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Day: 2 October 2015

Tory cocktail party cancelled due to protest

Written by Judith Morales on . Posted in News.

The demonstration organised by the Free Education MCR group against the Tory Cocktail party due for last Friday was cancelled a day before it was due to go ahead because of the pressure the campaigners put on the Chancellors Hotel.

The Conservative party conference is to take place in Manchester next week. The Conservatives had organised a Cocktail Party in Chancellors Hall, which is a University of Manchester conference venue. The Facebook group for the planned demonstration made it clear as to their thoughts on the planned event, running with the tagline ‘Tories not welcome’.

Free Education Manchester explained: “The protest was in favour of the workers’ and students’ rights, systematically attacked by the Conservatives”.

But the organizers cancelled after receiving a communication from the Hotel informing that they would no longer host the event, information welcomed by Free Education MCR.

Notifying those on the Facebook event that had attracted considerable support, they claimed to have been heard “loud and clear. Tories are not welcome here and they’ve listened”.

However, the protesters are still not happy with the management of the Chancellors Hotel and they plan to carry on with the protest. This time, against the “socially responsible employment practices occurring in the university campus”.

Free Education Manchester in a statement to The Mancunion said: “We organised the demonstration because we are not particularly fond of the Tory party who have systematically led a barrage of attacks against, among other things, workers’ rights and students.

“We were subsequently informed by management of the Chancellors Hotel that due to our planned protest, the Hotel got the message loud and clear that the Tories are not welcome here. It was the hotel management who informed us that they were no longer going to host the event. We welcomed this fact.

“However, the hotel is owned by UMC limited, (a company 100 per cent owned by the University of Manchester) which pays many of its employees less than the living wage and keeps many of its employees on precarious zero-hour contracts.

“In light of this, many people involved in the campaign felt that we should still hold a short demo at the hotel, but instead of the protest being against Manchester Conservative party (who were no longer going to be there), it should instead be against the lack of socially responsibly employment practices occurring on our university’s campus.”

 

Student commutes weekly from Poland to attend lectures

Written by Elena Losavio on . Posted in News.

A Goldsmith’s University student has made the decision to save money by living in Poland and commute by plane to lectures rather than rent in London.

Anthropology student Jonathan Davey moved to Gdańsk in Poland in order to save money on his accommodation rent. In an interview with The Mirror, he said that paying rent in Gdansk, flight return tickets and transport to and from the airport cost him £2,100 a year.

He estimated that living in his University of London campus instead would require him to pay up to £220 a week.

He flies to London every Wednesday and back to Gdańsk on Friday when he has finished his lectures. Explaining how this commuting lifestyle works for him, he said: “I leave home in Gdansk and fly to Luton at 6am on Wednesdays.

“Because of the hour time difference, I’m sat in my first lecture by 10am. I have lectures Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then fly back to Poland until I do it all again the next Wednesday. Flying backwards and forwards every week makes life feel a bit like a permanent holiday.”

When in London, he stays in hostels or in friends’ flats. Jonathan occasionally goes to visit his parents in Hampshire. When he was asked what his parents think about this, he said: “My parents think I’m mad. But they’ve always known I’m a free spirit. I’ve shown them the figures and they can see I’m saving a fortune.”

The Guardian reported that housing costs in London have increased on average by £30,000 up to £493,026, during the past year. Students are struggling to pay the rents and the NUS has urged students to take action against the increasing costs of university accommodation.

London housing costs are also an issue for recent graduates and young professionals. Sam Cookney moved from London to Barcelona in June to save money. Cookney, who works in social media, commutes to London between three and four times a month. Cookney, like Jonathan, asserted that his quality of life has also improved.

He believes that he is not the only one who has this lifestyle. Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “I think there’re a few people doing it. I really think with the changing nature of work, office, life, we’re going to see more of this.”

Women are empowered by breaking the system

Written by Lucy Menage on . Posted in News.

On Thursday, a controversial debate hosted by Manchester Debating Union examined whether women are actually empowered by breaking the system, not succeeding in it.

The proceedings began with the proposition’s first speaker BBC’s Jo Fidgen. Fidgen opened the debate by arguing that only exceptional women can succeed in the system and that it’s the average woman that faces the big barriers. Fidgen brought up the fact that women are both less likely to ask for a pay rise and achieve it as an example of this.

This was supported by Katie Grant, news columnist and reporter for The Independent, who highlighted the tiny proportion of women who actually are in positions of power in comparison to men. Both women insisted the system needed to be broken to gain real change.

Former Conservative MP Edwina Currie, and Dr. Francesca Gains, Head of Politics at the University of Manchester, formed a fierce opposition. Gains used the example of the sex discrimination act in 1975 to argue that women need to gain positions of power to have the ability to challenge the system and that this cannot be achieved from the outside.

After declaring she was not a feminist, Currie added to this by placing heavy emphasis on not using the oppression of women as an excuse for failure. Currie also highlighted several times the need for women to compete with men and succeed as individuals within the system.

A question and answer session followed, highlighting issues such as women in the workplace and whether stating that there are barriers to women might, in fact, subconsciously influence women not to take chances to succeed. Summary speeches followed where each side concisely summarised their main arguments.

The verdict yielded a sweeping victory of 67 per cent for the proposition, with the opposition trailing at 25 per cent and 7 per cent abstaining. Interestingly this verdict is extremely different to the vote taken before the debate began, which showed 45 per cent abstaining, 16 per cent opposing and 39 per cent agreeing with the proposition.

Council fails in Ark court bid

Written by Daniel Saville on . Posted in News.

A judge has thrown out legal proceedings against members of ‘the Ark’ homeless shelter, and called the Council’s pursuit of a conviction “misconceived and inappropriate.”

Manchester City Council issued proceedings against seven individuals for breaching city centre and possession orders over land occupied by the Ark homeless shelter.

Last week a judge granted Manchester Metropolitan University an order giving them permission to remove the camp, which they claim is on their property. On the 11th of September the camp was handed a civil eviction notice for Friday the 18th, and the residents were granted six days to protest the eviction.

The Council threatened them with two years in prison or a £5,000 fine for breaching a city-wide injunction which outlaws pitching tents in protest of the treatment of the homeless.

On Wednesday the case went to Manchester Civil Justice Centre for a final decision, but the legal bid was thrown out by a judge. The court decided that the rough sleepers and protesters would not be removed from their location.

Judge Allan Gore said the way the Council had presented its case was “fundamentally defective.” Dismissing the Council’s case, he said: “There is no dates, descriptions of behaviour or identification of which allegations are made against which defendant.

“That is a fundamentally misconceived and inappropriate way to advance criminal proceedings, where the Council seeks that the court orders to commit people to prison.”

Judge Gore also stated that the Council couldn’t even prove that some of the defendants had ever seen the injunction.

The application was then struck out and it was made clear that the Council must cover the defendants’ legal costs, which could reach thousands.

Solicitor Ben Taylor, acting on behalf of three of the defendants in the case, spoke to Manchester Evening News and warned that the Council could still take action against those breaching the order again.

“The application to commit was dismissed on procedural grounds and my clients are content with the outcome of today’s hearing. However the injunction remains in force, which means that the Council are still able to apply to commit them to prison again.”

Many in the camp still fear further legal action. Ryan McFee, the creator of the Ark, expressed fears today of a slow dissection of the camp.

“The bit of land that they tried to push a possession order through over there was covering this bit of land as well but what they’re trying to do is block us off little bits at a time and I’ve got a video of a gentleman who came to do an estimate on a permanent fence here. They’re going to put a permanent fence down near the Harris Centre now.”

He went on to say he worried another possession order would be lodged.

“We’re expecting them to come back at us, they’re going to sit back and gather more evidence so they can get another case against us, but they will just keep making a mockery of themselves.”

Sussex’s student newspaper seized by union

Written by Katie Buckingham on . Posted in News.

On Tuesday 29th September 2015, the University of Sussex Students’ Union seized the most recent issue of The Badger, their student newspaper, and allegedly suspended its editor, Paul Millar, after a story that was not approved by a Students’ Union representative was printed anyway.

The union’s issue with The Badger concerned a controversial story about a university student; a source at The Badger told The Mancunion that the union had demanded the name of the student to be printed and that the editor had refused, instead choosing to protect his source. The USSU has denied that this is the case and insists that the union did not ask for the student’s name to be printed.

According to our source, when The Badger decided to print the issue, arguing that there was no legal grounding to the union’s demands, newspapers were then confiscated before they could be circulated. However, a representative from the USSU told the Mancunion that this was not the case and that the next edition of the paper has gone to print as normal. Students also distributed some hard copies of the paper so “any hard copies were confiscated before they could be circulated” is also not accurate.

A statement from the Students’ Union said: “Each issue of The Badger has to be signed off by a Students’ Union representative before it is sent to print to ensure it complies with relevant legislation and to avoid the threat of litigation.”

Allegedly, the union’s issue was that “[the] process had not been followed for the most recent issue. The Badger was asked to not distribute the paper until it had been signed off in the correct way.”

The Badger’s response to the union’s actions was shown through their statement released on Tuesday, saying that “the Students’ Union did not cite any clear or specific legal reasons for blocking publication,” and furthermore, that “The Badger has received independent legal advice, saying all content was legally sound.”

A source at The Badger argued that actions taken showed the particularly authoritarian nature of USSU and the lack of a culture of free speech at their university.

The Badger stated to the Brighton and Hove News: “We are writers. We write about arts, sports, science and our opinions. We report news. We don’t want to argue with the union. We just want to write. The students of Sussex deserve to have an editorially independent newspaper.”

The USSU spokesperson added that: “The Students’ Union has not threatened to sack the Editor and did not demand the name of a student and/or source be printed. The paper should not have been printed or distributed, until it had been signed off in the correct way.”

Debate Mate: ‘empowering the youth of today, creating the leaders of tomorrow’

Written by Will Chambers on . Posted in Features.

Debate Mate is a charity which aims to tackle educational disadvantage in some of Britain’s most deprived communities. It does this by recruiting, training and placing university students to run extra-curricular debate workshops in schools with above average numbers of children on Free School Meals. Our programmes raise speaking and listening attainment, as well as improving a range of high order thinking skills and non-cognitive abilities such as confidence, teamwork and leadership.

In doing so, it addresses the widening skills gap between education and employment, whilst raising aspirations and helping students to make informed post-18 choices. Because we believe that every child deserves equal access to a top education, Debate Mate supports the youth of today to find their voice so that they can become the leaders of tomorrow.

The UK has one of the lowest rates of social mobility amongst OECD countries. This means that children growing up in poverty are less likely to achieve in school, to attend university, and to find productive employment as adults. By the age of seven, children growing up in poverty—those who are eligible for Free School Meals—are more than twice as likely as their better-off peers to be behind on expected reading levels. Over 60 percent of these children will fail to achieve five good GCSEs, which significantly increases their chances of becoming unemployed upon leaving school.

Growing up in poverty affects not only children’s prospects but also their aspirations. One in four young people from poor homes believe that few or none of their career goals are achievable, compared to only seven percent of those who are not living in poverty. At Debate Mate, we believe that an important part of tackling social immobility is raising students’ aspirations by exposing them to positive role models, helping them gain confidence, and motivating them to fulfil their potential.

My name is Will Chambers and I studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Manchester and now work as the Programme Director at Debate Mate for the Manchester region. Whilst at university I taught a club for an hour a week over my three years of studying. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and found that it helped me both academically and personally. It was a privilege to see the transformation in the students I mentored, who went from timid pupils to articulate and active citizens with a desire to engender dramatic social and political change.

As I went to a state school without a debating club, I had no experience of formal debating prior to university. But Debate Mate weren’t necessarily looking for people with experience of debating, as their programme was more about using the skills taught through debating as a vehicle for social mobility. Many of the other people I mentored alongside studied science subjects, and often proved to be as good if not better mentors.

The reason the programme is so effective is it provides a range of mentors from different backgrounds to act as inspirational role models for the diverse range of young people we work with. Many of the students are inspired to go on and study a variety of higher education subjects or enter a range of professions, and the programme provides them with the communication skills necessary to do so. At the same time the mentor gives them an insight into university life, which many will not have had exposure to previously.

The core programme lasts for 14 weeks, all of which coincide with university term time. The organisation pays for travel and also a food budget for the young people attending the club. On top of this they pay the mentor £20 per session, and up to £50 to attend competitions between schools, which was a welcome top up when my student loan was running out!

When the programme ended just before the exam season at university I was sad to see my students go, but was pleased to find out Debate Mate also offer multiple summer schemes. In my first summer of university I went on a trip teaching debating in Nepal, and on my second I travelled to Rwanda to teach student there. As someone who had never been outside Europe these were fantastic experiences from which I learnt almost as much as I did from my university course!

If you are interested in signing up to the core programme in Manchester please register your interest at debatemate.com/mentors. Training and assessment workshops will take place at the University on three evenings and one afternoon on the week of the 5th of October. They will last for around 3 hours each, and you can choose which one you want to attend. After this we will place you at a school in the local area, give you our curriculum, and you can look forward to that one hour a week where you get first-hand experience of changing young people’s lives.

If you have any questions please email me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading this piece and I look forward to meeting you!