Godfrey Bloom resents the idea that he’s ever offended anyone. As a man who’s been criticised heavily in the press over the last year, he has resisted the urge to cry “offense” harder than most politicians. As he notes,  “I’ve been vilified and misquoted in the media for the last eight years – I found that upsetting, I found that offensive. We need to get to the point where people aren’t held back from saying what they think because of perceived ‘offense’, mock ‘offense’.”

Since arriving as a UKIP MEP in 2004, this ‘offense’ has dominated his career. Last month, a decade of gaffes culminated in his expulsion from the party.

In June he’d referred to UK aid sent to ‘bongo-bongo land’, and at conference in September he jokingly called a group of women ‘sluts’, before hitting journalist Michael Crick with a party programme. The whip was withdrawn on 21st September.

Bloom blames the political climate for his treatment. “We seem to take the most shallow view of politics. I mean, when I raised in my speech in Birmingham, for example, the fact that we’re sending one billion pounds a month in overseas aid with no audit trail, when they are closing A&E wings in hospitals … all people wanted to talk about for the first twenty-four hours was the fact that I’d used the word ‘bongo.’

“Who was offended? The answer is nobody was offended. That’s the truth of it, nobody was offended.”

The media are also culpable. “The people who write these things, I think you’d agree, tend to live in more metropolitan areas. It’s in London, not even all of London, where everybody around the dinner table agrees and everybody in the Westminster-bubble agrees with what they’re saying, even if it’s out of touch with the rest of the country.” The media are unrepresentative, he notes, “I’ve never had a bad piece written about me by somebody who had taken the trouble to get the train up here.”

But Bloom has also chosen his notoriety – he’s aware of the political value of generating controversy. He describes the need for ‘spice’ in articles and speeches. “People need to be outraged, even if it’s fake most of the time; they need to be outraged, or amused, or laugh. Otherwise I wouldn’t sell an article… My articles need a bit of spice, otherwise nobody would read them.”

This ‘spice’ was Bloom’s downfall. He’s been constantly accused of misogyny ever since he stated in 2004 that women “don’t clean behind the fridge enough.”

Yet he remains adamant he’s not sexist. “I’ve always been a very big supporter of women, the advancement of women in both sport and business, and I also sponsor ladies’ equestrian sport. All of which is very well documented, but none of which is ever touched by the newspapers because it doesn’t touch the pigeon hole… What it might actually give an indication of is that any accusations that I’m a misogynist are clearly ridiculous.”

Nevertheless, his views on gender are undeniably provocative. He constantly refers to gender differences “that we don’t fully understand”. He refers to men’s dominance in music. “If you were to sit down with pen and paper, and I’m a keen classical music buff, you would get your first hundred great works of musical genius and you would not in your first hundred names… come to a female name.” While he hasn’t “the faintest idea why”, Bloom maintains that gender is too inexplicable to legislate on.

Since leaving UKIP, Bloom has attacked the party. This week, he told The Times that Nigel Farage has “lost touch”. Today he’s similarly critical of UKIP. “I would like to see an admission that drugs policy both in America and in the United Kingdom in the last couple of years has been a dismal failure… it’s something that UKIP are absolutely determined not to talk about.”

“Politicians are only interested in what’s going to happen in 2015, electorally. How can it be that the country has 1.3 trillion pounds of debt? … The answer is that it’s the most unbelievable incompetence, and failure to address fundamental economic issues, and I now feel much freer to address those.”

Bloom differs from UKIP economically. He’s an advocate of the Austrian School, condemning Oxford University because “you won’t have a single Austrian economist, not one. There’ll be Keynesians, and some Chicago School, both schools of which have palpably failed completely. But your undergraduates are still being taught the most ridiculous nonsense in their economics classes.” His libertarian agenda has been “side-lined” by UKIP in the last eighteen months.

Yet Bloom can’t escape his politician’s mind-set. He refers to UKIP as “we”, and is evangelical about its strengths. “The media tends to worry about Conservatives switching to UKIP, but the long and the short of it is that it isn’t like this. I mean, I won a Labour seat up here – most of my activists are Labour, old Labour. So this Conservative Party splinter group thing doesn’t play.”

UKIP has won voters who’ve been “abandoned” by Labour and the Tories, “the artisan classes”, who are “pithead winders or joiners, people like that, the real middle England people who are conservative with a small ‘c’, used to vote Old Labour, and have a picture of the Queen in the parlour.”

Bloom’s party career is over. He’s described anybody who enters politics as “insane”: “I went into politics for the same reason my father climbed into a spitfire in 1940 – it was to save the country.”

For Bloom, there’s too much emphasis on delivery, not enough on policy. “It’s a bit like you getting a message – I send you a message with a very important letter, and you then spend hours agonising over the choice of envelope, and how I addressed it.” Politicians “need a hide like a rhino. I hide most of my stuff from my wife: she’d be horrified.”

This disillusionment with politics doesn’t mean Bloom is leaving Parliament. He’s unsure whether he’ll stand again in 2014, now the whip is withdrawn. “People are asking me to. People are saying for God’s sake, let’s send an Independent! Somebody who doesn’t represent any party, will you stand again? The answer is I don’t know.”

Although this optimism about re-election seems delusional, Bloom’s populist ramblings have won him thousands of fans. As he says, he’s been elected by those “completely and utterly disengaged” from mainstream politics – maybe Bloom will be gaffing through Brussels well into his seventies.

The People’s Supermarket (TPS), a cooperative effort set up on Cowley Road in 2012, is facing probable closure due to debt.

Subscribers to the mailing list received an email this week providing details of the organisation’s troubles. An extraordinary meeting is scheduled for 19th November, in which shareholders will be able to vote on the future of TPS.

TPS is a community project funded and run by its shareholders, of which there are approximately 500. Shareholders who work volunteer shifts are rewarded with in-store discounts.

TPS told its members, “Our negotiations with the landlord’s agents were not as positive as we had hoped. The cooperative owes £7,000 in rent and a further rent instalment of £7,500 due in December.”

Unless the deadline is met, TPS will lose its premises on the 2nd December. The email stated, “As things stand, we neither have access to enough cash to pay the landlord nor enough confidence in the business to accept a loan of the amount needed.”

As well as issues with funding and turnover, one of the causes of the probable closure is a lack of volunteers to run the supermarket itself. The email explained, “The volunteer and shift leader rotas continue to have huge gaps. Individual members have covered these so far.

“We don’t think it is fair to rely so heavily on very few individuals. Our takings did not pick up to the extent we had hoped for and would have expected based on last year’s sales. Employing somebody is therefore not an affordable option in the foreseeable future.”

Although TPS’ troubles are rooted in underuse, there are staunch members and users who are saddened by its potential collapse.

Abigail Burman, a second-year historian and regular shopper at TPS said of the closure, “I’ll really miss the supermarket if they close.  Their bread selection is unparalleled.”

TPS is calling on its members for financial support in the run-up to the meeting, saying, “We will be collecting donations in the shop to pay back some of our outstanding debt to members and suppliers.  We also invite members whose membership has expired to donate their renewal fee for such payments.  Finally, we invite members to donate items for sale in the shop. The revenue from these sales will be used to pay back creditors.”

Wadham’s tortoise was caught in a blaze on Monday  after a lamp which was left on overnight to keep him warm started a fire in his enclosure.

The beloved tortoise, Archibald Manshella, who is still in his first year at Wadham, escaped unscathed after four fire engines were called out to attend the scene.

Wadham’s tortoise officer, Joseph Williamson, explained how the tortoise survived the blaze. He told Cherwell, “The UV heat lamp got too close to the wooden side of the tortoise’s enclosure and it caused a very small fire. The vivarium that the tortoise lives in is large in size and so he simply snuggled up on the other side, well away from the fire. The UV lamp caused an area of burning around 10cm in diameter.”

He noted that Archibald has recovered well from the incident. He said, “The tortoise is absolutely fine, if anything his encounter has made him more active and excitable than ever and he was promptly eating a nice bit of watercress minutes after he was taken out of the enclosure.”

He added, “No person or tortoise was hurt in this incident and the response of both the college members, staff and fire department was rapid and efficient. I would personally like to thank the Oxford Fire Department particularly for their help in the incident.”

Williamson also said, “There won’t be any formal sanctions for this incident, as far as I know, due to its accidental nature. I and the SU President, Anya Metzer, are now working with the college to make sure this doesn’t happen again and how to maximise the welfare of the tortoise in the future.”

SU president, Anya Metzer, assured that plans are being made to ensure Archibald’s future safety: “I have met with the Senior Tutor and the Tortoise Officer to discuss the incident and future course of action.

“The Tortoise Officer is looking into ordering a fire-proof vivarium but since hibernation time is nearing the tortoise will soon be moving into a fridge, which is where they are left to hibernate.”

She commented that Archibald is an important member of the JCR because, “in the event of a tied vote in the SU the tortoise gets the deciding vote. The tortoise always votes in favour of the motion due to its ‘radical desire for change’.

“Everyone is very thankful that the tortoise is OK as his welfare is paramount and he is much loved in the SU.”

Research carried out by Future First found that 40% of 16 to 19 year olds who attended UK state schools, and 45% of those on Free School Meals, didn’t know anyone in a career they would like to work in.

The Back to School campaign, run by educational charity Future First in partnership with The Independent’s ‘i’ newspaper, aims to solve this problem by allowing former students to reconnect with their former schools and act as much-needed role models, supporting the aspirations of young people by offering help and advice.

Students from universities up and down the country were asked to sign up for the scheme during this year’s Back to School week, which ran from the 12 – 19October, but between OUSU’s stall at the fresher’s fair, and the postcard sent to staff and parents by the Widening Participation team, Oxford had by far the highest number of sign-ups, a total of 124.

As Rachel Pickering, Vice-President for Access and Academic Affairs at OUSU, points out, “This is 88 more than signed up from Oxford in 2012 and accounts for nearly 5% of all national sign ups from 12-19th October! We’ve signed up three times as many people to this excellent scheme than any other student union; an amazing feat which really proves just how engaged our students, staff and alumni are in outreach and access work.”

Schools in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Swindon also benefitted from the University’s enthusiasm for the scheme through a donation of 1000 books by Oxford Unversity Press, again facilitated by Widening Participation.

Tara Prayag, the University’s Head of Widening Participation, said: ‘Our staff make countless visits to schools throughout the year to encourage students to think about higher education, but there is no substitute for schoolchildren being able to hear directly from students who were in their position only a few years ago.’

Flora Sheldon, publicity co-ordinator for the Oxford hub and co-ordinator of Music for the ‘Schools plus’ tutoring programme, was also delighted by the scale of Oxford’s participation in the scheme, saying “It’s great to see so many students, staff and alumni have signed up to Back to School week. There’s often such a strong view that Oxford is stuck in its own exclusive and elitist bubble, but the success of this initiative shows that Oxford is full of motivated people who want to share their experience and knowledge with others.

“There are many programmes running in Oxford, Schools Plus being one of them, which are trying to break down these stereotypes and reach school children to raise aspirations and expectations. I congratulate those involved with Back to School week and hope that people continue to volunteer their time and effort to this worthwhile project.”

Matthew Gompels, Keble Academic Affairs and Access officer, and President of student-run outreach programme ‘Keble at Large’, commented “It’s great to see Back to School Week getting such comprehensive endorsement from Oxford students, especially as it is only one of a number of schemes designed to put students at the heart of Outreach work.

“With all the bad press that seems to stick to the University and it’s students, events like this along with school visits, tours and UCAS advice, are a good reminder that Oxford students are passionate about Outreach and Access.”

Worcester College has announced plans to build a new lecture theatre on one of its tennis courts.

The planned building would include not only a lecture theatre but also additional meeting rooms and a studio. If planning permission is granted, it will be completed in early 2016.

The Estates Bursar explained why such a project is necessary, saying, “Worcester has no facilities of appropriate size – we have a  forty-seat lecture theatre and a seventy to eighty-seat flat meeting room, so we need one so that we can accommodate entire year groups, and generally improve student facilities.”

The plans have been met with enthusiasm by Worcester students, Alfie Hinchliffe, the JCR President, said, “The Worcester JCR loves the plans for the new lecture theatre. It’s not as though it’s going to be a noisy, lengthy, disruptive building project that will obscure the views from our existing accommodation like Exeter’s proposal would, will it? Oh wait… But in all seriousness, the theatre plans look good. In fact Worcester students love building. We’ve spent the past year building a very impressive new relationship between ourselves and the Exeter JCR. Admittedly there was some disruption (and the roof is very garish) but it does have excellent views of a future with us living together as happy neighbours.”

Hinchliffe’s comments touch on previous contentions between Exeter and Worcester over Exeter’s plans to develop what was previously Ruskin College. In Trinity last year Worcester’s Provost, Professor Jonathan Bate, sent an email to Worcester JCR encouraging students to complain about Exeter’s plans, noting such issues as “inappropriately garish and intrusive materials proposed for its roof and upper level.”  Such comments were met with criticism from his own students.

In this instance, Exeter’s Rector Frances Cairncorss has been slightly more reserved, encouraging Exeter students to attend a public consultation. “Since this may affect the views from our new Walton Street Building, it would be useful for as many people as possible to have an opportunity to view and comment upon their proposal,” Cairncross said.

However, Exeter JCR President Ed Nickell appears fully behind the plans: “This lecture room is a good thing for Worcester students and Exeter JCR would never stand in the way of that. Just as Worcester JCR did not stand in the way of Exeter increasing our currently paltry accommodation provision. There is much more solidarity amongst JCR members than amongst Heads of houses! Thanks to this solidarity, Worcester will gain a lecture room and Exonians will escape evil landlords, mouldy bedrooms and exorbitant rents.

A public consultation will be held at 2pm on Thursday 21 November.

[mm-hide-text]%%IMG_ORIGINAL%%8561%%[/mm-hide-text]

This week Cherwell analysed the provision offered by the University of Oxford to disabled students, and how disabled students at Oxford rate this provision. As part of our investigation we phoned up individual colleges to find out what facilities are provided for students at a college level; however, much of the time we were referred to the University Press Office, which provided information and statistics for the university as a whole, but referred us back to individual colleges for more specific information. While speaking to individual students about their personal experiences, Cherwell found that this lack of coordination between University and College authorities is currently the biggest hindrance to provision for disabled students.

The 2010 Equality Act defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.” This can range from dyslexia or ADHD to long term physical impairments.

Admissions statistics show that 150 students with a declared disability were admitted into the university in 2012, compared to 181 in 2011. Disabled students applying for 2012 entry had a success rate of 18.7%, very close to the 18.8% success rate of applicants overall. However, students with mobility impairments had an unusually low acceptance rate of 8% in 2012. In previous years this has been much higher, at 18.8% in 2011, and was as high as 21.9% in 2010.

However, these statistics are clouded by the fact that many disabilities, especially those related to mental health, go unreported: these are the so-called ‘invisible’ disabilities. The Disability Advisory Service (DAS), which provides support for disabled students at the University of Oxford, has 1730 registered students, which suggests that many students only report their disabilities once they have started their course.

On a national scale, the NUS has campaigned against this discrimination, highlighting the fact that one third of disabled people between the ages of 16-24 feel they have been discouraged because of their disabilities. The NUS also stresses the fact that it is against the law for universities, colleges and students’ unions not to be accessible to disabled students. The Disabled Students’ Allowance provides students with special needs with up to £10,000 in financial support, and the University matches this for non-UK students who require it.

The official statistics seem to draw a positive light on Oxford’s provision for disabled students: 9.8% of Oxford students currently have a disability, a figure which is in line with the Russell Group average. Furthermore, 4.7% of Oxford students have a mobility impairment, which is above the national average of 3.5%.

A spokesperson for the University of Oxford told Cherwell, “The budget of the central disability advice service is £1 million and the service employs four full time specialist disability advisors, two part-time disability advisors, and the head of the Disability Advisory Service. There are many more disability contacts in colleges.

“The central disability advice service works in collaboration with disability contacts in colleges to ensure that appropriate adjustments are in place for all students with a disability and offers workshops and training for staff in colleges and departments to help them support disabled students. The service runs an assessment centre that ensures a timely assessment is made of each student’s needs and that they get the support they need to study at Oxford.”
The University has a number of online resources specifying in detail the services it provides for students and applicants alike. This includes an interactive site with videos of current disabled students, as well as a wealth of documents and information pages for students with disabilities. The Oxford University Students’ Union (OUSU) runs a campaign for students with mental health issues, called Mind Your Head, as well as employing a Disabilities Officer, and holding a Disability Awareness Week, which is running this year in 6th week of Michaelmas.

In an anonymous survey directed at disabled students within the University, Cherwell found that a number of students felt that there is an issue of communication and collaboration between the different support mechanisms provided both by the University and individual colleges. Whilst efforts have certainly been made to provide support for disabled students, many feel that there is a lack of communication with students.

One student told Cherwell that there should be “better joined up action between each branch of the university. A guide book of entitlement.” They added, “It’s hard enough working out what I’m entitled to from central and local government, let alone having to wade through yet more information in terms of the university.”

One student was even more critical of the university’s provision for disabled students. They stated, “It’s all too bureaucratic. The university is well aware of my dyslexia but college (until recently) were not. My tutor seems to have no idea what dyslexia is. One of the key difficulties faced by dyslexic students is the misconception that they’re ‘slow’ or ‘not listening’ when in fact these kind of criticisms relate to working memory deficit typical of dyslexics. My experience so far has been that of frustration mainly, I don’t feel my tutors appreciate how much harder I have to work at things they find simple. I hate being called ‘lazy’, I thought I’d left that behind at school.”

[mm-hide-text]%%IMG_ORIGINAL%%8562%%[/mm-hide-text]

One of the most important issues with disabilities in Oxford are the ‘invisible disabilities’ which often go unreported because students feel afraid to approach a specialist about their issues. As one student put it, “The support provided by Oxford is exceptional once you find your way into the system. The hardest thing to overcome is self-discrimination. ‘Imposter syndrome’ as it is commonly known is a big problem. This leads to isolation — which in turn impacts productivity — it’s very hard to feel fully part of university life.”
Another major issue facing students with disabilities is the lack of information provided for students who don’t suffer from disabilities themselves. One student commented, “Communication with students needs to be improved; too many people assume that Oxford’s ‘disabled students’ are the ones that you see in wheelchairs, whereas the reality is that most physical conditions are not visible and mental conditions affect a huge number of people across the University. JCRs need to collaborate with the University to ensure that people are properly educated about the diverse range of conditions that affect the student body, so that people can be sensitive, understanding and informed.”

Charlotte Hendy, OUSU Vice President for Welfare & Equal Opportunities, told Cherwell “OUSU is working alongside the Disability Advisory Service and in co-ordination with the University and Colleges on a newly established Working Group for the Provision for Disabled Students. Created to produce a common framework that all endorse, and designed to standardise access and provision for disabled students across the University, its intention is to improve the experience of disabled students at Oxford.”

Provision for disabilities also appears to vary widely depending on the disability. In particular, students with sensory disabilities feel that their needs are not adequately met. One student told Cherwell, “I have a visual impairment and in general the organisation and communication between my department and the university disability service has been very poor. There has been a lack of knowledge or awareness of the support needed for students with a sensory impairment.”

Sam Dickinson, a student at Merton, acquired severe disability issues as a result of an accident which occurred shortly after he received his offer to study at Oxford. He highlighted the varying levels of support recieved by students depending on their college. He said, “Merton in particular have been brilliant, they’ve done all they can (and more) to make the college accessible and help me feel comfortable, including completely re-landscaping the area in front of my building to give level access and putting a lift on the stairs into hall despite some fairly stiff opposition from English Heritage. The provision across different colleges seems incredibly varied, and there are plenty of potential improvements, although in general the University is pretty good.”

Indeed, provision for disabled students varies greatly across Oxford colleges. A number, such as Somerville, Queens and Balliol have disabilities representatives which work with JCRs to improve services and accessibility. Given the old age of most college buildings, adaptation is often hard, although a number of colleges have gone to considerable effort to improve their accessibility. For example, in 2005, Christ Church established a three-year plan in order to improve accessibility in the college. Access to Magdalen’s library is limited, something which is set to be addressed as the new library is currently in construction. Most colleges provide disabled accommodation for students with special needs.

In terms of accessibility to libraries, the Radcliffe Camera, a crucial library for History and English students, was not accessible to disabled students until this term, whilst plans for the New Bodleian Library intend to address accessibility issues. Ramped access to the English Faculty Library is enabled, although students on wheelchairs generally require assistance to access the reading room. Two passenger lifts are available to disabled students in the Music Faculty, whilst the Philosphy and Theology faculty library is fully accessible to wheelchair-users. Students with disabilities are entitled to special loan periods, assistance with finding books and are allowed to take a nominated person into the library with them. Guide dogs are also allowed into libraries and disabled students are permitted to eat and drink in all Bodleian Libraries.
The Accessible Resources Acquisition and Creation Unit (ARACU) create alternative formats for disabled students who cannot access printed materials.
However, the Bodleian Libraries online page detailing which libraries are accessible to disabled students has been offline all week, and when Cherwell approached staff in the Bodleian we found no printed material available.

Does Oxford take mental health seriously?

[mm-hide-text]%%IMG_ORIGINAL%%8555%%[/mm-hide-text]

Cherwell’s anonymous survey of disability provision at Oxford produced particularly negative feedback in relation to the provision of support for students with mental health issues.

One student wrote, “My illness made it necessary to intermit study for a year. During that time I have had no contact, support or counselling. Before intermission, the deterioration of my condition had a large negative impact on my work. Despite asking for additional help to catch up and provision to make it easier for me to fit my work around my illness, I have received no support. I believe there is a lack of respect for the serious nature of mental illness amongst university staff.”

Another student highlighted communication problems in university provision for disabled students, saying, “I think greater contact with students, possibly through holding information sessions — not only for freshers — at a college level, would be a great way to improve university provision for students suffering from mental disabilities.”

Mental health issues can be hard to address because they often go unreported; as one student highlighted, “I feel that I am not alone in having had issues which I did not feel I could approach someone about”.
Indeed, only eight out of 3233 successful applicants for 2012 entry declared a mental health related issue in their application, whilst seventy two declared a learning disability. This is in stark contrast to recent NUS statistics which suggest that up to twenty per cent of UK students suffer from mental health related problems.

Mind Your Head, OUSU’s campaign for helping students with mental health issues, aims to co-ordinate between colleges and the university, as well as holding information sessions for students suffering from mental health issues.
A spokesperson for the Mind your Head Campaign told Cherwell, “At Mind Your Head we feel that there are valuable resources available to those seeking help with mental health issues at Oxford, ranging from peer support to long term mental health monitoring.

“Despite this, there is still unnecessary and damaging stigma associated with mental illness. This stigma, especially with, but not limited to, college administration bodies may dissuade students from seeking help. We hope that by raising awareness the Mind Your Head campaign can help to tackle this.

“Our It Gets Brighter campaign collects and publishes short video testimonials documenting experiences of mental illness. By bringing people face to face with others who have experienced mental illness, the It Gets Brighter project aims to combat the stigma surrounding the issue.

“Our university campaign is working on a leaflet summarising help available to students and organises university-wide events and talks. The college campaign collects data about students’ experience with mental illness and liaises with colleges to help improve their welfare provision. We continue to maintain our website, which publishes ‘Student’s Stories,’ a collection of articles about student’s experiences with mental illness whilst at Oxford and has a comprehensive list of resources available to students.”

The University also provides a number of services for Oxford students with mental health issues. The Student Counselling Service is a free service which focuses on providing individual counselling sessions, although workshop sessions, group-counselling and self-help resources are also available . The point of the service is not merely to help students to get back to the libraries. The Counselling Service states on its website: “You can come to us with any problem […] whether specifically related to study or not.” They also employ a consultant psychiatrist, at the equivalent of full-time.

Another function of the Counselling Service is to provide training for the 250 ‘peer supporters’ in JCRs and MCRs. There is also specific training provided for the graduate medical school and the Said Business School.