Monday, April 28, 2025
Blog Page 554

University’s retirement policy comes under fire

Luke Dunne
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University’s retirement policy comes under fire

For the second time this year, Oxford has faced opposition from an academic appealing against their retirement under the University’s ‘Employer Justified Retirement Age’ (EJRA).

Professor Paul Ewart, former head of atomic and laser physics at Oxford’s Clarendon Laboratory, was retired before his 70th birthday, but is contesting this decision as his research is “blossoming” and remained important “particularly in making a contribution to solving the problem of climate change and environmental pollution being driven by emissions from combustion”.

Neither he, nor the University, were willing to comment on the case specifically as it is ongoing.

This follows a case earlier this year in which John Pitcher, English professor at St John’s College, lost an employment tribunal case to reverse his retirement by the college.

St John’s defended the EJRA as “promoting intergenerational fairness and maintaining opportunities for career progression”, as well as “promoting equality and diversity”.

Pitcher commented that “I am myself from a working class background and the importance of these kinds of social aims weighs strongly with me”, but believes that in this case he is being wrongly discriminated against.

This is the fourth challenge to the University’s retirement policy since its inception in 2011.

Stilettos, Broken Bottles and Teenage Heartbreak: A Love Letter to Robyn’s Dancing on my Own

Alison Hall
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Stilettos, Broken Bottles and Teenage Heartbreak: A Love Letter to Robyn’s Dancing on my Own

When I was sixteen, I was in love for the first time.

It was a boy from a school near mine, who I’ll refer to as M. Everything about him was perfect – and by that, I mean he was physically attractive and generally a nice guy. However, I couldn’t bring myself to make a move. As excruciating as my feelings for M were, I knew there was no point in telling him how I felt, as he couldn’t possibly feel the same way about someone like me.

The annual Halloween party was one of many strange traditions at my school – a glorified gathering of girls in bodycon dresses doing balloons with a dozen boys who all thought dressing as the Joker made them quirky. The first one I’d been to was far from enjoyable as I was teetotal at the time (oh, how I’ve changed) and I ended up spending the night sober and making tea for my drunk friends. In Year 13 I decided that things would be different, partly because I’d started drinking at this point, but also because I’d heard that M was coming to the party. I’d decided that that night was going to be the night – I was going to make a move on M, tell him how I felt and maybe, just maybe, have my first kiss. As I waited for my friends outside, my heart began to race as I saw M waving at me in the distance, and suddenly sank as soon as he introduced me to his new girlfriend.

When I was seventeen, I experienced heartbreak for the first time.

As soon as I saw M with his arm around this beautiful girl, different from me in every respect, it was like my surroundings had crumbled around me. I felt as though the room had blacked out entirely, save for a single spotlight on M and this girl. I could do was smile and introduce myself to this other girl as I screamed on the inside. I spent the rest of the night getting horrifically drunk, wandering aimlessly and feeling sorry for myself as I tried to pretend that I was having a good time. As much as it stung to see M and his girlfriend together, morbid curiosity got the better of me – I was unable to tear my eyes from them, and all I could think about was why he wasn’t kissing me instead.

I was, understandably, distraught for the following few weeks. Then, as if some higher power understood my heartache, I came across a song on a Spotify playlist – Robyn’s Dancing on my Own. As soon as I hit play, I felt like I had been transported to that church hall in Kentish Town, on the night I’d been romantically punched in the gut. I didn’t expect as visceral a reaction as this, not least because the playlist was Party Classics. It felt like Robyn had written a song about the night my world had fallen apart, like she was with me at that party and could read my innermost thoughts before putting that indescribable pain into words – especially the way I could do nothing but pretend to enjoy myself rather than cause a scene by acting up.  As I listened to the song on repeat over the coming days, I found myself oddly comforted by Robyn’s words – I was reminded that somebody understood how I felt, that it was okay to lick my emotional wounds, but that I’d be just fine if I kept my head held high and kept dancing on my own.

When you think of Robyn, you may dismiss her music as little more than a bit of naff Scandi dance-pop, lacking in substance or originality. To those who scoff at this track in particular, I urge you to look at the quietly devastating lyrics concealed beneath the ridiculously catchy melody and pounding synths. In Dancing on my Own, Robyn describes a sensation that we have all experienced but somehow cannot put into words – and her clever disguising of the lyrics beneath the upbeat instrumentation mirrors our compulsion to act like everything is fine as our entire lives shatter around us in a single instant.

In the same way, I believe we are far too quick to dismiss teenagers’ emotions, especially with regards to love and relationships. Yes, I do still cringe when I think about some of the things I did, or the people I liked, when I was at school – but who wasn’t an idiot at that age? At that stage of my life I was just a clump of raging hormones, still figuring out who I was and what I wanted in my life – hell, I still am – which is why I had felt like my whole world had ended. Something of an overreaction, I know, but a very real one at that, and one we are all too familiar with – so we should cut seventeen-year-old girls some slack and let them cry over silly boys who, quite frankly, aren’t worth their time.

While Dancing on my Own is undoubtedly cheesy, Robyn uses it to articulate what many of us have struggled to put into words – the undiluted pain of knowing that someone you love couldn’t possibly feel the same way about you. With Dancing on my Own, Robyn has created an anthem for teenage heartbreak, giving a voice to lovelorn girls like me who stood in the corner, watching him kiss her (oh, oh, oh).

And so, Robin Miriam Carlsson, I salute you.

#AmINext sheds light on us all

Eleanor Lischka
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#AmINext sheds light on us all

CW: Violence, sexual assault

In South Africa, women are shining a spotlight on the government’s glaring failure to halt the sustained and rising tide of sexual violence against women. After days of demonstration at the start of September, in which protesters blocked the entrance to the World Economic Forum, South Africans took to the streets again last Friday in the wake of a spate of high-profile murders that has attracted coverage from newspapers across the world.

Under the hashtag ‘#AmINext’, social media has been flooded with images and videos of the protests, calls to reinstate the death penalty, suggestions that the state should make people #PayPatriarchyTax and a seemingly endless stream of missing posters for those whose cases are yet to be resolved. After two days of protest, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was met with boos from the crowds when he delivered a speech on 5th September. Admitting that the statistics for gender-based violence amounts to a national crisis, he promised ‘Enough is enough.’

Against a backdrop of endemic sexual violence against women and girls, the protests were sparked by the rape and murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana, a 19-year-old student at the Univeristy of Cape Town (UCT). On August 24th, Uyinene, known as ‘Nene’, went to collect a parcel from the post office in Claremont, a short distance away from the campus. She was told by a postal worker there that the card machine was not working, and to return later in the day. When she did, she found the same employee alone there. Offering to help her find the parcel, he locked her in the empty office where he raped her and, when she fought back, bludgeoned her to death. Her body was later found buried in Khayelitsha, on the other side of town. The postal worker (a devout churchgoer, according to neighbours) was charged following a private investigation and has now confessed in court to rape and murder. Some have suggested a private investiagation was necessary to solve the case due to lack police support. It has now emerged that his employers at the state-run post office were aware of his previous criminal record, which includes carjacking.

In a painful irony, August is Women’s Month in South Africa. Events were organised to honour the 20,000 women who marched on government buildings in 1956 to protest the extension of the country’s ‘Pass Laws’ (requiring black citizens to carry an internal passport). As the commemorations ended, the violence continued. Less than a week after Uyinene’s death, South African female boxing champion Leighandre Jegels was shot dead by her partner, a police officer, despite having previously taken out a protection order against him. Across town, fourteen-year-old Janika Mallo was found beaten to death in her grandmother’s garden, after another suspected rape. The next few days after that saw the death of two more women in Cape Town following serious assaults and a female nursing student was raped.

Every three hours in South Africa, one woman is murdered. The names continue to stack up in what is an all-too-familiar story. Is the government finally starting to listen?

Ramaphosa was meant to celebrate 100 days in office that week. However, his speech on the 5th September was meant by a hostile reception from the thousand-strong crowd. His commitments to strengthening the state’s approach to sexual violence were deemed too little too late.

“Our nation is in mourning and pain,” he began, speaking of the country as “deeply traumatised by acts of extreme violence perpetrated by men against women and children.” His rhetoric implied an understanding of activists’ demands that men, as the perpetrators of the vast majority of such crimes, need to be called on to solve the problem, rather than the focus remaining on women as victims. Ramaphosa was emphatic: “Violence against women is not a women’s problem. It is not a problem of what a woman said or did, what a woman was wearing, or where she was walking. Violence against women is a men’s problem. It is men who rape and kill women.”

Yet critics argued that the solutions he proposed were unrealistic, such as reviewing closed cases, when many current cases go uninvestigated, or have been unsuccessfully attempted before. While he pledged to ensure every police station has the necessary equipment to investigate sexual assault cases, some on social media criticised his lack of action to date. In some provinces the current number of police stations with access to a ‘rape kit’ is less than 10%. Across the country, only one-quarter of all police stations have access to this equiptment. Accusations that the president was being disingenuous were underlined by the later use of water cannons and stun grenades against protestors.

Though Ramaphosa’s pledges did not go far enough, his messaging around sexual violence, is a vast improvement on his predecessor, Jacob Zuma. Zuma, who resigned in February last year, was notoriously accused raping a lesbian AIDS activist in 2005. During the trial, he told the court that his accuser had dressed provocatively, and appealed to a Zulu cultural taboo against leaving a sexually aroused woman unsatisfied. He was later acquitted. He had also stated at the trial that while he knew the alleged victim was HIV positive, he had showered afterwards, implying that this would reduce the risk of contracting it. This statement was a major setback in the ongoing battle against AIDS in the country, where over 20% of the adult population are HIV positive.

In the context of South Africa’s history of apartheid, unpicking the country’s problem with rape is not simple. Academic analysis has focused on the normalisation of violence, with patriarchal understandings of gender intersecting with a racist history of sexual assault against black women women going unpunished. A 2006 survey of rural South African men found that a fifth admitted to committing rape, and that the mean age of their first rape was 17. Pumla Gqola, author of Rape: A South African Nightmare, saw Zuma’s trial as emblematic of public opinion on the issue. Gqola described it as: “a watershed moment for what it highlighted about societal attitudes that had previously been slightly out of view… Under colonialism and apartheid, adult Africans were designated boys and girls, legally and economically infantilised.” She argues that South Africa’s history has bred a brand of toxic hypermasculinity that encourages violence as a way of asserting power.

The data on sexual violence around the world is extremely inadequate, but the statistics that do exist suggest a stark reality. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) placed South Africa fourth in the world for female interpersonal violence death rate, with only Honduras, Jamaica and Lesotho ahead of it. Both murder and sexual assault rates are rising, with sexual violence increasing by 4.6% between 2018 and 2019. However, despite the increase in reported rapes to just over 40,000 in 2018, studies suggest that the true rate is vastly underreported, with as few as 1 in 9 informing police. A 2017 study found that, of those reported, only 6% resulted in a conviction.

As news of South Africa’s protests hit international headlines this month, the UK is facing a crisis with its own handling of sexual violence. Last year, rape conviction rates in the UK went down 27%. For the second year running, rape charges are also substantially down. This has been blamed on a number of factors: the Crown Prosecution Service adopting a “merits-based” approach to prosecuting rape, vastly reduced police numbers and reports of women being required to hand over their phones or face charges being dropped. A study by the Office of National Statistics in 2017 revealed that 20% of women in the UK reported being sexually assaulted since the age of 16, and 4.5% of women reported being raped.

The hashtag which protestors are using to broadcast their movement across social media, asking the question ‘#AmINext’, is not without controversy. It was first used in 2013 in the wake of the shooting of Trayvon Martin in the US, before being adopted to protest the high murder and disappearance rates of indigenous women in Canada. The hashtag’s use in Canada was simultaneously criticised for moving the focus from actual victims to potential victims. People were also worried about imposing a sense of victimhood on a marginalised group, which risks furthering their marginalisation. This resulted in a counter-hashtag ‘#ImNotNext’, which was itself criticised for implying immediate action was not needed.

The campaign’s success cannot be denied: after international media picked up the story in 2015, Justin Trudeau committed to a national inquiry on the issue. In the words of academic Sarah Hunt, “The impact of both campaigns lies in the fact that they have been initiated by Indigenous women, and are examples of self-determined approaches to resisting violence.” They also brought into focus issues of representation for the ‘Two-Spirit’ population: people indigenous to North America who fulfil a ceremonial role in their traditions as a ‘third gender’. Hunt continues: “Social media is revealing the ways in which individual women, men, Two-Spirit and trans people are actively resisting colonialism in their everyday lives, not just waiting for state officials to ‘save’ them.”

The Cape Town protestors, who have also adopted the hashtags #NotInMyName and #SAShutDown, do not deserve any criticism for their passionate and successful attempts to bring the issue into sharp focus. The problem of framing the issue, when it comes to discussing rape, is a global one. The question ‘Am I next?’ exposes pervasive problems in society’s response to sexual violence. The need to focus on who will be the next victim betrays the tragic fact that to capture the media’s attention, the facts are somehow not shocking enough; campaigns need to bring it ‘closer to home’. Often what that really means is closer to the lives of people who are more powerful, or more enfranchised, than the victims.

Paraphrasing the question reveals its subtext. When we ask, ‘Am I next?’, we ask, ‘What if this happened to a different human?’ The rape of one human is no more or less horrific than the rape of another. If we are only empathetic to the issue when we imagine it happening to someone different, we betray the apathy inherent in our outlook.

We do not have to look far to see this logic writ large in the rhetoric of our politicians. Even Barack Obama, in a speech publicising his tough approach to sexual assault in 2014, led with the line: “It’s about all of us – our moms, our wives, our sisters, our daughters, our sons.” Women here, as critics noted at the time, are defined exclusively by their relationships (subtext: to men). They are defined by somebody’s ownership of them by association: “our… our… our… our.” The person excluded from the “all of us” is the woman in her own right as a human. What of the woman who does not have children, is not married, has no siblings and, for whatever reason, does not form part of a community or family who feel that she belongs? Often these are the people most vulnerable to sexual assault and rape. Yet to shock ourselves into action, it still appears it is necessary to imagine it happening to a different human, someone closer to home.

Stephen Fry on Mythos

James Rampton
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Stephen Fry on Mythos

It seems entirely appropriate that one of the world’s greatest storytellers is telling some of the world’s greatest stories. In news that will thrill his legions of fans across the country, Stephen Fry is undertaking his first UK tour in nearly 40 years. Rightly hailed as a wonderful storyteller, he will be travelling the country with his new show, “Mythos: A Trilogy – Gods. Heroes. Men.” Beginning at the Edinburgh International Festival on 19 August, Stephen will travel the UK visiting Salford, Liverpool, Birmingham, London, Oxford and Gateshead, delivering this trilogy of plays about Greek Gods, Heroes and Men. These timeless tales resonate to this very day. Mythos – Greek for “story” – is divided into three separate shows. Loosely scripted, each evening will afford the audience the opportunity to revel in Stephen’s signature wit, natural charm and effortless intelligence. Drawing on his immense knowledge of Greek mythology, Stephen has an excess of stories even for three shows, so his audience will aid him in selecting which tales to recount. This means that Mythos will be different every single night. It promises to be one of the most captivating theatrical events of the year. Book early, as they say, to avoid disappointment. Even though the three Mythos productions are all selfcontained, they also form a coherent sequence. Therefore, those lucky enough to have tickets for all three shows will be able to trace a beautifully satisfying arc.

Hilariously funny, often astonishing and frequently quite personal, Mythos is an experience that has to be seen to be believed. It is a once-in-a-lifetime event. But don’t just take my word for it. Stephen premiered the show last year at the Shaw Festival in Ontario, Canada, where it was acclaimed by critics. The Toronto Star marvelled that, “Fry turns teaching into entertainment through the skill by which he tells history as a great story.” For its part, The Buffalo News pointed out that his, “Lacerating wit and penchant for the irreverent is a perfect fit for the many sordid stories of Greek myth.” Meanwhile, The Stage praised the show as, “An Olympian feat of storytelling well worth a pilgrimage.” With an astounding CV that takes in everything from hit TV panel shows (QI), sitcoms (Blackadder) and sketch shows (A Bit of Fry and Laurie) to documentaries (Stephen Fry in America), movies (Wilde) and books (The Fry Chronicles), Stephen is certainly one of my heroes. They often say that you should never meet your heroes, but I’m delighted to report that this meeting exceeded all expectations. Stephen is just as engaging and impressive off stage as he is on it. The 61-year-old Renaissance Man begins by explaining why he has decided to tour the UK for the first time in four decades. “I tried Mythos out at the Shaw Festival in Canada last year, and it went so well. “It was also a really interesting use of the stage – it’s not standup comedy and it’s not drama. It felt like a new genre, and yet it’s the oldest genre there is – gathering people round the fire to tell them the story of how everything began.”
Stephen adds that by returning these stories to the oral tradition, he is bringing them back to where they belong. “The myths are such great stories, and it just struck me as a fun way of telling them. I also noticed a lot of people really enjoy audio books. “Because these stories were originally told to other listeners, they work incredibly well in that communal sense of the hearth. After a long day’s work or a long day chasing antelope, early humans would all come back and sit round the fire and tell stories of how the world was made and how spiders would spin webs and so on.” The enduring power of the Greek myths is mirrored in the fact that they continue to reverberate in the literature of the last century. According to Stephen, “The stories cast a kind of spell if you are telling them right. Two of the most popular ‘manmade’ mythological sequences are the Tolkien and the JK Rowling series – I suppose you could add to that what is known as the MCU, the Marvel Comics Universe, and Game of Thrones to that mix. “These are 20th century versions of Greek myth – and they owe everything to Greek myth. It shows there’s a great yearning for stories which are out of our own milieu. The moment you are inside that story, it’s more universal because it’s about the human spirit without it actually being about living in London, or living in Manchester, or living in New York, or living in Hong Kong, which is a very specific thing.” The performer carries on that, “I think that’s why people flock to see things like The Lord of the Rings, The Avengers or Game of Thrones. You have the elemental nature of greed, betrayal, lust, love, passion – these human virtues and vices are all on display. You don’t have to think it’s a satire on politics – it’s about everything. I think that’s part of the excitement of it.”

Mythos will also serve to plug a gap for many in the audience. Stephen comments that, “There is an enormous appetite amongst all kinds of people to put right what they left out at school. That’s why history, science and art are so popular now. More people go to art galleries in London than football matches. There is this hunger for knowing more, a curiosity.

“I hope I can take the smell of the school out of Greek myths because a lot of people associate them with a so-called classical education and believe that you have to be intellectual to understand them. But that’s just not the case. It’s not a test of intelligence, it’s quite the reverse. It’s welcoming you into this fantastic world, which is universal, sexy, juicy and full of fury and rage and adventures.” The other amazing thing about these stories is that they contain so many parallels with contemporary life. Stephen points to a myth that has quite remarkable echoes today. “The story of Pandora’s Box is very much analogous with the rise of the internet. “The Greeks understood that if something was too good to be true, then it was too good to be true. Everything casts a shadow – it took us a little bit of time to realise that the internet was casting a shadow.” He continues that, “Pandora means gifted – she was given all the gifts of all the different Gods: wisdom, beauty, prophecy, art and music and so on. But she was also given this box which she was told she wasn’t to open. “I was incredibly naive. When I was a very early user of the internet, I was a huge evangelist for it – I thought that it would solve the problems of the world. I thought, ‘Boundaries will dissolve and tribal divides and hatreds will disappear, and
we’ll all suddenly understand each other and people who have unusual and different hobbies will be able to contact each other across the world instantly rather than relying on quarterly fanzines.'” However, Stephen admits, “Pandora opened a box and out flew all these creatures who destroyed the world in which humans lived. This world without pain, this paradisiacal world was suddenly infested with the creatures from her box: war, famine, lies, murder, betrayal, lust and anger.

“Similarly, at some point in the first decade of this century, the lid of the box came off the internet, and trolls, abusers, groomers, misinformation, viruses, all flew out. What had seemed like a paradise, a beautiful clean pool in which we could all swim, was suddenly littered with broken glass and horribly polluted. That can sound very pessimistic, but the lesson is that life can be very tough.” Stephen wraps up by reflecting on what he hopes audiences will take away from Mythos. “I hope people will come out with a sense of ‘I never knew Greek myths could be so exciting! I’d heard of Narcissus and Echo. I knew there was something about turning into a flower, but I never knew that.’ I also hope everyone connects with these myths, which are deep in our language and our culture. I think this show will feed our curiosity.” Above all, he says, “The most important thing is that the audience realise just how approachable the Greek myths are. These are the creations of ordinary people. They are all our ancestors. Poets and playwrights may have used them for their plays, but that’s a different thing. These are stories from all of us, from the earliest time around the fire.”

He concludes that, “If you have ever had an exciting time around a campfire, whether it’s been caravanning with your parents or camping with friends, and you’ve sat round cooking sausages and telling each other stories – that’s the atmosphere that I want to create. “It’s one of the most exciting atmospheres because we are all family.”

Credit: Mythos – A Trilogy: Gods. Heroes. Men. UK tour comes to New Theatre, Oxford on 19th – 21st September. For tickets: stephenfrymythoslive.com Twitter: @stephenfry

Billionaire’s Oxford donation sparks protest

Ben van der Merwe
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Billionaire’s Oxford donation sparks protest

Students, staff and councillors have raised concern with the University over its receipt of £150 million from Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder and chair of the controversial Blackstone Group.

Oxford plans to use the donation to build the ‘Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities’. The open letter, signed by a forty-two locals, students, staff, councillors and activist groups, academics and councillors, warns that the Centre will “be built with the proceeds of the exploitation and disenfranchisement of vulnerable people across the world.”

Schwarzman, who is estimated to be worth $12.5 billion, is a long-time supporter of Donald Trump. Blackstone, a private equity firm, has faced criticism for its unethical investments in a wide variety of areas. Senior executives at the firm earn millions of pounds per month.

An investigation by The Intercept recently revealed that Blackstone has played a role in the deforestation of the Amazon. Hidrovias, a company owned largely by Blackstone, is one of the chief beneficiaries of a controversial highway built through the heart of the Amazon rainforest to reach its shipping terminal at Miritituba. Blackstone denies allegations of complicity in the deforestation, pointing out that the road in question is owned and operated by the Brazilian government.

The UN’s special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing this year blamed Blackstone for exacerbating in America’s housing crisis. Blackstone’s full response to the allegations can be found here.

In the UK, Blackstone has attracted controversy for its role in privatised NHS services. One elderly care provider, Southern Cross, was bought by Blackstone in 2004, which earned huge profits by investing heavily in the housing market. Three years later, as the housing market bubble was about to burst, Blackstone sold its shares in Southern Cross. The company was left unable to repay its debts and eventually collapsed.

A spokesman for Blackstone told Cherwell: “Blackstone has not controlled Southern Cross since its IPO in July 2006. It was a full five years later that it ran into financial difficulties. During Blackstone’s ownership, the company experienced growth and profitability and was healthy at the time of its IPO, evidenced by the strong share price performance in the year after listing, and was viewed as one of the highest quality operators in the sector.”

Another NHS care provider acquired by Blackstone, Independent Clinical Services, was found to have used a loophole to avoid paying up to £3 million in tax in 2012 alone.

Blackstone told Cherwell that they act in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, including proper disclosure to tax authorities. “The allegations that were put to us are false and unsupported by the facts,” a spokesman said in response to this article.

“It is through association with universities like MIT, Yale, and now Oxford, that Schwarzman seeks to legitimise these practices,” the open letter states. “Recent controversies surrounding donations by the Sackler Family and Jeffrey Epstein have shown how institutions that have ignored the concerns of their members have gone on, deservedly, to suffer significant damage to their reputations. We believe that Oxford is leaving itself open to such future damage.”

The signatories are demanding that the University release the details of its due-diligence tests for this particular donation, and how the decision was made to accept Schwarzman’s money.

A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “Mr Schwarzman has been approved by our rigorous due diligence procedures which consider ethical, legal, financial and reputational issues. You can find out more about the University’s Committee to Review Donations, which approved Mr Schwarzman, here. We have very clear policies when accepting gifts that they should not influence academic freedom or content and this gift is no exception.”

Common Ground, one of the petition’s signatories, told Cherwell that they want the University to reject the donation outright. “It is about time universities started showing due diligence regarding their funding,” they said. “The fact that it is considered so unthinkable by the Vice-Chancellor to turn down such a large sum of money demonstrates the extent to which ethical considerations and due diligence have been obscured by the number of zeros in Schwarzman’s donation.”

The spokesperson for Common Ground called on the University to consult students, staff and locals on a new framework for vetting donations: “The prestige afforded by institutions like Oxford give these figures a respectability that can’t be bought through their controversial business practices alone.

“Oxford has a close relationship with power in the UK. Association with Oxford is an association with power. Wafic Saïd, known for his use of bribery in brokering the al-Yamamah arms deal, is the subject of honorary dinners at Somerville College. This level of social acceptance can rarely be bought.”

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities will occupy the empty plot adjacent to the Radcliffe Observatory. The website for the Centre states: “The building, made possible by a landmark £150 million gift from philanthropist and businessman Stephen A. Schwarzman, demonstrates the essential role of the humanities in helping society confront and answer fundamental questions of the 21st century.”

Oxford has attracted controversy in the past for its receipt of donations earned through unethical business practices. Earlier this year, the Said Business School was gifted £15 million from billionaire arms dealer Wafic Saïd. Saïd has for decades played a key role in facilitating the arms trade between Britain and Saudi Arabia. The weapons sold through Saïd are currently being used to attack Yemen in what the UN has called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

In 2018, during the height of the opioid epidemic which has since killed over 70,000 Americans, Oxford decided not to reconsider its acceptance of regular donations from the Sackler family, who have been heavily implicated in fomenting the crisis. Donations only stopped in March of this year, at the initiative of the Sackler family.

A spokesperson for Blackstone told Cherwell: “At Blackstone, we invest on behalf of institutional investors around the world, including retirement systems which represent more than 31 million pensioners in the United States and millions more internationally. Responsible and sustainable investing is a central element of the firm’s culture and is reflected in the work that we do. From the day of our founding, Blackstone has dedicated itself to being a responsible corporate citizen. Our commitment to corporate responsibility is embedded into every investment decision we make.”

You can read the full text of the open letter here.

Inside an MP’s constituency surgery

Aidan Chivers
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Inside an MP’s constituency surgery

When we consider the daily work of an MP, we tend typically to think of appearances in the House of Commons and other Westminster business: committee work, media events, and scrutinising legislation. This is especially the case at this febrile time in British politics, in which major votes in Parliament are taking place on a frequent basis and dominate the news cycle.

It is easy, then, to forget the other vital part of a politician’s job: the one based back in the constituency, meeting and acting on behalf of the people whom the MP represents. MPs hold regular constituency surgeries to talk with local people, hear their concerns, offer advice, and try to correct errors in the system which may have affected them.

So what exactly do these surgeries involve? I spent an afternoon with Anneliese Dodds, the Labour MP for Oxford East, to find out more.

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We meet on a Friday afternoon, just off the Cowley Road in a local community centre. As constituents start arriving for their appointments, Anneliese manages to combine considerable concern for each story with a sympathetic but professional manner. Engaging and attentive, she offers each constituent her undivided attention, as a member of her team records the details of the case. She succeeds not only in offering sympathy but also in sharing the constituent’s frustration with the system. 

She remains realistic, however, about how much she is able to help in each individual case. Parliamentary notepaper can have some sway, and MPs can ensure their constituents’ cases are being handled properly by housing authorities, for example; but they are not able to intervene in individual cases or get particular constituents moved up priority lists. 

Constituents come to their MPs with a wide range of problems and have frequently run out of other options when they turn up at the doors of a surgery. Anneliese tells me of people who have come to her in desperation with bin bags full of letters from the council. In many cases the confused correspondence spans years and betrays a system which can be complicated, opaque, and profoundly difficult to navigate, especially for those who are not native speakers of English. 

Most of the cases which arrive in her surgery relate to immigration, housing, and, more recently, complications arising from Universal Credit. Since its roll-out, Anneliese tells me that her team has had ‘absolutely loads of cases. It’s just been a complete nightmare.’ The delayed payments that many faced during the early stages of Universal Credit have caused a particular problem in Oxford, with its high housing costs and tight labour market.

With great compassion, Anneliese describes the example of a single-parent family whose working mother showed up at a recent surgery. With children to feed and so much money going on rent, she had been struggling to make ends meet, and the delay to benefits due to Universal Credit left her simply unable to cope.

Over the course of the afternoon, Anneliese shows considerable understanding of all parts of her constituency. Although she was only elected MP for Oxford East in 2017 – having previously worked as an academic in King’s College London and Aston University – Anneliese is acquainted with details of the communities across the area she represents. 

Her time as a PPE student at St. Hilda’s in the late 1990s gave her one perspective on the city; and her work canvassing with the Oxford University Labour Club meant that, even before standing as an MP, she had already got to know many of the areas less visited by students. 

Anneliese is thus in a good position to understand the details of problems faced by constituents across the city. She is also well-informed about more positive aspects of Oxford life. Over the afternoon she reveals knowledge of matters ranging from the city’s various inter-faith groups to the community outreach projects put on by Holy Family Church in Blackbird Leys, for which she has great admiration.

Anneliese speaks with pride about cases in which she has made a real difference. She found it ‘hugely rewarding’ to have been able to help many local Windrush victims, for instance. A special surgery was put on to deal with that particular problem, in which she met ‘so many impressive and really interesting people’ and was glad to have been able to make a difference to their lives. 

Throughout the afternoon, the constituents show great appreciation towards Anneliese for the attention and advice she gives them. They appear grateful to have been listened to and taken seriously, in some cases after years of difficulties. Some turn up out of a sense of community spirit, having solved their problems already but anxious to explain them, seeing their MP as a means of improving the experience of others who find themselves in similar situations in future.

Does she have people coming in to talk about her work in Parliament, or to criticise particular votes she has made? ‘Yes, and often they have been really good discussions. The more hostile stuff tends to come from behind an email or a social media account.’ As with other topics that come up in surgeries, Anneliese sees real value in these face-to-face encounters with the people whom she represents. 

As we emerge back onto the Cowley Road into the early evening sunshine, Anneliese is spotted by a couple who are having a drink in a pub across the road. They erupt into a spontaneous chorus of ‘Stop Brexit!’. Anneliese breaks out into a smile and stops briefly to exchange a few remarks with them. As we say goodbye, I get a sense of her deep concern for the constituents who have just passed through her door, as well as the burden she feels of the upcoming battles in Parliament.

Oxford Citizens Assembly on Climate Change opened to members of public

Rachel Cordery
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Oxford Citizens Assembly on Climate Change opened to members of public

The opportunity to observe the Oxford Citizens Assembly on Climate Change has been extended to members of the public.

Oxford City Council has opened registration to observe the Oxford Citizens Assembly on Climate Change on the weekends of 28-29 September and 19-20 October.

The citizens assembly, which will take place at Said Business School, is by invitation only and is not open to the public.

A small number of places have been made available for members of the public to attend the proceedings after high public interest in participation and in the name of transparency.

The assembly will meet in Oxford to consider new carbon targets and additional measures to reduce emissions after councillors unanimously declared a climate emergency in January.

Over the two weekends, participants will learn about climate change and explore different options to combat carbon emissions through presentations from experts and workshops.

The first of its kind in the UK, the assembly involves a randomly selected representative sample of Oxford residents.

An independent advisory group, comprised of councillors from all parties, will provide governance and oversight.

Members of the public who want to register to observe the assembly should email their name, postcode and the date they wish to attend to [email protected] with the subject line ‘Assembly observer’.

Oxford City Council will randomly select observers before 11:59pm on Friday 20th September.

All presentations will be filmed and broadcast through the council’s social media.

Turning the Pages ceremony takes place at Christ Church

Rachel Cordery
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Turning the Pages ceremony takes place at Christ Church

The Turning the Pages ceremony took place at Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday to commemorate those who have lost their lives in conflict.

Veterans and relatives honoured fallen soldiers at the service arranged by the Oxfordshire Yeomanry and the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

The service, arranged every two months, has been held at the cathedral for years.

Started by Colonel Richard Hill, a former officer with the Royal Green Jackets, it was then passed to Colonel Mike Vince MBE.

Speaking at the ceremony in January, Major Terry Roper said: “The ceremony keeps alive the regiment and the sacrifices that these boys made.”

“We would not be here today, and we would not have the freedoms we have got today if it wasn’t for them.”

Now a regular ceremony, attendees include representatives from the British Legion and serving members of the Armed Forces.

The association now plans to expand the ceremony to commemorate Oxfordshire war veterans who lost their lives outside the two World Wars.

Solid gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace

Rachel Cordery
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Solid gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace

An 18-carat gold toilet was stolen from Blenheim Palace in an overnight burglary.

The toilet entitled ‘America’, worth £1 million, was part of an exhibition by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan.

Thieves broke into the palace in the early hours of Saturday morning, making off with the fully functioning toilet.

The burglary caused “significant damage and flooding” because the toilet was plumbed into the palace in Woodstock last week as part of the art installation.

Edward Spencer-Churchill, half-brother of the current Duke of Marlborough, said last month that he was relaxed about security for the artwork: “It’s not going to be the easiest thing to nick.”

Visitors to the exhibition were able to use the toilet, with a three-minute time limit to avoid queues.

Thames Valley Police have arrested a 66-year-old man in connection with the theft, but the artwork has not yet been found.

Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, is currently closed while investigations take place.

Detective inspector Jess Milne said: “The piece of art that has been stolen is a high value toilet made out of gold that was on display at the palace.”

“We believe a group of offenders used at least two vehicles during the offence.

“The artwork has not been recovered at this time, but we are conducting a thorough investigation to find it and bring those responsible to justice.

The toilet drew large crowds when it was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and it was famously offered to President Trump in 2017.

Homelessness: An Undying Crisis of Invisibility

Jeevan Ravindran
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Homelessness: An Undying Crisis of Invisibility

On a Tuesday afternoon on Bromley High Street, in London’s most south-eastern borough, It doesn’t come as a surprise to witness many of the homeless begging for the spare change of uncaring and often oblivious by-passers. Yet, this wasn’t the case just a few years ago: homelessness in Bromley is on the increase, in accordance with the trend seen across the majority of Greater London. Indeed, the rate of this increase across the capital is staggering; according to the Greater London Authority’s Chain report, 8,855 people were seen sleeping rough in the city during 2018-19, an increase of 1,371 from the previous year.

At the time Dawn became homeless, she was one of 8,096 people sleeping rough across the year in London. She’d been living in Hampshire and had just been refused the renewal of her lease because her landlady had alternative wishes for the property. With Dawn losing the custody of her son, and her daughter being given up for adoption, things all became too much. Dawn found herself dealing with a mental breakdown, following which she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

“I’d come to London because I was really not well, mentally. I was scared of everything, scared of going out, scared of doing things. With that breakdown, it was the scariest place I’ve ever been in, in my life.”

With few options, Dawn asked the local council whether she would be entitled to the same accommodation options in London as she was in Hampshire. They replied that she would, but did not inform her that she would have to wait for the bailiffs to arrive before leaving in order to be classified as being “unintentionally homeless” when she then pursued accommodation options. 

“When I went to (the council in London), they said, ‘No, you’ve made yourself intentionally homeless (because you didn’t wait for the bailiffs in Hampshire)’. Then they wouldn’t help me. They stitched me up. I didn’t know what to do, I still don’t know what to do.”

Dawn was temporarily staying at an ex-boyfriend’s house as she attempted to deal with the tail-end of her mental breakdown but was forced onto the streets after falling out with him one day, which she said made her feel “terrified.” “I think the only thing that kept me from doing that [committing suicide] was my kids. Even though I ain’t got my children, they was the only thing I think that was keeping me a little bit sane. If it weren’t for them, I think I would have ended up killing myself, I really would have.”

However, Dawn has kept her homelessness a secret from her five children. Even her 15-year-old son, the only family member with whom she is in regular contact with, is not aware of her living situation. Dawn makes a special effort to speak to him at least once or twice a week, visiting the local library to contact him via the internet.

“He’d just worry. He suffers from depression and I don’t want to worry him. I don’t want them knowing. And I can’t even dry my hair. I ain’t got money or nowhere to do that.” 

The homelessness crisis isn’t entirely evident to all who pass by. 74-year-old Patricia, who has lived in the area all her life, argues that, whilst there are more homeless people now than there used to be, the government is doing enough to help.

“That girl there,” she says, pointing to Dawn. “She must have a family somewhere. Why don’t her family support her? Maybe she’s done something horrible they don’t agree with.”

For Dawn, family life before homelessness wasn’t simple either. As a child, Dawn was raised by her grandfather, a man she says was “everything” to her.

“I didn’t know what a mum was till I was about six. My mum, when she took us back, saw me as the black sheep. I wasn’t part of the family. I left home at 13 to live with my boyfriend. She pushed me out to move in with her man, when I was 13 and he was 21. That’s bad, isn’t it?”

Around the time her mum reappeared in her life, Dawn also began to be sexually abused by her cousin, from the ages of six to eleven.

“It’s hard to trust,” she says of the impact it has had on her other relationships, including with her son’s father, who she says physically and emotionally abused her. 

“But I thought that (physical abuse) messed something up in my life, and I wouldn’t let him ruin any more of it.”

Dawn is relatively new to the Bromley area, having come to the borough around Christmas 2018 to join her boyfriend, Kenneth, who is also homeless. She says she has to avoid certain accommodation options available due to a recent influx of alcoholics and drug addicts. She has previously suffered from addiction to heroin and Valium herself, as has Kenneth, who currently struggles with an addiction to the prescription drugs he has been using to treat his back problem.

Whenever they can get the money together, Dawn and Kenneth stay in a hostel, where they are able to change and shower – however this is difficult, as it depends on how much money they can make on the streets. Dawn says they don’t always beg, if they find somewhere to stay, like “a car that’s had its wheels taken off,” they’ll spend some time there for a bit of respite. 

“There’s so much of it that people switch off,” says Kenneth. “People get immune and they get numb to that ‘Can you spare any change?’ question. People get numb to it, if you hear it too much. And you become invisible, you know what I mean?”

However, Kenneth takes a slightly different approach – he doesn’t say anything to try and stop passers-by, but just thanks those who do stop to make a donation.

“People can see for themselves my situation and if they want to help, then I’m happy about that, but if they don’t, then I understand that too.”

He acknowledges that living on the streets has become a way of life for him, describing how he has become accustomed to it over time.

“I think the worst thing about it is that it gets easier. In the beginning it’s hard because you don’t really know what to do or where to go. When you try to find a place or find somewhere to live, you try everywhere you can and you get nothing back. You get really disillusioned with it. And you give up, basically.”

Before Kenneth became homeless, he was living in a room in Bromley, and was relying on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), which Dawn also claimed.

“The benefits changed from ESA to Universal Credit and there was a long gap of maybe 2 months or something before they pay you. In that gap, I couldn’t pay my rent at all.”

After staying with friends for a few nights, he took to the streets after realising he couldn’t keep staying with them in the long-term.

“I stayed out the first night and it wasn’t too bad because it was kind of warm, and I’ve kind of been out here ever since.”

Like Dawn, Kenneth has also tried various avenues for help, and says he is unable to get out of his situation because he is not a priority. 

“Everywhere I go, I try to find accommodation or whatever. I don’t have much luck. They seem to think I’m not a priority, but I think I am a priority. I just feel like everywhere, they’re trying to push you onto someone else. You’re just ticking their boxes. It’s more about them than it is about me.”

Under previous UK legislation, priority groups such as pregnant women, people with dependent children and “vulnerable” individuals must be provided with emergency housing – something non-priority cases like Kenneth were not entitled to. This changed with the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act in 2018, which obliged councils to provide assistance to all the homeless. In addition to this, the government provided almost £73 million to help councils carry this out– although think tank the New Local Government Authority found that almost two-thirds of councils thought this was not enough.

Whilst such legislation provides an important step forward, there are still several root causes of homelessness which remain at play. The independent organisation Homeless Impact recently highlighted a number of these, such as the lack of social and affordable housing, and the freezing of the Local Housing Allowance until 2020, due to the fact that some areas do not have available properties which fall within the remit of the allowance provided. Austerity policies under the Conservative government, which cut council funding sharply and forced them to redistribute funds, have long been blamed by activists for the increase in homelessness. Even the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government James Brokenshire admitted in December 2018 that the government needed to ask itself “some very hard questions” about the policy, which had also led to numerous benefit cuts.

Although Kenneth has previously worked as a fitness trainer and plasterer, he is unable to get a job as he never knows where he is going to be from one day to the next, and also suffers from mental health problems in addition to his back issues. Following one particularly bad breakdown, he was sectioned for a few months but was then released, returning straight back onto the streets.

“They decided there was nothing wrong with me, but somebody must have decided there was in the beginning since they got me to go there. With me and my situation, and you haven’t got say family or support, nobody’s going to ask questions. You’re not going to be missed. That’s the scary part of it.”

However, despite the lack of support, he says he can “see the best in people” in Bromley. Just then, a woman stops him on her way to the gym to ask if he would like a cup of tea, and he nods, beamingly. Minutes later, she returns out of breath with a hot cup of tea.

“You get people like that, really good people. She’ll buy me food, or a drink, a good woman. And you get a lot of that here.”

Dawn agrees, fretting over whether she remembered to say thank you to a lady who stopped to give her some change a few minutes ago.

Kenneth says that, despite receiving kindness from many, he has often been on the receiving end of orchestrated attacks. “When I was sleeping I’ve been urinated on. Somebody set my tent on fire. It just went up like a bonfire. When I was in the tent, I could hear them and the next thing you know, I heard like a lighter and the corner of my tent went up. Obviously, I jumped out. And they found it funny. Four of them they were, and they found it funny.”

He says the reason he’s suffered such attacks is because being homeless makes you an easy target, as you are cut off from society and have nobody to turn to for help. 
“I find that really unacceptable. I’m already on the floor, I’m already in the gutter as it is. And I feel like anyone picking on me, it’s the lowest you can get, really.”

A few metres away from Dawn and Kenneth, in the doorway of Tesco, sits 46-year-old Jimmy Smith, who has been homeless for 4 years. His life on the streets began after a stint in prison for “bad things,” and he had nowhere to go when he came out.

“I’ve been a very violent man. I am what I look like. But I’m too old for all that now, so I just sit here and try and get my little bit of money together.”

Jimmy manages to get into hostel once or twice a week, just like Dawn and Kenneth.

“It was very difficult starting life on the streets. Trusting society is very difficult. I had to sit and beg. I’ve got to get at least a tenner tonight to get into a hostel. I’ve got about £9 to go, £9.20.”However, Jimmy thinks most people are not very forthcoming with donations at the moment. “Most people don’t even look at me,” he says, echoing Kenneth’s statement of invisibility on the streets. 

For 18-year-old student, Ovis Mahmood, who stops to give Dawn some spare change, the increase in the number of homeless people is shocking but not surprising, and he says he “never used to see [homeless people].”

 “[The increase] is probably happening in all the London boroughs,” he adds. 

He’s not entirely wrong. Bromley recorded the fourth-lowest number of rough sleepers for an outer London borough, with 47 people documented in the Chain report for 2018-19. This is a number that has remained fairly constant in recent years. Although there are many reasons for homelessness, such as relationship breakdowns and major health issues. After the rolling out of austerity in 2010, 5,678 rough sleepers were tracked by charity Crisis in 2011-12. Back then, Bromley had less than half its current number of rough sleepers, with only twenty-two. This staggering increase holds true for most outer London boroughs, with Barnet recording a 2018-19 figure more than four times its 2011-12 number.

“I don’t think I’m getting a fair deal,” says Kenneth. “It’s the government’s fault. Because no one should be homeless really, not when there’s so many places empty.”

Dawn agrees, saying that she “ain’t got a clue” why homelessness is increasing, but unequivocally affirms that the government is not doing enough.

“No, definitely not. I don’t think they ever have, really. They need to pull their finger out a bit more.”

However, she and Kenneth do their best to remain positive, with both affirming that they do see a future which does not involve rough sleeping. Kenneth says he is going to get in touch with Adult Welfare, as he has recently been given their contact number, and Dawn says that she will try to get an advocate to help her with her benefits claim. 

“I feel like I’m sitting here waiting for an opportunity to come,” says Kenneth. “And I think one will come. And if it does, obviously I’m going to take it.”

“I just want to get my old life back,” says Dawn, who is also a self-confessed foodie and says she would love to visit India again one day, having been there about ten years ago.

“I just want to go back to Hampshire and be with my son. If I get off the streets, I’ll have my life better than I ever had it before. It will happen.” 

Names have been changed in this article to protect the individuals’ identities.

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