Skip to main content

Year: 2017

Legal action threatened by Socialist Workers Party over NUS ban

Written by Lauren Goodfellow on . Posted in News.

The Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP) have come under fire in recent years for ‘rape apologism’. A senior ranking member, only known as ‘Comrade Delta’, was accused of sexually assaulting a young female member of the party.

The organisation chose not to involve police, instead using their own disputes committee to handle the matter. During the trial, the woman who had made the allegations of the attack was reportedly asked intimate questions such as her drinking habits and her sexual history.

The internal review resulted in Comrade Delta being cleared of all charges, and evidence was never handed over to police for further scrutiny.

This has led to many people accusing the SWP of ‘rape apologism’ and perverting the course of justice in an attempt to protect its senior members. It also led to many members resigning in protest of the ‘cover up’.

In response to this, a motion was submitted to the NUS National Executive Council (NEC) to cut ties between the NUS and the SWP. The motion proposed to support students’ unions nationally in preventing the SWP or its affiliated organisations from being invited to campus.

An amendment proposed by NUS Women’s Officer Hareem Ghani went further and called on NUS delegates to refuse to speak at events organised by the SWP or it’s affiliates.

Ghani later tweeted a screen-grab of an email sent to the NUS senior leadership by the SWP, threatening legal action.

The email states, “If this motion is passed [it is] sanctioning harassment and intimidation of our members then we reserve the right as a party and also as individual members of the SWP to take legal action against the NUS.’

Despite these threats, the motion and the amendment were both passed by the NUS NEC. It remains to be seen whether or not the SWP will move to take legal action against the NUS.

Both the SWP and NUS have been approached for comment.

Behind the scenes at City

Written by Sam Cooper on . Posted in Sport.

The media team of Manchester City is located just a bridge away from the Etihad Stadium at the City Football Academy. The Academy, or CFA, is part of the Etihad Campus and was opened in 2014. As well as housing the media team, the CFA also provides training facilities to all Manchester City squads.

Upon arriving at the complex, you are greeted by a scale model of the Etihad Campus which gives a bird’s eye view of the stadiums as well as the surrounding area. I was meeting with David Clayton who is the Senior News Reporter at the club and he showed me around the media offices.

The first thing that hits you when walking into the offices is the sheer size of the operation. There are two floors with desks of computers and each portion of the media is grouped together. On the left, the windows look out onto the training pitches while on the right you can see the pitch of the Academy Stadium.

A stadium opened in December 2014 which hosts home games for the development squads as well as the women’s team.

The office is laid out with the various different sections seated at their own cluster of desks. City TV, social media, written word, international editions. Each department was grouped together but all within distance of each other in the idea of creating a cohesive team throughout. David spoke of how the club operates and what it strives to be. “More and more of our stuff now is video. Clips, social media, YouTube is obviously huge.”

Chris Parkes-Nield who runs City’s social media described what it is like being the team behind the tweets. The club has 5 million Twitter followers, close to 27 million Facebook followers, 5.4 million Instagram followers, and is preparing to hit 1 million YouTube subscribers so it shows you the size of the task to keep on top of everything but also how they strive for more.

“These sound big numbers but compared to big European clubs, they’re still trailing behind. We’re growing fast — same way we’re growing on the pitch.”

Chris talked about how each platform is varied in what works well and to have a set plan for all would not be wise. “We’re totally fluid with how the platforms want to present themselves. If you have a rigid strategy at the start of the season and you don’t move from that, come the end of the season, the landscape’s changed. You’re going to be left behind. You have to be fluid and go with the flow.”

Football media is becoming incredibly social in the last few years and clubs like City now have a huge audience on a variety of platforms so there can be challenges in finding what works best on which platform. “Facebook’s generally moving into being a video platform. All the signs are there for that happening. We try to remain innovative, try to remain video first, engaging.”

City are one of the most innovative Premier League clubs when it comes to social media and Chris spoke of how they come up with fresh ideas. “You bounce off the audience. I’m a fan, I’ve been watching them since I was little boy so you inherently know where the line is. When we’re tweeting a gif of Alan Partridge to United last season, probably one of my finest moments! We know that there is a line. As far as keeping it fresh, you just have to keep abreast of the trends.”

The club also wants to encourage interactivity with the fans. “A guy yesterday tweeted us ‘can you tweet me a picture of Fabian Delph riding a dragon?’ In 15 minutes, we had it and put it back out. It just shows that we’re there and we’re in touch. We try our best to remain in touch with fan culture.”

Unusual transfer announcements were the trend of summer 2017 and City with their “announce Gündoğan” video were one of the firsts “With Gündoğan, we’re kind of to blame for all that. I’m glad it’s calmed down but it was crazy month with all these signings — each signing announcement more wackier than the last one. It was a weird phase but you couldn’t say it wasn’t interesting. As a culture, it was something.”

The club has 13 international sites with their own Twitter accounts, which highlights the blanket coverage City is aiming to achieve. The arrival of Gabriel Jesus to the club saw an increased Brazilian audience. Content Manager Paul Handler said “Most of the players are international so many of our fans are international, numbers wise.

“In any given match, we might focus on Kevin De Bruyne if he scores. However, our Brazilians fans may be more interested in Ederson’s clean sheet. You slice and dice it for your market because a lot of them follow players as much as teams.”

After a view of the main office, it was a short trip to the press room. Anyone familiar with Pep Guardiola’s pre-match press conference will be familiar with the room he conducts them in. The press room, with its rowed seats creating a theatre like atmosphere, is just a short trip up the stairs from the media offices.

The room itself looks out onto the Academy Stadium pitch and this closeness was very much by design as explained by David “When it was designed, the idea was everything was together.”

The tour was a fascinating insight into how a club the size of Manchester City works on a global level and it became increasingly evident how the goal of being the best in all aspects is clear throughout the club. “Whichever area it is that we deal in, whether it’s Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, the idea is we become the best at what we do.”

Tories set to whip beyond party lines

Written by hannahvallance on . Posted in News, Opinion.

In a move that will spark controversy, the Conservatives have announced plans to terminate all relationships with student-led Conservative movements in the UK following a tumultuous year for the youth-based wing of the party.

In a document detailing proposals for the future of the party, it was firmly stated that “risky student politics” should be taken “outside the remit of the Party” amid concern that student activity was tainting the image of the mainstream political agenda.

This follows after Ronald Coyne, a member of the Cambridge University Conservative Association (CUCA), reportedly laughed whilst burning a £20 note in front of a homeless man earlier this year.

Whilst the CUCA immediately condemned and expelled Mr Coyne, it seems this did not go far enough to stabilise the image of university oriented Conservative societies.

Further proposals include “an increase in youth ownership and engagement in local associations, thus strengthening them and bringing the youth wing firmly into the mainstream Party in the hopes of being able to award and discipline youth group.” A “focus on activity that is tangible for party success, campaigning, training and formal party events” was also put forward.

However, whilst some may consider these changes disheartening, some universities have already axed ties with the Party.

Commenting to the Huffington Post, the former Social Secretary for the University of Warwick Conservative Association, Ellie King, stated that cutting links “gives us the freedom to do what we want and campaign for who we want.”

Indeed, this is perhaps a contentious move by the party, after pledging to win back the youth vote from Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party during the Manchester Conservative Conference, with proposals including a freeze on tuition fee inflation, a hike in the income threshold and a ban on letting fees.

Tuition fee reform announced at Manchester conference

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

Prime Minister Theresa May has announced several reforms to tuition fees at the Conservative Party conference held in Manchester this week including a freeze in fee increases at the current rate of £9,250 a year.

However, Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner MP said the new policy was “a desperate attempt by the Tories to kick the issue into the long grass.”

Students currently pay £9,250 a year towards their course fees, and most borrow this money through a loan from the Government.

May’s proposed changes would have this fee frozen at £9,250 a year, despite past intentions to raise fees by £250 to £9,500, in the academic year 2018-19.

Speaking at the Conservative Party conference, May announced that she also intends to raise fee repayment thresholds by £4,000, from the current benchmark of £21,000 per annum earnings to £25,000. Speaking on the Andrew Marr show, she stated that this would mean “£30 a month more money into graduates’ pockets.”

However, this change has been heavily criticised as it is likely to only apply to students and graduates who were able to take out the higher rate of student loans. This means that students who graduated earlier than

Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, she stated that this would mean “£30 a month more money into graduates’ pockets.”

However, this change has been heavily criticised as this is likely to only apply to students and graduates who were able to take out the higher rate of student loans.

This means that students who graduated earlier than 2012, when the higher rate of loans introduced under David Cameron, are likely to have higher repayment levels even if they are on the same income threshold as more recent graduates with higher debt.

Many also criticise the plan, seeing it as an attempt to attract younger voters.

The snap election earlier this year suggested many young voters siding with Labour, argued partly due to Jeremy Corbyn’s plans to scrap tuition fees altogether.

In an interview in The Sun on the 1st of October, May stated she had “listened to (young people’s) concerns and we [Conservatives] are going to act to offer a fairer deal to students and young people.”

Versace on the runway

Written by Talia Lee-Skudder on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Despite the original supers garnering fame from the mid-80s, it was during the 1990s that these elite band of models really burst onto the scene and became household names.

It was after that era-defining Vogue cover shot by Peter Lindberg that catapulted Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Tatjana Patitz into the limelight. It then led to George Michael casting the same five women in the music video for his smash hit song Freedom, and consequently the 90s truly became the decade for the supermodel.

After the success of George Michael’s music video, Gianni Versace enlisted Evangelista, Turlington, Crawford, and Campbell to close his 1991 show whilst lip-syncing to Freedom.

What set these women apart from the ordinary model was their personality and their multimedia appeal before the social media age; not only did they model the clothes, they also were the faces of big name brands. They were womanly, intelligent and spirited, and became hot property in the fashion industry.

Gianni Versace went on to be dubbed the ‘supermodel maker’ and was pivotal in transforming these 90s ‘glamazons’ into fully fledged supermodels, and in doing so inspired an army of successive models, such as Gigi, Bella, and Kendall, to also reach for those stratospheric heights in the years following.

In keeping with his figure-hugging and goddess-inspired dresses, Versace recruited the ideal women to best showcase his designs and in doing so cemented the term the supermodel into popular culture.  So what better to way to commemorate the anniversary of his death than to reunite the biggest names of the supermodel era for the show-stopping finale this Milan fashion week? Cue Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Carla Bruni, Helena Christensen and Claudia Schiffer.

Donatella Versace took over the role as designer after her brother’s death and has seen the brand through difficult times, near bankruptcy in 2004 being one, but she is now revelling in its success and the 20 year anniversary was the perfect time to show that the fashion house is at the top of its game and is still a force to reckoned with.

The latest collection saw the revival of some of Versace’s most famous and recognised prints, but with an updated style that ensures the relevance for the 2017customer base. Nostalgia, therefore, reached fever pitch when five of the original supermodels took to the runway for the finale wearing restyled gold dresses from their heyday. Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Carla Bruni, Helena Christensen and Claudia Schiffer appeared goddess-like, taking the runway hand in hand, injecting the energy, fun, and personality that was reminiscent of the glory days of the 90s and leaving us wondering when the next reunion will be.

The finale was a fitting tribute to an icon but also a celebration of Donatella’s creative vision and her leadership in the years following her brother’s death.

The show paid homage to the genius of Gianni Versace but also emphasised how his legacy is interwoven with that of the supermodel, securing his place in history as a true creative genius and fashion legend.

Review: Tawai

Written by James Gill on . Posted in Film.

Former marine Bruce Parry has won several BAFTAs for his work on tribesman-centred BBC documentaries, such as Tribe and Amazon. After a six-year break he is back, this time on his own, to revisit the nomadic Penam tribe when news of their forced settling reached him. Various unnecessary detours, interference by Parry and a bumper runtime detract from an at times touching portrayal of the first-hand effects of deforestation.

Ten years ago, Parry first met the Penam people of Borneo in his tv show Tribe, where he went on hunting trips and slept in a makeshift village until it was time to move on. All that has changed now and the Malaysian government built ‘long houses’ for them to live in, on the edge of their ancestral homeland. In order to protect this land, the government asked for proof of their presence in the area, but as a nomadic people their presence is so unnoticeable that they could not do so, and thus their land became fair game for loggers. Heartbreaking though this situation is, Parry is not content to let the audience reach their own conclusions, and hijacks the narrative to champion his cause that modern society is suicidal and we must revert to the way man used to be before consumerism took hold.

No matter where his journey took him, from Indian gurus to a Scottish neuroscientist, Parry insists on getting between the camera and its focus, blocking our eyes from discerning our own truths. Where Tawai excelled most was in the scenes where he took a step back and just observed, allowing the tribesmen to go about their lives. The transition they undergo such as planting fruit trees to ensure food for future generations is starkly different to their original beliefs, to live and feel the moment. Once again the message is distorted to suggest that relinquishing all possessions is the only way to be truly happy, an unnecessary extreme in the search for self-fulfilment.

This heavy-handed approach spoils the inherent profundity present in the documentary. As we follow the Penam people the luxuries of the western worlds seem to have seeped into their way of being, wearing traditional clothes, smoking cigarettes and even watching television. Particularly poignant were the watches they wore on their wrists. A people who knew when the fruit on the trees was ripe by the call of the birds who feasted upon it now relied on time for everyday life. Pure scenes like these, where the imagery inspired critical thought sadly composed a minority of the total length.

Tawai is undoubtedly stunning in its visuals, a clarity of picture usually only seen in the Planet Earth series. I’m sure that within the 600 hours of recorded footage there are the makings of another documentary, with sincerity and lightness of touch. Life is about appreciation, not possession, but taking that to such an extreme alienates almost all those who watch.

Burnham backs Stoptober smoking campaign

Written by Cliona Linehan on . Posted in News.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has this week supported the ‘Stoptober’ smoking campaign, which hopes to spur smokers across the United Kingdom to quit smoking for good.

In its sixth year, the Stoptober campaign claims that if “you stop smoking for 28 days and you’re 5 times more likely to quit for good”, encouraging the falling numbers of smokers in Manchester to quit smoking.

According to Cancer Research UK, 19.9 per cent of over 18s smoke cigarettes in Greater Manchester, notably higher than the countries average of 16.9 per cent.

However, Burnham seemed optimistic when discussing the overall decline in smoking across Greater Manchester.

He said: “The latest success rate shows that advances in support and a stronger anti-smoking culture are leading to more people successfully stopping smoking.”

The ‘Stoptober’ campaign is one such form of support that is being promoted throughout communities.

For the 28 days the campaign runs for, an online messaging service and daily email support is provided to those taking part, as well as highlighting existing long-term support services in communities and strategies to quit the addiction to cigarettes.

In addition, for the first time, the ‘Stoptober’ campaign is advocating the use of e-cigarettes as a means to reduce the intake of tar and carbon monoxide, being a lower-risk form of smoking.

“E-cigarettes can be good, because it still allows you to keep up with the social side of smoking”, one University of Manchester student commented, adding that “e-cigarettes are a good transition from real cigarettes to quitting. I think it’s better to give people a way to keep up with the social and almost comforting aspects of smoking rather than guilt them into just dropping everything.”

The ‘Stoptober’ campaign also highlights the cost of smoking, claiming that smokers could save up to £250 each month by quitting, a fact enhanced by Lord Peter Smith, the portfolio lead for the Health and Social Care side of the GMCA, who said the campaign could “empower [people] to stop smoking because it does improve your health and your wealth.”

However, when asked about this fiscal incentive, taking into account student debt and rising living costs, another student noted that “most will just budget the cost of cigs into the week”, before adding that “people budgeting in the cost of cigarettes isn’t much different than budgeting for drink on a night out, so I don’t think people are going to be that bothered by the motive of money.”

Smoking in Greater Manchester is estimated to cost the NHS £110 million in smoking-related diseases, as smoking is seen by healthcare professionals as a cause of a variety of potentially life-threatening conditions including but not limited to lung cancer, liver cancer, and heart disease.

Six years on since the campaign first ran in 2012, an estimated one and a half million people have quit smoking. ‘Stoptober’ runs until the 28th of October, however many of the services promoted continue on throughout the year, such as local stop smoking services in the area.

Mayor Andy Burnham said on the launch of the campaign that “This year in Greater Manchester Stoptober is bigger than ever- we want to encourage everyone who smokes here to quit together from the 1st of October.”

Transport workers strike across Manchester

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

Workers from the First bus service and Northern Rail both went on strike this week in Manchester.

On Monday the 2nd of October, First bus drivers went on strike. Drivers working at the Rusholme and Bolton depots could be seen waving placards that read: “We demand fair pay.” Unite has claimed that First reneged on long-standing agreements with the union.

43 routes were affected by the drivers’ strike, delaying students and commuters alike. First have released a statement saying: “We’re extremely disappointed that staff from two of our depots have decided to take strike action despite a good offer being put forward.”

On Tuesday the 3rd of October, rail workers of the trade union RMT also took industrial action. Members of RMT at Southern, Merseyrail, Greater Anglia and Northern Rail – Arriva Rail’s Northern franchise – were “out in force” picketing their employers. The industrial action is a result of the ongoing dispute over “safety concerns”.

The rail companies currently plan to scrap train conductors, also known as Guards, from their services. RMT see the removal of conductors from services as unsafe.

As part of a modernisation effort, Northern Rail are purchasing new rolling stock to achieve 50% driver-controlled trains by 2020. Current trains require a conductor to operate the doors and assist with passenger safety, whereas the new trains would not.

Daren Ireland, regional organiser for RMT North West, explained to the Mancunion that the RMT has “the firm view that passengers deserve a level of safety. Employers wish to cut standards and cut safety to boost the profit of shareholders.”

Mr Ireland noted that a conductor was critical to passenger safety and evacuation on the 4th of August 2017 when a train caught fire at St Helens. No one was injured in this incident.

Negotiations between Northern Rail and RMT have stalled. The rail company have been “uncooperative” according to Mr Ireland. In recent discussions, Northern Rail failed to send a director to discussions with the union — this was seen as an uncooperative gesture that resulted in the talks breaking down.

Paul Maynard, Under Secretary of State for the Department of Transport, accused RMT of “using passengers as pawns” in a political game. Mr Maynard insisted that “It’s not about safety either as the independent regulator has ruled that driver-controlled trains are safe.”

The dispute over train conductors has been resolved in several regions of the country already. Scottish rail company ScotRail were able to come to an agreement in which new trains would require a conductor. Transpennine Express also reached an agreement in which conductors will be retained on all trains.

Further rail strikes are planned on the 5th of October. Until a compromise can be achieved between the RMT and Northern rail, we can continue to expect delays.

DIOR SS18: Radical Chic

Written by Amy Nguyen on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

We’re living in militant times. With the rise of the Far Right, young people are meeting that challenge by taking up the radical politics of Feminism, Anti-Racism, LGBTQ Rights, and Class Struggle. At the same time, we want a sense of hip, because for a long time we thought that art, like politics, could be done without noticing.

At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri is making clothes for the political and artistic front line. Chiuri believes that “everyone needs to find her own uniform, in which to express and protect herself.”

Her previous AW17 collection introduced military and utility pieces, like a crepe trench dress or faded denim boiler suit – topped by the black leather beret that is becoming the symbol of her project.

The SS18 collection fulfils the militant promise, with pieces in light, wide workers’ denim (including the Summer beret), and a women’s Mao suit. These recall Paris’ Left-Wing youth in the 60s and remind me of Anne Wiazemsky in La Chinoise.

But the collection also adds an artistic cool, which exceeds general chic through its possession of Dior’s history, and women’s artistry. Breton stripes and black reference Yves Saint Laurent’s 1960 Beat Collection, an ambitious attempt to introduce women to the underground.

Polka dots and blouses reference Marc Bohan’s 60’s designs that kept Dior fashionable. Chiuri uses Niki de Saint Phalle (representing a tradition of overlooked women artists) as volatile raw material. Her aesthetics are stamped in slogans on tulle, or her blue and gold repurposed into the piping and banding of a leather jumpsuit.

Indeed, the new slogan “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” (Linda Nochlin’s 1971 essay – a copy placed on each catwalk seat) reminds us that fashion’s institutions undermine creative women and that by harnessing the radical power of women’s art, we can dismantle them from the inside.

Chiuri does not want women swaddled in Christian Dior’s feminine dream; but out of his house, a women’s dress, fashioned from women’s action.

Photo Credit: Dior @ Instagram

It is established that high fashion should intuit the style of the street, but we are willing to defer to the Dior archive if it can assemble the uniforms of our own new radicalism.

Young people are aching for something militantly hip. Which is why Raf Simons and his cold platter of prints at Dior never did much. Hopefully, Chiuri’s AW17 collection will prove to have done for Dior what Alessandro Michele’s AW15 collection did for Gucci: freed an old house, and gave it over to young people and their new sensibilities.

Written by: Isaac Lucia – Contributor

Stranger Danger: Uber ban should make us reconsider our technology habits

Written by Tilly Gambarotto on . Posted in Opinion.

Whilst some focus on the Black Cab v Uber rivalry, we should be thinking about the way apps have devaluated safety concerns in an age that prioritizes low prices, speed and ease at the tap of a finger.

It’s a familiar scene; the treacherous concoction of pre-drinks, a blurry dance floor with questionable breathing space and several shots of an unknown spirit later and the participating socialites of a night out are often left unable to operate with the basic coordination of a respectable human being. YOLO, right? Thankfully, our trusty app is always on hand to ensure a taxi driver is never more than a few taps away to provide you with a speedy, economical journey home. Not that you can remember your address right now.

With just under 2 million Uber users in London alone, it is unsurprising that Transport For London’s (TFL) recent decision not to renew their operating license in the capital has caused somewhat of a stir. The popular reaction has ranged from annoyance at the impending inconvenience, to the spread of a petition, now with nearly 750,000 signatories, urging TFL to revoke the ban. The familiar conflict between Uber and black cab drivers has also resurfaced: “TFL has only banned Uber because they are cutting into their profits from black cabs,” I have heard suggested.

Of course, the sceptics might be right about TFL’s motives. To focus our grievances on this economic rivalry or the inconvenience of losing the use of an app that has become so habitual, however, is to completely miss the point.

TFL has stated Uber’s “lack of corporate responsibility… [which has] potential public safety and security implications” as the motivation behind their decision. The failure to focus on this justification says a lot about the landslide in modern society’s expectations for safety, and to blindly campaign for Uber’s return distracts us from the very issues central to its downfall.

One need only register as an Uber driver online to see that TFL’s safety concerns are less than exaggerated. The process requires only basic personal details, a scan of the driver’s license and a DVLA check. An application, aided by Uber, can then be made to the local council for a private hire driver’s license. Admittedly, the need to consent to a criminal background check was a minor consolation. However, the lack of any kind of personal contact with the employer calls into question the selection process — or lack thereof.

The requirements for awarding a license to a black cab driver prove a much more comforting read: medical reports, character checks, 1-2-1 examinations and a knowledge test of London’s streets deemed one of the most difficult in the world are just a few of the hurdles faced by budding cabbies. Whilst it might seem excessive, the application process for black cab drivers actually reflects the seriousness of the job. Drivers, after all, are responsible for the safe transport of those who are in a vulnerable position, often lost, drunk, travelling from abroad, alone or at night.

The ease and low prices offered by the taxi app have allowed safety concerns traditionally impressed upon us as early as childhood to slip our minds. ‘Stranger danger’ seems to lose all persuasiveness when the offer of a cheap ride presents itself. TFL’s decision has offered one of the first hindrances to a trend in the use of technology that has seen the question of personal safety almost entirely cast aside in favour of ease and low cost.

From the onset of an apparent Tinder obsession to the release of Schpock: The Boots Sale App, apps have progressively encouraged users to connect, meet, and make often personal exchanges with other users. A smiley picture and short bio go a long way in throwing off any fears about the fact that those behind the profile (or steering wheel) remain complete strangers.  When considered this way, the drunken scene mentioned earlier becomes significantly more alarming.

After refusing to make the requested changes to their selection process for drivers in Texas, Uber has also been banned in Austin. Sydney is reportedly considering an investigation into the operation of the app since TFL’s ruling.

Since London is not the only city to express concern about the laxity of Uber’s employment process, perhaps the most productive use of the current climate would be to pressure Uber to improve its security measures to the extent that it would be allowed to continue operating as opposed to simply campaigning for its unmodified return. Sure, this might take longer, but the result would see safety risks reduced across all participating cities, and avoid a domino effect of Uber bans as other regulatory bodies jump on the TFL bandwagon. Worth a few walks home in the meantime, I would say.

Is this what modern Spanish democracy looks like at its worst?

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Opinion.

On 15 March 2011, Arab Spring demonstrators were marching on the streets of Damascus, Syria, for the first time demanding democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners. It wouldn’t take long for President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces to retaliate by opening fire on the protesters, who shot back for the first time in July.

The manner in which the Spanish government reacted to the ‘illegal’ referendum taking place in Catalonia certainly differed in terms of gravity and motivation from Assad’s response six years earlier. However, despite the numerous differences between the two political structures and social frameworks, both administrations, when seeing their integrity challenged, chose to eventually resort to one thing: violence.

And when state violence replaces political dialogue, the ideological boundaries that outline democracy become blurred. Because democracy, from whichever standpoint you were to look, is a system that encapsulates values such as freedom of speech and thought, the protection of human and civil rights, and the provision of a safe space in which individuals can work freely to achieve their goals. Which is why state-commissioned aggression is naturally correlated to political systems that require it in order to further their power-hoarding interests.

When a regime resorts to violence, it’s a signal of systemic oppression, and not of a functional democracy. That suggests the regime does not value the choices of its people, and it signifies a betrayal of its self-asserted democratic values. And on the day of the referendum, not only did the Spanish government infringe upon some of the most basic of liberal principles, but it put people’s personal safety to risk. In their defence, the Spanish authorities have brought up the issue of the referendum’s legality.

But to say that because the referendum was ‘illegal’ and ‘unconstitutional’ justifies an aggressive resolution on the state’s side is to innocently believe that, firstly, just because something is legal, that makes it inherently good. Naturally, from the state’s point of view, it would be counter-intuitive to offer a legal pathway to a separatist movement, which is why one is not legally available — but that does not make it sacred or untouchable. Laws change. Secondly and perhaps more importantly, it is irresponsible to believe that violence, no matter how severe, is the only way to respond to law breaking. And while it may be a legitimate response to specific criminal activities, do peaceful people trying to express their views through voting really fall into that category?

This is what actually links the way in which the national security operated to the motivation behind it all. What this violent series of events highlights is the Spanish government’s desperation to retain Catalonia at any price. A rational democratic government does not simply charge at its citizens and put them in the hospital. But when everything fails, after seizing 10 million ballots and ballot boxes, arresting Catalan key officials, closing polling stations (and the list can go on), Spanish authorities resorted to brutality.

It comes to show just how important Catalonia is to Spain. Naturally, with it being among the most prosperous areas in the country, generating more than one-fifth of the total GDP, Catalonia felt indispensable. In fact, the Spanish government put so much emphasis on not losing Catalans that it went so far as to authorise them being kicked, punched, and having them be hit with batons. Insofar as instruments of persuasion go, if up to now a significant part of Catalans were unsure of their position towards independence, it is reasonable to believe that the proportions have now been consequently altered.

While Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy considers that police acted with “firmness and serenity”, European Union representatives have been rather shy and hesitant to condemn the Spanish police’s brutality and its overall response has been limited. Thus, from the outside, it felt as if the EU was torn, as if it were stuck, trying to make an impossible choice: to silently condone state violence, or to be seen as indirectly tolerating a separatist movement inside a member state even if, logically, that is not the case.

Democracy is fragile. Firing rubber bullets at your own citizens and dragging them by the hair out of polling stations is not the way to strengthen it. But, somehow, the Spanish government concluded that was the best way to affirm its position, and now, while it tries to pretend nothing wrong has happened, the fractures in Spanish democracy have left a mark that the Catalans, if not the entire international community, will not — and should not — forget anytime soon.

HOME Cinema Preview: 6th October

Written by James Gill on . Posted in Film.

Films opening at HOME this week:

Blade Runner 2049

Directed by Denis Villeneuve — Rated 15

Thirty years after the events in Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi, a new Blade Runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Deckard (Harrison Ford) who has been missing for 30 years. Acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve (Sicario) delivers perhaps the most eagerly anticipated film of the year.

Click here to book tickets

The Glass Castle

Directed by Destin Cretton — Rated 12A

Chronicling the adventures of an eccentric, resilient and tight-knit family, The Glass Castle brings Jeannette Walls’ best-selling memoir to life as a young woman who, influenced by the joyfully wild nature of her deeply dysfunctional father (Woody Harrelson), found the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, of the acclaimed Short Term 12.

Click here to book tickets

The Reagan Show

Directed by Sierra Pettengill, Pacho Velez — Rated PG

The Reagan Show is an all-archival documentary about the original performer/president’s role of a lifetime. Teasing apart the spectacle at the heart of finger-on-the-button global diplomacy, the film follows Reagan’s rivalry with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, tracing how the Communicator-in-Chief used his public relations expertise to overcome Soviet mistrust, the objections of a sceptical press corps, and the looming threat of WWIII. Brimming with wit and political irony, and told solely through 1980s network news and videotapes created by the Reagan administration itself, the film explores Reagan’s made-for-TV approach to politics as he faced down the United States’ greatest rival.

Click here to book tickets

Blood Simple: Director’s Cut

Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen — Rated 15

Joel and Ethan Coen’s thrilling debut feature; a stylish, imaginative and hard-boiled neo-noir marked their arrival as distinctive new cinematic voices. This new restoration has been overseen by the Coens and the film’s cinematographer, Barry Sonnenfeld. Immediately pulpy and cultish in feel, Blood Simple possesses all the characteristics that propelled the Coens to later success: razor-sharp dialogue; a predilection for lethal and futile violence; ironic, fatalistic humour; and an inventive focus on the tragicomic lives of idiosyncratic misfits.

Click here to book tickets

The Road to Mandalay

Directed by Midi Z

Taiwan-based Burmese filmmaker Midi Z returns with his fourth feature, The Road to Mandalay, and arguably his best work to date. Continuing his preoccupation with Burmese exiles in this love story about two illegal immigrants searching for a better life in Bangkok, Midi Z powerfully presents the trials and tribulations of those seeking to escape conflict and poverty in Burma, resorting to human traffickers to cross the border into a less than welcoming Thailand.

An eerie soundscape alongside dreamlike, and almost surreal sequences amplify the disillusionment, displacement and alienation felt by both the characters, albeit with quite differing views of starting a new life as immigrants.

Midi Z’s regular actress Wu Ke-xi gives a striking performance alongside Taiwanese star Kai Ko in this outstanding drama, firmly placing Midi Z among the top contemporary Asian social realist filmmakers today.

Click here to book tickets

Pecking Order

Directed by Slavko Martinov — Rated PG

Join members of the 148-year-old ‘Christchurch Poultry, Bantam and Pigeon Club’ in the lead up to the New Zealand National Show, as they battle history (and each other) in their quest for glory. Audiences will be introduced to an endearing and eclectic group of ‘chick fanciers’, each hoping to take away the top prize, including Doug the determined Club President, Rhys the young upstart, Sarah the chicken whisperer, Ian the exacting judge, Mark the voice of reason and Brian the lovable champion.

Click here to bawk bawk tickets

Films continuing this week:

Daphne

Directed by Peter Mackie Burns — Rated 15

Scottish filmmaker Peter Mackie Burns marks his transition into features with this tightly focused, remarkably authentic character study of brittle 31-year-old Londoner Daphne (Beecham). Daphne has ‘sort of given up on people’ as she goes through the motions of her busy life, working as a cook in a London restaurant and through a series of drug-fuelled hook-ups. She resists genuine intimacy in her few friendships and rejects her mother’s attempts to engage. When she witnesses a violent robbery, she’s thrown into chaos and finally begins to confront the person she’s become.

Cut from the same explicit, ironic, confessional cloth as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s internationally successful BBC TV series Fleabag, Daphne offers us a female protagonist who can be as fiercely unlikeable as she is compelling to watch.

Click here to book tickets

In Between

Directed by Maysaloun Hamoud — Rated 15

In director Maysaloun Hamoud’s remarkable feature debut, three Palestinian women sharing an apartment in the vibrant heart of Tel Aviv find themselves caught in the same balancing act between tradition and modernity, and citizenship and culture.

Click here to book tickets

Mother!

Directed by Darren Aronofsky — Rated 18

A couple’s relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. From filmmaker Darren Aronofsky of Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream fame, Mother! stars Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer in a potent psychological thriller about love, devotion and sacrifice.

Click here to book tickets

God’s Own Country

Directed by Francis Lee — Rated 15

Johnny, a young sheep farmer from Yorkshire, has sacrificed his own life choices to run the family farm. As lambing season approaches, much to Johnny’s initial resentment, migrant worker Gheorghe is hired to assist. Gheorghe proves he not only understands this farming life but more importantly, he understands Johnny.

Click here to book tickets

 

Special events taking place this week:

7th October — The Sleep Curse + Q&A

Directed by Herman Yau — Rated 18

This blood-drenched horror reunites the legendary duo of director Herman Yau and actor Anthony Wong for this tale of a neurologist whose father worked for the Japanese in occupied Hong Kong, and whose legacy of guilt lives on in his son’s dreams… and nightmares. Be warned: this is Asia Extreme! This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Herman Yau.

Click here to book tickets

8th October — Sara + Q&A

Directed by Herman Yau — Rated 18

Director Herman Yau returns to a more socially conscious filmmaking in this morally complex, but ultimately moving story of a woman who, following a life of exploitation, decides to try and do something so others don’t have to suffer as she did. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Herman Yau.

Click here to book tickets

8th October — Metropolis 

Directed by Fritz Lang — Rated PG

This visionary Fritz Lang classic from 1927 is celebrated for the first appearance of a robot in a feature-length film. Created in female form, the fake Maria leads factory workers to rise up and destroy the machines that rule them.

Click here to book tickets

9th October — Raving Iran

Directed by Susanne Regina Meures — Rated 15

Anoosh and Arash are at the centre of Tehran’s underground techno scene. But dodging police, lying to government officials and having to peddle their recordings on the black market takes its toll. They decide to organise a final secret rave in the desert when Anoosh is arrested. In a country where the routine ‘eat, sleep, rave, repeat’ is a punishable political act, salvation comes when they are invited to perform at the biggest techno festival in the world.

Click here to book tickets

10th October — Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut + Intro

Directed by Ridley Scott — Rated 15

Set in 2019, Deckard (Harrison Ford) is assigned to ‘retire’ six rogue replicants who have returned to earth from an off-world colony. During his search, he becomes obsessed with Rachael (Sean Young), an advanced replicant who causes him to question the nature of humanity.

This screening will be introduced by writer and presenter Gia Milinonvich to talk about the underlying theme of ‘female’ robots in the DM17 selection of films at HOME this year.

Click here to book tickets

10th October — Handsworth Song

Part of HOME’s Black History Month season

Directed by John Akomfrah — Rated 15

A Grierson-winning film essay on race and civil disorder in 1980s Britain and the inner city riots of 1985, Handsworth Songs takes as its point of departure the civil disturbances of September and October 1985 in the Birmingham district of Handsworth and in the urban centres of London. The ‘song’ in the title does not reference musicality but instead invokes the idea of documentary as a poetic montage of associations, familiar from the British documentary cinema of Grierson and Jennings.

Click here to book tickets

11th October — Her

Directed by Spike Jonze — Rated 15

Set in the near future, Spike Jonze’s prescient film follows Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who develops a relationship with Samantha, an artificial computer operating system, personified with a female voice (Scarlett Johansson).

Click here to book tickets

12th October — October (Ten Days that Shook the World)

Part of HOME’s A Revolution Betrayed Film Season

Directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein, Grigoriy Aleksandrov — Rated PG

One of the most famous productions by one of the Soviet Union’s most important filmmakers, October was commissioned to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution. Its official status meant that Eisenstein had great resources to hand as he recreated iconic events, such as the storming of the Winter Palace. However, his formal experiments meant that the film met with some disapproval within official circles.

Click here to book tickets

Review: Bravado

Written by Sophie Graci on . Posted in Theatre.

I have never felt more uncomfortable being a woman at the theatre. The pub setting of Scottee’s Bravado is, as another female audience member puts it, “almost like it’s staged.” It feels like the men at the bar are staring at me as I walk into The Britons Protection; just about five minutes walk away from the safety of HOME. I feel like I’m running the gauntlet just to get into the space to see the performance.

That anxiety pervades the entire performance: from the trigger warnings flashing blue and white on the crackling televisions that make up the set, to the graphic depictions of violence on a North London council estate in the 1990s. Writer/director Scottee is physically absent and an audience volunteer is asked to perform the piece in its entirety; another source of anxiety at the top of the show: it takes an uncomfortably long time for anyone to put themselves forward. We are left to squirm in our seats until someone does.

The 1990s aesthetic looms large over the whole piece – we’re transported back in time through visuals and audio. The televisions that make up the set play clips from TV shows, video games, and adverts (Robot Wars and Men Behaving Badly, Yorkie: ‘it’s not for girls,’ Street Fighter), Oasis tracks act as musical interludes to break up the action. Marty Langthorne’s frenetic, unpredictable lighting design only adds to the sensory overload.

The show is split into four sections – blood, spit, tears, cum – but these distinctions are almost arbitrary. Masculinity in Bravado is the combination of these things. One particular scene in ‘Spit’ details an early sexual encounter between Scottee and “O’Malley.” It’s a functional exchange on O’Malley’s side: there is no kissing on the mouth, and he spits in Scottee’s face after he orgasms. Sex is a violent display of power and superiority.

The theme of desire comes up repeatedly: Scottee’s need for love and approval from the men in his life, whilst simultaneously despising them for everything they’ve put him through. He wants them to die; he wants them to love him.

The years flashing up on the TV screens drive it home – what has really changed? The toxicity of masculinity is still as pervasive 25 years later. We jump to 2016, Euston Station. Slurs are yelled his way; no one wants to help him. Boys will be boys. Scottee wants to punch something and he doesn’t know why. The boys from the estate may still be bound by ‘brotherhood and bravado’ but even a man who positions himself in opposition to his gender cannot fully escape masculinity’s terrifying manifestations.

Thomas the Tank Engine helps campaigners unite against transport cuts

Written by Max Brimelow on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

On the morning of Monday the 2nd October, Manchester Friends of the Earth gathered supporters at the Central Library to urge politicians to contribute money towards the rail electrification project that Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has threatened could be put to the axe.

With the help of ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ and a pre-pay meter sandwich board, Friends of the Earth supporters staged the stunt to raise awareness of the possible cuts as Conservative politicians gathered for the annual Tory Party Conference in Central Manchester.

The campaigners pressed Conservative MPs and conference delegates to push back against inequitable funding for the North and towards much-needed improvements. The planned changes had until recently included the electrification of several Northern train routes as well as the widening and addition of platforms at Manchester Piccadilly.

Friends of the Earth see these improvements as critical to combatting issues of air pollution, climate change, and overcrowding.

“We wanted to use humour to engage delegates to the Conservative Party conference and encourage them to tell government ministers they need to honour their pledges and rail commitments,” said Pete Abel, a volunteer with the Manchester Friends of the Earth sustainable transport campaign, who was present at the demonstration.

“Our stunt was only a small part of an on-going campaign by transport campaigners, local authorities, political, and business leaders across the North to get proper investment in Cross Rail for the North and rail electrification to deliver faster and better train services, improve air quality and reduce climate emissions from transport.”

Transport is a key area for climate concern in Britain and the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. Road transport alone is responsible for around 25 percent of total UK emissions. However, the government is increasingly falling behind on its targets.

18 months ago, Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom pledged a 100 percent reduction in emissions by 2050, but that figure has since been reduced to 80 percent, leading some to accuse the government of doing too little to combat climate change.

Perhaps most importantly, the campaign speaks to the larger problem of disproportionate government investment in London compared with the North of England. Statistics show that some parts of the North receive less than a tenth of the investment per person that Londoners do on transport.

Supporters were outraged when Chris Grayling expressed support for a ‘Cross Rail 2’ project in London at the cost of at least £31 billion, shortly after plans for its Northern equivalent were thrown into doubt.

With the help of Manchester Friends of the Earth, over 87,000 people have now signed a petition calling for Mr Grayling to pledge his backing for a Northern Powerhouse Rail Programme as well as at least £59 billion ‘catch-up cash’ over the coming decade to support transport initiatives in the North. The petition also calls for Transport for the North to be empowered to the same level of autonomy enjoyed by Transport for London.

Some measure of success was achieved today as Chancellor Philip Hammond announced £300 million of funding is to be made available towards the Northern rail investment project.

“The Thomas the Tank Engine event received a lot of interest and publicity on social media but true success will be measured when Ministers’ actions match their warm words,” added Mr Abel. “The announcement of £300 million for rail investment is to be welcomed but is a drop in the ocean of the funding required to rebalance transport investment.”

It seems that for Manchester Friends of the Earth, and for the future of Northern rail travel, the battle is far from over.

Daisy and Anokhi take a trip down Biko Street

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

For students new and old, the refurbishment of the Students’ Union is an exciting and anticipated project that is sure to transform its role in our everyday lives. The main feature of this refurbishment has been the creation of Biko Street, essentially a ‘road’ of caterers who serve food from the union throughout the day. Prior to its expansion, the SU had only one main food vendor. However, it now has four hubs where different cuisines and beverages are served. These hubs can be found in the ‘EAT’ section of the ground floor and they are sure to provide diversity to our lunch times.

Photo: University of Manchester Students’ Union

BREW — Brew is the new name and home to the counter that used to sell paninis, jacket potatoes and Starbucks in the old SU. It now predominantly serves Starbucks beverages including coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.

Photo: University of Manchester Students’ Union

BURRITO CANTINA — voted for by students, Burrito Cantina is here to bring the heat. Serving a wide range of burritos, it caters for both vegetarian and meat-loving students.

Review: Priced at £4.50 you certainly get your money’s worth. We chose a pulled chicken burrito and it was definitely big enough to share, jam-packed with rice, salad, beans, guacamole and cheese. The perfect lunch if you are ravenous.

Photo: University of Manchester Students’ Union

GLOBAL KITCHEN — This exciting new enterprise aims to introduce students to a range of cuisines from around the world. The cuisine on offer will rotate every semester which gives students the opportunity to discover something new.

Meal Deals:

Soup and Panini £4.50 — add a canned soft drink for £5
‘Taste of’ Special £4.50
‘Taste of’ meal deal £5

Review: Paninis come in a huge selection of flavours including roast Mediterranean veg, tuna melt, spicy meatball, Jamaican jerk, lime and coriander, Greek feta, Spanish chorizo, BBQ chicken and bacon and brie which we had the privilege of tasting.

Photo: University of Manchester Student’s Union

THE VEGGIE HUT — In order to cater towards a growing number of students who have decided to ditch the meat, the SU has introduced a hub that serves predominantly vegetarian dishes. From jacket potatoes to an extensive salad bar, those of you seeking a lighter meal will not be left disappointed.

Review: The salad bar did not live up to expectations and I would seriously opt for the Morrison’s £3 salad box instead. The choice of salad is slightly bland and the pasta options are lacking with just plain pasta to choose from. However, the smoothies we tried were fantastic and they are currently £1 off. We tried the detox smoothie which contained pineapple, apple, spinach, kale, ginger and lemon — super tasty and SO good for you! They also have ‘energy’ and ‘defence’ smoothies to suit all your smoothie needs. Smoothies are made fresh to order and supplied by Packd.

Impressively, Biko street has put into practice the ethos of the students’ union and much of the student community. They have pledged to only serve FairTrade hot beverages and to only use free range eggs in their produce. Furthermore, all the disposable cutlery and containers that are provided by the food hubs are 100% biodegradable. This is an impressive step towards reducing the university’s overall carbon footprint and demonstrates that the Students’ Union has taken on board our environmental concerns.

Live Review: Lorde Reigns at Melodrama Tour

Written by Calum Pinder on . Posted in Music.

Tuesday 26th September at O2 Apollo

At 20 years old, Lorde has begun touring her second album. This is no minor feat; the success of her debut album Pure Heroin shot her to global stardom and has had her touring the world for the last 5 years. However, she found the time to write a follow-up and it didn’t suffer any ‘second album syndrome’. In fact, Melodrama takes inspiration from all the ways her life has changed and uses it to craft something fantastic. Themes of small-town boredom are replaced by the grandeur of pop stardom.

The support act for the first gig of the Melodrama tour is Texan singer Khalid. Unfortunately, his simple style of R&B isn’t particularly exciting. Basic drum rhythms back up rather bland vocals whilst Khalid dances his way between poses. It’s not bad music but it’s certainly nothing new. Towards the end of his performance, things pick up. Khalid seems to find his sweet spot with the penultimate track ‘Location’. It’s a slick and woozy slow jam that gets the crowd swaying.

After a short break, the onstage curtain drops and the set is revealed. An LED astronaut and an old cathode ray TV frame the stage. Lorde enters to open with ‘Magnets’ and the crowd erupts. Despite the main portion of her fanbase being roughly the same age as her, it is interesting to look around and spot a large number of 30 and 40 somethings singing along with equal fervour. However, as the show continues it becomes less surprising.

It’s a pop concert in the ‘good old-fashioned’ sense. Costume changes, set changes, and huge amounts of onstage energy turn this gig into a full-on spectacle. Despite being such a young artist, Lorde’s onstage confidence is staggering. She commands stage and crowd alike whilst reeling through her set with a seemingly endless reserve of energy.

There are some weak moments. When performing ‘World Alone’ it feels as if Lorde is somewhat less comfortable with the vocals. Also, the following cover of Phil Collins’ ‘In The Air Tonight’ is certainly an interesting choice. However, it is not a track that’s ideally suited to Lorde’s more energetic and driving style.

The real high points of the set come in the form of hits off of the new album. The fantastic piano ballad ‘Liability’ loses none of its tenderness performed in front of a crowd of 3,500 people. ‘Supercut’ and ‘Perfect Places’ allow Lorde to truly shine with subtle keyboards and shimmering synths respectively backing Lorde’s dazzling performance. The crowd becomes more fervent with every beat and the lyrics ‘let’s kiss and then take off our clothes’ cause a number of t-shirts to find their way onstage.

The show reaches a climax with the joyous ‘Green Light’. However, peculiarly, Lorde chooses to perform an encore of ‘Loveless’. The slow second act to ‘Hard Feelings’ is a slightly underwhelming end to such an exciting concert. However leaving the venue, the atmosphere remains electric. If anyone has a chance to see Lorde over the next year you will not be disappointed.

 

8/10

An obvious solution to a big problem

Written by Holly James on . Posted in Opinion.

Last year, I worked in a small shop in Oxford — it was tiny, and the successful retailer we worked for would not agree to move us to a bigger shop because renting prices in the area were extortionate. A 5×2 metre space was meant to serve as our office, staff room, kitchen, and stock room, and this was obviously impossible.

Several years prior, the businesses which occupied the four floors above us were pushed out by the rent prices and kindly gave us the keys to use while the space was empty. Several years later, we were using the space as our stock room, staff room, and kitchen, but this did not even begin to make a dent in the space. Most of the building, located on Oxford’s main high street, was empty and disused, while on the other side of the road tens of homeless people were asleep in doorways.

This is a familiar scene across a country in the midst of a housing crisis.

Unaffordable property and rent prices have led to a sharp rise in homelessness where we have a generation of people for whom renting is the only available option and there is increased pressure on councils to provide housing.

This has led to many calls for the development of new, more affordable houses across the country. Both Theresa May and London Mayor Sadiq Khan have pledged billions of pounds to the development of homes concentrated in London and other major cities across the UK.

Many have called for the green belt to be opened up for development to allow cities to expand to fit this demand for housing. However, surely this is overlooking a resource that we already have in great numbers: that is, empty homes.

According to DCLG Housing Statistics, there were more than 635,000 homes lying empty in England in 2012 with other sources estimating around 1.4 million properties empty as of 2017. Surveys have shown that 79 percent of people think that the government should focus on refurbishing existing properties, and 81 percent would avoid living in new builds. This is hardly surprising, the recently unveiled plans

This is hardly surprising — the recently unveiled plans for Sadiq Khan’s ‘naked’ homes looking more akin to the backdrop of a Samuel Beckett play than a family home.

In Oxford, we were technically squatting the space we used. This can provide a temporary solution and is often an important form of political activism — the recent group at the old cinema on Oxford Road being one local example — but it is not a safe or long-term solution to housing.

Despite this, it is the best option for the thousands of homeless people across the country, yet squatters continue to be evicted with no alternative solution but to return to sleeping rough. When this happens, councils are allowing properties to lie empty and fall into disrepair while many sleep without a roof over their head.

Not only is this bad for the thousands who are homeless and the millions struggling to pay rent, but failing to recognise the opportunity in these empty homes is a threat to the environment. Not only does it take a huge amount of energy and resources to build new homes, but to keep developing we risk impinging on the vital green space both in and outside of cities.

The homes are more often than not less durable and hardy than their predecessors and create entire communities of clinical and cold houses which lack the character and beauty of many old buildings left neglected. Above all, it is absolutely unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of houses lie empty at a time when people desperately need places to live, either paying extortionate prices to do so or not being able to afford to at all.

This is a scandal that has been brought to light most recently in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, with many surviving residents of the tower block still living in hotels or temporary accommodation. This is in one of the most affluent areas of London with many large properties across Kensington lying empty, as disused or second homes or belonging to foreign investors.

It is clear that our greatest resource in facing the housing crisis lies in utilising empty homes, which need to be opened up for property guardianship or, better yet, acquired by councils to be used as social housing or refurbished and rented or sold at affordable prices.

Homes are a necessity, not a luxury. The government must be called on to provide this housing without needlessly wasting resources and land.

Record Reappraisal: Radiohead – In Rainbows

Written by Jay Plent on . Posted in Music.

Timeless is a term often thrown around for albums, and it could certainly be applied to many of Radiohead’s releases. Whilst October marks the 17th anniversary of Kid A, it also marks, in my eyes, a more significant milestone: a decade since the truly timeless In Rainbows…

It’s an album of striking intimacy and intensity. It was striking on release, when the band asked you, the listener, to attribute monetary value to it. It remains just as striking to this day. Still a deeply atmospheric, shudderingly emotional ride that never lulls, remaining utterly captivating throughout.

The band has never felt so direct. From the frenetic energy of ’15 Step’ and ‘Bodysnatchers’ through to the devastating loss of ‘All I Need’ and the howling refrains of ‘Videotape’, the album is crafted to absolute perfection. Radiohead catapults you onto a deeply personal journey, bringing strands from every aspect of Radiohead’s career into a gorgeous patchwork, rife with the band’s past and poised to leap into their future.

And by God is that journey intense. The thematic skill with which this album delineates loss is staggering, always on the edge of an emotional outpour, always ready to break, but always held together in a delicate balance.

Their most subtle release, new details and textures reveal themselves with every repeat listen. The tracks are colourful explosions in the bleakest dark. Mark my words, In Rainbows is for the nighttime. Listen to it in a dark place pierced by streetlights and it is now a beautiful, ethereal experience.

I’m speaking hyperbolically, of course. But then I feel compelled to, because In Rainbows elicits such a powerful emotional response. So let’s get down to brass tax. This album is Radiohead’s best work. It’s their most gorgeous, most crafted; so wholly encapsulating that you could live inside it for and never get bored.

The production is rich and intimate. Flirtations with progressive song structures and nuanced themes keep you guessing. It ebbs and flows like a concerto, using strings just as skillfully. The melodies evoke fear of your own emotional capacity; the highs are like shots of heroin, and the lows are like the comedown. It cannot be compared, it cannot be replaced. It cannot be forgotten. In Rainbows encapsulates everything fantastic about music, and it sums up everything that makes Radiohead one of the greatest bands ever.

Interview with rising star Liv Dawson

Written by Hannah Brierley on . Posted in Music.

They say that it’s the quiet ones that you should watch out for, and this is certainly true in some respects for the reserved 19-year old. Yet however, when singing, she should be anything but quiet.

Despite her young age, she sounds flawless beyond her years. Miss Dawson is also already associated with huge names in the music industry such as Marcus Mumford and Disclosure and with plenty of others desperately wanting to work with the singer — which has much to say about the talent she already possesses and the kind of future she has. I had a chat with Liv about her past and present, her phenomenal new release ‘Painkiller’ and about her upcoming tour.

I had a chat with Liv about her past and present, her phenomenal new release ‘Painkiller’ and about her upcoming tour.

Liv has been singing since she was about 7 years old and remembers that it was just something she always did. It wasn’t until she reached the age of 14 that she recognised that singing was something she wanted to actively pursue. So, she started obsessively writing, singing, and putting her music out there. The singer laughs about how a lot of her songs were written about being in love, despite the fact she probably wasn’t ever in love at that age. She also used to write about her friends and made up scenarios that she knew other people were going through.

I quizzed Liv about her new release ‘Painkiller’ which was released on the 11th of August (same day as my birthday!) and a brief background to the song. The soulful singer explains that she wrote it after a night out whilst she was hungover.

“I’d had an argument with my friend and I just wanted to get it off my chest by writing it down in a song.” She goes on to say that despite the song having dark undertones by working with HONNE “who are incredibly lovely, and are very talented at what they do” as they managed to make the song upbeat and happy, which was a nice contrast.

Liv Dawson is about to embark on a  seven-day tour, starting on the 19th of October in The Chapel, Leeds. Moving on through to Manchester and then three dates in her hometown of London.

 

As the Interview comes to an end, we have a quick-fire round to uncover just a little more about who Liv Dawson really is underneath it all.

If you were to win the lottery after this interview, what is the first thing you would do?

I would buy a really nice huge house, and go on an amazing holiday in the Caribbean… for like a week. Then I’d probably buy loads of dogs. Yeah, I’d buy all the dogs.

 

What’s your favourite 90’s song?

Oooh, I’m not sure. Maybe ‘The Boy is Mine’ by Brandy? Is that 90’s? I think it is, but yeah, I love that one.

 

Tell me something that not many people know about you.

I was actually in the choir for Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat in London, when I was really young. I don’t think many people know that!

 

If you wrote an autobiography, what would you call it?

Erm, I’d have to think about some funny pun or something that worked with ‘Liv’ in the name? Maybe ‘Liv and Let Die’ –Laughs- yeah I really like that actually now.

 

Finally, why should people come down to your shows?

Because it’s going to be really fun and exciting and I actually have a little surprise organised for each of the shows, so everyone needs to come!

Manchester man caught up in Las Vegas horror shooting

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

A Manchester resident has described the ordeal of being caught in the middle of Monday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas.

37-year old Steve Dunville, who lives in Fallowfield, was attending a friend’s wedding at the Four Seasons hotel when disaster struck at the nearby Route 91 open-air music festival on Las Vegas Boulevard.

The attacker opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, indiscriminately killing members of the public below.

A raid of the gunman’s hotel room has resulted in the discovery of further firearms, police confirmed.

Current figures state that 59 have been confirmed as dead, with well over 500 believed to have been injured.

Speaking to The Manchester Evening News, Dunville detailed how the wedding party were frantically rushed to safety as terror broke out just metres away.

Guests were rushed to the stairwell of the establishment and were forced to remain there for around three hours while the shooting was ongoing.

“We went down to a fire exit, opened the doors and could see people running and screaming on the strip. We were told to get back into the hotel and we’ve been here ever since.

“They told us to keep quiet and locked us in the stairwell as the police were sweeping the hotel.”

Mr Dunville confirmed via Whatsapp that guests had been barred from leaving their rooms for safety reasons.

Police announced at a press conference that the suspect, Paddock, was dead, affirming that he had turned the gun on himself as officers closed on him.

Officials are still largely unsure about the motives surrounding the attack.

With no evidence gathered from a sweep of his hotel room and house back in Mesquite, Nevada, Paddock’s brother described his brother as holding no political or religious affiliations that he “knew of”.

Paddock was known to Las Vegas police, but had only been listed for a routine traffic violation and had no history or association with violent crime.

Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas police confirmed that Paddock had been in possession of a number of tools to aid his deadly mission, including a bump-stock to enable rapid fire from his semi-automatic weapon and a ‘hammer-like device’ used to smash his hotel windows.

Such items, coupled with the discovery of further weaponry at the 64-year old’s home, appears to suggest that the attack was premeditated and carefully planned.

Although the death toll is expected to rise, the present figure of 59 already makes the attack the deadliest shooting in American history and has reignited the fiercely-contested debate over gun regulation across the states.