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Day: 19 February 2018

B12: The vitamin we should ALL be talking about

As students we are all used to those long days where we feel so run down that even coffee has little effect in improving our energy levels. Well what if I told you that there is an essential vitamin which can be found in our food and in supplements which can put an end to just this. B12 is this vitamin and it benefits us in three key ways — with our energy levels, our stress levels and our digestion.

In regards to energy, B12 helps with your bodies production of red blood cells which carry oxygen around our bodies. If our organs do not receive this oxygen then they will slow down and you will end up feeling run down and fatigued. Therefore, increased levels of B12 can help you feeling spritely and energised, what every student needs! Our digestion systems are also key areas where energy is produced. B12 metabolises fats, proteins and carbohydrates into energy which also results in vital nutrients being absorbed by the body. With regards to our stress levels, B12 is essential in the proper development and functioning of the brain. Therefore, good levels of B12 can contribute to a healthy mind which in turn can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.

I am sure you are now wondering where you can find this magical remedy. Well, our bodies do not naturally make B12 which means you have to find it in your food or in supplements. Beef, pork, cheese, milk and fish are all good sources of B12 which is good news for meat and dairy eaters, but bad news for vegans and vegetarians. If you are someone who is excluding these food groups then it is essential that you use supplements to make sure your B12 levels remain intact. Furthermore, a deficiency in B12 can cause a condition called anaemia which can leave you feeling fatigued and faint.

Photo: CCO Public Domain
Photo: CCO Public Domain

Given all of this, we should all definitely be talking about this wonderful vitamin and its wonderful effects! You may not have known it before now, but it can be found in many of the foods we eat, and can alleviate some of the most common ‘student illnesses’, like tiredness and stress. Something to bear in mind as deadlines loom…

 

 

The Rusholme Sketcher

The only place in Manchester to buy shawarma from, is Atlas Shawarma in Rusholme! January had been rather bleak, and upon returning to Manchester, I thought I’d visit my favourite place to drag me out of the merciless black hole that is January, and fill it with carbs.

Upon entering the small shop, I shuffled forwards and backwards, struggling to find somewhere to stand and I found myself looking over the shoulder of someone perched on a stool intently drawing. How strange! The last thing that you would expect to see in Rusholme, is perhaps an artist sitting at a cramped shawarma stand sketching away and quizzing the shop workers about their daily lives and backgrounds.

After some conversation, or rather blunt intrusion on my part (!), I learned that artist Len Grant, was completing part of his The Rusholme Sketcher project. It is a series of sketches, that depict the ordinary lives of the diverse people in the area, that go somewhat ignored by Manchester’s art scene. It is a series of sketches that document the Curry Mile, its workers, inhabitants and visitors through storytelling.
Len Grant, says

“Drawing is older than the alphabet itself and remains a powerful way of telling stories. Sketching is the most recent addition to my storytelling repertoire and one that fits many situations. People engage with the process of drawing.”

At the shop, Len allowed me to be part of the sketch. He struggled to copy the Arabic script that hung behind the counter on the wall, however, unfamiliarity like this does not scare him away. Rather, his work indicates that he is interested in asking questions about our surroundings, interested in minor details, and interested, above all, in people.

It is this inclusion, collaboration and openness that characterises much of his work and sets him aside from many current artists on the Manchester scene.

Back at the shop, it was heartwarming to see, otherwise excluded minorities, become part of art work that is both remarkable and simple simultaneously. The medium of Len’s artwork mirrors the subject matter of the work itself. By using just pen and ink, he manages to create busy scenes that capture the Curry Mile’s many facets, with a few lines and a splash of colour.

Aside from The Rusholme Sketcher, which is presented through a blog, laced with the tiny details of Len’s encounters, his work as a photographer and a writer in Manchester, is also available to view on his website.

0161 Festival: an interview with the founder of Manchester’s anti-fascist festival

This week I sat down with Joe, the main organiser and founder of 0161 Festival, and anti-fascist and anti-racist music and cultural festival that is celebrating its 5th anniversary this June. We discussed the birth of the festival, how it’s changed over its lifetime, and what we can expect in the future.

Joe was originally the main organiser for the event. “We started out five years ago now, doing benefit gigs throughout Manchester and then we decided to do the whole thing, a weekend-wide one. Now it’s got bigger there’s a committee of us just organising.”

Joe tells me that the aims and objectives set out for the festival were to “combat injustices as well as racism, fascism and xenophobia in various guises, as well as uniting divided communities.”

“We organise groups and events to bring people together and to raise money for antifascist organisations throughout Europe, community organisations, both in the UK and abroad, and specifically over the past couple of years, we’ve tried to engage overall communities and spread what we’re doing, regardless of the music you’re into; whether you like hip hop or drum n bass, punk, hard-core, whatever, then we’re all united under the anti-racist banner and to then further that, to do theatre, sports, poetry, art, all sorts of stuff under the banner of the 0161 Festival.”

0161 - 2

I was interested in what specific causes had been supported with the money raised from the festival so far.

“Over the years, we’ve made money for the anti- fascist groups in Manchester, the first couple of years we made a loss, it’s how things work, starting a festival it was something that we dealt with, and what was more important to us than losing money over the last couple of years was to ensure that we had the stepping stones to grow and empower more people.”

“There was a squat that was burned down that we raised some money for, also our friends in Poland and Russia that we gave money to, along with an anti-fascist football club in Belarus, a country where it’s very difficult to be left wing. And the point is now for us to go forward to not only raise money for groups but for us to go into communities and help people create new things, create new projects whether that’s art or music, to combat injustice and to move forward, creating a more free culture for everyone involved.”

Over the last five years the festival has grown considerably. “The first couple of years we had about 300 people turning up which was great, but not too many people are into punk or hardcore music, or the culture surrounding lots of anti-fascist events.”

Joe felt that the festival was essentially just “preaching to the converted”, which a lot of left-wing politics is, “so we realised we needed to attract people with different views, to bring people together and demonstrate how we’re all similar. We’ve realised we need to work more on community action, involving more local kids and encompassing more sport and art, so people think of 0161 Festival as a ‘cultural festival’ rather than just a music festival, where it runs maybe seven or ten days a year but throughout the year, we’re still doing things and the name of 0161 Festival is there.”

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There is still more to come though, and Joe believes that the festival has far more to offer in terms of development. “We wouldn’t want to put a limit on ourselves- the aim is just to keep going, encompass as many things as possible. We’ve has a really good past couple of years where a lot of organisations and groups have come to us and been like ‘Yo I wanna do this and do this,’ rather than us all working in our own little circles, we should encompass them all into a bigger circle, and all work together. We want to get our own space, to get our own venues that are run by the people rather than companies or corporations, and to do that across Manchester.”

The 0161 Festival website talks a lot about combatting the ‘cliquey’ nature of anti-fascist events. I was interested in whether Joe believes the festival has been successful in doing this, as well as making a more inclusive event.

“I would hope so, I’d like to think that we have. This year we have two hip hop and drum and bass after parties, and also a night that’s doing old school and reggae and acoustic nights and a lot like that. Being anti-fascist should not be weird or out there. It should be a general point of view, and we’re trying to keep the same people involved as well as bringing in young people. I was flyering the other day, and gave one to a couple lads and they were like ‘Woah I’ve never heard of it before’, you can do that to two kids who look completely different but believe in the same thing and get a positive reaction.”

The next big aim for Joe is to bring the festival to a student audience. “It shouldn’t be a closed, cliquey thing” he says, “being antifascist is a normal thing to be. If you look at Germany Spain and Italy, they have huge mass movements and counter-cultures, especially with young people. Here it’s not as big and it’s about knocking down those walls and divisions between cultures and uniting the people.”

You can buy tickets for the upcoming 0161 Festival, as well as find out more about the lineup and the festival in general, on their website here.

Citizen science project aims to unpick ‘Secrets of Happiness’

The 20 minute online test can be taken by anyone and is a series of questionnaires that delves into the factors that make you happy and what you can do to improve your personal happiness. Dr. Tai is working with Peter Kinderman, a psychology professor at the University of Liverpool, and the BBC programme Tomorrow’s World.

The data from the test will go towards a larger research project that aims to investigate whether our thinking style affects the risk of developing mental health problems. Past research suggests that even small and simple changes can help us feel happier and maintain happiness. This experiment aims to provide personalised tips to do so.

Dr. Tai said: “We know that biological, social, and psychological factors play a role in mental health and wellbeing, but we have little understanding of how these factors interact and lead to specific mental health problems.

“This research will help us to better understand why some people develop difficulties whilst others do not and also enable us to identify where we need to focus our efforts in developing treatments.”

Citizen science is a way for the public to take active roles in conducting scientific research whilst also providing a huge amount of valuable data to researchers. “We need large numbers of people to take part in this study so we have enough data to answer some complex questions.”

Professor Kinderman, adds: “Mental health is very complicated, with many factors contributing to how we feel. If we want to better understand how these different factors are related, then data from thousands of people is needed.

“By taking part, you will help us to gather data that would be hard to get in other ways that will ultimately help us to improve approaches to mental health in the future. All data is stored securely and anonymously.”

Other examples of citizen science can be found on Zooniverse.org where there is a large variety of research projects to get involved with. These projects can be anything from classifying distant galaxies, to unearthing the secret life of chimpanzees, or even transcribing Shakespeare’s notes.

“The BBC has run a number of citizen science experiments in the past. But this is the first we’ve attempted in the ‘smartphone’ era. We’re also inviting people to submit data twice, separated by six weeks.”, says Peter Harvey, BBC Producer on the project.

“Gathering two data sets from the same participant, many weeks apart, is of enormous value to scientists. We’re interested to see how many people will complete the second phase, and how effective our reminder methods are at getting people to return.”

You can find out more about the ‘Secrets of Happiness’ test on the Secrets of Happiness website.

Angela Merkel: Die Überlebende (The Survivor)

Despite the stories being flung around by the media and analysts, Angela Merkel, the ‘Queen of Europe’, still has a vast amount of both power and influence. Angela Merkel has been German Chancellor since 2005, and the leader of her Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union centre-right alliance since 2000.

Merkel’s tenure in power has been marked by her impressive ability to out-manoeuvre every single one of her rivals and tackle every crisis thrown her way. From my standpoint, what many analysts seem to forget is the amount of power Merkel still wields over both her own political party, government, and Europe as a whole. As a result of this, she is unlikely to be going anywhere anytime soon.

When Angela Merkel appeared on the German political scenes shortly after re-unification, she was grossly underestimated by almost everyone, including by her former mentor and the then-German chancellor, Helmut Kohl. With a degree in physics and a PhD in quantum chemistry, Merkel is without a doubt intelligent and analytical. During her time in Kohl’s cabinet she watched, observed, and learned. She tolerated the male arrogance of politics and after years, when the CDU and CSU where dragged into a corruption scandal, she seized the opportunity and stuck a dagger in Kohl’s back, publicly calling on him to resign and called for a new re-branding of the party in a newspaper article. This was an act he would never forgive her for. This was the first hint of Merkel’s ruthless skills of political operator.

She outwitted his closest ally and chosen successor, Wolfgang Schäuble, after he too was implicated in the scandal and was forced to stand down as the CDU party leader, a role she assumed after him. She even allowed another candidate from her party, Edmund Stoiber, to run for the chancellorship, and when he lost to Gerhard Schröder, her gamble had paid off and she was in control of her party and the position of leadership within that party. She later defeated Schröder in the 2005 elections for the Bundestag by exposing his arrogance and showing her clam style of politics after he publicly tried to humiliate her in a live TV debate, an act that proved unpopular with German voters.

Merkel’s survivability has been shaped by her ability to plan and think long-term and her non-ideological approach to politics. We see this in her handling of the Eurozone crises and her decision to close all of Germany’s nuclear power stations. Her calm, polite, and consensus-grounded style of politics have proved popular amongst voters and she still receives broad public support within Germany, much to her critic’s disappointment. It is clear to say that the heyday of Merkel’s career is past however, she is still in complete control of the German political landscape and political party landscape. That is the result of her ability, to outplay and wit her rivals on all fronts.

Merkel’s party’s loss of eight per cent of the vote and the emergence of the hard-right AFD in the 2017 German elections was not a uniquely German phenomenon. In most European nations, populist parties have gained influence and considerable shares of the vote in recent elections. Merkel’s decision to take in over one million refugees certainly played an important role in the losses suffered by the party.

However, like with every decision she makes, she was thinking for the long-term future of Europe and Germany’s economy, which seems to benefit from refugee workers now in the country. The very fact her country absorbed one million extra people and she is still in power is in itself astonishing, it too is a sign of how much control she actually has over the German political landscape.

Her out-manoeuvring of her rivals has allowed her to dominate her party for 18 years without any major rival and even to this day there is no clear successor to Merkel. This sends a clear message to her rivals in all German parties: Merkel will be the one who decides when she resigns and who will succeed her.

The formation of her fourth government with the Social Democrats is again an example of her political skill as she has almost blackmailed the SPD while making the deal too attractive to refuse.  The SPD itself also slumped in the polls with Merkel’s CDU/CSU still ahead by a wide margin, meaning that they would be the ones to suffer if a new election was called if their members were to refuse to approve the deal.

However, Merkel has given the SPD a very good deal. If the deal is approved by their members, the party will gain control of the finance, foreign, and justice ministries therefore giving it vast amounts of influence in Germany’s domestic and foreign policies for the next three years. For many in the SPD leadership and membership, propping up Merkel is a price worth paying if they can implement their own policies like Eurozone reform and stricter labour laws for workers.

Merkel’s personal authority over the governance of Germany is not as strong as it once was, but her personal domination over her own political party and the SPD, her closest rivals, means that the ‘Queen of Europe’ is not going to be de-throned anytime soon. Merkel’s ability to survive crises is simply staggering and after 13 years in power, she still has plenty of cards to play.

University football suffers double elimination

There will be no cup glory this season for either of the University of Manchester’s football first teams, as both suffered defeats and subsequent eliminations this week. Both the men and the women lost 2-1 at home on the 14th of February and will not be taking any further part in this year’s competition.

The men, competing in the BUCS Football 2017-2018 Trophy, faced a visit from Scottish side Strathclyde in the round of 16. The team from the North have been struggling in their respective league and find themselves at the bottom, but they will be buoyed by this recent cup victory.

The women meanwhile faced Edge Hill, a team from the division below them, in the quarter final stage of the BUCS Football 2017-2018 Northern Conference Cup. Despite being a league above, UoM women could not secure the victory, and also exited via a 2-1 defeat.

The elimination from the cup competitions means all attention now turns to the league. The women sit in fifth place in the Northern 2A league and need positive results from their final two games of the season if they are to avoid the bottom. The men are around mid-table in fourth but will be hoping to finish as high as possible. The final game of the season away at Leeds Beckett could prove crucial.

Interview: Tom Grennan

Getting its first play as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World on Radio 1, ‘Sober’ is the new single from Tom Grennan. It’s the follow-up to the huge single ‘Royal Highness’ which featured on the Radio 1 B List and Virgin playlists and saw him record a Maida Vale Session for Annie Mac.

‘Sober’ is another taste of Tom’s forthcoming debut album Lighting Matches, set to be released on Insanity Records in May. The album sees Tom working with Grammy award-winning producers Fraser T Smith (Stormzy/Adele/Kano/Plan B) and Dan Grech (Liam Gallagher/Killers/Radiohead) and is set to be one of the most important albums of 2018.

We caught up with Tom after a crazy night at the 2018 NME Awards…

Hi Tom, I actually saw you at the NME Awards last night — did you have fun?

Did you?! You should have come and said ‘Hi’. Yeah, it was wicked, though I’ve got a bit of a sore head now. Liam Gallagher was amazing. Are you back in Manchester now then?

Yeah, I’ve literally just got back! What was your favourite bit last night?

Yeah, I reckon it was Liam. I love his album from last year, and he did some Oasis stuff and it just got everyone up and lively. Also, BBK winning the Innovation Award was amazing. I’ve been a massive fan of them since I was about 12 so to see them win that award… that woman as well — Shirley Manson — who did that speech. That was inspirational too.

How has the last year been for you? Pretty crazy I guess? Any particular highlights?

Yeah, the last year has been crazy. Exciting though. Oh… they’re all highlights. This world is just crazy. Selling out my tour last year, touring Europe, doing festivals, writing my album… it’s all been one big highlight.

Are you excited for the tour to begin in March?

So excited. My home is on the road. At heart, I’m a performer, and I just love the energy you get from performing live. 100 per cent my favourite thing to be doing is performing on stage. I love the excitement of the whole thing. I’m buzzing, my band are buzzing, then you head to venues and the crowd are buzzing.

Are you looking forward to getting out to some festivals this summer?

Yeah I’m doing loads. Last year was my first year doing festivals, and now I think I’m headlining the Republic Stage at Reading and Leeds!

Your debut album Lighting Matches is out 18th May. It feels well overdue!

Does it? Well originally it was supposed to come out in March, but I pushed it back to May. But yeah, it definitely feels like the right time for the album and I’m so ready for people to hear it.

Will your album feature more of the same?

There’s some surprises. There’s a lot of orchestra and brass. I’d say it goes from the more upbeat stuff like ‘Found What I’m Looking For’ on a journey to more mature stuff…yeah, it feels like growing up.

We love the new track ‘Sober’ – was it an easy one to write?

Erm… no. Well, I’ll tell you why I wrote it. You know those hungover mornings when you just wake up and you think you never want to drink again? Like you don’t want to smell it, see it, taste it? I thought I’d write a song about it. I wrote Sober when I was hungover, which I think makes it better. More real.

Who would you say is the biggest influence on your music?

Biggest influence on my music would have to be… anyone like Adele, Robert Johnson, Ray Charles. But I’m also a massive grime and hip-hop fan, so I guess I’m taking elements from everywhere.

If you could recommend one artist/album/song to our readers right now, what would it be?

Can it be a known artist? I would have to say J Hus’ album [Common Sense] from last year.

Brilliant! Thanks for the chat Tom, and we hope that hangover clears up…

 

Stand for freedom: the modern day fight against slavery

Perhaps slavery is not an issue that many of us consider to be ‘current’, and many are probably unaware of the extent of the problem. At this moment, however, there are more than 40 million people trapped in slavery.

A group of University of Manchester students stood for 24 hours to raise awareness for modern slavery — an invisible problem that organisers feel we need to make visible again. The event took place from 12am on Friday the 9th to 12 am on Saturday the 10th of February outside St. Peter’s Chaplaincy on Oxford Road.

I went along to the event to talk to the students and organisers there about what the event was and why they were doing it. Elisha Bates, one of the key organisers, explained what drove her to get involved.

She explained: “I am really passionate about anti-human trafficking, we wanted to do something that lots of different people could do lots of different things to be involved and not just one event. We decided to do an event that was in public so we could get as many people involved as possible.”

Photo: Phil Grant
Photo: Phil Grant

We then went on to discuss why, as students, we should be concerned with modern-day slavery. She explained the extent of the problem. There are 40.3 million people still in slavery, that’s 16 times the population of Manchester. Hearing it like that makes you realise just how many people are suffering and that it seems like you are not able to do anything about it.

But many of our actions have an impact, such as not buying Fairtrade chocolate, or buying from clothing brands that have unethical sourcing of their workers.

Elisha’s advice to students for how they can shop more ethically to address the issue of modern slavery is: “Where possible, buy clothes from charity shops or use second-hand clothing, there are also some great ethical clothing brands, secondly do the research and know which brands are more ethical than others. You should just do the best you can and make decisions that even if can’t be perfectly ethical but still choosing brands that are making movements that way.”

Elisha explained to me how the Stand For Freedom event came out of an organisation called Just Love Manchester, a Christian student society empowering people to pursue social justice.

Abi Alsop, who started Just Love Manchester, explains that she felt moved to act because of the gap she saw that exists between what, as a Christian, her faith tells her to do, in terms of loving our neighbour and what people are doing.

At this point, the girls had been standing for 9 and a half hours. I wanted to know how they felt it was going so far. They both explained that they have had over 50 students pledge to change something about their lifestyle to make it more ethical and that the footfall interest had been amazing. At this point, everyone was very cold and even I was losing feeling in my toes.

As well as the organisers, there was a range of different students standing at the event. I was really touched by the warm sense of community and compassion at this event.

Amy Lockhett, a first year PPE student, explained why she felt she had to attend: “Modern slavery impacts us all and we have a duty to stand against it.”

Photo: Phil Grant
Photo: Phil Grant

Paul Treddaway, a first-year history and politics students, also felt compelled to act, saying, “we have such power as a consumer in the modern world and therefore a chance to make a difference.”

The team completed the 24 hours despite the freezing cold Manchester weather. The event, however, is just the start of tackling this problem.

If this is something you think you might want to contribute to, here are some top tips from the Stand For Freedom team to live a more ethically conscious life:

Research what you buy and know your brands: so many people are just unaware of the ethical status of the brand they are using and it only takes a few easy changes to have a big impact.

Evaluate the things you really need and work out what you don’t.

Buy Fairtrade products. Items such as chocolate and coffee can easily be brought Fairtrade.

One of the biggest contributors to modern slavery is fast fashion, so the next tip is avoiding this.

Lastly, challenge yourself! Push yourself to make a change in your lifestyle in the ways described above.

Science around the world

European scientists one step closer to predicting solar flares

Researchers from CNRS, École Polytechnique, CEA, and INRIA have identified the presence of a ‘magnetic cage’ that confines plasma structures. Their work has featured on the cover of the February 8 issue of Nature magazine, and their article argues that just one phenomenon may underpin all solar flares. Their model tracks the evolution of twisted flux ‘ropes’ in plasma that lash out against a confining magnetic cage, the resistance of which determines the energy of the solar eruption. The research has profound implications in not just astronomy but also nuclear fusion research, which has faced the challenge of containing unstable plasma regimes.

360 million year old fossils in South Africa unveil the first pages of terrestrial life in Gondwana

Scientists operating along the Eastern Cape of South Africa have uncovered large quantities of fossils, one of which is a 360 million year old scorpion. This fossil is believed to be the oldest record of Gondwana, an ancient continent made up of the land masses that we now know as South America, Australia, Antarctica, India, and Madagascar. Along with the scorpion, a number of new invertebrates and well-preserved plant fossils have also been discovered and excavated. People hope that these undocumented life forms will help researchers better understand the development of life in marine coastline environments during the Devonian era (roughly 416 million to 354 million years ago).

3D printing method developed in Tsinghua University is capable of producing embryonic stem cells

Scientists based in Tsinghua University believe they have produced a 3D microenvironment which closely resembles that found in vivo for a growing embryoid body. By creating a grid-like 3D structure in which to grow stem cells, researchers have achieved high degrees of cell uniformity and proliferation. Embryonic stem cells (EMCs) have the ability to differentiate into any specialised cell type within an animal body; they are the “building blocks” of large tissue constructs. Significant advancements made in the high quality and uniform production of EMCs could possibly bring us one step closer to being able to produce and grow 3D printed implants and micro-organs.

Researchers make a breakthrough in water filtration in Monash University

Research taking place in Monash University has made significant advances in the development of new metal organic frameworks (MOFs). With unique transport properties, these MOFs have the largest internal surface area of any known substance and are capable of capturing, storing, and releasing chemical impurities in drinking water. Currently, 2 billion people live without access to clean drinking water. Reverse osmosis membranes are responsible for the majority of late-stage water treatment but need large quantities of energy to maintain. With this breakthrough, researchers hope that the ultrafast selective transport properties of MOFs can open up new avenues in water filtration.

Scientists lobby the UN to protect Chile’s night skies as a World Heritage Site

Scientists from the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) have attempted to lobby the UN to protect Chile’s skies from threats such as light pollution by classifying important observatories as World Heritage Sites. Chile currently has 50% of the world’s observational capacity, and by 2020, it is projected to have 70%. The uniquely dry and clean atmospheres of its more rural, high-altitude areas give unparalleled image quality. Currently, over 15 international telescopes are located in Chile including the E-ELT, Very Large Telescope, and the APEX Observatory. Astronomy not only forms an integral part of Chile’s scientific landscape, but also has deep and profound roots in its culture and history.

Manchester researchers find Twitter helps understanding of side-effects

A University of Manchester team, led by Professor William Dixon, identified 159,297 tweets mentioning prednisolone, a commonly prescribed steroid used to treat allergies, blood disorders, and skin conditions.

The team used a computer system to identify tweets with the drug name, as well as common side-effects. The computer software also changed lay terms such as “can’t sleep” to the medical term; insomnia. The 159,297 tweets were harvested over a period of 3 years.

20,000 of these tweets mentioned a side-effect that is attributed to the steroid; with 1,656 stating weight gain, 1,737 about insomnia, and 1,515 reported a bigger appetite. These are side-effects that are commonly recognised and associated with the steroid but are rarely explained to patients when prescribed. Instead, clinicians focus on more serious side-effects such as osteoporosis and fractures.

Despite little attention to these ‘less serious’ side-effects by clinicians, this study suggests that users tend to worry about these side effects more. Therefore social media, such as Twitter, could provide experts with valuable insight into patient concerns with regard to less-discussed medicine side effects. In turn, helping to better doctor and patient discussion of prescriptions.

“Though Insomnia and weight gain were the two most commonly discussed side-effects, they are not usually highlighted by clinicians when prescribing prednisolone. We believe social media such as Twitter can be used to broaden knowledge about drugs and potential side-effects that patients themselves find troublesome,” says Dr Rikesh Patel, a researcher on the team.

Project lead, Professor Will Dixon, adds: “Our view is that social media sources such as Twitter can be useful because they can illustrate which drug side-effects patients discuss most commonly, even if they are not necessarily the most serious. Social media posts may also give us a future view of how side effects impact on patients’ quality of life.”

This research was recently published in Nature Partner Journals (npj) – Digital Medicine.

Football and ‘authentocracy’

I first became aware of the term ‘authentocracy’ about three years ago, although the concept had been doing the rounds on Left Twitter for a few years prior to that. Before looking at the ideology of authentocracy and its relation to football, it’s worth skimming over the historical context that produced it.

In the early second half of the 20th century (David Harvey puts the symbolic date as the Oil Crisis of 1973), the Fordist mode of production that had dominated since the interwar period began to break down as we entered a third, multinational phase of capitalism. In Britain, as elsewhere, this took the form of rapid and destructive deindustrialisation, while concomitant technological advances radically altered our perceptions of space and time.

The resulting cultural phenomenon that emerged was postmodernism, which defined itself in opposition to modernism, and in particular that movement’s belief in a meta-narrative of history — postmodernists rather prefer to highlight a multitude of conflicting perspectives and the difficulty or impossibility of finding objective truth in any of them. One of the positive achievements of the postmodernist movement was to emphasise the voices of previously marginalised groups of people — women, ethnic minorities, the LGBT community, and the rest of the list that we are by now all familiar with. The corollary to this was that the male, white manual worker, who had carved out a good standard of living under the Fordism, began to feel his relative loss of privilege.

Football, suspiciously coterminous with the rise of industrial capitalism, has traditionally been the domain of the white, male, manual working-class — the three o’clock kick-off time on a Saturday was the result of weekend concessions won by industrial trade unions in the nineteenth century. Nowhere else was a sense of unease over the new circumstances more keenly felt.

Football, of course, is a microcosm of society at large, and has been no more nor less prone to the financialisation, commercialisation, and commodification we can observe all around us. From 2019-20, Premier League matches will kick-off in any of eleven different time slots, excluding Bank holidays. In the early 21st century, much of the inevitable backlash to this congealed into the archetypal authentocratic movement — Against Modern Football.

While Against Modern Football contains many well-intentioned people concerned primarily with safe standing and lower ticket prices, it also contains a more politically dubious element. These are people with an understandable yearning for The Good Old Days – but these Old Days were, remember, Good only for the demographic outlined above. Anyone who has scrolled through the #AMF hashtag on Twitter or stood near a flat-capped man buying a Bovril will be aware of the movement’s tricky relationship with race, sexuality and gender. These are the authentocrats, and it’s entirely correct that the first use of the term in the national press was in relation to the (now ex-) UKIP leader Paul Nuttall.

The article by Phil McDuff, which appeared in The Guardian in February of last year, defined the term as “[invoking] the spirit of the regular working classes through the use of props, costumes and rituals, like a cargo cult of the common man”. I would quibble here only with the phrase “regular working classes”, which I hope McDuff has deployed with a touch of self-awareness, because it is not Deliveroo workers or single mothers that the authentocrats seek to imitate, but the miners and steelworkers of mid-20th century. Frederic Jameson famously argued that postmodernism — as he called it ‘the cultural logic of late capitalism’ — would inevitably collapse into pastiche and revivalism. The aesthetic trend for vintage replica shirts and the nostalgia industry that has grown around hooliganism would seem to bear out his point.

This article constitutes just a few preliminary notes on the subject. The point of writing it is to remind people that we cannot divorce football from the society it sits in. The tragic nerds behind the intensely tactics-focused football blogs like Zonal Marking are attempting, however consciously, to reduce football to simply what happens on the pitch, and to strip it of its entire social context. This trend is at least as worrying as the phenomenon of authentocracy and must be ruthlessly disparaged. I still believe that football has radical potential but we cannot limit our fight to football alone. Against Modern Capitalism. For Future Football.

Carillion’s dirty papers

The recently published documents detailing the financial history of the construction firm Carillion are a stark reminder of the danger of political hebetude. The evidence is conclusively damning; Carillion was teetering on the edge of financial disaster, but politicians and regulatory bodies blindly continued to follow the well-trodden path. They were awarded public service contracts rather than upset a precarious status quo.

Carillion had one of the largest pension schemes in the FTSE top 350 companies, and were responsible for countless government projects, including part of the HS2 construction, the provision of meals in schools and hospitals, and the maintenance 50 prisons. Not to mention the number of other private ventures they were involved in, including the development of Manchester University’s Fallowfield Campus. Their collapse has put thousands of jobs and retirement plans in the lurch, but in the bubble of neo-liberal government, private finance initiatives and outsourcing continue to be the frontmen of a risk-free economy.

Now that this illusion is crumbling, predictably everyone is looking for someone to blame: some individual to take the wrap for this mess so that it was a failure of one cog in an otherwise perfect system rather than an inevitable breakdown of a rusty engine. MPs have accused the Carillion directors of being “delusional” and “asleep at the wheel”, accusations that are not to be denied, but whilst their behaviour was irresponsible, it is beyond rich for those who continued to put their faith in this confused company to criticise them for lethargy.

Meanwhile, Carillion has blamed delayed payments from Qatari contracts as contributing to their financial strife — claims which have been strongly refuted by those they have been levied against. This leaves a slightly sour taste in the mouth when the supposedly strangled company continued to pay their Chief Executive a £660,000 salary, leaving the pensions of the most junior employees in the danger zone.

Carillion’s behaviour is strongly reminiscent of a teenager attempting to budget their first pay check in the face of a weekend home alone, and it’s an established fact that shifting the blame for an illicit house party doesn’t tend to sit well with the homeowners.

The Tories tried to dodge the blame from the beginning, originally protesting the release of the Carillion papers, feigning complete innocence as just one of many Carillion customers. And it is no wonder that they didn’t want the evidence in public hands, their negligence is obvious. For instance, the HS2 contracts were awarded to Carillion without so much as a face-to-face meeting between representatives from the company and anyone from government. It was taken for granted that the Carillion mammoth would keep lumbering on.

When people’s futures are at risk, this blame game is childish, and so beyond this point it’s almost laughable. Carillion messed up, companies do all the time, but that they remained even in consideration for government contracts is shocking and betrays the true lack of care for ordinary jobs within high politics.

It displays the complete rejection of accountability that persists in this government. They would much rather hide their dodgy behaviour behind the public’s ignorance no matter the consequences for the majority population who may have lost their pensions, or whose local public services will now be struggling to continue to operate. Whilst they are busy battling with semantics, they open the window for the public to see just how unconcerned the right is with reality.

There’s also potentially going to be damage done to a number of smaller business and subcontractors which interacted with Carillion, as well as the individuals they directly employed. The process of contracting out gives giant companies the opportunity of accepting responsibility for a massive variety projects, most of which they have no real expertise for. So, they outsource them to smaller firms and make a tidy profit along the way.

These businesses have now been left in the lurch, because they put their trust in the sheer titanic-like (all connotations intended) size and scale of Carillion. Big business, big revenue streams, and big men in big office blocks have become the trusted stalwarts of our society.

This is at the heart of the problem, privatisation is intended to mitigate risk by putting it in the laps of private companies which can cope with it. The big secret is though, that despite all the capitalist bravado about entrepreneurship and business bravery, nobody actually wants to accept this uncertainty. The leap of faith is all very starry-eyed on paper until it’s your own name on the loan. So, liability gets parcelled up and passed around until it can be left on the doorstep of someone completely unaware of what they’re taking on. In this case, it was the workers whose pensions are floating in the ether of the bailout. Carillion is the cautionary tale of the hubris of an economy with its roots in fairy-tale ideas of big business.

University refuses to compensate students for strikes

In response to growing pressure from students, The University of Manchester has declined to revise its position in regards to refunding students for the loss of contact time as a result of UCU strike action.

The strike, which is scheduled to commence from the 22nd of February to the 16th of March, has been met with severe criticism from University of Manchester students, who have called for “the University to negotiate with the UCU”, or “pay each student a full refund for the contact time missed.”

Last month, a failure to resolve rows over pension cuts, which could see the average lecturer loose £200,000 over the course of their retirement, culminated in the announcement of strike action across 61 British universities.

Speaking to The Mancunion, a spokesperson from the University of Manchester advised that the university “won’t be adding to our previous statement”, which stated that “since we charge a composite fee for our courses, we cannot reimburse for specific elements of missed teaching and assessment.”

This is despite the growing support for two petitions listed on Change.org and iPetitions, launched to “complain about the ludicrous situation that we as students find ourselves in”. The petitions have received 2,700 and 616 signatures respectively.

Hana Jafar, co-founder of ‘Pay UoM Staff Pensions – Stop The Strikes!’ petition, has told the Mancunion that: “Our demands for refunds are more emblematic than suggesting that all we want is our money back. The petitions show that the demand is there to show universities that if they operate like a business, we will behave like wronged customers.

“What we really want is our education – we want staff to get their pensions, and if we make enough noise, I believe we can draw attention to the bureaucratic nature of the drastic decisions that affect everyone.”

In an open letter to the university, she framed the “gross misconduct of university management” as “absolutely unacceptable”.

Hana also insisted that: “I’m also hoping that the Students’ Union decision to back the strikes and pressure the University to negotiate with the UCU will work.”

This is following a joint-statement released on the 30th January by the National Union of Students and UCU, of which proclaimed a declaration of support for the UCU’s right to strike.

Whilst UCU General Secretary, Sally Hunt, advised that “students could still play a vital role in stopping strikes”, in a statement released on the 13th of February, she delegated that “responsibility ultimately lies with university representatives.”

Hunt described the situation between the UCU and Universities UK (who represent universities), as “taking a turn for the worse” on Monday, as a result of the UKK’s chief executive’s “bizarre piece” that “also ignored the other huge scandal that universities have failed to deal with – excessive salaries for vice-chancellors.

“UUK chose not to acknowledge the strikes, or respond to the many voices demanding they do something to avert them. Frankly, it is insulting to students that our leaders have come up so short.”

Speaking directly to students, Hunt stated: “Thank you for support so far. Thank you for the messages on social media and those to your individual staff – they really do mean so much. And please, keep up the pressure on your vice-chancellor or principal to do all they can to get UUK back to the table with us.”

Review: Friska

Let’s admit it, lunches at uni predominantly consist of a basic meal deal or a quick bite from one of the many university cafes dotted around campus. I have therefore been on a mission to discover somewhere where I can eat something new, in nice surroundings and for a reasonable price. Friska delivers just this and although you may not have heard of it, it can be found only a few feet from the University of Manchester Main Library!

Situated in the Science Park, which is just behind the library, Friska is a treat for the eyes as much as the tastebuds. It is an open plan area with big windows, Scandinavian-style decor, and a multitude of seating arrangements. This makes it an ideal place to chill out with friends during a lunch break or even to study, as it is a fairly peaceful and quiet environment.

Photo: Daisy Tolcher
Photo: Daisy Tolcher

The menu offers a range of sandwiches, salads, and phos as well as a delectable selection of ‘hot-boxes’ and ‘hotpots’. These hot offerings include options such as Lebanese Meatballs, Chicken and Chorizo Gumbo, and Butternut and Blackbean Dopiaza, all of which are around £5 in price. A more recent addition to the menu has been traditional Asian bao’s, which are steamed buns filled with either Sriracha chicken, pulled pork, or vegan sweet potato. These buns are currently being individually sold for £3.50, or you can purchase two for £6.50.

Photo: Flikr @ Lauren Topor
Photo: Flikr @ Lauren Topor

On my most recent visit I tried the Halloumi and Roasted Pepper Wrap as well as a Sriracha Chicken Bao, both of which were delicious. The bao was light yet filling so two will definitely be enough for lunch. The wrap tasted really fresh and was filled with veg and a generous portion of halloumi. When I have previously visited I have often gone for the Lebanese Meatball Hotbox, which I highly recommend as it comes with salad, rice, saucy meatballs, and nacho style chips.

Overall, I predict that Friska will soon become a hot spot for students, especially as they are currently offering a free meal on their app. If you refer a friend to the app you get a voucher for a whole free lunch, which definitely makes this spot worth the visit. Furthermore, you can pre-order your lunch for collection on the app if you are on a tight schedule, which makes eating here a really flexible experience.

Friska can be found in: The Bright Building, Manchester Science Park, Pencroft Way, M15 6JJ

 

Reclaim the Night comes back to Manchester

‘Reclaim the Night’, a yearly women’s march in Manchester, is returning on the 22nd February to allow women to “raise their voices and unite their energies to stand up to street harassment, sexual violence and victim blaming.”

A survey conducted in 2011 suggested that there are an estimated 47,000 rapes a year in Britain, 40,000 attempted rapes and 300,000 sexual assaults, with figures rising to this day.

However, only 5.3 per cent of those accused are convicted, with the rest not reported or not taken to court.

In 2005, More conducted a survey that found that 95 per cent of women in the UK do not feel safe walking on the streets at night, with 73 per cent worried about being raped.

‘Reclaim the Night’, which has been held in Manchester since 1977, will start at Owen’s Park at seven P.M. and will proceed along Oxford Road until nine P.M., with an after-party in the Students’ Union in Manchester Academy. The event started due to a spate of attacks in Fallowfield in previous years.

Last year, there was a new addition to the campaign with a ‘Muslim Block’. Saffa Mir, the Students’ Union Community Officer in 2016 has inspired Hana Jafar to carry on the additional section once again.

Speaking to The Mancunion, Hana Jafar said: “I decided to lead it this year because being part of it as a Muslim woman was incredibly empowering.

“Minority groups and marginalised women in particular need safe and inclusive spaces to have our voices heard. With the state of gender based violence and Islamophobia affecting visibly Muslim women, we need these spaces more than ever.”

A new addition to the march this year will include a ‘pro-choice block’, which follows after the abortion rights campaign which took place in Manchester last year. Manchester City Council have also placed a ban on anti-abortion protests in Fallowfield after deeming them “more aggressive and militant that before.”

Women who choose to participate in the ‘pro-choice block’ at the event will aim to call out on misogynistic oppression and suppress the abuse, sexual harassment and unwanted attention from men. Men are welcome at the event but asked to remain separated from women in order to respect the nature of their protest.

Seven audiobooks worth a listen

Harry Potter: The Complete Collection – JK Rowling (Audio by Stephen Fry)
127 hours 39 mins

Stephen Fry’s masterful narration of all seven Harry Potter books is arguably the greatest audiobook series ever recorded. The beloved polymath adds an extra dimension to J.K Rowling’s work, knowing when to change the tempo of the reading, as well as adopting various voices for the different characters. Recommended for fans of the wizarding world or fantasy in general.

Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection – Arthur Conan Doyle (Audio by Stephen Fry)
71 hours and 58 minutes

Another magnificent Stephen Fry audiobook, this time the definitive works of Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps the world’s best-known detective, Holmes has entertained millions in books, tv shows, and films. Stephen Fry narrates all four novels and five short story collections as well as personal introductions for each one. A must-listen for fans of crime, mystery, or thrillers.

A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson (Audio by William Roberts)
19 hours and 2 minutes

Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything is a humorous and interesting trip from the Big Bang to present day. He takes topics that normally make people fall asleep like geology and physics and makes them fun and engaging. William Roberts does a fine job as the narrator, especially with his comedic timing. Recommended for fans of humorous or educational books.

The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins (Audio by ensemble)
10 hours 57 minutes

Paula Hawkins’ explosive hit follows Rachel Watson, a woman who catches the same train every day, passing the same houses and seeing the same people. One day she sees something shocking that will change her whole life if she so chooses. The ensemble of narrators for this audiobook help to differentiate the characters, allowing them to develop independently. Recommended for fans of mystery.

Ready Player One – Ernest Cline (Audio by Wil Wheaton)
15 hours 40 minutes

In the year 2044, the world has become almost uninhabitable, the environment is ruined, and famine is widespread. To escape this painful reality humanity goes into the OASIS, a virtual world where the possibilities for life are limitless. When the founder of the OASIS, James Halliday, dies with no heir to take over, he leaves a series of riddles and puzzles behind with his fortune going to whoever solves them all first. Actor Wil Wheaton is fantastic in the role of narrator. Recommended for fans of science fiction.

The Spire – William Golding (Audio by Benedict Cumberbatch)
6 hours 49 minutes

Written by Lord of the Flies author William Golding, The Spire is a dark tale of one man’s journey to build, on the supposed authority of God, a grand spire on his cathedral. Benedict Cumberbatch’s versatile voice work as the narrator truly brings this fantastic novel to life. Recommended for fans of historical fiction.

Matilda – Roald Dahl (Audio by Kate Winslet)
Length – 4 hours 18 minutes

Whether it’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Twits, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl was a major part of most children’s early literary education. Here we have Matilda, a child genius with horrible parents. Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet employs various voices for each character in a wonderful rendition of the book. Recommended for a little dose of nostalgia.

The latest beauty dupes

If you procrastinate away countless hours that should be dedicated to university work watching makeup tutorial videos on YouTube, you will be aware that there are some amazing dupes on the market at the moment. The message has been delivered that we no longer need to make that crippling investment of our student loans into purchasing expensive brands to obtain the quality factor.

YouTube sensations such as Rachel Leary and Hannah Renée, often film videos giving us reviews of these ‘dupes’ in a sort of try-before-you-buy way making this an excellent way to find out how a product applies before going out and actually buying it, because, as we all know makeup isn’t like clothing, you can’t just take it back expecting a full refund if you don’t like it on.

I want to talk about a few game-changing products and brands on the market currently that deliver the high standard of quality without the high price tag.

Firstly, Revolution is a cruelty free non-animal testing brand such as all the makeup brands at Superdrug. Personally, I find their products amazing quality for their prices. But their latest ground-breaking product is what has got beauty bloggers and youtubers all over the country talking. This is their brand new ‘Conceal and Define Concealer’. Shelves have been stripped bare by makeup-fanatics eager to get their hands on this £4 revelation.

It has been compared by beauty youtubers such as Stephanie Toms to the Tarte Shape Tape (£22) and has said to be the closest dupe to this raved-about product that beauty bloggers have seen to date! It is full coverage (an essential for covering those dark night-out-induced under eye circles), comes in a vast variety of shades and has even been described as feeling lighter on the skin that the Shape Tape. If you have only just discovered this product and  it’s sold out in your local retailer, you can order it directly from TAM Beauty online.

Another innovation from Revolution is their liquid highlighter retailing at a mere £6.

Photo Credit: www.superdrug.co.uk
Photo Credit: www.superdrug.co.uk

This product has a dual effect, doubling also as a liquid eye shimmer. A paralleled pocket-friendly product to this is the Barry M Liquid Chrome Highlighter Drops (also £6) which can be blended in with your fingers or a sponge to create a flawless and blinding glow. These products are amazing dupes for the infamously hyped Iconic London (£30) and the Cover FX Liquid Highlighters (£34).

e.l.f Cosmetics is an American cosmetic brand that has recently been launched into 250 Superdrug stores nationwide.  Encouraging artistry creativity and innovation on a budget is the message embodied by their range and having used their products on several occasions, it is wonderful to see it sold on home soil!

Previously an e-commerce business, the  global enterprise has built its custom on their renowned affordable products; starting from just £3. Their collection has also grown to incorporate skincare, make- up and an array of beauty tools brushes.

Other suggestions that wont break your bank include Freedom, MUA and Collection which can all be found at your local Superdrug.

Dedicating time to some hard-core beauty research, will enable you to increase your savings and get your hands on some amazing products for a fraction price freeing up your cash flow for more important things i.e. guilt free cocktails!

City stroll to Basel victory

Manchester City took a commanding lead in their Round of 16 knockout tie against FC Basel thanks to a 4-0 win in Switzerland.

A period of three goals in nine minutes from Gündoğan, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Agüero put Basel out of sight before Gündoğan doubled his tally in the 53rd minute.

Wary of Manchester United’s struggles here earlier in the season, Pep Guardiola named a very strong eleven despite being overwhelming favourites. Vincent Kompany made his first Champions League start since May 2016 while Leroy Sané returned to the bench.

Despite City’s perceived superiority, it was the home side who had the first chance of the game just after the five-minute mark. Blás Riveros sent a searching ball upfield and Dimitri Oberlin was the quickest to react.

City defender Niciolás Otamendi could not handle the pace of the Basel striker and Ederson struggled to make up the ground in time. In the end, Oberlin hit a tame effort round Ederson but it was swept up by Otamendi.

Shortly after, Basel were punished for their failure to take their chance. An in-swinging corner from Kevin De Bruyne was met by Gündoğan whose clever run had given him a few yards of space from the defender.

The German powered his header into the net to give City the first goal of the tie in the 16th minute.

Minutes later and the ruthlessness nature of this City team was there for all to see. De Bruyne was again involved as he played Raheem Sterling in behind the Basel defence.

The Englishman crossed the ball but a Basel defender managed to get a head to it. The attempted clearance could only find Silva though who fired a volley goalwards.

Basel keeper Tomás Vaclik did manage to get a hand to it but was not strong enough and palmed it into the net to double City’s advantage.

A visibly shellshocked Basel only found their evening getting worse in the 23rd minute. In-form Agüero collected a loose ball and without any hesitation shot from range towards the bottom left corner.

Vaclik could only stand and watch as the pinpoint strike found the net and put this tie beyond Basel.

The pick of the goals was City’s fourth. After the half time break, it was much the same story with City continuing to press home their advantage.

In the 54th minute, Gündoğan moved the ball past the defender before curling an effort into the top right corner. This time the keeper did dive but he was just as helpless as the Agüero effort and Gündoğan got a deserved second.

The final half hour of the game was more about energy conservation. With the game won and presumably the tie as a whole with it, Guardiola had the luxury of resting some key players.

De Bruyne and Sterling left the field while there was a welcome return for Leroy Sané just 16 days after suffering damage to his ankle ligaments against Cardiff City.

The game finished 4-0 to the visitors and barring a Basel miracle at the Etihad in three weeks time, City’s place in the quarter-finals is all but ensured.

Norway: where’s my (oil) money?

23rd December 1963, this is an important date in Norway’s economic history. Norway struck gold of the hydrocarbon kind; Philips Petroleum discovered one of the largest offshore oil fields in history. This was the date that  Norway’s success story started in earnest.

In 1996, the Norwegian government decided to launch a sovereign wealth fund, which was mainly funded by oil taxes and state control of the oil revenues. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is currently valued at over $1T, a 13-fold increase since 2002.

But why would any government want to have its own fund and invest taxpayers’ money in the stock market and in bonds and real estate? The answer is less complex than one might think: to ensure Norway’s massive oil resources — expected to last another 50 years — guarantee the prosperity of future generations. The returns from the wealth fund to pay for pensions and other public services.

Norway is not the only nation with a sovereign wealth fund. The UAE, Kuwait, Singapore, have their own large sovereign wealth funds to protect, invest, and grow their national investments — China has two! Question is, where is the UK in this sovereign wealth league? Surely, we have a few oil resources in Nicola Sturgeon’s backyard. Last I checked, since 1968, the UK has netted over £250B in oil and gas revenues.

In the age of rising council taxes, NHS struggles, housing challenges, and other public service cuts, surely the bright minds on both sides of the political spectrum have thought of economic policies that go beyond taxing corporates and the rich. Surely, both Labour and the Tories have looked at the Norwegians’ success and thought of leveraging London city’s collective financial acumen to invest the 2017-18 oil and gas revenues of £700M — with some more to come — with a view to the long term.

Looking to the rankings, however, Team GB is nowhere to be seen.

We have had £250B of oil revenues, some additional £70B of revenues from privatisation proceeds since 1979, and the £22B cash cow that was 3G mobile phone licensing auction under Gordon Brown – some £342B in total. So, next time you hear about austerity, the widening deficit, NHS problems, and council tax hikes, ask yourself two questions. Firstly, where has over £342B worth of UK revenue gone? And secondly, is it too late for the UK to launch a sovereign wealth fund that addresses the nation’s long-term problems such as pension and NHS funding?

So, where did all this money actually go? Effectively, UK’s £342B was distributed to taxpayers to spend and save the way they want. Having said that, the public sector’s net investment is lower as a percentage of GDP today than it was in 1978-79. Both the Labour and Tory governments used this cash extra cash to keep non-oil taxes “lower than would otherwise have been possible without rising debt levels or sharp cuts in public spending relative to GDP”.

This is the frustrating part. The UK government could have used £342B in the 80s to start a long-term sovereign wealth fund. If managed well (like Norway), this fund would be valued similar to Norway’s at about $1T in today’s money. Norway draws about 3 to 4% of its fund to pay for public services every year in the budget, about $26B – what would Theresa May give for this luxury?

Is it too late for the UK to jump in the sovereign wealth management? The short answer, in my view, is no. The UK has some of the finest investment experts and civil servants, that would doubtlessly be capable of managing a Great British Sovereign Fund that is transparent, responsible, and driven to deliver for the next 100 years of public services in the UK.

In a backdrop of Brexit, mounting pension bills, a housing crisis, and a paralyzed NHS, British politicians are often blamed for not having ‘enough imagination’ to drive the UK economy forward.

Moreover, with North Sea oil resources depleting faster than ever, and the post-Brexit outlook looking uncertain at best, Britain requires bold leadership with new ideas. A sovereign wealth fund may just be the answer.

 

Fallowfield fights back

Holly Ledger, a second-year Events Management student, is taking steps to combat crime in student areas such as Fallowfield and Withington.

On Wednesday the 14th of March, from 1 to 4 p.m., Sugar Rush Events, which she leads, is hosting ‘Fallow Fights Back’. At this event, University of Manchester security, the councillors of Fallowfield and Withington, and self-defence experts Smart Combat, will come together to educate people about the dangers in these areas and how to tackle them.

Local DJs, face painting, freebies, and copious glitter will also feature during the course of the evening. Holly hopes students will come together in solidarity over this issue and react in unison to what is meant to be an event inspiring positivity, in the face of fear.

Home Office statistics released last October suggested that crime in Greater Manchester in the year July 2016-June 2017 rose by 31 per cent. In particular, violence against a person rose 46 per cent, sexual offences climbed 31 per cent, burglary increased by 14 per cent, and robbery was up 53 per cent on the year before.

The fact that students are one of the most vulnerable groups is no secret. Crime in Fallowfield has been the focus of particular attention. One student told The Mancunion of his encounter with an assailant armed with a gun. Countless burglaries have been reported, as well as regular muggings, stalking, and violent crime.

The rising popularity of the ‘Fallowfield Student Group’ on Facebook has brought the sheer volume of these issues to light. Students have banded together to warn each other of suspicious people, areas to avoid, and raised awareness of crime events.

“It’s an important topic and I just feel there isn’t enough being done,” Holly told The Mancunion.

“We felt that there hasn’t been anything solidly put into place, especially for the mental health effects of it. The effect on mental health of these crimes is being overlooked. We have friends who have been targets of crime – including one friend who was violently beaten up at 6 a.m. and had his nose broken.

“It was hard seeing how it’s really shaken him up and knowing he now has anxiety when having to go outside alone, even in the middle of the day. Uni is supposed to be a safe place. There are so many halls of residence in Fallowfield so it’s such a shame so many people feel so anxious.”

There will be stalls all around University place, with local Labour Councillor Grace Fletcher-Hackwood invited along and others to be confirmed.

“We are in discussion with the Owens Park security team and hoping to have them present on the day, along with some talks about current security in Fallowfield. We also are going to have information about insurance for students and related freebies such as rape whistles.

“Smart Combat is also going to be putting on free self-defence sessions for students who can learn basic skills to help them protect themselves and feel confident. There will be local DJs from different societies throughout the day along with glitter and face painting. Despite the serious message we wanted this event to be fun and uplifting.”

“The event should be an important and empowering step towards helping students in South Manchester build towards a safer future,” says Holly. “One of the biggest things we have learnt from this is the importance of bringing the community together and working together — so many people are doing some really great things.”

The event will take place March the 14th, from 1 to 4 p.m. in University Place.

Students can get tickets for free from the event’s Facebook page.