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Day: 6 February 2012

Debate: Should Margaret Thatcher be given a state funeral?

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Opinion.

YES, says Oliver Johnstone

Friends, miners, anarchists – I am a proud and unshakeable Thactherite. Alas it would not surprise you, then, that I see it as my duty to defend the unarguable case that Lady Thatcher is entitled to the honour of a state funeral when she dies. This argument ought not be about the issue of whether or not the Thatcher premiership was a benign era for Britain, but rather it should focus on the politically neutral significance of the Iron Lady’s time in office.

First of all then we must ask ourselves – why have we honoured leaders with state funerals in the past? The most notable such occasion in recent history is naturally that of Winston Churchill in 1965, the honour bestowed upon him for the manner in which he led and delivered victory for Britain in the Second World War. The same can be said of other Prime Ministers such as William Pitt, or the Duke of Wellington for his status as a national war hero prior to becoming First Lord of the Treasury.

How is this relevant to the premiership of a woman who led the country through armed conflict for barely a year? The answer lies in our interpretation of notions of victory in battle, leadership through times of national struggle and overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Whilst Lady Thatcher never experienced military struggle on a scale compare to Churchill, she experienced an unprecedented combination of domestic, military and personal challenges that entitle us to place her on a par with Churchill, in terms of her leadership through such times.

The challenge to Mrs. Thatcher on the domestic front was abundantly clear from the day that she first stood outside Downing Street in 1979 and recited Francis of Assisi’s famous prayer. Not even the most intellectually gifted left-wing academic could argue that the economic situation in 1979 was anything short of dire. Unions on strike, power blackouts on a daily basis, rubbish piled up in the streets, bodies left unburied, the IMF threatening to intervene, a three-day working week, spiralling inflation, all bore down on the incoming government.

Upon her leaving office in 1990, she had come through these challenges and modernised the British economy, curbed trade union power, expanded the economic franchise of property and share ownership to the masses and had opened up Britain to entrepreneurialism and enterprise. Lady Thatcher succeeded, at least, in rescuing the British economy from almost certain ruin in the late Seventies.

Where Churchill had gallantly led the British defensive of our island against the forces of Nazism before her, Lady Thatcher led the defence of proud British citizens in the Falkland Islands against the aggression of a malicious military dictatorship in Argentina. It is important to remember that the Falkland’s War was not the neo-conservative project of democratising rogue states that we might be used to today, but actually the defence of the right to self-determination for the Falkland Islanders. Whilst the scale is not comparable, the military campaigns of Lady Thatcher and Winston Churchill clearly show that they both bravely stood in defiance of anti-democratic, oppressive regimes and defended their people, even when the odds – and indeed, popular opinion – were against them.

Finally, one has to acknowledge the personal challenges faced by Margaret Thatcher during her career in public life. As a grocer’s daughter and indeed as a strong confident woman from Lincolnshire, she attracted a great deal of hostility and suspicion from the established male political class. Despite all odds she overcame these prejudices and became Britain’s first female Prime Minister and its longest serving in modern times. She has been threatened with attempted assassination in Brighton in 1984 and seen her close friends Ian Gow and Airey Neave brutally murdered by the IRA.

It is important to remember that politicians are human. Lady Thatcher is, as is becoming ever clearer, only human. To sacrifice one’s life, one’s friends and indeed one’s happiness to overcome the challenges one faces as a public servant and the challenges the country itself faces, is a sign of a great human. It should be our cause as a strong, free nation to celebrate the lives of great humans.

NO, says Andrew Williams

In the interests of transparency and declared partiality, allow me to lay my cards on the table from the outset – I am anything but a Thatcherite. Over the course of her eleven year premiership, Thatcher’s ferocious programme of economic restructuring sowed the seeds of a society which was, by 1993, more unequal than at any time since records began. Whilst unemployment had climbed to 1.4 million at the height of the Winter of Discontent, it had more than doubled within a year of Thatcher taking office. By 1983, 3.3 million British people were unemployed, leaving more people out of work than at any time since the Great Depression.

Ideologically, she was more dogmatic than the most ardent socialist. Her fixation with profit, espousal of rampant individualism and lack of compassion for the least well-off offend every nerve and sinew of my being. This is, as a postscript, the woman who made the ludicrous proclamation “there is no such thing as society”; rubbed shoulders with brutal Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, only to denounce Nelson Mandela as a “terrorist”; and who ordered the sinking of the Belgrano, killing 323 people.

However, my vehement objection to Thatcherism can hardly be put forward as a reason to deny the longest-serving Prime Minister of the 20th Century a state funeral. After all, for every Tony Benn, there is a Norman Tebbit; she is revered and reviled in equal measure. It is precisely for this reason that we should not be honouring Mrs Thatcher with a state funeral. The honour of a state funeral is tacit acknowledgement that the recipient is a figure to be universally revered; on the contrary, Thatcher is far from the subject of unanimous acclaim. That she played an enormous part in shaping the trajectory of this country is undeniable, but whether she sparked a sea change for better or for worse is far less clear.

In the United States, tradition dictates that every single President is honoured with a state funeral upon their passing, but that is not the case in our Prime Ministerial system. Indeed, the state funeral is an almost unique honour amongst politicians, with Winston Churchill the only Prime Minister to receive one in the 20th Century.

This was a unique honour in a unique set of circumstances – after all, Churchill led us to victory in the Second World War, an unprecedented conflict which safeguarded our democracy from the threat of Nazism. Whilst the Thatcher government also encountered military conflict in the shape of the Falkland’s War, the two are clearly incomparable. This was a war which lasted just six months, and consisting of a direct threat to a handful of British citizens living on the other side of the world. Lest we forget that her intervention was, at least partially, politically motivated; had it not been for the Falkland’s, a previously unpopular Prime Minister would have been out on her electoral ear by 1983.

Some have put forward Thatcher’s record of electoral success as possible justification for her state funeral. Certainly, this is not an achievement to be sniffed at. Whatever you think of her policies, three successive general election victories is a quite remarkable feat. But this is clearly not enough to consider her deserving of the honour. After all, Tony Blair won three consecutive general elections in altogether different circumstances, and probably would have served more time than Thatcher in office were it not for Gordon Brown banging angrily on his door to tell him “time up”. Would anyone plausibly suggest that Blair be given a state funeral? I somewhat doubt it.

This issue is a simple question of objectivity and consistency. It is objectively clear that Baroness Thatcher is one of the most divisive figures in British political history. A state funeral is an honour which should only conferred on figures universally considered worthy of greatness. To give Mrs Thatcher such a lavish public send-off would be an affront to the millions left jobless in mining towns across Wales and the north of England, to those whose small businesses folded under the strain of monetarism – or, indeed, to anyone with a social conscience.

An aviary of books: the top literary Twitter feeds

Written by Dave Wingrave on . Posted in Books, Features.

I once tweeted that – IMHO – Mary Karr was a better writer than Joan Didion, and the latter retweeted me. There a lesson here beyond ‘Watch what you say or L.A Matriarchs that refuse to die might find you and eviscerate you while you sleep’, and that is: get over yourselves, Twitter-haters. Even if you came to study English Lit., exasperated that all your school friends cared about was getting the ‘Perf Prof Pic’, this is the digital age, and you need to get with it. Don’t think for a minute that 140 characters can constrict the most brilliant literary minds out there; get following these guys:
@AdvicetoWriters: Writers lo-o-ve talking about the writing process. Here, their handy aphorisms have all been cooked up into one big gumbo, to be dolloped onto your plate every half hour or so. What was Zadie Smith’s cure for writers block? What was Hemingway’s prescription for the perfect writing tipple? Leave the library, 20th Century Boy- it’s all here on twitter.

Sample tweet: “Never get out of bed before noon.” – Charles Bukowski
@poetswritersinc: In a word, indispensible. Apart from the insanely good interviews they get, these guys have links to all the writing competitions that are worth winning, all the writing programs that are worth attending, and all the publications that are worth reading.

Sample tweet: Did you know Sylvia Plath was a visual artist? +link
@BretEastonEllis: Yeah, he’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect.
Sample tweet: Can’t sleep. The 25 year-old’s friends sing Band of Horses The Funeral in the living room, all of them wondering what bar allows jailbait…
@flavorpill: Bit of a cheat, as they’re more of a pop-culture site. Still, I find myself clicking on more of their links than anyone else’s, and they’re demons with interesting lists.

Sample tweet: Your favourite authors’ favourite books of all time +link
@paulocoelho: Confession: I’ve never read a Paulo Coelho novel, and he’s never quite worked himself out of the wedge in my brain marked ‘Some kind of a Latin’. But he’s the funniest of the lot of ‘em on twitter, and highly involved with his followers.

Sample tweet: Answering my emails without keyboard – it is possible! How? Copy-pasting other emails.
@EmperorFranzen: A dire warning as to what can happen if you let your publicist control your twitter. Jonathan Franzen’s devoid-of-humour, promotion-only feed was so roundly mocked that this little lolz became nearly as popular.

Sample tweet: I am going to write a prequel to FREEDOM called SLAVERY

The rising star with ‘an impatience to change the world’

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Opinion.

Meeting politicians who are tipped for the top can be an underwhelming experience. Many a young MP has burst onto the scene in a blaze of hyper-optimism, only for his star to fade just as quickly as it came into view. But when you meet Chuka Umunna, it is hard to imagine that you are in the presence of anything other than a genuine rising star.

Despite having been in Parliament for just over 18 months, Umunna has quickly risen through the ranks of the Labour Party to shadow the once-formidable Vince Cable in the Business brief. His meteoric rise has already led many commentators to talk of him as a future leader. After husband and wife duo Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper, Umunna is the bookmakers’ third favourite to be the next leader of the Labour Party at the tender age of 33 – and with some justification.

If Umunna is feeling the weight of expectation attached to his oft-cited nickname ‘the British Obama’ – a moniker that has become so cliché when discussing the Shadow Business Secretary that The Mancunion deliberately avoids any mention of it – he isn’t showing it.

He carries himself in an affable and easygoing manner that less personable politicians spend a lifetime trying to cultivate. In his speech to Manchester students, he frequently references the years he spent here as a student of English and French Law. He fondly remembers the “Siberian” weather and his time living in Fallowfield, speaking with genuine affection of the place where his political journey began.

“I very much was active within the Labour Party, and I would do phone banking and campaigning from the Manchester Withington Labour Party office and get involved with some of the local campaigning”, he recalls.

However, Umunna admits that he shunned Student Union politics during his time here. Whilst he accepts that “it’s incredibly important that students have an organised voice,” his overriding feeling at the time was that “there were too many people involved with it who were career politicians, who were more interested in the arguing amongst each other as opposed to actually acting as a voice and representing the students they purported to speak for.”

To an extent, it would be easy to construe some of Umunna’s pronouncements as standard political fare. He attacks the Government with the ease and relish you would expect from a Shadow Minister, appealing to a sympathetic audience with comments about unemployment and student debt. The Government, Umunna assured Manchester Labour Students, is “ripping out the heart of communities” and failing to create jobs. It’s a fairly generic call to arms from a charismatic opposition MP to a group of activists that, as he takes care to point out, are far from “fair-weather supporters.”

Yet Umunna is far from the bland, mechanical stereotype willing to say anything to appease his supporters. On the contrary, he is one of a rare breed of politicians who is happy to say ‘no’ to his supporters; to tell it like it is even when it might not be what they want to hear.

There are answers you would expect to hear – Umunna is in favour of a graduate tax and opposes the changes to student debt. But he is more than happy to argue the toss with people he disagrees with. Umunna refuses to be drawn into promising to support a ‘Robin Hood tax’ on financial services unless there is strong international agreement, a line that might not prove popular amongst the Labour Party rank and file.

Unlike many of his Parliamentary colleagues, he is unwilling to dismiss unpaid internships out of hand, arguing that they can be beneficial for all parties involved – despite Labour calls for a mandatory living wage for all part time workers. In recent weeks, Umunna has been setting the political agenda with his call for a new era of “responsible capitalism.”

You get the sense that this is a man who understands the complex nuances of a range of issues; that he says what he means and he means what he says. Refreshingly, Umunna seems willing to debate and lead on ideas, rather than settle for cheap political pointscoring.

So, what was the driving force behind Umunna’s decision to move into politics? For one, it is clear that he is profoundly committed to the cause of his party. “The reason that I am a Labour Party politician is because I subscribe so strongly to its values which are absolutely deep in my heart, which are the values of mutual dependence, and the idea that we should give everybody a platform as individuals to succeed and fulfil their full potential”. It is a passionate explanation, but he freely admits that he “didn’t really envisage [going into politics] so soon.”

But why so early, at such a young age? “Basically an impatience to change the world,” he replies.

It’s an answer that hangs in the air. From some, it would sound like a carefully choreographed, well-rehearsed soundbite; here, it sounds like authentic conviction. As he continues to discuss Labour values, it becomes increasingly hard to doubt his belief in both the party and himself.

Such is the nature of 21st Century politics, real life comes sharply into focus as Umunna takes his leave earlier-than-expected to deal with the aftermath of the Government’s decision to veto the Eurozone treaty. But he leaves an impressed audience behind him. It seems that Chuka Umunna’s star hasn’t finished rising yet.

Ask Keir: Stress

Written by Keir Stone-Brown on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Ask Keir is a column aiming to answer all your health questions. If you want to know about that funny looking lump that won’t go away, why your GP won’t give you those antibiotics or anything at all to do with health get in touch at: [email protected]

All questions will of course be kept confidential and anonymous.

Question of the Week:

During my exams in January I found myself getting so worried about the exams it almost paralysed me into not revising until the very last moment. In the summer I’m coming up to my finals and I don’t want it to happen again. Any advice?

First off, it’s good to know that exam stress affects all of us even those perennially jammy laid back types. For some it might be just a feeling of ‘butterflies’ in the stomach when walking into the exam hall but for others it can be incredibly crippling and affect them throughout the year even when months away from exams.

On the bright side there are so many ways and services to help relieve the stress and let you perform as your fullest greatest self. Now I don’t want to sound like your lecturers but it helps massively if you’re organised from the off and don’t fall too far behind on work throughout the term as this means when you get to your study break you’ve already covered most of the material and its just a matter of going over it again rather than learning it from scratch.

It’s also worth looking for past papers as these can give you a real guide of what to expect, most courses offer them and if they don’t the internet usually has something similar.

Another tip, which I personally found really helpful, was to revise with friends. It can be so reassuring to know you’re at the same level as those on your course and you can help each other out if anyone gets stuck.

Sometimes, however, it can just get all too much and the burden can become overbearing this is where the University can really help. They offer a no nonsense, confidential counselling service where a trained counsellor can lend an ear and offer advice. They also have a range of services at their disposal such as relaxation classes and classes to help eliminate procrastination.

Follow the link below for more information;

http://www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/counselling/

I hope that helps!

A woman’s right to refuse a full bush

Written by Isabelle Dann on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

There’s no disputing that the extent of pop culture’s didactic money-grabbing obsession with the female pudenda is frankly psychotic – vajazzling, vajacials (if I wanted to smother fruit all over my vagina, I would do so in the kinky comfort of my own home with a rogue tangerine, not pay some stranger £50 for the privilege), labiaplasty… The list is seemingly endless and includes some horrendous shades of pubic hair dye.

However, when it comes to depilatory issues alone, there need not be anything oppressive or unfeminist about opting for a partial or full fuzz-free existence. The Guardian columnist, Bidisha, distinctly disagrees, describing men who enjoy the effect thus: “A man who likes a woman without pubic hair despises adult women so much that he wants us to resemble children. He should stay at home instead in front of a computer, masturbating alone to the hair-free images he reveres.” Obviously, to label all men (and surely women) who prefer minimal pubic hair as paedophiles who are undeserving of real-life intimacy is extremely insane.

More pertinently, however, Bidisha misses the point completely by placing the focus of the issue with male reception rather than with the satisfaction of the woman herself. The implication that pubic hair removal is only an issue when a man might see it is so tragically reductive – just as a woman may choose to wear a delectable set of a lingerie when nobody will see it but herself, so may a pube-free existence, should that be the self-desired aesthetic, be maintained for self-pleasure. Speaking of pleasure, the physical benefits of such a style are often ignored or forgotten:

–  Extended view – clearly desirable for women aroused by the visual.
–  Heightened sensitivity – the sensation of someone licking around your labia is, unsurprisingly, not quite as intense when their tongue is fighting through a small forest.

So, to oppose female deforestation is to oppose both female choice and pleasure. I mean, that’s pretty fascist and patriarchal, no? Rude!

Of course, I am in no way suggesting any uniform approach to the maintenance of one’s lady garden. The whole point is that any genital grooming (or lack thereof) should be the pressure-free choice of the individual without fear of ridicule from either men or women. Surely people have better things to do with their time than obsessively scrutinise the appearance of someone else’s vagina?

Regrettably, when it comes to the media, this is not often the case. Last year, The Times sex columnist, Suzi Godson, received a letter from an anxious 38-year-old divorcée who feared losing her new 29-year-old boyfriend over her full bush – she revealed he was “shocked” by her “lack of personal grooming”. I presumed Suzi would more or less advise the correspondent a “kthxbye” response to her boyfriend, but instead she offered the following unfortunate drivel: “If your boyfriend has been conditioned to expect a tidy Brazilian, he may genuinely find anything else very off-putting […] Fortunately, the craze for Brazilians is abating. The hot new haircut is the Sicilian. It is like a Brazilian – but you are left with a neat little Sicily-shaped triangle, which at least means that you still look like a woman. Good luck!” In her book How to be a Woman, Caitlin Moran responded aptly: “Sicily? The good news is that I can make my luge look like Sicily? Home of the Mafia? That’s my vagina now? It’s got the Godfather in it?”

Caitlin then goes on to highlight the hilarity of the prospect of men putting up with this shit – and it really is all a load of utter bullshit. Grow your bush long and strong. Wax it all away. Whatever. Everyone should just do whatever they personally feel looks best and feels best, torment-free, and then just shut the fuck up about it because vaginas shouldn’t be so controversial. Vaginas are lovely. Deal with it.

TOP TIP:

Whatever you do with your vagina, I would advise against going down the “luxury merkin” route. Real Housewives of New York’s Cindy Barshop’s waxing salon has come up with literally the most pointless use of the fur industry ever: “The Foxy Bikini, in which the bikini line is waxed bare and replaced with a pubic wig made from real fox fur.” As Maureen O’Connor writes on gawker.com: “It costs $225, comes in multiple artificial neon hues, and looks like nightmare porno from the id of Dr. Seuss.”

Gold and Silver: I’m ‘all-in’

Written by Jonathan Davis on . Posted in News.

Precious-metals have been the best performing asset-class in the last 10 years –making incredible gains in comparison with the returns of the FTSE 100. Some economists have described their explosive upward-trend as a “financial bubble”, where mass-speculation has over-inflated their price, leaving them susceptible to a sudden crash. However, I believe that anyone who thinks that the gold and silver bull-run (upward trend) is over, should seriously reconsider as the ‘fundamentals’ providing their decade-long momentum have rapidly intensified in recent years and show no signs of fading.

So, what is so special about gold and silver as an investment, and what are the ‘fundamentals’ driving their bull-run? Most importantly, gold and silver is money, real money, with real tangible value. They have a proven 5,000-year history of being the ultimate ‘safe-haven’ against inflationary and deflationary periods – the masses have always flocked to their intrinsic value in times of economic uncertainty.

The current, and ongoing, financial crisis is resulting in the world’s Central Banks buying up gold and silver as the value of their ‘paper’ currencies are becoming increasingly debased by governments’ exceedingly loose monetary policies. Astute investors, particularly from the emerging markets in China and India, with a cultural appreciation for gold, are pushing up the price of precious metals as they too seek to preserve their purchasing power.

Also, we are now seeing hedge funds, diversifying their portfolios, purchasing gold as the western-world is rediscovering the importance of monetary metals. Finally, and most crucially, gold and silver mining production is becoming increasingly expensive, resulting in a growing supply and demand deficit, which bodes well for their long-term bullish outlook.

Investing in gold, at over £1,000 an ounce, will be out of the price-range of most students. However, an affordable alternative is silver bullion. At around £20 an ounce, silver it is still a bargain. During the last precious metals bull-run, in the late 1970s, merely 1,000 ounces of silver could buy a medium-priced family home. If you are interested, I recommend setting up an account at Bullionvault.com which provides the industry’s lowest margins as well as providing a secured vaulting service for a small charge each month. If you would prefer to store your own metal, then BullionByPost.co.uk is an excellent choice as well.

Gold and Silver is real money and the paper you carry in your wallet is just that!

Manchester hockey’s misfiring costs them dearly as Newcastle rocket through to the next round of the cup….

Written by Ruth Dacey on . Posted in Sport.

These two tough northern teams are currently battling it out at the top of the Northern 1A division with only a very slim goal difference separating them. However, Wednesday saw the two battling for a different prize- the chance to make it through to the semi-finals of the much coveted league cup. Despite the freezing conditions a large crowd turned up to cheer on the home side and the importance of the game was palpable. Manchester captain Kieran Mulholland commented to The Mancunion prior to the game that the result would have massive implications not only for the cup but also in the title race. “Whoever wins will have impetus going into the crunch match later on in the season between us two, which could potentially seal the fate of the division title.”

The game started very tentatively from both sides, with much of the ball being passed between the defenders as the attackers from both sides had difficulty stringing phases of play together. Mulholland for Manchester tried to inject some pace into the game and his weaving run from the half-way into Newcastle’s D brought about the first penalty corner of the game. What followed was an excellent routine set piece, but sadly the finish was swept just wide of the right post. Manchester gained confidence from this though and began to pressurize the Newcastle players on the ball, especially in the mid-field area.

Newcastle seemed to wake up after the first ten minutes responding to Manchester’s pressure and began making progress in their opponents’ half. After several wayward hits into the Manchester’s D a penalty corner was finally awarded, however a powerful Newcastle shot was blocked and dealt with well by keeper Peter Sidwell. Manchester however were unable to properly clear their defensive lines and after what resembled something akin to pin-ball wizard inside the penalty area the ball was slotted home from very close range by Newcastle’s number 10 Hall. The goal came almost as a surprise for Hall whose joyous celebrations were met with a shocked silence from Manchester supporters.

More and more people began turning up to cheer Manchester on. Heads were bowed however from the players after the shock goal. While the home side were keeping much of the possession, legs appeared heavy and very little movement was exhibited. Newcastle took advantage of this and carved out several chances in front of goal but none could be capitalized on. Manchester players became frustrated and none more so than number 6 Andrew Rusbridge who performed a type of rugby, wrestling infused tackle on his opponent. The umpire didn’t take to kindly to the challenge and produced a green card from his pocket.

Manchester players managed to compose themselves and began linking passes together, with number 4 Mackichan and Captain Mulholland dominating in mid-field. Their pressure paid off as they were awarded with their second penalty corner of the game, however a moment of controversy followed as in some confusion the referee awarded the ball be returned to Newcastle for no apparent reason.

Manchester soon won the ball back however and Mulholland smashed a shot that just whistled wide. Newcastle lead was hanging like a thread but they managed to relieve some pressure nearing half time with a long pass out from defense. Manchester were unable to defend their lines effectively and gave away two penalty corners in succession. Keeper Sidwell however was more than a match for them, pulling out two fantastic saves to keep them in the game. Manchester went into half time 1-0 down.

Manchester started the second half brightly and the half-time team talk had clearly geared them up as hard tackling was flying in. Mackichan showed excellent strength whilst on the ball and Newcastle players began to steer clear of him as the half progressed. Manchester built up momentum from defence to set up a brilliant chance in the Newcastle D however, this was then stopped by a stray foot. From the resulting penalty corner Mulholland crashed a shot into the bar, with cries of disappointment from the crowd who were willing it to be just an inch or so lower.

Newcastle breathed a sigh of relief and realized that they needed a goal to seal victory. Being the first game back after Christmas began to show on the Manchester players as Newcastle began to be first to every ball and tackle, making excellent runs and linking play. Both Clegg and Jabbal made goal-stopping tackles when Newcastle were in front of the net but there was nothing they could do when number 11 Kempe sent the ball rocketing into the net from the top off the D after some lovely wing play and cross in 55 minutes into the game.

Defeat now seemed inevitable for Manchester and Newcastle with the bit between the teeth charged forward in attack sending the right and left backs up the pitch. The attacking play paid off as five minutes later Kempe for the second time smashed the ball past a stranded Sidwell from a similar range. Newcastle captain John Colville couldn’t look more delighted when the final whistle rung out 10 minutes later.

A disappointing defeat for Manchester Men’s Hockey who had performed excellently this season in both league and cup. Hopefully this is just a blip in their fantastic form and they can pull it together in their next away league match against Liverpool John Moores.

Player Profile: Olivia Thackray

Written by Ruth Dacey on . Posted in Sport.

How did you get into playing football? My Dad took me down to my local club in Leeds when I must have been about 5 or 6. I started playing with boys at first but then the manager set up a trial for me at the girl’s team and it all went from there. I played as striker and left wing predominately for Leeds but when I was scouted for England they played me at left back. And then when I came to Uni, I joined the team straight away and have always played centre midfield. At the moment I play just behind the strikers and have free reign in that area.
How would you describe the experience of playing for England? It was such a massive honour being chosen to represent the country; it’s difficult to be able to fully describe it. Pulling on that shirt is just an amazing feeling and nothing else can compare to that.
Who’s the most inspirational player you have played alongside? Sue Smith the experienced England International who I played alongside at Leeds United because she played in a similar position to me so has always been there to offer me advice as I was moving up the ranks. Then when I made the first team she played in front of me on the left wing, which gave me confidence.
What do you put UMWFC 1st XI teams success this season down to? All the girls came back with an excellent attitude in September and at pre-season we all bonded really well which has helped us throughout the season. Also a whole new management took over this year for the 1st and 2nd teams, adding something different to the set-up and we have about six freshers who’ve come into the mix and done really well.
How do you motivate the players before a game? I speak to everyone as a group and then I’ll talk to players individually and give them any advice and make sure that they have a positive feeling going into the game. And then the team talk is opened up to anyone who feels they want to say anything, so everyone gets a say, which is very important.
What’s the rivalry like between you and MMU Cheshire? Very intense! We played them the other week and there was a lot of chat going back and forth on the pitch especially between me and their captain who are always bantering each other. But then after the game both teams joke around so on the pitch it is a serious rivalry but off it we’re friends so it’s not that bad. We’ll see if I’m saying this the next time we play though as at the moment we are on equal points at the top of the league so it’ll be a massive game for both the clubs. I have faith in the team though and know we are good enough to beat them and win the league, fingers crossed.
Favourite UMWFC fancy dress? Ha, well we all like a good fancy dress at UMWFC and celebrate every week at the A.U social but my personal favourite has got to be when the 1st team went as ‘fake tan barmy army!!’ this year. Absolutely caked in fake tan, massive back comb, eyelashes, whole works- right up my street!

Manchester fall short in tight game

Written by James Gilbert on . Posted in Sport.

What I don’t understand is how Wythenshawe is so difficult to get to. Having travelled with the 1st team in a testosterone glazed convoy of cars, we discovered that the referee didn’t know how to get there, despite instructions. With little time left, a replacement was organised who also didn’t know how to get there, despite instructions. Before we plough into this report on the second team’s difficult loss to Lancaster, can I make an appeal to every would-be ref to get him or herself a smart phone, as the majority of them have GPS and will easily navigate you from Great Cockup, a mountain in Cumbria, to Chipping Sodbury in Bristol. Just because we ain’t professionals, we still don’t want our Wednesday thugfest taken away.

Anyway, Manchester vs Lancaster at the Armitage. With sunny conditions and a gusty wind to contend with, the University of Manchester 2nd team took on what was to be a very well-drilled Lancaster side. The first opening few minutes confirmed a huge effort was required when only heroic tackling prevented a much larger Lancaster team from scoring an early try.

Manchester made good use of their first phases of possession by making scything runs up the middle and pegging Lancaster down in the corners with some elegant kicking against the wind. Against the tide of play, Lancaster made the first breakthrough on the ten-minute mark by demonstrating some great offloads out the tackle and committed support play at the breakdown.

For the next twenty minutes a battle of midfield attrition saw neither side being able to break each other down with the forwards of both teams failing to gain an upper hand. Throwing wide passes was risky with the wind but a few minutes to go before half time, Manchester demonstrated superior skill when Guy Michels received a long pass on his wing and scooted round his opposite number in the corner.

Lancaster were definitely the team looking forward to the break most out of both teams because Manchester had raised their game up a few gears and looked the team most likely to score. However, after the second half got underway Manchester let themselves down by letting in another early try. This gave Lancaster a great deal of confidence and they peppered away at the Manchester defensive line whilst Manchester showed more brilliant defence. With Manchester once again building momentum, they hit back through a great try by Mike Price and with twenty minutes to go, there was only two points in it and everything was to play for.

Lancaster showed little composure in attack but managed to extend their lead through a third try which was immediately answered with another try from Mike Price who put on a great solo effort from the half way line to score again in the corner. It seemed that Manchester could answer all the questions asked by Lancaster but with the final ten minutes looming, Lancaster scored two quick tries.

Manchester tried in vain to overturn the deficit and spent the last five minutes camped on Lancaster’s try line thanks to some remarkable turnover tackles and astute decision making. However, Lancaster held on frantically and managed to seal a very hard fought win, which could have seen either side come out on top.

Team coach Andy Connaughton said at the end of the game, “We are desperately disappointed we didn’t win this game. I feel like we really deserved it but that mad few minutes at the end cost us. We need to look at where we went wrong and learn from these mistakes because they are the simplest but the most costly”.

Team captain Ben Ratcliffe lamented, “Fair play to Lancaster, they played well but I feel like we were the better and fitter team. Unfortunately for us we let in a couple of soft tries and that is all that matters.”

The University of Manchester Men’s Rugby League Club would like to thank their sponsor Walkabout for their continued sponsorship of the club.

FA Cup tie offers end to Race row.

Written by Paddy Madden on . Posted in Sport.

It was hard not to laugh when the draw for the FA Cup fourth round was made. Liverpool were to play Manchester United at Anfield.
At the very best of times, this is a fixture laced with more bile and venom than any other in the country. The last time a United team travelled down the East Lancs road for an FA Cup tie, the ambulance carrying an injured Alan Smith was rocked in the streets, excrement was flung at the visiting supporters and missiles were launched at Steven Gerrard.
The rivalry and contempt both sets of supporters hold for each other is such that even at last week’s fixture at home to Stoke, ex-Liverpool players Jermaine Pennant and Peter Crouch were serenaded by United fans with songs about Heysel – whilst at their end of season parties Liverpool’s chief supporters group, Spirit of Shankly, have been known to have a man on stage with a guitar singing about the Munich Air disaster.
This use of disaster to score points is nothing new, but it leaves a sour taste. In the increasingly sanitised world of modern football great rivalries are needed more than ever – and Liverpool United is one of the greatest. Born during the industrial revolution, as battles over cotton and tax led to the building of the Manchester Ship Canal, the clubs are the most successful and best supported in the country – and this has led to, as Stuart Maconie puts it, ‘a vendetta that’s Sicilian in intensity’.
Recently an extra dash of poison has been added to the contest – courtesy of Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra’s clash at Anfield in October -and the proverbial shit-storm which followed.
Suarez was found guilty of racially abusing Evra by the FA and subsequently banned for eight games.
This merely made him a martyr on Merseyside, as ‘Justice for Suarez’ became the Kop’s latest campaign. Uruguayan flags were waved in unison and the Liverpool squad – joined by manager Kenny Dalglish – made the perhaps ill-advised move of warming up in Suarez t-shirts before their match against Wigan. Guilty or not, it’s difficult to see how their supporters and players could so openly back a man facing the charge of racial abuse.
The whole, sorry affair poured fuel on the fire of hatred. It was thus written in the stars that the two sides would meet in January’s cup game.
Frothing with feelings of injustice, Liverpool fans promised Evra the reception from hell. United supporters teased on internet forums about the prospect of turning up to ‘Klanfield’ with pillow cases on their heads.
The game ultimately passed by without major incident. Evra was soundly booed on his every touch -but before there could be any debate over the morals of booing the victim of racial abuse, The Kop made it loud and clear that they aren’t racist – ‘they only hate mancs’.
It was Evra –predictably -who made the game-changing error, leaving himself out of position and gifting Dirk Kuyt the chance to seal a 2-1 win for Liverpool and a place in the 5th round.
For now, in the aftermath of the storm, tempers have cooled.
Yet this coming Sunday, when Liverpool are welcomed to Old Trafford, it

‘Poorer students are not discouraged by higher fees,’ says Ucas

Written by Joe Sandler Clarke on . Posted in News.

The number of applications to UK universities has fallen by 8.7 percent – yet figures suggest that the tripling of fees for most courses has not deterred people from disadvantaged backgrounds from applying for university.

The coalition government’s decision to raise fees to £9,000 last year led to a series of violent clashes between police and students, while Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was called a “hypocrite” after he decided to support the policy.

Ucas figures published last week show that the number of UK applicants fell by just 3.6 percent, a drop of only 8,500 people. The total number of applicants, including EU national and foreign students, was down by 8.7 percent.

The news will be a welcome boost to the government, who last year were warned by organizations like the National Union of Students that the decision to triple fees would have a disastrous impact on social mobility.

“Our analysis shows that decreases in demand are slightly larger in more advantaged groups than in the disadvantaged groups,” said the chief executive of Ucas, Mary Curnock Cook.

“Widely expressed concerns about recent changes in HE [higher education] funding arrangements having a disproportionate effect on more disadvantaged groups are not borne out by these data.”

Wendy Piatt, the director general of the Russell Group, which represents the top research universities in the country, stated that the Ucas figures proved that demand for high education remained strong despite fee changes.

“Demand for higher education is not only strong – it’s actually rising over the long term. This year 540,073 prospective students have applied, which is 16% more than the 464,167 who applied just three years ago in 2009,” she told The Guardian.

“More than half a million potential students have rightly recognised the benefits of going to university. Prospective students know a good degree remains a smart investment.

“It’s not surprising the number of applications is lower than last year, but there are a number of reasons for that. Demographic changes mean there are fewer 18-year-olds in 2012 than in 2011 and we also know there was a peak in applications last year as fewer people chose to take gap years.”

But there were some individuals who chose to treat the figures with more trepidation. Nicola Dandridge, Universities UK’s chief executive, said that more research needed to be carried out to assess the true impact of fee changes.

“We will have to look now in more detail at whether students from certain backgrounds have been deterred more than others,” she said, adding.

“We will continue monitoring the impact of the new system on students and specific subjects.”

Liam Burns, President of the NUS was similarly skeptical.

“At a time when jobs are in short supply and youth unemployment has increased dramatically, the full impact of the Government’s changes to higher education funding cannot be fully understood until we know which groups of students have applied and been accepted to particular types of university,” he argued.

Burns also alluded to the fact the number of mature students applying for university decreased dramatically compared to last year. In total, the number of over-30s applying to universities was down by more than 3,000 compared to last year.

Manchester green party candidate dies

Written by Ellen Conlon on . Posted in News.

Gayle O’Donovan, a General Election candidate and leading Green Party activist in Manchester died last week.

Gayle served as Local Party Support Co-ordinator for the Green Party from September 2010 to December 2011 and was involved with a variety of green campaigns in Manchester, including the Save Hasty Lane campaign opposing the expansion of Manchester Airport.

She was the co-founder of “Call to Real Action,” which aims to reduce Manchester’s carbon emissions and prepare for the changes climate change will bring and the co-ordinator of BRiM (Bike Recycle Initiative Manchester) which supports people in Manchester becoming confident cyclists and stops bikes going into landfills.

She played a key role in helping Salford Green Party set up independently.

Anne Power, Membership Secretary of Manchester Green Party described Gayle as: “clearly a dynamic person, attracting people and invigorating them.” Her presence at Green Party meetings and Climate Change events was always accompanied by “laughter and serious debate.”

Gayle’s campaign to be Manchester’s Green Party MP stated that she was concerned about Manchester’s “traffic congestion, the lack of quality green spaces and the low level crime currently blighting the community.”

She believed that Manchester needed: “more investment in neighborhood policing, far better provision for youth activities, and more social health resources.”

Power states: “The Green Party and environmental movement have lost a powerful activist and I personally have lost an amazing friend.”

The funeral took place on Wednesday in Gayle’s hometown of Limerick.

Editor’s Note Issue 11 6/02/12

Written by Nick Renaud-Komiya on . Posted in News.

Put the coin back in the machine and get back on the ride, Semester 2 is now upon us. Hopefully your exams and coursework weren’t too traumatic. Herding into John Rylands library and cutting each other’s hands off to find a power socket for your laptop are now but a memory. For the final years among you that dissertation has slowly begun to appear on the horizon like a malevolent cloud.

So, what on earth have we been doing here at Mancunion towers? Far from sitting around and trying to watch half of Youtube, we’ve been gearing up for the new term.

The more beady-eyed among you may have noticed a flashy new phone icon on our front cover. We’re happy to announce that Smartphone users will now be able to get even better access to the Mancunion on the move. All you need to do is go to www.mancunion.com on your phone and the easy-to-use menu will help you get to the latest stories and features.

We’ve now moved offices from the basement of the Steve Biko building on Oxford Road to the first floor along with the rest of the Student Activities Centre. If you want to get involved contributing to the paper or simply want to come in for a chat don’t hesitate. February 27th will see the start of Student Media Week. We’ll be holding a number of events so keep an eye out for adverts here and posters around campus.

What have we got for you this week? Our resident jaded cynic Student Eye reflects on the existential horror that comes with being a final year (turn to page 28).

Last year’s devastating natural disasters in Japan caught the attentions of many here. Manchester student Oli Rahman gives us first hand accounts of students who experience the earthquake (page 14).

There’s something of a theme this week as we have a number of great interviews. Our politics team caught up with the young Labour MP and Manchester graduate Chuka Umunna. To see what they chatted about, turn to page 12. Shortly before Christmas we spoke to the acclaimed artist-turned-filmmaker Steve McQueen about his new movie Shame.

As ever you can write to us with your complaints, compliments or suggestions to letters@mancunion.

 

Until next week…

 

Wonga removes “predatory” offer from its website, after protests

Written by Solomon Radley on . Posted in News.

Payday loan company Wonga has removed pages from its website after it was branded “incredibly irresponsible” for targeting its services at students.

The National Union of Students (NUS) attacked the firm for its “predatory” attempts to attract students to its lending service.

The company, which offers small loans designed to be taken out over short periods of time, had suggested its loans may have advantages over official student loans.

For example, the site used to read, “When your mates tell you about finding a deal on plane tickets to the Canary Islands, you’ve got some options. Maybe you don’t have the money to pay for the whole thing now, but you will when you get your wages at the end of the week. Enter, Wonga!”

However, the page in question failed to mention that it charges an annual interest rate of 4,214%, while the current student loan rate is just 1.5%.

NUS vice-president, Pete Mercer, said, “It is highly irresponsible of any company to suggest to students that high-cost short-term loans be a part of their everyday financial planning.

“Students should think long and hard before choosing payday loans over any other form of borrowing, including government-backed student loans.

”If students are struggling to make ends meet there is often other support available, and anyone worried about their finances should talk to their students’ union or financial advisers at their university.”

The Wonga website now features an apology in place of the offer, which states that, “We took [the page] down because we do not actively target students as potential customers and we wanted to clear up any confusion about that.”

The company states that, “The main purpose of the content was search engine optimisation, or ‘SEO,’ which is a common practice for any internet business that wants to appear in searches for relevant subjects.”

Despite the negative publicity surrounding payday loan firms, the Office of Fair Trading has said that they should not have their interest charges restricted.

In a recent review of high-cost credit, they concluded that they provide a useful service for some people who would not otherwise be able to borrow legitimately and who might thus be forced to borrow from illegal loan sharks.
Wonga says that its loans are still available to students who have a source of regular income.

Pardon in sight for Alan Turing

Written by Gareth Lewis on . Posted in News.

An Early Day Motion in parliament has called for the posthumous pardon of Alan Turing, 60 years after his conviction for homosexuality.

Turing is widely considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence. He worked as one of the Bletchley Park cryptanalysts who cracked the Enigma code during World War Two, but was chemically castrated following charges of ‘gross indecency’ with another man.

He committed suicide two years later.

John Leech, MP for Manchester Withington, submitted the Early Day Motion (EDM) calling for Turing’s pardon. Speaking last week, Mr. Leech said that, “Alan Turing was a Manchester hero and a national hero. He helped shorten the war and then was persecuted by the state for his sexuality.”

However, questions remain over what the EDM will achieve. The motion will have no legislative effect and merely reflects the opinions of MPs. As one of parliament’s most prolific proposers, John Leech will know that most EDMs never make it to a debate.

Mr. Leech was unavailable to respond to questions regarding what practical effect his efforts would have or how else he intends to achieve a pardon for Turing.

The call for a pardon follows an apology issued in 2009 by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

University Challenged? Society sells misspelt hoodies

Written by Richard Crook on . Posted in News.

The heads of the Civil and Construction Society were left red-faced last month when the hoodies they ordered arrived with a misprint, misspelling the word ‘university’ as ‘univeristy’.

No refunds will be offered for the £15 hoodies but CCS members are being given the opportunity to have them swapped for corrected replacements.

Chris Hyde, the chair of the society, admits that “neither the printing company nor the CCS can offer any form of guarantee on what quality the correction will be” and that “effectiveness… on different coloured hoodies may vary.”

Some members have reacted angrily. First year Civil Engineering student Ash Walker said: “I don’t feel its right that for their mistake, we’re being laden with a poor quality ‘make-do’ second best option.”

CCS maintain that this was a mistake beyond their control and blame the third party company involved with “image improvement”. Hyde insists that the spelling he passed on was the correct one, but that all legal avenues were exhausted in attempting to recoup the money lost.

Both the third party and the printing company claim they are not contractually obliged to reimburse the society’s members and are refusing to do so.

A total of 134 hoodies were sold, and Hyde says the corrected replacements are coming at “a considerable cost to the CCS.”

Societies receive funding from the Student Union, but Activities Officer Amaya Dent refused to disclose the amount of money lost, fearing the sum would reflect badly on the society.

Students create life saving software

Written by Ruth Wildman on . Posted in News.

A team of computer scientists at the University of Manchester have created smartphone software that could save lives and reunite refugees with their loved ones following a natural disaster.

The team, involving two undergraduates, Lloyd Henning and Peter Sutton, was led by Dr Gavin Brown of the faculty of Computer Sciences at the University.

The software REUNITE enables aid workers to record details of refugees and survivors of natural disasters, identifying missing people easily.

Interviews with survivors are transcribed and relayed to workers who are not at the scene of the incident who can add the information to an encrypted server. Information is then added to a server allowing details at and away from the scene to be relayed.

The research also included the development of a piece of software entitled ‘Where’s Safe?’ which tells people where safe areas are following a natural disaster or a terrorist attack. Survivors send a text message and information regarding their closest safe point is relayed to them.

Another element of the software was designed to calculate the malnutrition levels of infants at scenes of disasters by calculating their Body Mass Index (BMI), telling aid workers at the scene the amount of fluid or food administered.

The idea was first created when Henning and Sutton entered a competition run by Microsoft to use software designed to help in real world issues, such as disaster relief, poverty or the environment. The team was granted funding through the university’s Knowledge Transfter Account, an initiative to create more engagement in research funded by the Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council.

UK education spending falling fast as rival nations look to boost investment

Written by Joe Sandler Clarke on . Posted in News.

Public spending on education is declining at a faster rate than at any time since the 1950s, while countries like China and the United States invest heavily in higher education.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies education spending will decline by as much as 13 percent in real terms in the years 2010-11 to 2014-15; with universities, post-16 education and early-years schooling taking the biggest hit. Higher education spending, specifically, is set to be cut by 40 percent over the next four years.

The news comes two weeks after the Vice Chancellor of Oxford University, Professor Andrew Hamilton, warned that higher education spending cuts planned by the coalition government would see the UK falling behind its rivals.

In an address to leading academics in October, Professor Hamilton argued that graduate students would be put off studying in the UK due to cuts being made to research funding. He also pointed out that as the British government focused on introducing tough spending cuts on British universities, both China and the US had increased education spending. Meanwhile, the Chinese government have announced that they intend to create 100 new top class universities this century.

Following government cuts, the UK is currently spending 1.2 percent of GDP on higher education. The OECD average is 1.5 percent.

Ann Mroz, the editor of Times Higher Education (THE) magazine (who published a list last month that shows that the gap between top UK universities and the rest is increasing), stated that it was remarkable that British universities were able to maintain high standards despite funding constraints. “Given the disparity in funding levels [between the UK and the US] our performance is nothing short of staggering. Put simply, we spend much less on our universities than many of our competitors – less than the OECD average – and yet outperform almost all of them. These facts make the massive gamble that we are now taking, by all but abolishing public funding for university teaching and replacing it with tuition fees, all the more questionable.”

A spokesman for the Department of Education stated that cuts to education spending were part of broader austerity measures put in place to deal with the budget deficit. The government have also stated that despite the cuts, spending on primary and secondary school would be ring-fenced.