In response to student internships designed to facilitate the transition to a “blended learning” model, the Exeter UCU has accused the University of breaking assurances and exploiting student labour. In a 28 May email, the University of Exeter Education Executive announced ‘Project Enhance’ as the University moves to improve its digital resources to better support […]
Labour
Thank Corbyn for the Youth’s Political Resurrection, not Tuition Fee Promises.
Thursday 8th June 2017. Was this the day that the youth made their voices heard within the political world? Was this the first time for many years that young people changed the landscape of British politics? Was this the time that the ‘disillusioned millennials’ finally stepped up and had their say? These were all questions […]
Tony Blair: a return to politics
Twenty Years since he was in office, Tony Blair rears his head from the sand at the call of Brexit to influence the ruckus. A vocal Remainer, Blair has been said to want to be a part of the Brexit negotiations, to shape the debate, telling the Daily Mirror, “I am going to be taking […]
Labour Manifesto Pledges to Scrap Tuition Fees
Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn has announced plans to scrap further education tuition fees and to bring back maintenance grants for university students, ahead of the general election. The Independent later revealed footage of Mr. Corbyn’s right-hand man, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, explaining his desire to scrap university tuition fees ‘once and for […]
Election 2017: what do the students think?
It has often been claimed that both the apathy of young voters is partially to blame for recent political events, and that our voice is the only hope for Britain. Yet while parties jockey to win the allegiance of students, the policies included in manifestos seem to largely cater towards an established, older audience. As […]
An interview with John McDonnell MP: On Corbyn and coups
Disclosure: I am an Owen Smith activist; I made no effort to hide this during the interview. The organiser also knew this to be true before the interview A deluge of applause rushed over the rouge pews of the packed out theatre, the acclamation rolling down to the lectern where John McDonnell stood, in the spirit of […]
Interviews with students: what do they really think about Jeremy Corbyn?
P olitics has become a rather confusing mesh of contradictory ideologies and populist policy recently. Gone are the days when a rather posh, stern BBC reporter produced the facts! In their place we have the political commentator, like Exeter’s finest Katie Hopkins; then if we multiple this with the volatility and speed at which fortunes […]
The myth of meritocracy – an interview with James Bloodworth
‘If you’re born into the working-class, you tend to get stuck there, even if you do have the “merit” to escape.’ This is the premise of James Bloodworth’s debut book The Myth of Meritocracy. Thomas Piketty’s cultural touchstone, Capital in the Twenty-First Century highlighted how wealth grows more quickly than the economy as a whole, and Bloodworth’s book focuses on the implications this […]
Piers Corbyn part two: the BBC
Picking the mic back up, I wonder how exactly it was that the wind had blown mine and Piers’ conversation away from the subject of the weather to where we had now arrived: the BBC’s attempt to “disparage” and “denounce” the Corbyn brothers. I tentatively ventured an opinion. “See, I watched your interview and I thought […]
“Not bad for a runner up” – an interview with Andy Burnham
Andy Burnham’s 15 years as an MP have not been uneventful. Since serving as both Culture and Health Secretary under the premiership of Gordon Brown, Burnham has been consistently at the frontline of the Labour party. Since September, he’s been the only one of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership rivals to accept a position in his shadow […]