Wednesday 13th August 2025

Opinion

The Encaenia is PR without the public (or anyone else)

Wholesale reform is the last thing Encaenia needs. If only people knew what it is, it would be a well-suited PR exercise for a modern Oxford.

This is how we combat the crusade against universities

It’s easy to think of an arts degree as a fruitless pleasure. But education and academic study are intrinsically valuable.

From pensioners to students, all should fear the Palestine Action ban

If you think this is a win for one side over the other in relation to Israel’s war on Gaza, be careful what you wish for.

Trashing rules save face, not students

Trashing is banned. But what does the banning achieve except pushing students further from...

Samira Ahmed: A Landmark Victory?

Last Friday, journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed won a landmark victory in her case against the BBC regarding equal pay. Ahmed claimed that she was being...

Debate: The West Has No Role To Play In The Middle East

Proposition - Leo Rogers When considering as large a question as the West’s role in the Middle East, we should be starting with the bare...

Oxford’s Divestment Shame

There is a certain irony in studying, researching, or teaching at Oxford, one of the world’s leading institutions of higher education. This irony manifests itself especially...

The Army is Preying on our Generation’s Insecurities

TW: Eating Disorders ‘Army confidence lasts a lifetime’. This seems to be a perfectly innocuous slogan. You could even call it inspiring. But look further...

Opinion – Love Island, veganism, and viewer hypocrisy

When I was younger, I used to have no reservations about killing innocent animals simply for enjoyment. My dad used to drive me in...

Harry and Meghan: An Unhappy New Year for the Queen

Imagine being the Queen right now. You’re 93 years old, and your 98-year-old husband isn’t very well and has spent Christmas in and out...

Opinion – The Labour Leadership: Making the Best of a Bad Bunch?

4 years on from the election of Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party is in electoral tatters. The once great force of Attlee and Blair...

Dominic Cummings and his Whitehall Weirdos

Special adviser Dominic Cummings helped himself to a wide slice of Whitehall’s well-stretched attention this week after he published a job ad on his blog decrying...

Iran: What Could Happen Next

The assassination of General Qasem Soleimani constitutes not only an escalation in tensions between the USA and Iran, but one of the most significant...

A Decade to Forget

For a man who once helped his friend try to beat up a journalist, calling a December election was in retrospect a rare act of kindness from...

Opinion – Is This What Democracy Looks Like?

Getting Brexit done is now the irrefutable, irresistible, unarguable decision of the British people. These are the triumphant words of our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, hours...

UN climate talks fail to tackle crisis

Emily Passmore This year’s round of UN climate talks has once again ended in disappointment, with UN member states merely acknowledging that current plans for cutting emissions...

Red Wednesday: Remembering the Persecution of Christians

Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. I’m sure many will find that shocking. I did when I first heard it,...

Opinion – Hypocrisy in our Democracy: Why We Must Hold the Tories to Account

Ironically, the one thing we can all agree on is that the United Kingdom is currently divided. Deep inequalities of wealth, opportunity, and a...

Opinion – With its most catastrophic defeat since 1935, Corbyn’s Labour has failed us

Miles Pressland & Joe Davies consider the reasons why Labour saw such a landslide defeat – and the common denominator is Jeremy Corbyn. Miles Pressland A...

Opinion – With its most catastrophic defeat since 1935, Corbyn’s Labour has failed us

Miles Pressland & Joe Davies consider the reasons why Labour saw such a landslide defeat - and the common denominator is Jeremy Corbyn. Miles Pressland A...

Opinion – For the Many, Not the Few

Unsurprisingly, a Tory Prime Minister said it best. We’ve heard a lot from Boris Johnson in the last few weeks and months about 'one-nation...

Why The Lib Dems Failed

On 12 December 2019, I didn’t vote with pride. For me, putting a cross beside ‘Liberal Democrat’ gave me that same sensation as going...

Vote swaps: the heart of tactical voting

As the UK goes to the polls in what is dubbed the “Brexit election,” some Remain voters are going the extra mile to make...

No home, no vote, no option

“Same old, same old as far as I’m concerned,” said 46-year-old Shamen Hazzard, a rough sleeper in Oxford, dismissing the prospect of voting in this year’s...

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