+ community faces, Lil Nas X asks “Why me?””
Though the song bears the name of the artist himself, Montero, the title actually points to Montero’s lover who inspired the song. The title is a reflection of the protagonist that called his lover by his own name in the film Call Me By Your Name (2017), as we see Montero refer to his lover by his own name. Thus, ‘Montero’ represents not the artist, but his romantic interest. Montero informed Genius that the story-telling song was inspired by his real love life as a gay man. The lyric “If Eve ain’t in your garden you know that you can call me when you want” implies that until the object of his affection is willing to reject heteronormativity and accept his identity, Lil Nas X will be waiting. “You live in the dark boy, I cannot pretend,” acts as a double entendre as the man was in the dark both because he was unhappy as well as still living ‘in the closet’. Following the hypnotic chorus comes the humming section which bears symbolic weight as Montero meant it as a ‘mating call’. The Mmmmhmmms” reflect a mutual understanding between two people in the absence of words to convey feelings. In recognising the pressure the LGBTQ+ community faces, Lil Nas X asks “Why me? / A sign of the times every time that I speak”. This has embedded in it Montero’s responsibility as a gay artist to speak on behalf of many people through his music.
The unapologetically queer singer uses biblical references to write his own epic and sexually driven origin story. The controversy surrounding MONTERO stems largely from the music video which sees Christian imagery of Lil Nas X being seduced by a snake (played by himself) in a Garden of Eden-esque setting, getting stoned to death by butt plugs on Judgement Day, descending to hell on a stripper pole and lap dancing for the devil – before killing him, stealing his horns and crowning himself monarch of the underworld (iconic, if you ask me). I am convinced that the uproar surrounding MONTERO is partly deliberate. Whilst provocative and camp, the video accords with the history of moral panic when musicians mix sexuality and religion like with Madonna’s Like A Prayer.
“…one of the most ground-breaking songs of the year.”
‘MONTERO’ has been criticised by conservatives in the US who have labelled it “depraved” and “evil”. In condemnation of the video, Candace Owens accused the artist of “keeping black America behind” to which the artist praised himself for “doing something right” by getting her attention. Members of the Christian Church rebuked the singer for his brazen use of Satanic and Biblical imagery arguing that he had gone too far and that “he’s losing allies as a result of that approach.” However, I think the criticisms deserve thanks in part for the attention they have, in turn, drawn to what I believe to be one of the most groundbreaking songs of the year. The song has received heaps of positive attention from the LGBTQ+ community who praise the creativity and boldness of the black, queer artist. Positive attention from acclaimed Call Me By Your Name author André Aciman was received, who said it is “gratifying” and “humbling” that his gay novel could have the “slightest influence” on the naming of the song.
Having exposed his identity through his lyrics, Montero bravely opened doors for many other queer people to ‘simply exist’ at the cost of further condemnation from conservatives and his own vulnerability. The backlash from enraged religious groups, right-wing pundits and politicians who condemned the music video was indeed expected and Montero was prepared for this controversy. I am in awe of his boldness and commend the use of his artistic licence as a tool to liberate and reach out to those in the LGBTQ+ community. Montero’s unabashed subversion of Christian tropes has inspired and moved many in the community whilst representing his acceptance of his own sexuality. MONTERO is an addictive listen. Besides the memorable chorus and the two trancing chords of the verses, the track is shamelessly lustful whilst being heavily infused with deeply personal meaning. It has made history and certainly is a sign of the times for LGBTQ+ artists in the industry.
Academics at the Oxford University Department of Social Policy and Intervention have launched a new study to understand sexual harassment and violence at the University.
The OUR SPACE study (Oxford Understanding Relationships, Sex, Power, Abuse, and Consent Experiences) is the first study of its kind to be conducted in the United Kingdom. Every student currently enrolled at the University will receive a confidential and anonymous survey and consent form on May 11th. The survey will record and measure their “attitudes towards and experiences of sexual harassment and violence”.
The results will be used to “build academic understanding” of sexual harassment and violence at the University, and inform their policies and support services in the future.
The study comes after Oxford University was mentioned at least 57 times on Everyone’s Invited, a website which collects anonymous testimonies of sexual violence and ‘rape culture’. Over 15,000 testimonies have so far been published on the platform.
Director of Student Welfare Services, Gillian Hamnett,said: “Sexual harassment and violence is never acceptable at the University and we are committed to tackling this issue. This is an important study that will help us to gain a better understanding of the complex set of issues, and will help us to further develop our support for students.”
The study has been given ethical approval by the University, and endorsed by the SU and It Happens Here campaign.
Alex Foley, VP Women for Oxford SU stated “Gendered violence is a problem that cuts across society, affecting people from all walks of life, including students at Oxford. The OUR SPACE survey has the potential to be a wonderful tool in the fight against this scourge that will provide us with unique insights on its prevalence at the University”.
Timea Iliffe and Natasha Lovel, co-chairs of It Happens Here said: “We are delighted that this study is taking place and look forward to the insightful and deeply necessary information this piece of research will hopefully provide. We’d also encourage students to participate if they can, and help us build a more accurate picture of what continues to be a pervasive issue on university campuses”.
The Oxford University Sexual Harassment and Violence Support Service can be reached by emailing [email protected] and offers free support and advice to any student at the University who has been impacted by sexual harassment or violence.
OSARCC is also available as a free support service which is distinct from the University.
It Happens Here can serve as an unofficial and informal point of contact for students with any concerns about the issues discussed in this article.
In our first episode of Cherwell Looks In, Sophie Elliott dives into the world of Oxford’s vibrant zine culture. Featuring speakers from The Isis Magazine, Cuntry Living, Common Ground Journal, and That’s Hot! Zine, our guests discuss all things zine, from the process of building their print editions to the impact of COVID-19 on creativity.
Host: Sophie Elliott
Production: Sophie Elliott, Anvee Bhutani, and Will Whitten.
The COVID-19 Infection Survey, a partnership between the University of Oxford, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), has released data that shows the impact of vaccination on antibody responses and new infections in adults aged 16 years and older.
Researchers analysed nose and throat swabs and found that 21 days after a single dose of either Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines (with no second dose), the rates of all new COVID-19 infections had dropped by 65%, symptomatic infections by 72% and infections without reported symptoms by 57%.
Dr Koen Pouwels, senior researcher in Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Population Health, says, ‘The protection from new infections gained from a single dose supports the decision to extend the time between first and second doses to 12 weeks to maximise initial vaccination coverage and reduce hospitalisations and deaths.
“However, the fact that we saw smaller reductions in asymptomatic infections than infections with symptoms highlights the potential for vaccinated individuals to get COVID-19 again, and for limited ongoing transmission from vaccinated individuals, even if this is at a lower rate. This emphasises the need for everyone to continue to follow guidelines to reduce transmission risk, for example through social distancing and masks.”
The second study compared how antibody levels changed after a single dose of either Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, or two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. In individuals who had not had COVID-19 before, antibody responses to a single dose of either vaccine were lower in older individuals, especially over 60 years.
David Eyre, Associate Professor at the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford, says, “In older individuals, two vaccine doses are as effective as prior natural infection at generating antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 – in younger individuals a single dose achieves the same level of response. Our findings highlight the importance of individuals getting the second vaccine dose for increased protection.”
Sarah Walker, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oxford and Chief Investigator and Academic Lead for the COVID-19 Infection Survey added, “We don’t yet know exactly how much of an antibody response, and for how long, is needed to protect people against getting COVID-19 in the long-term – but over the next year, information from the survey should help us to answer these questions. “
The group will continue to monitor the pandemic on a weekly basis to look for warning signs of infection rates rising within specific regions and groups in order to monitor the immunity against COVID-19.
Health Minister Lord Bethell said, “Studies like the ONS COVID-19 Infection Survey are critical to helping us build a picture of COVID-19 infections across the UK and I thank all those who took part and conducted this vital research.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, “With over 33 million first jabs already in arms, saving lives and cutting the risk of infection, it’s vital everyone gets their second dose when invited, to protect you and your loved ones against this disease. The vaccine programme has shown what our country can achieve when working as one, it is our way out of the pandemic. When you get the call, get the jab.”
Local elections will be taking place across the UK on Thursday 6th of May, with polling stations open from 7 am to 10 pm. Oxford residents (including students and EU nationals) can cast their votes for Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council, and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley. Cherwell has put together a list of 8 reasons why local politics matter.
1) Sustainable travel
Perhaps the most obvious way local politics affects everyday life in Oxford is mobility. Larger transport projects, including building new roads and cycling paths are the responsibility of Oxfordshire County Council. The City Council plays a role in transport as well and can suggest emission-reducing initiatives such as pedestrianising Oxford City Centre.
2) Clean, safe and inclusive streets
Making streets safe is mainly the responsibility of the County Council, which takes care of street-lighting, traffic lights and kerbs, and so can also play a significant role in making Oxford’s streets inclusive and accessible to all. Small street maintenance issues, such as bollards and gullies, are covered by the City Council. The City Council also ensures streets are clean and can impose fines of £80 for dropping litter – including chewing gum.
3) Parks, and leisure and sport facilities
Oxford wouldn’t be the same without its parks. Oxford City Council takes care of eight parks as well as Port Meadow. This includes keeping them clean, regulating opening hours and taking action on biodiversity, e.g. planting only native plant types or supporting wildflower growth. The City Council can also provide or support leisure facilities, such as tennis courts, gyms or punting.
4) Housing
Oxford University estimates the range for housing costs for students to be between £650 and £790 per month, significantly above the national average. The City Council is responsible for regulating housing in Oxford, and can supply social housing or support affordable housing. It also collects property-based Council tax. However, full time students are exempt from this tax, and if you are paying it, you can apply for exemption.
5) Homelessness
The number of rough sleepers has increased by 400% since 2012 in Oxford. The City Council is responsible for tackling homelessness in Oxford, by providing emergency beds, long-term support and prevention programmes.
6) Rubbish and Recycling
Oxford City Council takes care of rubbish, recycling and food collections in Oxford. They are the point of contact for requesting new/larger bins if your bins are often already full before collection, or if there are issues with bin collection. Oxfordshire County Council runs recycling centres and are a key figure in supporting waste reductions schemes.
7) Markets and Shops
Oxford City Council runs markets such as the Covered Market or Gloucester Green Market, working in cooperation with the stalls or organisations. The City Council is also responsible for collecting business rates (taxes on businesses) and can help support businesses during a crisis as well as normal times, through financial and personal support.
8) Addressing crime in Oxford
The local elections are also a possibility to vote for the Policy and Crime Commissioner of Thames Valley. The candidates’ policies on the much-discussed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill have been reviewed by Cherwell. Local police also address issues such as Oxford’s high number of bike thefts.
Matilda Gettins speaks to Theo Jupp, a second-year French and German student at St. Peters. Theo is standing for the Liberal Democrats in the Cowley Ward in the upcoming Oxford City Council elections, and in Iffley Fields and St. Mary’s in the Oxfordshire County Councilelection.
MG: A lot of Oxford students choose to go into student over ‘real’ politics. What made you interested in local politics?
TJ: When I came to Oxford, I dabbled in student politics. And very quickly, I realised that actually, local politics is the most important in terms of being transformative to people’s lives: things like housing, the amount of money we pay for council tax, the local services that are provided to us. And even things as broad as the way we are viewed as inhabitants of this particular city, they really fall under the remit of local politics and local elections.
[Being] a proper student voice and actual student voice, a student who will be in Oxford, and who will act on behalf of students on the local level, so that we can stop this vicious cycle of students being pitted against local residents. That’s my motivation.
MG: The first point in the Liberal’s manifesto is “Vote Lib Dem for a Greener City”. If I want a greener city, why not just vote for the Green Party?
TJ: Simply put, because we have first past the post in this country. Obviously, that’s something that Lib Dems and the Greens want to change. But the fact is, if you vote Green, your vote is wasted. The parties that came first or second last time, have the largest probability of coming first or second this time. Unless you vote for those two parties, your vote is effectively lost.
And at the Lib Dems, we also have an extremely green manifesto. We want to green local spaces, we want to institute a target so that all buildings that are built carbon zero, we want to decarbonize public transport, and we want to make sure that community initiatives can flourish through volunteer networks and activists. Voting Lib Dem when you’re green is not really a compromise.
MG: You promise to “put Zero Carbon front and centre of all policies” while new developments should be “Net Zero”. So is it zero carbon or is it net zero? There’s a difference, you know.
TJ: Yes, there is a difference. It’s the net zero definition of the UK building body, which has a three letter acronym. I think it’s GB or GD something.
(A quick check after the interview reveals: GBC, who have a net zero definition which includes construction and operational energy)
MG: You proposed a motion that the St Peter’s JCR voice their regret about Oxford SU’s adoption of the Academic Hate Speech motion, which recommended expanding the University’s free speech policy so that hate speech on the grounds of gender identity, disability, and socioeconomic status are treated equally to groups protected by criminal law.
TJ: That’s right.
MG: Why?
TJ: My issue is not in any way with the motivation for the motion, which I share, and which I think is absolutely the right one. My issue is with the fact that the motion was so poorly devised and put together that it left us in a situation where we were open to attacks from the sorts of people who would want to do harm to trans people, to LGBTQ+ people, to people of a particular ethnic minority or religious minority.
You see, the motion was so broad as to suggest that tutors should stop teaching particular texts or exempt students from reading particular texts, which may contain material which was harmful to them. Now, that in itself is not a bad thing. …
[The issue is that it] enabled the right-wing free speech warriors types of this country to pounce on us. And it gives further fuel to the fire that our students are anti free speech, and that students are intolerant of this and that and the other and should be kept in check. Once they gain the upper hand on that level, then they can introduce things like free speech warriors, as the government wants to, which would really shut down debate on important issues like trans rights, where we really shouldn’t be having much of a conversation, because trans rights are human rights. And if we allow them that kind of wiggle room to get in, and if we allow the government to kind of impose its side of the culture war on us, then the people who the motion sought to protect will be hurt even more. And that was my motivation.
MG: What would you to to prevent discrimination against these groups in Cowley ward?
As an example, regarding transphobia and trans rights: the most effective thing, first and foremost, is to be a visible ally. … [If] elected, I would be a visible ally. I am already a visible ally. I don’t accept a lot of the debate that’s going on in the press, and that the government’s trying to perpetuate, because maybe there really shouldn’t be a debate at all. And in my view, we should be shutting the debate down because these are cut and dried issues.
MG: In 2019, the Liberal democrats proposed to revoke Article 50 immediately and stop Britain leaving the EU without another referendum. What effects has Brexit had on Oxford and the wards you’re running in in particular?
TJ: For British home students, the single most important thing, apart from any political concern or apart from any, you know, particular attachment that people have to the EU, is the loss of Erasmus. That’s not a problem for the University of Oxford, which is extremely rich, and can support students for a year abroad. But for other universities, this has been an issue. I know of many modern linguists at other universities who it’s not that they haven’t been able to access equivalent funding. In future years, obviously, Erasmus is going to be replaced by the Turing programme, but this really doesn’t cover as much as Erasmus did.
I am an international myself. The issue has been for students applying for settled status and obtaining settled status. They’ve been continually messed over by the pandemic, because the pandemic meant that many returned home, and they couldn’t fulfil the required time requirements to gain pre-settled status or even settled status. I think that situation has since been rectified for the majority of international students, but it took a long time.
Three members of the current White House are Oxford alumni, as well as nine members of the British cabinet (a further five went to Cambridge). Boris Johnson’s new worst enemy, Dominic Cummings, also went to Oxford. Keir Starmer did his BCL here, and six other members of his Shadow Cabinet attended in some capacity. The current editors of The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, and The Sunday Times all went, as well as notable television presenters including Ben Browne, Fiona Bruce, and Reeta Chakrabarti. Two winning films at the 2021 Oscars were written or directed by Oxford alumni.
An impressive record, and one that our University is undoubtedly proud of. Public discourse, regardless of its medium, is dominated by Oxonians (blurgh). That is indisputable. Whether this dominance is a force for good is a totally different question. In light of this week’s political debacle, perhaps it’s time to stop pretending that Oxford’s obsession with producing ‘the leaders of tomorrow’ is in any way healthy.
In theory, it almost sounds like a good idea: Oxford is an incredibly selective institution that prides itself on stretching its students to breaking point. Logic maintains that it should produce the most hard-working, dedicated people, so it makes sense that alumni should be found in high positions in every aspect of public life. The reality, however, is that the people that ‘make it’ to these positions aren’t your regular, hard-working students who enjoy a night out at Bridge or a pint in Spoons. The people that are poised to dominate the political, cultural, and economic landscapes of our future are the people who were funnelled straight from elite boarding schools to the Oxford Union. In other words, we’re totally screwed.
Don’t get me wrong, I like to laugh at student politics as much as the next man. Recently, however, it seems like it’s starting to seep into the real world. Take the latest calamity in Downing Street, which has seen Johnson scrambling to cover a trail of corruption and obscenity by spraying blame on Cummings like a threatened skunk. In response, the latter published a searing tell-all on his WordPress blog, revealing disastrous allegations of corruption and sleaze to the surprise of precisely no one. My immediate response was, admittedly, the profound nausea I always get when I see a photo of these two men. However, as the urge to vomit receded, it was quickly replaced by a nagging sense of déjà vu.
Let’s look at the facts: a blustering, offensively posh leader of a political bloc makes atrocious comments to friends in semi-private settings. When these comments are made public, he seeks to blame a previously close friend who, in many ways,is just as odious. That ex-friend then responds with a vicious, online statement which will likely damage the leader’s prospects in an upcoming election. Sound familiar?
Oxford’s ability to propel it’s most vile students into the stratosphere of British public life has left the UK at the mercy of a dispute between a “career psychopath” who looks like he’d be more comfortable praising the Death Star’s construction from under a hood, and a sex-obsessed buffoon whose best PR moment in the last ten years was rugby-tackling a Japanese child. If this were just another student-society tantrum, fine. We’d get some atrocious speakers, no one would go to the events, and the disgraced couple would slink into the shadows of consulting or investment banking when their terms were up. But this is not student politics. This is real life. Their ignorance and hunger for power have contributed to one of the worst disasters in Britain’s post-war history.
It’s starting to dawn on me that graduating will not be the end of the mortifying political spats that grace our Facebook feeds every other week. I had assumed that the preposterous volume of scandals at Oxford was a result of public school boys suddenly coming into contact with normal people in an environment with an unhealthy level of media coverage (there are FIVE student newspapers!). This assumption now seems laughably naive. I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that we’re destined to relive the same sordid scandals for the next 30 years, each time with higher stakes, until Russia finally puts us out of our misery with a well-placed nuke.
There are only two possible solutions to the problem. The first is simple: a total moratorium on hiring Oxford graduates in the media, politics, and the City. Forever. As effective as that would be, as a prospective graduate who is rather keen not to starve to death in his early twenties, I selfishly think that it might not be the best way forward. The second is more complex: actually teach the skills and attributes these people will need when they reach high office.
Perhaps Oxford students know enough about Keats, The Iliad, and Keynesian economics. Maybe it’s time to replace that Roman Law module with “Apologising 101” or “Introduction to Guilt, Shame, and Embarrassment”. If Oxford is going to keep stuffing itself with children whose parents abandoned them in the wilderness of boarding school to grow up like Spartans, it needs to realise that it has a duty to teach them the values that most people learn from their family and friends. Otherwise, we can look forward to more porcine antics from our Latin-spewing classmates in Number 10.
