Palatinate Issue 774

indigo Features looks at what you will miss the most about Durham (page i4)

News exposes gender and ethnicity pay gap (page 4)

Former referee Mark Halsey talks to Sport (pages 18-19)

Durham’s independent student newspaper

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Profile interviews former Minister David Blunkett (page 17) No. 774

Thursday 11th June 2015| FREE

County Durham’s first ever Pride parade was held last week, which was also the first Pride event of 2015. See page 5.

Photograph: Mikolaj Kundegorski

Survey reveals that 75% of students find NUS irrelevant Josh Smith

A recent survey carried out by Palatinate asked students what they thought of the National Union of Students (NUS) and whether they believed the NUS was still relevant to university life.

In response to the question, ‘Do you think NUS is relevant to Durham students?’, 147 responses (74.6%)

responses out of 200 said ‘no’, whilst only 50 (25.4%) said ‘yes’. 170 students (85.9%) also said that they did not know the name of the current president of NUS. Palatinate asked students what they already knew about NUS. 85 people (42.9%) chose ‘I know who they are and what they stand for’ and 88 (44.4%) chose ‘I have only heard of NUS

through my NUS card’, whilst 11 people (5.6%) said they did not know whom NUS were.

When asked to explain why they found the NUS irrelevant, many students focused on the left-wing politics associated with NUS. One student described NUS as a “bureaucratic system of unionists and communists who push their own political agenda rather than those of our students”,

while another said that NUS was “far further left of centre than most students agree with” and was therefore “quite simply unrepresentative of general opinion”.

Those that thought NUS was relevant, however, highlighted the positive nature of NUS in representing students on a national scale.

Continued on page 6

Inside Palatinate

>>

More on our NUS survey (p.6) NUS President-elect and Union Officers defend NUS but call for reform (p.8-9) “NUS is irrelevant, insular and illiberal” (p.13)

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Editorial Change is in the air “Certain things should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big-glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that’s impossible, but it’s too bad anyway”.

Despite failing to capture the true magnificence of the English language, I can’t help but feel that J.D Salinger’s teenage protagonist Holden Caulfield expresses how most of us feel about our dear University.

Although our loyalty to the University is perhaps diluted by inter-college rivalries, there’s an underlying sense of affection that every student has towards their University. Never is that more true that during the conclusion of the Easter term.

Durham for the last few weeks has been in a stasis, with students being trapped in a Pimms-filled void between one academic year and the next.

With the stress of lectures, seminars and revision having mercifully subsided, we can look on the University anew, and appreciate the things that make Durham a beautiful place to live – whether that be the sun soaked cathedral, or the intimate nature of Univer-

sity life.

For those that are graduating, I’m sure there will be a Holden Caulfield-esque longing for Durham to be put in “one of those bigglass cases” and remain the same until they visit again.

But, the reality is that even for those of us that return in September, the University might well be a very different place indeed.

Professor Stuart Corbridge and Millie Tanner, the incoming Vice-Chancellor and DSU President respectively, are going to have a very long to do list, and, following the events of this year, the University might well have to undergo a sustained period of radical change.

The tragic death of Euan Coulthard earlier this year has propelled student safety to the front of everyone’s minds, and, despite the success of the policies that have been implemented so far, further reform will undoubtedly be necessary, as News’ article on drink spiking shows.

Another question they’ll have to answer is whether the National Union of Students (NUS) can adequately represent a collegiate University, and whether

Durham might profit from disaffiliation. In this issue, Palatinate reveals the widespread dissatisfaction that the student body has towards the NUS, with 74.6% of students claiming that the body is irrelevant to Durham students.

The issue of accommodation fees won’t go away either. Having already protested in March open-days, Durham Students for University Reform are set to lobby again during July open days, in the hope of convincing the University to freeze the escalating cost of living in college.

I can’t give you any guarantees that those in the upper echelons will make the right decisions – as students we have to trust that they will do so. However, what I can promise you is that through this period of change Palatinate will continue to provide you with up-to-date, accurate news and insightful, thought provoking discussion, as it does in this print edition, and as it has done for the last 67 years.

I hope you enjoy this issue, and we’ll meet again in October.

Thursday 11th June 2015 | PALATINATE

Inside 774 News pages 3-10 Politics page 11 Comment pages 13-15 SciTech page 16 Profile page 17 Sport pages 18-20

indigo

Visual Arts page 3 Features pages 4-5 Stage pages 6-7 Music page 8 Film & TV page 9 Fashion page 10 Books page 11

Creative Writing pages 12-13

Food & Drink page 14 Travel page 15

Vacancy

Editor-in-Chief If you are considering a career in journalism, management, editing or publishing, then this is the position for you.

To apply, or to get more information, email: editor@palatinate.org.uk Deadline: 12/06/2015

Henry Clare

The best of Palatinate Online www.palatinate.org.uk

News: Police not looking to revoke Klute’s alcohol license

Politics: The life of Charles Kennedy

Durham Police are not looking to suspend or revoke Klute’s alcohol license. The news follows earlier calls from the police for “strong action” to be taken against the nightclub.

Will Fremont-Barnes remembers the life of the late Charles Kennedy and his significant impact upon British politics.

Indigo: The Indigo Guide to the Summer Kate Wilkinson presents a guide to that busy final month in the Durham calendar, including the Indoor Market Pop-Up and Oook Production’s ‘Yes, Prime Minister’.

Sport: Playoff joy for recordbreaking Palatinates Nick Friend summarises a series of staggering end-of-season performances from Team Durham.

Palatinate is published by Durham Students’ Union on a fortnightly basis during term and is editorially independent. All contributors and editors are full-time students at Durham University. Send letters to: Editor, Palatinate, Durham Students’ Union, Dunelm House, New Elvet, Durham, DH1 3AN. Alternatively, send an e-mail to editor@palatinate.org.uk

Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief Henry Clare and Tom Fenton editor@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Editor Sandy Thin deputy.editor@palatinate.org.uk News Editor Josh Smith news@palatinate.org.uk News Features Editor Becky Wilson Deputy News Editors Ryan Gould, Olly Mawhinney, Charlie Taylor-Kroll, Sofya Grebenkina and Daniel Fox Politics Editors Alex Cupples and Ollie Hamlet politics@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Politics Editor Miriam Brittenden Profile Editor Will Fremont-Barnes Science and Technology Editor Sadie Bartholomew scitech@palatinate.org.uk Comment Editor Patrick Brennan comment@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Comment Editors Ellen Orange & Oscar Rocklin Sport Editor Nick Friend sport@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Sport Editors John Evans & Kieran Moriaty Indigo Editor Kate Wilkinson indigo@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Indigo Editor Sraddha Venkataraman indigo.deputy@palatinate.org.uk Features Editor Zosia Eyres feature@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Features Editor Ellen Finch Food and Drink Editor Adrian Chew and Shalaka Darshane food@palatinate.org.uk Travel Editor Oliver Collard travel@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Travel Editor Naoise Murphy Fashion Editors Jessica Ng & Megan Magee fashion@palatinate.org.uk Film and Television Editor Jonathan Peters film@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Film and Television Editor Caroline France Stage Editor Isabelle Culkin stage@palatinate.org.uk Music Editor Ana Symecko music@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Music Editor Will Throp Creative Writing Editor Celeste Yeo creative.writing@palatinate.org.uk Books Editors Atifa Jiwa & Florianne Humphrey books@palatinate.org.uk Visual Arts Editor Frances Marsh visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk Chief Sub-Editor Lucy Hart sub-editing@palatinate.org.uk Sub-Editors Morgan Hayden-Kent, Marianna Mukhametzyanova, Ellie Mullan, Isabel Lopez Ruiz & Ciara Murphy Online Editor Jessie Honnor online.editor@palatinate.org.uk Web Editor Ian Ager web.editor@palatinate.org.uk Photography Editor Venus Loi photography@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Photography Editors Rob Law and Dai-Khue Le-Duong Illustrations Editor Mariam Hayat illustration@palatinate.org.uk Publicity Officer Alexandra Fitzgerald publicity@palatinate.org.uk Advertising Officer Jess Sham advertising@palatinate.org.uk

PALATINATE | Thursday 11th June 2015

Union President’s Column Congratulations to Harriet Barsham, Daniel Cain-Reed, Michael Cannon Jnr and Daniel Morgan-Thomas whom you elected to be your student trustees. They will be responsible for directing the Union and keeping our work on track over the next 12 months and join the Board for 2015/16.

Well done to all the candidates who ran in this election and thanks to everybody who took the time to vote.

The end of exams doesn’t mean the end of the Union’s activities. This last week has been jam-packed with training for our student leaders.

We developed and hosted a training programme for your incoming common room executives, new student group executives, course reps and the new Student Trustees, to name but a few. I think these were really fantastic opportunities and thanks to everyone who came along; I hope you were able to share ideas and learn invaluable skills for next year.

On your behalf I would like to thank Harry, your Development Officer, for putting the course together.

As this is the final edition of Palatinate of 2014/15 it signals the academic year is now drawing to a close. This is always a time of great excitement, as well as, for those of us leaving Durham University, a little apprehension and uncertainty.

For those heading off on the next thrilling adventures; perhaps a new career, or continued education, or even travelling the world, good luck. For myself and the Officer team, there is a great deal of sadness as we leave this place that has been our home for the last four, five, or (in my case) six years!

Thanks to all who have worked with us this year, it has been a real honour to be your President for the past two years.

So that’s it for 2014/15.

Good luck to next year’s officer team I am so excited to watch all the great work you are going to start from afar.

You have an amazing opportunity with a new VC starting and the University setting its academic strategy, I hope that senior figures continue to value the student voice through the Union because we are all members of this University’s community and we have made lots of progress over the last 12 months but we shouldn’t be complacent. I hope you all have an amazing summer and for those who are graduating, enjoy the celebrations.

I wish you the best of luck!

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News

News

@PalatinateNews

Summer finally comes to Durham, as can be seen with this astonishing view of Durham Cathedral from afar Photograph: Naomi Ellis

Palatinate exposes gender and ethnicity pay gap

First ever Pride parade in County Durham held

Police confirm reports of spiked drinks in Durham City

Photograph: Venus Loi

Photograph: Mikolaj Kundegorsk

Photograph: Peter Roberts

Turn to page 5 to read more

Turn to page 7 to read more

UNIVERSITY RECEIVES £4M WORTH OF DONATIONS IN LAST ACADEMIC YEAR

UNIVERSITY REVEALS THAT NUMBER OF DISCIPLINARY CASES ARE LOW

AMOUNT OF MONEY COLLECTED FROM LIBRARY FINES REVEALED

Over 3,000 individuals have donated gifts to Durham University over the last year, accumulating a sum of over £1,000,000, with the remainder of the sum predominantly coming from charitable trusts and commercial organisations. This income was mainly spent on teaching, closely followed by infrastructure and research.

The number of disciplinary cases at the University has remained low over the last four years. Cheating in exams is the most common cause of disciplinary action, followed by cases of misconduct. Only 6 cases of plagiarism in assignments warranted disciplinary action, all resulting in the individual being expelled.

The total amount of money collected from library fines among the University’s library service has fallen over the last three academic years from over £150,000 in 2012/13 to just over £80,000 in the current academic year.

It is believed that this money helps generate library development.

Turn to page 4 to read more

News in brief

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Thursday 11th June 2015 | PALATINATE

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Palatinate exposes gender and ethnicity pay gap Ryan Gould A series of Freedom of Information requests questioning pay, gender, and ethnicity of staff at the University has revealed that the number of men earning a salary in the highest grade pay scale (Grade 10) is more than double the number of women earning a salary in the same grade.

The requests also found that, although the number of female staff (2,021) is significantly higher than the number of male staff (1,604) employed on open-ended or permanent contracts, there are significantly more men in higher paid positions across the University.

The statisics released by the University also appear to point towards an ethnicity imbalance in the University’s highest paid positions. In managerial positions, the University employs 242 white members of staff, compared to a figure of less than five in the black and minority ethnic (BME) category. Similarly, 1,037 staff working in academic roles are white, while 105 are BME. When asked what the University could do to encourage

The University employs 661 open-ended or permanent staff in clerical roles, yet 599 of these workers are female.

ethnic diversity, particularly in its appointment of managerial roles, the University told Palatinate: “We are now consulting with staff on all areas of equality and diversity.”

The University stressed that on all their employment adverts, they include the statement “Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in the University.”

As of 31st January 2015, the number of women in both clerical and manual categories of employment considerably outweighed the number of men working in the same roles.

The University employs 661 open-ended or permanent

The statistics released appear to point towards an ethnicity inbalance staff in clerical roles, yet 599 of these workers are female. In a similar picture, the University employs 842 staff open-ended or permanently in manual roles, with 529 of these being female.

While females marginally outweigh males in managerial positions, with 140 females to 107 males respectively, the number of men working in academic positions within the University is notably higher across all three contract categories (i.e. openended/permanent, fixed term, and casual).

Speaking to Palatinate, the University commented: “Occupational segregation is clearly a contributory factor here and at Durham, we are not outside the norm for such roles.

“There is no specific reason and we are inclusive in our advertisements that are promoted via the local job centre as well as on the University website.

“The University is aware of this issue and has been doing many things to ensure that women are given every opportunity to progress to the higher grades, including demystifying promotion courses, mentoring, and coaching opportunities.”

Last year, the University’s Executive Committee and its governing bodies approved the Gender Equality Action Plan 2014-2017. This plan attempts to

address gender inequalities and tackle unequal representation of women or men.

The Committee stated: “There are both personal and structural obstacles to women making the transition from PhD into senior academic positions and managerial levels, which require the active consideration of the organisation.”

There has been a significant loss rate of women in the science departments, which the organisation calls “an urgent concern.”

Out of 8,323 staff that the University employs, 2,460 work in academic positions, followed by 2,156 in manual positions, and 1,616 in clerical positions.

The higher ratio of women to men working in either clerical or manual positions at the University raises questions regarding the widening pay gap between genders, particularly in lower paid roles.

Of 686 staff members earning the minimum wage, employed by the University on a casual basis, 391 are female and 295 are male.

Similarly, out of 486 earning Durham Pay Grade 1 working on a permanent or open-ended contract, 403 are female and 83 are male.

In its division of pay to staff employed directly by the University, 551 (12.91%) staff

Photograph: Venus Loi earn less than £7.85 per hour, 2,081 (48.77%) earn more than

Out of 486 earning Durham Pay Grade 1 working on a permanent or open-ended contract, 403 are female.

£7.85 per hour but less than £20 per hour, 1,031 (24.16%) earn more than (and including) £20 per hour but less than £50 per hour, and 415 (9.73%) earn more than (and including) £30 per hour but less than £40 per hour.

Likewise, 126 (2.95%) earn more than (and including) £40 per hour but less than £50 per hour, while 61 (1.43%) earn more than (and including) £50 per hour but less than £100 per hour. Two members of staff (0.05%) earn more than (and including) £100 per hour but less than £200 per hour.

As of 24th April 2015, there were 120 known ‘contractedout’ members of staff working at the University, where their roles may be, but aren’t limited to, cleaners, security staff, and parking attendants. Of these 120 individuals, 41 were being paid less than £7.85 per hour, equating to 34.16%.

The University also disclosed the top 10 staff annual salaries, with four staff members earning between £140,000-£150,000 per year, four earning between £150,000-£200,000 per year, and two earning more (and including) £200,000 per year.

In a separate Freedom of Information request by Palatinate, the University refused to disclose information regarding the salary of the University’s new ViceChancellor, Professor Stuart Corbridge, until after he joins the University on 1st September 2015.

All statistics quoted in this article stand correct as of 31st January 2015 unless otherwise stated.

Predicted £30,000 surplus for YUM cafes this year Josh Smith In the academic year 2013/14, the financial contribution of all the YUM cafes in the University was a deficit of £4,586.

This year, however, there is a planned budgeted surplus of £31,877.

Speaking to Palatinate, the University said this difference was because of “a turnover of less staff and non-staff costs.”

The University said that administration costs, heating, light and power, refuse collection, capital replacements, and

maintenance will still have to be subtracted from £31,877.

The University also told Palatinate: “Prices of products are checked annually against local high-street stores.

“On average, our student cafes are 10% cheaper for hot drinks, 16% cheaper for hot eats i.e. paninis and are competitively priced for packaged sandwiches.”

YUM cafes are located in the Bill Bryson Library, Palatine Centre, Chemistry Department, Riverside, Maiden Castle, Calman Learning Centre, Botanic Garden, Cafe on the Green, and the Courtyard Cafe, and also offer delivered catering.

PALATINATE | Thursday 11th June 2015

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County Durham holds first ever Pride parade

Sofya Grebenkina The first ever Pride parade in the County was held in Durham on the 31st of May under the slogan ‘Keep Calm and Pride On’.

Following the success of last year’s Pride, which boasted an attendance of over 2,000 people, Durham Pride 2015 managed to outstrip it both by number of attendees and the number of venues involved.

Dr Jamie Lawson, the Executive Director of Durham Pride, said: “We have been working hard to ensure that this year’s pride builds on what we achieved last year.

We’re putting Durham on the map as a place to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and its history.”

Pride was spread across a number of venues around Millennium Square, whilst other establishments in the city also declared their support for the event. Durham Pride, the charity behind the event, has been working all year to provide public lectures and LGBTQ+ nights within the town, as well as a week of events leading up to it, which have proven successful.

Festivities began with an allinclusive Pride parade, monitored by the organisers, which started from Palace Green. The procession presented itself as an array of colourfully-clad and flag-bearing LGBTQ+ people and allies, led by a brass band. As the parade moved through the centre of town and towards Rainbow Square, temporarily renamed from Millennium Square, more people and passers-by joined in.

At Rainbow Square, different sponsors of the Pride event had organized stalls, all supporting the LGBTQ+ movement and providing fun goods and useful information for those interested.

The official opening of Pride was accompanied by a performance in the centre of the Square with a brass band playing various contemporary hits.

Afterwards, the organisers described their efforts in making

“We’re putting Durham on the map as a place to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and its history.”

The well-attended parade proceeded from Palace Green to Millenium Square Pride a reality. Following several short speeches, in which the organisers and other supporters proclaimed Durham County’s acceptance of the LGBTQ+

“Everyone in Durham should know how much support there is from everyone to embrace who you are...”

community, various performers took to the stage, while being hosted by the ‘Queen of Durham’, Tess Tickle.

The first act introduced onto the stage was Lorraine Crosby, a Newcastle-based rock singer and a contestant from The Voice 2014, known for her performance as the female vocal on Meatloaf’s track “I’d Do Anything For Love”.

Among a host of other acts and special guests, the entertainment featured Drag Idol Newcastle

2015 winner Gucci Gaboré, and The Voice contestant Maxine Jack on the main stage.

Simultaneously, various local food and drink establishments showed their support by opening their doors to the crowd. Of particular popularity was the Slug and Lettuce, where ‘drag queens’ kept attendees entertained with their DJ set. A show hosted by Ophelia Balls also ran at the Slug and Lettuce.

The official after-party took place at Loveshack.

Overall, Pride left many contented with the state of the LGBTQ+ scene in Durham and inspired many to continue in making County Durham even more supportive of LGBTQ+ rights.

Philip Mullen, a Durham Pride trustee and PhD student at Durham University, told Palatinate: “We have been overwhelmed by the support County Durham has shown for Pride. More than 1,000 people and countless organisations were part of the Parade and really helped us to paint the city rainbow.

“We will work with this fantastic support for an inclusive and welcoming County Durham

to keep the city rainbow from now and forever more. We will help strengthen the Durham scene,

“The support we have had from day one has been nothing short of spectacular and makes us so proud to represent os many lovely and accepting people.”

build on our Pride Lecture series and host a range of events leading up to Pride 2016.

“Everyone in Durham should know how much support there is to embrace who you are, and support for Pride has shown that no LGBTQ+ person in County Durham is ever alone. The support we have had from day one has been nothing short of spectacular and makes us so proud to represent so

Photograph: Mikolaj Kundegorski many lovely and accepting people.”

Expressing a similar sentiment, Professor Catherine Alexander, Dean of Equality and Diversity at Durham University, said: “The University is extremely proud to be able to support the LGBTQ+ community in Durham city, as well as among its own staff and students.

“We look forward to supporting Durham Pride as it continues its work in our community.”

The University has played a large part in making Pride possible by sponsoring Rainbow Square, providing space for the Committee’s official base in St. Aidan’s College and through student and staff involvement.

Durham Pride managed to create a successful and safe event for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. The County looks forward to another Pride event next year.

P

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Continued from front page

Many students praised the capacity of NUS to lobby government in policy areas that directly affects students.

One response said: “[NUS] works in the interest of underrepresented and structurally challenged groups who exist as part of the Durham student community”.

Another response compared NUS to a trade union, calling it a “strong national forum” which protects students’ rights.

However, despite 42.9% saying that they knew what NUS stood for, many of these respondents knew very little about the organisation and were vague in what NUS lobbied for.

One student said: “Although I don’t notice much of what they do, I think it’s important to have a nationwide union supporting the views of students”, while another said: “[NUS] feels very disconnected from students at the moment, but it has the potential to be a useful voice for students”.

It is clear that even those who find NUS relevant are not entirely sure why. Of more concern is the fact that 44.4% of students surveyed had only heard of NUS through their NUS card.

The survey revealed that many students only value the benefits their NUS card brings, rather than that of the union itself.

One student praised the “regulation of student services registration with NUS brings”, in particular the reduction in the price of alcohol in college bars.

Even this, however, has been criticised: “They have now gotten to the point where they have their own objectives that are disjointed from many universities and fail to represent us effectively.

“It is clear that even those who find NUS relevant are not entirely sure why.”

“The prices offered by NUS Services Limited (NUSSL) are actually worse than many other, nonexclusive suppliers. So while they are relevant, they are also useless.”

NUS is a voluntary membership organisation, which consists of 600 students’ unions and promises to “promote, defend and extend student rights.”

A key example of this is the Liar Liar Campaign, which was launched in the run up to the 2015

Thursday 11th June 2015 | PALATINATE

Young Greens and Labour Club protest against austerity Josh Smith

General Election and publically denounced MPs who broke promises regarding tuition fees.

However, this campaign is also an example of how NUS has become synonymous with leftwing politics as it was accused of specifically targeting the Liberal Democrats.

One response to Palatinate’s survey said that the estimated £40,000 that was used to fund the Liar Liar Campaign “could have been better spent furthering causes of students to all parties, rather than slamming one in particular.”

Many students feel that NUS is a means to an end to pursue Labour-leaning policies.

Toni Pearce, the current NUS President, is a Labour Party member and pushed for active campaigning against the Liberal Democrats in May 2015. Some have seen this as a result of her own disappointment towards the Liberal Democrat’s position on tuition fees, after she voted for them herself in 2010.

Moreover, the relevance of NUS to the University has been questioned after Durham Students’ Union voted against a motion that proposed to support free education in November 2014. Given that free education is one of the primary goals of NUS, is it still relevant to Durham students?

105 students (54.7%) thought that the Students’ Union should still be affiliated with NUS following the decision of the Students’ Union last November, while 87 (45.3%) said that the Students’ Union should disaffiliate itself from NUS on the basis of this.

Clearly, there are misconceptions about the NUS, and its relationship with the Students’ Union

Photograph: Creative Commons

needs to be addressed.

In March 2014, The Tab found similar responses, with 35% of students surveyed saying they had no idea what the NUS does.

Palatinate interviewed Megan Dunn, the president-elect of NUS, in April, who spelt out the benefits of affiliation with NUS. When asked how NUS can represent Durham students’ views, Dunn said that students “must recognise that NUS is a collective, not a single, organisation” and that one of the main benefits was being part of a “movement of 7 million students”.

Dunn also said that the benefits have been mutual: “It is important for NUS to recognise the concerns Durham students have.

“Durham is influential in debates on how NUS carries on, it has definitely had its voice heard.”

Thus, while the Students’ Union’s decision to reject free education should not mean disaffiliation with NUS, it is clear that NUS has problems engaging students and requires a stronger university presence in order to educate students in their objectives and therefore support the Students’ Union.

Although Dunn announced that an NUS officer would be coming to Durham in the foreseeable future to help support the campaign against the accommodation fees crisis, many of the responses submitted to the survey argued that the University’s collegiate system has replaced the need for NUS. One response said: “I don’t think being a collegiate university fits within the idea of an organisation such as NUS”.

Another said: “Given the prominence of individual college JCRs in debating controversial topics, the Students’ Union in Durham in effect takes over the role of NUS in coordinating campaigns.”

When asked what NUS could do to engage Durham students more, many responses called for a stronger presence within the university, such as raising awareness through events in the Students’ Union or through leaflets.

One student suggested: “Come up with a fun way to teach students about NUS and what it can offer. Make it appeal to the people who voted no to free education.”

While many students recognise that NUS should be relevant to university life, they fail to see its importance at the moment: “I’m not entirely sure that the NUS is irrelevant to Durham students, it may be relevant in ways of which I am unaware.

“I’m willing to accept that NUS does important things, which matter to all universities, Durham included, however I wouldn’t know what these things are.”

Outside of the University, NUS has generated an extremely negative image, such as refusing to condemn “Islamic State” terrorists on

“I’m willing to accept that NUS does important things, which matter to all universities, Durham included, however I wouldn’t know what these things are.”

the grounds that the motion was ‘Islamophobic’ or because of its banning of clapping at NUS Women’s Conference 2015.

The stereotype of NUS as ineffectual and heavy-handed appears to pervade many students’ beliefs: “I don’t really understand what they do, just that they don’t have a good reputation.”

Dunn promised that NUS will “support Students’ Unions in whatever way they need it.” Hopefully under her leadership, NUS will combat its negative image and build a stronger grounding.

With the majority of students recognising who NUS are, and yet still finding them irrelevant, it is crucial that NUS begin to work to the majority of students’ interests in an engaging and effective way.

Or face the consequencs.

Several members from Durham Young Greens and Durham Labour joined a mass demonstration in Newcastle last week protesting against Government cuts.

Roughly 1,000 people joined a march from City Pool to the Monument.

“The protestors marched down Northumberland Street and stopped briefly outside Sports Direct to protest about zero-hour contracts.

The anti-austerity protest was called by the People’s Assembly in the run up to a national demonstration on 20th June.

Jamie Penston Raja, President of Durham Young Greens, told Palatinate: “The Durham Young Greens were very proud to attend, as throughout the campaign it was us alone who opposed the austerity politics being espoused by the two/three/four main parties, and the demonstration showed this.

“This proved to be a peaceful display of our rejection of divisive politics.”

Jamie PenstonRaja, President of Durham Young Greens

“Attendance from the Durham Young Greens and a few from the Durham Labour Club showed the Durham Left’s rejection of the austerity politics and gave a picture of the wide range of services this will affect.

“This proved to be a “peaceful display of our rejection of the divisive politics that we have seen over the last five years, and the politics that is to come”, after the results of the 2015 General Election.

Durham Young Greens and Durham Labour protested alongside groups such as ‘999 NHS’, the NUT, many Socialist groupings in the area, and other trade union figures, which is an indication of the wide range of services this will affect.

At the end of the rally, attendees heard from speakers from all of these groups, with an overarching anti-austerity message from the speakers, including from the Peoples Assembly, the NUT, and a primary school child who has grown up in poor financial circumstances.

PALATINATE | Thursday 11th June 2015

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Student protests planned for July Open Days Daniel Fox Open days this July could be the site of more student protests against increasing college rents.

The Students’ Union Assembly, the highest democratic student body in the University, recently passed a motion calling for a rent freeze.

However, Harry Cross, co-chair of Durham Students for University Reform (DSUR), told Palatinate: “If the University remains silent, the possibility of action during the July Open Days is being openly considered and discussed with the current Durham SU Officers.”

He warned that the “action would be much less polite than what we organised during the March Open Days.”

DSUR has been actively campaigning on the issue of rising accommodation rates throughout the year, focusing on information campaigns this term.

“There is a link between spiralling college rents and the spiralling rents charged by private landlords in the city.

“The housing company StuRents has recently established a direct relationship between the two as landlords respond to rent hikes by the University, resulting in a rentcrisis in Durham city which hurts

livers-in, livers-out and permanent residents.”

“The University has been reluctant to pursue any change and has been criticised for their perceived lack of engagement with students’ concerns.

“The response by the University has revealed a lot about its contempt for student activism.

“Official comment by the University in Palatinate has aimed to disparage protestors rather than explain the reason for spiralling college rents.”

In a Times Higher Education article, Graham Towl, Pro ViceChancellor and Deputy Warden, said that students “benefit from a college experience at halls of residence prices.”

Cross derided the comments, saying “many of us wondered just who he thought he was kidding.”

Accommodation prices have risen 20% over the last three years, which is higher than that of Newcastle University and the University of York.

A standard room for freshers and finalists will cost £6,819 in the next academic year, up from £6,289 this year.

Despite criticising the University’s reaction, Cross and DSUR are upbeat about the results of their campaigns.

“We have already achieved

Protests in February

Photograph: William Pinkney-Baird

success in many of our secondary goals, such as forcing greater transparency on the breakdown of accommodation fees by the University...

“We have succeeded in building a movement that can be sustained in the years to come.”

In February, DSUR organised the largest student protest in Durham for fourteen years. The organisation has been nominated for the category ‘Best Student Campaign’ in the Durham Awards.

“We wanted the protest to be more than symbolic and the same is true of our nomination for this award.

“We hope this recognition will translate into concrete action by the University.”

DSUR are also cautiously optimistic about the likelihood of success.

“We were always aware that this would have to be a long-term campaign and that it would be a while before we secured concrete victories.”

“The appointment of Professor Stuart Corbridge as Vice-Chancellor offers a real opportunity for concrete change.

“There are high hopes that Professor Corbridge will take action to rebuild relationships

between University management and students, staff, workers and residents which greatly deteriorated under his predecessors.”

DSUR, along with other student groups, is looking to campaign on other issues in the coming year too.

“We will continue to organise other campaigns, calling notably for the democratisation of University governance structures, the suspension of planned changes to the terms and conditions of University porters and cleaning staff and for all Durham University staff to be paid a living wage.”

Durham University Labour Club (DULC) is also planning campaigns on similar issues.

James Mills, co-chair of DULC, declared that “applying pressure on the University through JCR motions and campaigns, to pay staff a living wage, is a high priority for DULC”.

Professor Graham Towl, ProVice-Chancellor and Deputy Warden, told Palatinate: “Our students enjoy the benefits of a collegiate university and we are pleased to see that application rates are high.

“We recognise the need to price our accommodation competitively and they are annually reviewed with student consultation.”

Police issue spiked drinks warning

Charlie Taylor-Kroll St Mary’s College has issued a warning to students about the risk of drink spiking whilst out and has urged students to monitor their drinks closely.

The same warning was repeated

by Sgt Tim Robson of the Alcohol Reduction Unit in Durham Police.

He told Palatinate: “Never leave your drink unattended and be wary of strangers who purchase drinks for you and the pouring and delivery of drinks if they were not witnessed by yourself.”

Sgt Robson admitted that drink-spiking incidents are very uncommon in Durham City, but that similar effects to drink spiking can be caused by other means.

He told Palatinate: “More often the individual has simply mixed their drinks and/or drunk far too much.

“Should anyone suspect their drink has been spiked then I would urge them to seek medical advice and ensure that a blood sample is

The Get Home safe scheme is one of the initiatives introduced, which aids vulnerable student

taken.”

Both the problems of drink spiking and excessive drinking are being challenged by the City Safety group as a means of improving safety when clubbing.

Graham Towl, Deputy Warden

getting home.

The Students’ Union has also introduced a night bus service, as well as a campaign, ‘Never Have I Ever’, which raises awareness of promoting positive behaviour when drinking on a night out, such as walking home with someone.

Durham University Christian Union has also introduced an initiative to offer support for those who seem intoxicated on evenings out.

“We are doing all we can to help our students to keep themselves safe when out in Durham.”

“Never leave your drunk unattended and be wary of strangers who purchase drinks for you and the pouring and delivery of drinks if they were not witnessed by yourself.”

of the River Safety Group, told Palatinate: “As part of the River Safety Group, we are doing all we can to help our students to keep themselves safe when out in

Photograph: Peter Roberts Durham.”

Both the University and Students’ Union have increased their activity to improve safety when clubbing in Durham.

8

News Features

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Thursday 11th June 2015 | PALATINATE

Students’ Union officers def

A Palatinate survey found deep discontent among students regard Slavin and Joely Charlton, the President and Activities Officer of D NUS to undergo governance review and reform over the next 12 months Dunn: “Durham has been really influential in the debate about how to take NUS forward”

Tom Fenton

“It doesn’t engage students.”

“I don’t know what they do apart from the card.”

“Irrelevant to my everyday student experience, unrepresentative, waste of space.”

“Self-aggrandising wank fest of bullshit-cum-populist-cum-stereotypical student left-wing politics.”

These are just some of the negative views we received in our recent survey looking into student opinion on the NUS. In an extensive interview with Palatinate, Durham Students’ Union (Durham SU) President Dan Slavin and Activities Officer Joely Charlton defended the National Union of Students (NUS), but said reform was necessary.

Asked what the benefits of affiliation were, Slavin said being part of NUS is about “working together and having our student voice and having our input... so our students are represented nationally”.

He also said that, through NUS Services Limited (NUSSL), a drink is “£1.80 a pint… instead of £3 a pint”. Charlton added that in the future, the Durham SU are hoping to “bulk buy” other things such as stash from NUSSL so it is more affordable to buy and other things that “will really benefit students”.

They also agreed that the NUS has been an enormous help to the Union in organising a number of campaigns this year, such as fixing international fees, the living wage, Disabled Allowance and the zero tolerance on sexual harassment policy.

The NUS is also helping the Students’ Union to develop “active bystander training which challenges sexual harassment and hopefully in the future… will be rolling out consent workshops for students”, according to Charlton.

Slavin agreed that the Students’ Union gets a lot of resources from the NUS. “There was a whole tool kit produced to tell you the key people in your institution you need to talk to. So they give you tactics.”

However, both Slavin and Charlton agreed that the NUS had to reform to be more accountable to students.

In the next year, the NUS is having a governance review of which Slavin said “Durham [SU] has been

quite a strong advocate”.

Slavin said that “Durham has a reputation for being sensible.

“When I talk to my friends who work for NUS they say we know you lot are practical and they use us as a sounding board and ask us

“Self-aggrandising wank fest of bullshit-cumpopulist-cum stereotypical leftwing politics.”

One student vividly describes the NUS

whether things will work.”

He added: “For the past couple of years we’ve said ‘you need to sort yourselves out’… and so I would say we have had a leading voice.”

Megan Dunn, President-elect of the NUS who spoke to Palatinate by phone in May, confirmed this.

She said: “Durham has been really influential in the debate about how we take NUS forward and has been a massive help and support.”

Slavin said the governance review is necessary as “the sensible voices are outnumbered by the less sensible voices”.

He also said “the way NUS is structured is not very good”. He described the NUS as dividing into two distinct parts.

One part, which has its “many benefits”, gives training opportunities to Student Union officers in Durham, for example in equality and diversity, and helps in campaigns such as fixing international fees, for the living wage, for the Disabled Allowance and for the Student Union’s zero tolerance on sexual harassment policy.

Slavin said “everyone loves” this part whilst “everyone laughs at” the “annoying” political side.

Most students who gave negative responses about the NUS to Palatinate said the “less sensible voices” was the biggest reason they disliked the organisation.

One student said: “Through protest, complaint and unnecessary pressure it pushes a left-wing agenda quite to the contrary of the beliefs of many students. It actu-

ally makes me feel embarrassed to be a student not sharing their excessively politically correct, ultra modern, liberal, oppressive agenda.

“I condemn its position on organisations such as so called IS and even its refusal to acknowledge UKIP. How can an organisation include and represent all students when it divides and rules and pushes an agenda far to the left that it naively assumes most students back and support!”

Another wrote: “They don’t represent the views of students at all

“For the past few years we’ve said ‘you need to sort yourselves out’.”

Dan Slavin on calls for NUS reform

and deal with a very radical minority of views that are not that of the average student” whilst another student described the organisation and campaigns as “outdated and politically extreme”.

A senior member of the Students’ Union told Palatinate that “in its day-to-day workings it is useful, such as with training or its purchasing consortium.”

However, the senior member added that “it does little to dispel the notion that it is a vanity club for a particular type of stufent, following pet political agendas instead of seeking to benefit its membership.”

Last October, the NUS was derided for failing to condemn the so-called “Islamic State” after, according to an NUS spokesperson, “some committee members felt that the wording of the motion being presented would unfairly demonise all Muslims rather than solely the group of people it set out to rightfully condemn.”

In December, the NUS did pass a motion condemning the terrorist organisation, but only as part of a motion opposing US and UK military intervention.

In early June this year, the NUS passed a vote to boycott Israeli goods — from Israel as well as all produce from the Occupied Palestinian Territories — which was condemned by the Union of Jewish

Students, who said it would only fuel anti-Semitism, Asked whether this boycott would affect the Students’ Union in Durham, Slavin said “it’s our choice” and “[we are] not bound by any policy of NUS”. He also defended the NUS making political statements because it is “a political organisation”.

Durham’s Students’ Union has clashed with the NUS in recent years. In 2010, the Durham SU disaffiliated with the NUS after officers stopped a Durham Union Society debate, in which two British National Party members had been invited to take part, from taking place. The Students’ Union reaffiliated in 2011.

In addition, at the National Conference in 2014, the Durham SU abstained from a motion “opposing UKIP”. Slavin said “because we have a UKIP society, we abstained” but did not oppose the motion because “of my own personal point of view on UKIP”.

After the Women’s Conference in March 2015, Charlton and Laura Carter (Community Officer at the Students’ Union) sent a letter of complaint to the NUS President Toni Pearce.

Charlton said: “When we attended we felt that it was quite an intimidating environment and that people couldn’t necessarily express the views that they might hold… We felt that that wasn’t good enough at a democratic event.”

Charlton said the Women’s conference is “really important”. She told Palatinate that Pearce “wrote back to give us some ideas to make the women’s campaign more open and more successful and it’s something we are going to pass onto next year’s officers and we very much hope that it actually talks about women’s issues.”

Charlton added that: “There are a lot of people from the Left talking about Palestine and detention centres, all pertinent issues from the UK, but they barely talked about women’s issues at all…

“One of the policies they tried to put through was to disband the Women and Leadership campaign because some people felt that the campaign actually contributed to the capitalist system [which this group of people opposed].”

Charlton said they were able to stop the policy, of which she is “a massive advocate”.

According to minutes from the

Women’s Conference, other motions called for “the abolition of the prison-industrial complex” in a motion titled “Prison abolition is a Feminist Issue” and one (503) was titled “Dear White Gay Men: Stop Appropriating Black Women” which is (apparently) “prevalent within the LGBT scene and community”. Allegedly, “white gay men may often assert that they are ‘strong black women’ or have an ‘inner black woman’” and benefit from “privilege”.

Both the Women’s Conference and National Conference also passed a number of motions calling for free education, a proposal rejected by the SU in November.

In an interview with Palatinate, Megan Dunn, the NUS Presidentelect, defended the free education policy even though it was rejected

by Durham students.

She said: “We have to recognise that NUS is a collective and not everyone will agree with what we say and do all the time. I think it is important that we recognise that NUS is a student organisation where people may differ on different policies that people will be working in the interests of students…

“It’s very important that we recognise the concerns that students like in Durham have and what is it

“If you feel as if you’re not being represented you very much have that opportunity.

You just need to take those steps.”

Joely Charlton

that makes people think that and how are we going to make sure that what those people are worried about are not the outcome of the campaign.

“So how can we make sure what Durham Student Union are worried about - the amount of public debt that [that campaign] creates or the economic concern... - that we are addressing those concerns so we are not reinforcing the worries people have.”

Both Slavin and Charlton agreed

PALATINATE | Thursday 11th June 2015

9 www.palatinate.org.uk

News Features

fend NUS but call for reform

ding the National Union of Students (NUS). Palatinate spoke to Dan Durham Students’ Union, and Megan Dunn, President-elect of NUS. Two Durham SU officers sent a letter of complaint to the NUS President following the Women’s Conference in March. Charlton: “People couldn’t necessarily express the views that they held.”

that students who wanted to change the NUS should “get involved”.

Charlton said: “NUS is a democracy, our unions are a democracy.

“It’s about being part of a collective student body...and we can affect real politics.”

Dan Slavin

If you don’t like the way it’s being run, or what’s being said, then instead of saying ‘oh you’re all crazy’, you should get involved, do something about it and run for election at the NUS conference or NUS

committee.

“I think it is so important that if you feel as if you’re not being represented you very much have the opportunity to be represented.

You just need to take those steps.”

Dunn agreed. She said: “If people don’t like the policy that NUS do in passing then they should get in touch and we can talk about how they can be involved and how they can make their voices heard.”

Slavin concluded: “We need to do better at communicating the benefits of our membership. It’s not about pounds and pence. It’s about being part of a collective student body that represents the UK and we have shown time and time again that we can affect real politics.

“In our two constituencies, student turnout went up because we

got involved in a nationwide campaign and we were part of it.”

Charlton concluded: “Yes, NUS might have its problems but it is always better for us to be working to improve it rather than saying

“NUS might have its problems but it is always better for us to be working to improve it rather than saying we should leave.”

Joely Charlton

we should leave.”

Slavin was elected to the National Executive Council earlier this year, which sets the policy between the annual National Conferences.

Asked what he wanted to do with his new role, he told Palatinate: “I want NUS to talk about things our students care about which is their societies and their actual life as a student rather than all the other stuff going on round the world - [although this] is important and I think NUS should have its opinion on it… [but] we don’t do it right.

“But that is all we ever talk about. What do our students talk about the most? Well the operation of our societies so why at a national level are we not working on policy to make all the Unions

better at getting the societies for example. Like charity work and volunteering.

“At the National Conference we never talk about sport and how Wednesday afternoons [are] sacrosanct and [postgraduates] don’t always get Wednesday afternoon off. Why are we not campaigning to make sure every University has Wednesday afternoons free? We won’t because we’re too busy talking about Palestine or whatever is going on at the moment.

“That is what I want to do and try and fix it that way. There are a group of people who got elected at the same time as me who have that view and who aren’t in a political party.”

Asked whether he was positive that change could happen, he replied: “Yes, I am.”

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News Features

www.palatinate.org.uk

Thursday 11th June 2015 | PALATINATE

Are Durham students apathetic? the Union can play in winning new rights and services for students.

“I worry that too many Union officers see themselves as employees of the University in a managerial position. The DSU is also needed to provide an effective opposition to unpopular decisions by the University. I am sad to say that until recently, the DSU has had very little to say on the key issues that affect the cost of living for students, notably spiralling college rents.”

Rhys Jones, a second-year English student, argues the Student Union does not take enough steps to benefit students. “I think turnout is low because interest is low.

Students aren’t interested in the

Becky Wilson In the 1960s, students were a formidable force of activism. Groups such as the Radical Student Alliance helped organise protests which attracted up to 100,000 students, involving barricades, sit-ins, and even the breaking down of riot control gates. They rallied against issues varying from the British government’s involvement in the Vietnam War, to the rising price of food in a student canteen.

Compared to this historical hotbed of student activism, today’s students are often dismissed as politically complacent. In Durham, there does appear to be an element of truth to this stereotype. Recent protests against rising accommodation fees have not matched the scale, length, or impact of student activism of the past, and earlier this year, only 18.5% of students voted in Durham’s Students’ Union Presidential election.

Political disengagement was also exhibited outside of the University bubble. Many students decided not to vote in the 2015 General Election, despite national campaigns such as ‘Bite the Ballot’, set up with the intention of harnessing the potential power of young voters.

Is all this because students are simply no longer interested in politics?

George Evans, second-year student and Media and Publicity Officer for Durham Young Greens, argues that this is not the case: “I don’t believe our generation is politically complacent.” As proof, he cites the ‘green surge’: the 100% increase in national membership of the Young Greens, between March and October last year. “In Durham, too, there is a lively political community, and communication between different groups, especially on the left.”

Sofiat Kolawole, a second-year student from St. Aidan’s, believes that while Durham students have a considerable interest in political issues, this often fails to translate into action. “From my experience, people here tend to get very heated about certain topics that interest them, and can debate endlessly about it. But they just go in circles.”

Harry Cross, co-chair of Durham Students for University Reform, is also adamant that Durham students are not politically

“The DSU has

had very little to say on the issues that affect the cost of living for

students”

complacent. “Events pertaining to the General Election in Durham were well attended so I think people are interested. Many people have strong political opinions but don’t join any political parties during their time at university.”

“People here tend to get very heated about certain political issues”

Rather than political apathy, students’ unwillingness to affiliate themselves with mainstream

parties may instead indicate both a mistrust in and distaste for traditional politics. A recent survey

by The Observer found that many of the issues dominating discourse in the recent election do not matter to young people. Immigration is only 17th on their list of concerns, while the vast majority do not want an EU referendum. Unsurprisingly, 18-25 year olds care most about fair wages and house prices, issues often drowned out by the more contentious themes of immigrants, benefit ‘scroungers’, and the NHS. George Evans believes that young people should not be criticised for choosing nonestablishment parties. “It suggests

Illustration: Mariam Hayat

the perceived inadequacy of mainstream politicians rather than any youthful complacency.”

Interestingly, the reasons behind students’ political disengagement on a national level can also be applied to university politics. Just as national politicians fail to attract young voters by overlooking their biggest concerns, Harry Cross argues that the Student Union policies are sometimes misguided.

“The DSU has sought to tackle high levels of apathy in student elections with more visible publicity and campaigning. However, I think it is more important for candidates to consider what role

Student Union because they don’t see how it affects or improves their time at Durham.” However, George Evans points to Durham’s unique collegiate system for student’s disengagement with on-campus politics. “The colleges in Durham probably don’t help the Union, as they play the same role in some respects. This doesn’t mean that the DSU is unimportant.”

While the students who voted in the recent Student Officer elections are still in the minority, it should be noted that turnout increased by 15% on the previous year. Current SU president Dan Slavin is optimistic that this number will continue to grow. “We are continually working to engage more students in the democratic process and we hope to continue to improve year-on-year.”

Outside of the SU, Harry Cross believes Durham’s student population is genuinely capable of making an impact. He cites the success for Durham Students for University Reform in February, when it organised the largest student protest in the university for 14 years, on the issue of college rents. “What’s important now is not to lose momentum. Despite our record-breaking turnouts we have yet to organise a protest in good weather, so when we do the university had better watch out!”

PALATINATE | Thursday 11th June 2015

Politics

11 @PalatinatePol

www.palatinate.org.uk

Nuclear deals between Iran and the US continue Time is running out for negotiations to meet the 1st July 2015 deadline

Timeline of negotiations

Ministers and diplomats in Switzerland annoucing the framework for an agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme in April

Catherine Wyatt The countdown is on. There are only a few weeks to go to wrap up the nuclear deal between Iran and the US, yet there are still problems with negotiations that make it look as if the selfimposed deadline of July 1 won’t be reached.

On April 2 of this year, an outline of a deal was agreed upon in Switzerland. Iran broadly agreed to cap its nuclear programme for at least a decade and be bound to more intrusive inspections of its atomic sites. In return, Iran expects a lift to the international sanctions currently placed on the country. This is progress from years of negotiations. However, there are some key final details that need to be sorted before a deal can be reached.

First, a schedule for the removal of sanctions is proving to be a point of tension. Iran want all sanctions removed, and they want them removed quickly.

However, the P5+1 group (the group of countries negotiating with Iran) insist that sanctions

can only be removed when the agreement is demonstrably implemented: in other words, they want results first. The P5+1 is in a tricky situation: act on removing sanctions too early and they lose leverage in the implementation of the scaling back of Iran’s nuclear programme, but act too late and they risk derailing a fraught and fragile deal.

Technicalities in the agreement’s implementation are also up for debate. It has not yet been decided where Iran’s nuclear stockpiles should go.

Should they be sent abroad, or converted into non nuclear material and kept in Iran? There is also disagreement as to the access given to the International Atomic Agency Inspectors. The P5+1 and the Agency are pushing for full access to the country, but Iran is being very defensive

“On April 2, Iran broadly agreed to cap its nuclear programme for at least a decade”

over its military sites.

These important but undecided details of the deal were thrust into the spotlight even more last week when it was reported that Tehran’s nuclear stockpiles have increased by 20% in the last 18 months. During interim negotiations, the agreement from Iran was that it would stop its growth in stockpiles. Trust in Iran to keep to its promises is diminishing.

The removal of international sanctions would lead to the releasing of billions of dollars in frozen assets, as well as a sudden influx in investment into the country as trade and banking restrictions are released.

Iran would have more economic power in the Gulf region, and as a result the US and P5+1 also face international pressure against the deal.

The mostly Sunni countries in the Gulf region fear the repercussions of an economically and militarily strong Shiite Iran.

Known to fund militant groups and actively interfere in Gulf politics, a strong Iran could have serious implications for the Gulf

states. Saudi Arabia have been particularly vocal about its opposition to the nuclear deal: whilst it is unlikely that Iran will wage war on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, it is not unthinkable that Iran would work to undermine Sunni regimes through opposition movements and militant groups such as Hezbollah.

Israel have also opposed the nuclear deal, claiming that Iran will never stick to the agreement, and that it will continue to increase its nuclear capacity. As a state fundamentally opposed to Israel’s very existence, and complicit in the funding of Hamas, a stronger Iran pose a strong threat to Israel.

Nonetheless, Obama insists that the nuclear deal is the only way in which an attempt can be made to control Iran. At the moment, the ‘breakout time’ it would take for Iran to create a nuclear bomb if it so desired is 2-3 months. The implementation of the plan, designed to last at least 10-15 years, is hoped to increase that breakout time to around one year. Moreover,

P5+1 refers to the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, plus Germany.

20 January, 2014 The Joint Plan of Action was signed between Iran and the P5+1.

18-20 February, 2014 The first negotiations took place between P5+1 and Iran.

20 July, 2014 Initiral deadline for reaching a comprehensive agreement (extended to November 24, 2014).

24 November, 2014 New deadline set for July 1, 2015.

Photograph: Wikipedia

“A deal is emminently desirable in the containing of Iran’s nuclear ambitions” Obama hopes that the reintegration of Iran into the world economy will liberalise the country, meaning that even if it were able to, Iran would be less likely to want to create nuclear weapons in the first place.

A deal is eminently desirable in the containing of Iran’s nuclear ambitions and capabilities. However, it seems unlikely that the P5+1 will be able to iron out the last minute technicalities and achieve a workable and mutually beneficial deal in the short time they have left before their July 1 deadline has to be extended.

The clock is ticking.

@PalatinatePol

PALATINATE | Thursday 11th June 2015

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Not fit for purpose: the NUS is irrelevant, insular and illiberal

David Siesage examines the reasons for our loss of faith in the National Union of Students David Siesage

For many of us, the National Union of Students (NUS) is nothing more than the organisation that provides free McFlurries and Topshop discounts. Few know much more. In March last year, The Tab conducted a survey of over 5,000 students. Just 7 per cent of respondents said that they thought the NUS was doing a good job; almost 40 per cent had no idea what it actually does, views confirmed in today’s Palatinate poll.

This lack of awareness is hardly surprising. The NUS has little relevance for the average student and has long been little more than a mouthpiece for youthful left-wing populism. That’s fantastic if you sleep with Das Kapital under your pillow, but Palatinate’s pre-election poll found that – surprise, surprise – this is not a university dedicated to socialism. The Conservative Party received just short of 30 per cent of the student vote, and only around 17 per cent supported explicitly anti-

austerity parties.

Nonetheless, the NUS’ National Conference plays out every year like an on-stage version of 50 Shades of Socialism, with delegates from the Labour Party, the Socialist Workers’ Party, and the Greens battling over who is most radical.

Consequently, instead of tackling the real problems faced by students across the country, NUS delegates prefer to engage in grandiose, moralising rhetoric. In the recent past, they have condemned people, countries and institutions as varied as David Lammy, Israel and UKIP. Yet, they refuse to denounce Isis for fear of ‘unfairly demonising all Muslims’.

When they do address more parochial issues, they usually revolve around ‘safe spaces’, gender pronouns and unisex toilets.

This is neither what students want, nor what they need. While these may be matters worthy of consideration, few are issues that seriously affect the majority of the student community. As an organisation that claims to speak for everyone in further and higher education, the NUS mustn’t assume

all of its members subscribe to this narrow worldview. The quiet, centrist majority deserve better representation.

But the NUS is not just irrelevant and insular. With its curious disdain for freedom, it is also damaging.

For an organisation almost entirely staffed by self-styled progressives, its staff are remarkably quick to turn to censorship and boycotts when they see dissent in their ranks.

The Sun, ‘Blurred Lines’, sombreros and Nestlé have all felt the sharp edge of the

NUS axe.

The tool by which this censorship is most

frequently enforced is the ‘No Platform’ policy, which sees speakers banned, newspapers censored and debate castrated. Clearly unfamiliar with the notion that students must be able to ‘think the unthinkable, discuss the unmentionable, and challenge the unchallengeable’, NUS officers strive to impose a uniform morality on their members.

The most concerning example of its appetite for censorship took place at this very university. In February 2010, the century-old Durham Union Society organised a debate entitled “This house believes in a multicultural Britain” to which they controversially invited two members of the British National Party.

Shocked NUS officials, spotting a fresh opportunity to sit astride their moral high horse, immediately demanded the debate be cancelled.

They claimed that it would be illegal, and threatened a ‘colossal protest’ if took place. They told the DUS Exec that “if any students are hurt in and around this event responsibility will lie with you.” With this thinly veiled call for violence, the DUS had little option but to cancel the event. The NUS won.

What is most frustrating about this approach is that we at Durham

are fortunate enough to have won a place at one of the country’s best universities. Durham’s high position in every annual league table suggests that its students are intelligent, curious, and capable of independent thought. Certainly, we are perceptive enough not to fall for the vile bigotry of Nick Griffin. But the NUS think otherwise. Worried that our undeveloped minds may be wooed by a controversial opinion, the NUS seek to protect us from dissidents.

It is patronising and unintellectual.

Two years after BNP-gate, a National Conference delegate nominated an inanimate carbon rod for NUS President. He claimed that “we may as well elect a non-existent candidate for all the good it will do”, because the union is “broken.”

Clearly, the NUS is not just in need of surface reform; it needs a wholesale transformation of its people and culture.

Only then will it have any hope of representing its members properly and effectively.

Yet if it is unable to curb its authoritarian impulse, we must leave – this time, for good.

Image: sunpeaksnews.com and image4world.com

Teaching at Durham: we want our money’s worth Ottoline Spearman on how Durham’s teaching can - and must - be improved

Ottoline Spearman

Nine grand for tuition, six grand for accommodation, not to mention a good couple of hundred for the extra books and essentials. And all this for what? 24/7 access to a library that’s so full I spend hours wandering aimlessly trying to find a seat, piercing glares cast in my general direction? A few contact hours a week? I’m not impressed, Durham; I’m sure you can do better. As a humanities student I think I’ve drawn a particularly short straw. With a mere nine contact hours a week and only twenty-one weeks of teaching,

this amounts to just under fifty quid per lecture. Fifty quid?! That could buy me ten quaddies, and sadly that might be a much better use of my time than fifty-minutes listening to the droning tones of a lecturer reading off a powerpoint.

Lectures in general are certainly not what I expected from a worldrenowned university. With low attendance and even lower quality of teaching, I am certainly not getting what I am paying for. With the majority of the lecturers delivering less than inspiring lectures, which cover the material in A level depth, perhaps Durham should be dropping in the league tables? When I applied to Durham I envisaged hurrying to lectures in rooms overlooking the cathedral, the tolling of the bells marking my inevitable lateness.

Somewhat fusty but charismatic lecturers would recite Plato pas-

sionately to a room of two hundredodd students, who would listen intently. Instead I get the monotonous tones of an inexperienced academic, reading word for word from a very sparse powerpoint, mostly decorated with pictures and size 20 font.

And, as interesting as last night’s Klute photos are, they definitely should not usurp the importance of actually paying attention to a lecture.

In the University’s defence, they do have “module surveys” which give a chance for students to leave feedback. So far so good, but here’s the catch: in typical British style, the surveys are conducted at the end of the academic year. What use is this?!

Perhaps we need to take a tip from the Japanese and actually carry out improvements during the year. If this was done, I’m sure student satisfaction would instantly increase.

If you’re struggling with a particular module, your only chance is to sit it out and hope that you achieve an okay grade at the end. Because there’s no use in complaining to the university- believe me I’ve tried this.

In fact, a whole group of us went to the head of department, outraged, as one of our modules was far beyond the standard fit for a second year undergraduate. Did this make a difference? I think you know the answer already. All we got was a five minute “reassuring” talk at the beginning of a lecture, cutting into the rapidly diminishing valuable time before our exam, about how the exam had already been approved by a board of governors and there was nothing they could do. Cue instant panic.

It seems that some lecturers and tutors are so absorbed in their own research, that they forget that their

job is primarily to teach us. When we send a desperate email, we expect a reply, and not three weeks later when the content of the email is irrelevant. The worst are those who reply instantly, quoting a section of the module handbook, that, believe it or not, we have already read. We took the time to further enquire about our subject, so please, lecturers, make the effort to provide a response that is not copied and pasted and which endeavours to answer the inquiry. After all, we’re marked down when we avoid the question.

And so I beg you, lecturers, academics, and tutors alike, to please remember what we’re paying you for.

P

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The balancing act: Labour needs to get real Jasper Cox on how the Labour party can learn from the left in Europe Jasper Cox

After sudden, brutal, unforeseen disasters we seek answers in order to tell ourselves it will never happen again. We expect to be able to halt nature, that with enough will we can protect ourselves from a callous and uncaring world.

After the Labour Party’s defeat, as crushing as it was because it was so unexpected, the temptation is there to prescribe a remedy to cure all ills.

The SNP’s tartan tsunami washed away the likes of Douglas Alexander, the party’s election chief. UKIP’s purple tornado swirled across leftbehind areas of the country Labour would previously have called its heartlands. Meanwhile, Labour could not thaw through the Tory vote in the South, which remained blue as voters gave the prospect of a Miliband government an icy reception.

Now that the battle is lost, the war has broken loose within Labour about how to win lost votes with a shift to the right, or the left; or away from metropolitan values or towards them.

But there are wider forces at play which make it hard for the party to find answers whatever they decide.

I do not attempt to provide them here. After the crisis it was expected centre-left parties around Europe would be well-placed to benefit. But instead in many countries we have seen a rise in populist, anti-establishment parties, whether they be extreme-right, extreme-left or nationalist.

Such is the case in France, the Front National have been the lightning rod for the stormy political mood. A historically racist party, Marine Le Pen has softened their image (her outspoken father JeanMarie, founder and ex-leader of the party, has just been suspended after reaffirming his opinion that the Holocaust was “a detail of history”).

The party has also moved to the left economically, wanting a strong state to cushion French workers

against the uncertainty of globalisation. The Front National are essentially an anti-modernity party – against the EU, against markets, against ‘Americanisation’, against immigration, against social liberalism – but still with a nasty bigoted side. Its war on the ‘Islamification’ of France sounds like a war on French Muslims in general. It is feared Le Pen could make the second round of the Presidential elections in 2017 and even win, were she against François Hollande.

UKIP’s success, particularly among traditional Labour voters in the north of England bears certain similarities. While originally both parties were thought to threaten the centre-right, they now pose a threat to the base of left-wing parties, who are disorientated and destabilised after industrial decline and globalisation and are receptive to criticisms of immigration.

The governing French Socialist Party won on a populist platform in 2012, with Hollande railing against austerity and promising to soak the rich with a top tax rate of 75%. Yet once in power this project came up

at odds against the European establishment and the markets, and taking a more pragmatic approach does not seem to have done the party any favours with voters.

Hollande’s tone softened and the more liberal Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Finance Minister Emmanuel Macron have embarked on loosening labour regulations. Valls has said employers are “frightened of hiring” because of job market inflexibility; an extraordinary declaration for someone in the French Socialist Party.

Hollande’s ratings plummeted as voters saw a weak, powerless leader who had betrayed his promises.

This was the danger for Miliband too if he had won. Once forced to execute cuts, the backlash against a Miliband government from left-wing voters and the left of his party could have severely tested his resolve.

Spain offers other parallels for Labour. Positioning itself in contrast to a corrupt elite, Podemos has emerged as a radical alternative to the traditional two-party system made up of the Socialist Party and the Popular Party. It claims to be

above the left-right divide, but in reality it is the equivalent of the Green Party in Britain, promising a much bigger state, presumably funded by wildly fantastical levels of tax return.

Its surge means it could well be in government (most likely as part of a coalition) by the end of the year.

Young voters in Spain see how their generation has been hit worse by the crisis through consigning half of them to unemployment, and the Socialist Party finds itself out-of-touch and part of the establishment.

Many of these continent-wide trends of rejection of the establishment and the embracing of national identity stem from a lack of control in a globalised world.

They are trends which would have weighed heavily on Labour, as the traditional centre-left party, whatever the Miliband leadership had done: there were going to be several EdStones hurtling down the hill towards him, as it were, each one engraved with a different manifestation of populism.

The next Labour leader will be confronted with this problem.

There are not many votes in telling the electorate that wrapping the flag of nationalism around you – whether the Saltire, the Union Jack or St. George’s cross – just binds your arms and legs and separates you from others; that national governments are to a large extent forced to obey market forces; that open borders are necessary and unavoidable in order to be an active part of Europe and grow the economy.

Yet for as long as Labour wants to be a party of power, being dishonest will fail as well. Minor parties can afford to be mendacious and wishy-washy because until they are in power they can always find an answer to any problem that fits their world view. This stops once you have responsibility and can be punished for your actions.

As I said, I provide no answer for Labour. The party must forge a convincing economic narrative, one that concedes the fact that the state cannot master globalisation and market forces, but must instead ride them like a wave.

P Illustration: Lucy Hogarth

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Brexit: the folies of an EU referendum Daniel Fox examines the contradictions and flaws of the right’s dogma on the European Union Daniel Fox

The European Union received the Nobel peace prize in 2012. Europe had been transformed from a ‘continent of war’ into a ‘continent of peace’, according to Thorbjoern Jagland, the Nobel Committee President.

Everyone seems to want Britain to stay. We are constantly told that leaders in business, politics and academia all warn of the dangers of a ‘Brexit’. So why did an EU referendum become the focal point of the general election? Why has it become such a desperately important issue?

The only people who seem serious about wanting to leave are UKIP and the rightwing of the Conservative party. So again, why a referendum? The reasoning behind a referendum is ostensibly to give the British people their say. Trust the

British people, we are told.

It is ironic that it was the period of the general election that we heard the most about the necessity of having a referendum on the EU. Surely, the point of electing a government is for those elected to make decisions on behalf of the rest of us.

The irony goes further when we consider those who laud the idea of a British exit. It is mostly the radical right of British politics - Thatcher’s heirs. On the one hand, they care deeply about British sovereignty being taken from the British people in the form of legislation such as the Human Rights Act. On the other well hidden - hand, they have led the privatisation of our railways, water and energy providers, postal service, prisons, housing and parts of the NHS. This is the transferral of power from our government to multi-national corporations - organisations whose primary motive is to make as large a profit as possible.

Why not offer us a referendum on privatisation? Why not offer us a referendum on the repealing of the

Human Rights Act? Referenda are not always a bad thing. However, equally, they are not automatically a good thing.

They sometimes offer legitimacy to a cause that does not deserve to be given credibility. They sometimes have unexpected, and unwanted, results - see France, 2005.

When all political talk is riddled with criticisms of Europe - when we have a political elite who portray Europe as the source of all our problems - when ideas such as leaving the European Union are given credibility, people will sometimes take that rhetoric seriously.

The EU is often seen as a burden.

We are apparently weighed down with legislation and directives imposed on us by a shady elite in Brussels. Well, let me ask you this: what is the purpose of the EU? If it didn’t provide legislation, what would its purpose be? If it didn’t tell members that they should/couldn’t do certain things, what would its purpose be?

We live in a global world. We live in a global world where problems af-

fect us all. We live in a global world where the problems are global. No one country will put money and time in to tackle a problem which they can pass off as someone else’s responsibility. Cooperation is key.

Global problems require global solutions.

Ask a neighbour to write down a list of the five greatest threats facing humanity today. What would be on it? Climate change. War. Disease.

Poverty. Terrorism.

These problems, require agreement between countries. France is probably not going to reduce its carbon footprint unless it thinks it likely that Sweden will too. Spain is probably not going to give 0.7% of its GNI to fight poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa unless it thinks it likely that Germany will too.

The anti-EU rhetoric is dangerous because it drenches us in the language of fierce competition and the Britain-can-do-it-alone mentality.

Britain cannot do it alone. It is not just about persuasion. Many of these problems simply cannot be tackled

without international cooperation.

We all complain that companies such as Starbucks do not pay their fair share of taxes. We need countries to work together to create and enforce a global tax framework. We need more integration, not less. The EU is part of that integration.

Crime, human trafficking and the drugs trade do not recognise the arbitrary boundaries of EU member states. They can only be combated through international agreements.

We need more cooperation, not less.

The EU is part of that cooperation.

The EU debate will likely be focused around whether Britain will be better off within the EU. The answer is a resounding yes. However, that debate misses the point. The point is about humanity, not just the British people. The gravest problems which we in Britain face, affect all of humanity. Think about that word: humanity. Humanity includes everyone. We are humanity, along with everyone else in Europe and the rest of the world, so let’s bloody act like it.

Ireland says yes: a step forward for equal rights A Yes vote is the first step on the road towards equality in Irelend, but there is still much to be done Naoise Murphy

On Friday 22nd May, the Republic of Ireland gave a resounding ‘Yes’ in the Marriage Equality referendum, becoming the first country in the world to introduce same-sex marriage by popular mandate.

I was one of many who went home to vote, clogging up runways and motorways around the country in our efforts to participate in a little piece of history.

The mood was nothing short of inspirational: the turnout was the highest since the introduction of the Constitution in 1937, Yes voters came from every age group and area of the country, and in the end, only a single constituency voted No, with an overall majority of 62% for the Yes campaign.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar summed up this nationwide optimism: ‘It wasn’t just a referendum, but a social revolution.’

This is a highly symbolic victory

for human rights and equality in Ireland. Watching politicians share a stage with drag queens and veteran gay rights campaigners to welcome the final result was heart-warming, and a definite sign of progress. This scale of this victory was unprecedented: Ireland only decriminalised homosexuality in 1993.

The strength of the Yes campaign can largely be attributed to grass-roots activism and personal involvement. In an intimate society such as Ireland, nearly everyone knows someone in their family or social circle who is LGBTQI. The campaign seized upon this to encourage people to vote, not for some abstract constitutional idea, but for the human rights of their friends and family members.

A number of high-profile personalities, such as Health Minister Leo Varadkar and TV3 Political Editor Ursula Halligan, publicly came out, sparking a number of frank conversations about the difficult reality of being gay in Ireland.

Teams of first-time canvassers knocked on nearly every door in the

country. The rainbow coloured Yes Equality bus parked in hundreds of town squares. Videos of yes voters outlining their reasons for voting flooded Facebook and Twitter, along with campaigns like TCD’s Ring Your Granny for Marriage Equality (aiming to convince elderly voters)

and Be My Yes (asking voters at home to use their vote to replace those of emigrants who couldn’t get home).

The No side, meanwhile, seemed to concentrate on sowing fear and

doubt in the minds of voters. Surrogacy came up in what felt like every single interview with a No campaigner (despite having nothing to do with this referendum). Their assertion of ‘the right to a father and a mother’ was the foundation of much of their rhetoric, which urged voters to consider the welfare of children and their relationship to their biological parents.

The No campaign conceded defeat early on Saturday morning. However, it is too easy to get caught in the trap of thinking that this referendum has solved everything, that homophobia has now been eradicated and that we can sit back and relax.

This is a symbolic victory for acceptance and equality, but Ireland still has a very long way to go before it can be said to respect the human rights of all its citizens.

While the power of the Catholic Church is certainly declining, its influence lingers.

Women are still treated as babymaking vessels by a health service that denies us reproductive rights.

The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which affords an equal right to life to both the pregnant women and the foetus, has yet to be

repealed.

The state still fails to recognise trans people, with no legal provision for gender identities other than those assigned at birth. The recent Gender Recognition Bill has been widely criticised as degrading and inadequate by trans campaigners.

The issue has yet to be resolved.

Gay men are still banned from donating blood. We have no hate crime legislation. Religious schools (the majority) are still permitted to sack gay teachers.

And despite the hopes of many, marriage equality will not bring an end to Ireland’s rampant casual homophobia.

It has been instrumental in creating a much more positive atmosphere for LGBTQI people, but we need to capitalise on this to question homophobia in all its incarnations and to work to end all forms of structural inequality.

This referendum has the potential to act as a springboard from which to tackle these other shocking human rights abuses. We can’t fall into complacency. We have said ‘Yes’ to equal marriage. Now let’s say ‘Yes’to real and lasting equality.

Illustration: Mariam Hayat

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SciTech Reader’s Scigest A QUICK LOOK AT SCIENCE

By Jennifer Hack

WINDOWS 10: COMING SOON Microsoft has announced Windows 10 will be released July 29th 2015.

Current Windows 7 and 8.1 users are entitled to a free upgrade to Windows 10 for the first year.

Windows 10 is set to be the ‘last version’ of the operating system, meaning that future updates will be solely on the Windows 10 model. New features of Windows 10 include a new web browser called ‘Edge’, a wide variety of apps that are suitable for multiple platforms,.

GOODBYE HULL?

Coastal towns could soon be submerged due to rising sea levels, according to Dr Hugh Ellis, head of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA). Sea levels are set to rise by at least one metre over the next century, meaning towns like Hull could cease to exist. Dr Ellis, speaking recently at the Hay Festival, said that towns and cities, especially on the east coast, need to work together to move the population away from the rapidly eroding coastline.

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Killer message strikes Apple products Alistair Madden The iPhone – and Apple products in general – are praised for their ease of use and ‘it just works’ mentality.

However, they have been under attack recently from ‘killer’ messages.

The messages not only affect iPhones, but also related Apple devices that have notifications enabled. In essence, a user can send a specific text message and crash the device, even if the recipient doesn’t read the offending message.

This is troubling, especially considering Apple has propelled itself to the forefront of the technological world.

The truth is, every piece of software has flaws; a fact that Apple has been overlooking in recent times.

In 2015, no less than five major flaws have affected Apple products.

Many of us are oblivious to the details of the exploits, as long as the software is kept up to date and the problems get fixed. Recently however, Apple has bucked the worrying trend of not updating often enough – especially when the problems have been identified by third parties and solutions implemented on other platforms.

It is true to say that the message bug isn’t a massive deal. So far, it has not been linked to malicious attacks such as stealing personal information and, by using Siri, a workaround has been found.

The problem is, many exploits like this are malicious and many remain undetected.

Apple is no more immune than Google or Microsoft to attack. With around a 20 percent market share in smartphones (second only to Samsung) one could claim that they are a prime target for attacks.

Furthermore, Apple’s narrow product range makes matters worse, as less hardware variants invariably means less software variations. Like in nature, the more diversity, the less the overall ecosystem will be damaged by a virus.

Macintosh computers, revered for not getting viruses, are receiving more attention from attackers as their market share grows.

A recent blog post highlighted how an inherently flawed system for suspending Mac computers leaves the system open to attack at a very deep level. Needless to say, this is disturbing.

These are all problems discovered by third parties. Why this is important

is that it shows that if Apple discover a flaw themselves, they don’t make it public.

While this does wonders for maintaining the myth that Macs

aren’t susceptible to viruses, the truth is, Apple needs a revision of its security procedures if it is to remain secure in the dynamic, ever changing world of cyber security.

What’s killing your iPhone? Photo: Nathan Borror

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“I decided that I would try to make the world a better place. I’m still trying now.”

Former Cabinet Minister David Blunkett talks to Palatinate about his life and 28 years as an MP

Will Fremont-Barnes As the only ever blind British cabinet minister, it is testament to everything David Blunkett has achieved in spite of his disability that it takes twenty-four minutes before the subject comes up in our conversation. Only when asked if he harboured aspirations of becoming Prime Minister does he ponder whether his blindness might have become too great an obstacle to overcome.

“I wasn’t sure whether the volume of material crossing my desk could be exceeded,” the former Education, Home and Work and Pensions Secretary admits. “In other words, I thought I was probably working just about at the extent of what was manageable without sight.”

This disadvantage may have prevented a prime ministerial pursuit, but it certainly did not stop Blunkett from making a monumental impact during his time in Westminster, nor was it even a consideration when he embarked on his first foray into politics fortyfive years ago with Sheffield City Council. “I should have been a lot more introspective and concerned than I was about what it would mean, but when you’re young and pig-headed you think you can crack the world.”

After all, Blunkett had become accustomed to overcoming challenges. Looking back on his childhood he paints a bleak picture of hardship, which instilled within him a desire to improve the lives of others. “My background was what drove me,” he explains. “My dad was killed in a work accident when I was twelve. My grandfather died in what effectively was a workhouse.

It was a dump.” Such trauma would be enough to break most people’s spirits, but instead it had a galvanising effect on Blunkett during his formative years. “I decided then that I would try to make the world a better place. I’m still trying now.”

Even as he adjusts to life outside of politics, having left Westminster after twenty-eight years as an MP, Blunkett’s commitment to social justice nevertheless remains steadfast. Yet he has been on a steady trajectory away from the far left over the past three decades, a shift that has earned him both admirers and detractors. Starting out as the leader of Sheffield City Council, at a time when the city was infamously dubbed the ‘Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire’, he was later an integral part of a Labour government often accused of betraying the party’s traditional values.

In a typically measured assessment, the man in question

believes that Sheffield Council was nowhere near as militant, nor the New Labour government as suspicious of socialism, as its critics charge. The portrayal of his home city as some kind of communist dystopia was, he says sincerely, merely “irony.” Blunkett is more enigmatic when engaging with the suggestion that Labour begrudgingly accepted Thatcherism upon assuming power in 1997.

“There was an inevitability that neither the resource nor the priority lay in simply trying to go backwards.

“My background was what drove me.

My dad was killed in a work accident when I was twelve.

My grandfather died in what effectively was a workhouse. It was a dump.”

With some of the privatisations, such as telecoms and the utilities, it was clear that we weren’t going to [reverse them].”

Besides, there was plenty of work to be done. Having outlined his three priorities of ‘education, education, education’, Tony Blair entrusted Blunkett with the responsibility of improving Britain’s broken schools system. “There had been a decade of stagnation”, Blunkett recalls, citing “an eight-year freeze on funding and a 40% per unit drop in spend on students in higher education” under the previous Conservative government, all of which required drastic action. He maintains that New Labour lived up to its promises on education, “right across from the introduction of universal nursery provision to the massive freeing up of universities.”

Blair was sufficiently impressed with his Education Secretary’s work to promote him after Labour’s re-election in May 2001. Moving to the Home Office was a mixed blessing for Blunkett. “Although it was an incredible challenge, and I was privileged to do the job, it was personally extremely destructive.

There was little that energised you about going into prisons or dealing with counter-terrorism or criminality or drugs. It was a fairly unremitting experience of the worst aspects of our society.”

The new Home Secretary was allowed only the briefest honeymoon period. The attacks on 9/11 required his department to “address an international threat.”

Looking back on that defining

period, Blunkett reflects on the challenge of protecting individual freedoms whilst passing counterterrorism legislation. “We were trying to achieve the proportionality between protecting the life of the nation and retaining civil liberties.

I don’t claim that we got it entirely right, but the debate that took place, both within the two Houses of Parliament and through a free press, was extremely positive, because we were influenced to be more mindful of the need to retain civil liberties than might have been the case.”

To its cost, the government was seemingly unaffected by the pressure of public opinion eighteen months later when the decision was taken to invade Iraq. Blunkett maintains that it is easy to label Iraq as a foreign policy disaster with the benefit of hindsight. “With the information we had at the time, it was clear that the intelligence world actually believed he [Saddam Hussein] had, or had the capacity, to develop weapons.”

Blunkett identifies two costly mistakes. “Firstly, the intelligence was not up to date. Secondly, there wasn’t a clear post-conflict plan in terms of how the country was going to be run and how the infrastructure was going to be restored. We overexaggerated to ourselves as a government our influence over the United States, who clearly decided they were going to go it alone after the initial incursion, and clearly didn’t have the first idea how to run a country in such circumstances.”

Another political miscalculation came in the form of indeterminate prison sentences, introduced on Blunkett’s watch. Prison sentences without a set date for release were designed to protect the public from those thought likely to reoffend, but were “implemented massively

On his promotion to the Home Office: “It was personally extremely destructive”

wrongly.” What could he have done differently? “If I had my time again I’d have obviously said that indeterminate sentences could only have been applied to those crimes that would have warranted very lengthy prison sentences. This was all brought about because people who had committed the most heinous crimes were being let out of prison without any assurance that they weren’t going to offend again.

Unfortunately the interpretation of the indeterminate sentences brought them into disrepute, and I’m very sorry about that.”

His contrition is genuine. For all

Photograph: Creative Commons

that he looks back on his time as Home Secretary with a great deal of pride, it is clear that the job weighed on Blunkett very heavily. So what kept him going? “The enormous strength of my own family,” he replies immediately, “and a wide range of friends who stuck in there even when I could only manage a telephone call occasionally with them.” Blunkett also gained valuable support from the constituents he served. “Very often they were the guiding light. When I went back into the Home Office on a Monday morning, I was actually speaking with the voice of people who I represented, the victims of crime, drug abuse, and the insecurity and instability of a rapidly changing global world.”

Despite insisting that he had done nothing wrong, Blunkett stepped down as Home Secretary in December 2004 after an e-mail was leaked showing that a visa application for his former partner’s nanny had been fast-tracked. He interrupts when asked whether he has any regrets about this episode.

“Oh, I’ve got lots of regrets”, he insists, “but not about the reason why. The reason why was deeply personal, to do with a battle over family custody, and I would do that again if I had to re-run it. I’d rather not have re-run it. It was the worst moment both personally and politically.”

Some of the details were rerun when Blunkett found himself testifying before the Leveson Enquiry. Whilst he may have felt a sense of injustice about the disclosure of his personal information, an intrusion into his private life that seems to have affected him profoundly, Blunkett is far from triumphant about the consequences of the hacking scandal on press freedom. “I took no

satisfaction in Andy Coulson being sent down, but I was pleased that I’d done my duty. My material was key to the conviction.”

Whilst Blunkett’s resignation as Home Secretary is now more than a decade ago, he still seems very relevant to politics today. As Britain confronts a rising tide of antiimmigration fervour, Blunkett points out that the situation resembles the one he faced at the turn of the century. “There was a similar upsurge in right-wing feeling, not just here through the National Front and then the BNP, but right across Europe. We did handle that by being really tough where we needed to be, trying to reassure people and indicating that we understood their fears, and yet countering prejudice and discrimination at the same time.

I’m quite proud of that moment.”

Blunkett has plenty about which to be proud during his parliamentary career. Yet he is easily distinguished from many of his New Labour colleagues, who often seemed more concerned with spin at the expense of substantive policy. “Advice surgeries have been very important because they’ve kept my feet on the ground and I’ve had a dose of reality regularly.” After admitting that he will “miss being at the centre of things,” Blunkett reveals that he is not disappearing from public life completely. “I shall look forward to the freedom to decide what to do, with public service and the voluntary and charitable stuff that I do.”

However Blunkett chooses to spend his retirement, he will do so with the same commitment and hard work that characterised his political life and ensured that he overachieved despite considerable disadvantages. Westminster is a poorer place for his absence.

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Halsey blows the whistle on r

With referees in the spotlight after a bruising season that has seen stand Halsey, a Premier League referee for fourteen years until his retirement ing criticism from fans and players alike, Nick Friend asked what has go Nick Friend

Referees are human beings.

This statement is so simple, so obvious, so necessary to reinforce. For, when penalties are missed, crosses overhit, open goals squandered and passes misplaced, human error remains a constant justification of these flaws.

Yet, when a referee fails to spot the slightest of infringements, the football community savages him – as if this is no human error but that of a malfunctioning robot.

Hence, my forty minutes with Mark Halsey feel so valuable. In what is less of an interview and more of a conversation, there is a refreshing honesty in Halsey’s thoughts. It is the sort of candid dialogue that football fans crave from officials.

There is no defensiveness, no denial, no delusion in Halsey’s views.

Nor can there be.

As he explains to me, when he took on a role with BT Sport as a referee analyst, he did so with a “no friends” approach.

“It’s all about being honest, and it’s about offering constructive criticisms. I supported them when they did well and I tried to explain when things went wrong, why they’d gone wrong.”

Much like Graham Poll and Dermot Gallagher before him, by entering the media, Halsey received criticism for what some viewed as stabbing at the backs of his former colleagues. He disagrees, pointing out that, “What I was doing was no different to what ex-players do when they talk about player error.”

It is on this point that Halsey places his sympathy for his former colleagues as well as focusing his ire towards the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL).

Throughout our conversation, Halsey, a former Barnet and Cambridge City player, refers back to his buzzwords: man-management, leadership and direction.

“We have some excellent referees but, ultimately, it comes down to how you manage them. It’s all about man-management. It’s all about managing and giving confidence to your referees. You know, let them go out and referee.

“In anything that anyone does in any walk of life, it’s all about confidence. It’s up to the management to provide leadership and direction. All you’re doing is man-managing a football team. You have to take the Pre-

Halsey controversially sending off Liverpool’s Jonjo Shelvey in an ill tempered clash with Manchester United Photo: Sportimage

mier League referees as the twentyfirst team in the league.”

This concept is a captivating one and one that exemplifies the extent to which the human aspect of refereeing has been lost. The reason for this, he says, is due to an innovation of PGMOL chief Mike Riley.

“I’ve worked under Mike Riley and he can be a nice person but he’s not one of those referees that had the aura about him that meant that he could manage players and men. He wasn’t regarded as one of the best referees in the Premier League but then he got the job.

“If a manager performed like he has performed, he’d be sacked wouldn’t he? I understand that his role is difficult but it’s the way you treat the men and I don’t think Mike Riley is the best man to get the best out of the referees.”

Halsey’s major criticism of Riley is in the scrapping of the previous system of referee assessing to be replaced by an evaluation system, described by Halsey as “one of the

worst things they ever brought in.”

The previous system was based on the instinct of the assessor, allowing the referee leeway and use of common sense. Yet, these staples of the refereeing diet have been culled.

A system entirely based on negative marking, the referee begins with one hundred points, but has marks deducted for any error – no matter how trivial.

“It’s led to referees refereeing games for the evaluation system”, Halsey explains. “You can’t have that.

Refereeing is an art, not a science.

“There’s been an influx of yellow cards for nearly every challenge.

We’ve seen so many yellow cards – five, six, seven per game. That’s down to the evaluation system.” In essence, referees are being controlled by a claustrophobic inferiority complex – a fear that their every move is being monitored.

“You’ve got different people watching the DVD of a game and looking out for every wrong decision he makes. If he doesn’t give a foul, the

evaluator says: ‘oh, he should have given a foul there.’ Or, he talks to a player after committing a foul without yellow carding him and the assessor will say, ‘well he should have cautioned him there.’ And for every instance like this, the referee loses marks.” The system shows a total disregard for human instinct.

With such an iron-fisted and scaremonger-fuelled approach towards its employees, it is little won-

“Refereeing is an art, not a science”

der that Halsey questions Riley’s leadership. He tells me that “officials are not happy with the evaluation system.

“I think in that system you will find why the standard of refereeing hasn’t been what we expect this season.”

It is this, he explains, that has led to what he sees as an unfair criticism

of player attitudes towards officials.

The reason for this is two-pronged.

First and foremost, Halsey – a former lower league footballer himself - assures me that the player-official relationship is far better than the way in which it is often portrays.

“There is [a lot of banter]. A lot of chitchat goes on. Yes, sometimes they’ll speak to you with some shop floor language and you say something back to them in the same tone.”

“I always used to get on with Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers.

Steven Gerrard was brilliant, Frank Lampard was a gentleman. But you’d still have that banter. Wayne Rooney was great and you’d have good banter with him. You know, sometimes he’d tell you to f-off and you’d tell him to f-off and then you’d get on with it and that’s the way it is.”

The image painted by Halsey is a refreshing one and one that brings both player and official closer to the spectator.

The light-hearted atmosphere that Halsey presents is a welcome

PALATINATE | Thursday 11th June 2015

19

Sport

www.palatinate.org.uk

referees’ controversial failings

dards plummet and blunders rocket, Palatinate spoke to referee Mark in 2013. In a frank and fascinating conversation, and in light of mountone wrong and what must be done to arrest an increasingly costly slide. step away from the FA’s ludicrous decision to punish Jack Wilshere for his post-FA Cup celebration which was, in effect, a player displaying his human side.

The way in which players and referees communicate is, in Halsey’s view, crucial to game management.

“You can’t do everything by the book when you referee a game at the highest level,” Halsey clarifies. “It’s about knowing the game of football.

Knowing the laws is important but knowing the game of football is important as well.

He uses the six-second law – a real blast from the past – as an example.

“You don’t go looking for trouble.

Yes, it’s there in law. But it’s one of those where it’s about knowing the game. All goalkeepers do it and it’s something you just don’t consider. If you’re going to start blowing up for that and looking for trouble, someone scores and then you’ve lost the respect of the players.

“It’s about managing the event, the occasion and the players. There are occasions where you can’t and you have to show a yellow card or show a red card. But, on the whole, there are a lot of incidents out there that you can manage.”

By ‘managing’, Halsey means that constant dialogue with the players is imperative. “You know the players that can cause you trouble”, he assures me. “You watch them like a hawk and you keep talking to them all the time.”

It is in this regard that Halsey believes the underperformance has come in top-level refereeing. As a result of the rigidity of the evaluation system that prevents referees from natural game management and encourages doctrinal submission, players – consciously or otherwise – have lost respect for officials.

Despite this, Halsey feels that the Respect campaign has worked. He is, though, quick to point out that the campaign must work both ways.

“Obviously, occasionally players do get frustrated and show their emotions. On the whole, although I think it has worked, the Respect campaign comes with accuracy in decision making.”

And yet, for all the negativity surrounding English refereeing, Halsey is keen to praise those he counts as the best in the business.

He views Mark Clattenburg as “the best by far, a natural referee”, with Mike Dean and Martin Atkinson, who, Halsey says, took charge of the Europa League final “really excellently”, close behind.

“You know with the likes of Clat-

tenburg and Dean that when they cross that white line, you know what you’re going to get from them.”

What Clattenburg possesses though, is invaluable. With the pace of the Premier League, referees need the pace and stamina to cope with the likes of Eden Hazard, Raheem Sterling and Alexis Sanchez.

“You have to be fit but you can use your experience and the dead ball time to get into the right sort of position and that’s what Mark does very well.

“If a manager perfomed like he has performed, he would’ve been sacked, wouldnt he?”

“Refereeing is all about getting the big decisions right. If you look at the likes of Clattenburg and Dean, they very rarely make big key match errors.”

His accuracy is right up there and that’s how you get the respect of the players. Players know their referees.

He makes the game easy for himself.

So, I ask, why the seeming reluctance to reward Mark Clattenburg with key games?

Halsey’s response is typically candid and a clear reflection of the major cause of recent shortcomings.

“His face doesn’t fit with certain people within the PGMOL. That’s the only reason.” Halsey describes the decision to punish Clattenburg for leaving a game in unauthorised transport as “nonsense, absolute nonsense.”

Furthermore, he tells me, “Plenty of referees don’t go back on the bus to the hotel after the game but because Mark’s face doesn’t fit, they found it an opportunity to kick his backside.”

Clattenburg – the KP of referees, if you will – has become something of a pawn in the PGMOL’s game. Despite being the viewed as the best in the land, he was overlooked for the FA Cup Final – the Everest for English referees – in favour of Jon Moss. As it happened, Moss had a straightforward day, with Aston Villa never getting within fouling distance of Arsenal’s forwards. That said, as Halsey expresses, this should not detract from the absurdity of his original appointment.

“Listen”, Halsey explains, “Jon Moss is a great lad, a really good lad

and a really good Premier League referee. But he’s only been full-time for a couple of years, he’s still finding his feet and he’s only refereed ninety Premier League games in four years.

Now, is he the right man to referee the Cup Final?”

Based on last season’s statistics, the answer is a resounding no. Clattenburg finished far higher than Moss in the Merit list. Nevertheless, Halsey is keen to point out that this is not Moss’s fault but of those far above him.

“They’ve gone for Jon Moss because he’s right by certain people on the management. Yet, the PGMOL don’t trust him to do a big Premier League game. He’s never done a big derby.

The most worrying aspect of this is the FA’s treatment of its own flagship competition. As Halsey ponders, “The FA moan about clubs resting players in the FA Cup and belittling the competition. Yet, surely the FA are demeaning the FA Cup by putting Jon Moss in charge of the final?

Crucial to understand is that Halsey is in no way critical of Moss, but of the system.

Just as the Premier League has its subdivisions – the title race, the top four, the Europa League avoidance battle and the relegation scrap, so too does the PGMOL. Whilst Messrs Clattenburg, Atkinson, Oliver and Dean sit in the Champions League places, certain officials are not trusted to break through the glass ceiling of Southampton vs Swansea in an endof-season dead rubber.

So what can be done to help these officials? Firstly, says Halsey, Howard Webb – a Collina-like beacon of authority amongst players – must be better utilised. Halsey, who suggested to me that the man who refereed the 2010 World Cup final was disillusioned with his role, was proven right when he resigned last week.

“Howard shouldn’t be in a studio in Salford Quays watching all the games.

“He should be out there watching referees in the Football League, bringing in the new Football League referees, watching the Conference referees.”

Central to referee progression, though, must be technology.

“Technology has been fantastic on the goalline and it would be brilliant to use it even more.

“People say it would delay the restart but it won’t because when you have a big controversial key match incident, it takes four or five minutes to get the game restarted anyway.

Whereas with technology, it would

take ten seconds to work out what the outcome should be.”

This clarity of thought is indicative of the way in which Halsey thinks about an often over-complicated sport. In a world where referees are condemned for their lack of game experience, Mark Halsey is a rare breed. A former non-league player and a huge QPR fan; he is a terrific ambassador for football and its officials.

There’s no bitterness or self-inter

A Comedy of Errors

-est in Halsey’s thoughts, merely the reflections of an English footballing stalwart whose pride in his profession is unwavering.

When the new season begins in August, much will have changed. Yet, refereeing errors will remain a constant.

I urge you, though, to look for the blinders as well as the blunders.

When it does all go to pot, consider the limitations of the men in black.

They are, after all, only human.

18th August 2014: Michael Oliver – books Diego Costa for diving instead of awarding a penalty against Tom Heaton (Burnley vs Chelsea) 3rd November 2014: Phil Dowd – fails to award Palace a penalty within 30 seconds after Santiago Vergini hacks down Frazier Campbell (Palace vs Sunderland)

30th November 2014: Mike Jones - Arguably the worst decision of the season: Jones booked Sergio Aguero for diving despite being hacked down by Jose Fonte 13th December 2014: Chris Foy – fails to give Gary Cahill a second yellow card for a clear dive (Chelsea vs Hull)

20th December 2014: Lee Mason – sent off Gabby Agbonlahor for ‘foul’ on Ashley Young (Villa vs Man Utd) 28th December 2014: Anthony Taylor – booked Cesc Fabregas for diving instead of awarding penalty against Matt Targett (Southampton vs Chelsea)

28th December 2014: Neil Swarbrick – Alex Song has 35-yard volley bizarrely disallowed for offside against Andy Carroll (West Ham vs Arsenal) 28th December 2014: Craig Pawson – failure to send off Papiss Cisse for clear elbow on Seamus Coleman (Newcastle vs Everton)

1st January 2015: Anthony Taylor – failure to send off Rob Green for deliberate handball (QPR vs Swansea) 1st January 2015: Mike Jones – decision to award penalty against Wes Morgan for handball when ball hit him square in the face (Liverpool vs Leicester City) 17th January 2015: Chris Foy – bizarre to flag Jan Vertonghen offside inside his own half when through on goal (Spurs vs Sunderland) 21st February 2015: Martin Atkinson - Ashley Barnes tackle on Nemanja Matic, Barnes high boot on Ivanovic, Kightly handball in penalty area, Jason Shackell push on Diego Costa in penalty area (Chelsea vs Burnley)

28th February 2015: Roger East – sends off Wes Brown in apparent case of mistaken identity – only to wrongly defend his decision, claiming that he saw a foul by Brown on Falcao (Man Utd vs Sunderland)

Sport

Thursday 11th June 2015 | PALATINATE

Mark Halsey exclusive interview

Palatinate speaks to former Premier League referee Mark Halsey, p. 18-19.

Hexham Regatta

All the action from the races rounded up by Eliot F. Voelker, ONLINE

Goals Galore

24-hour football match finishes 197-122, ONLINE

Newcastle Races prove to be a runaway success Thomas Bland

Trevs-Hild Bede composite men’s VIII in preparation for Durham Regatta (see online) Photograph: Becki Grannan

DUAXC keeps on running

Kieran Moriarty It has been a highly successful year for Durham University Athletics and Cross Country all round.

From the performances on the muddy, treacherous cross-country courses of the winter season to the success on track in various athletic competitions, DUAXC has excelled and achieved some excellent results.

However, it could be argued that the club saved their most impressive performance until last.

On Friday 29th May, DUAXC provided a huge contribution to the MC 24-hour charity relay on the track at Maiden Castle which was held in aid of RT Projects.

RT Projects is a Durham-based mental health charity whose work focuses on the belief that creativity and social activity are fundamental to a fulfilled life and contribute towards good mental health.

They organise and operate a number of events within the Durham community which are always

well supported by local residents.

MC24 is one of the most popular of events run by RT Projects, as proven by the relaxed atmosphere the event emanates, and reflected by the wide range of participants.

Alongside many members of the local community, the Durham Harriers, RT Projects’ clients and Team Durham staff, DUAXC represented a significant number of the participants who put in a shift over the 24hour period for this great cause.

DUAXC’s contribution to this event was organised by Izzy Hainsworth, once again reinforcing the fantastic work she has carried out in her position this year.

Through relentless campaigning for the event within the team, there was an impressive turnout from University athletes to put in a few hours on the track.

Following the example of some eccentrically dressed locals who turned up dressed as sailors, Superman, Batman and Elvis Presley, some of the DUAXC athletes also donned some unconventional costumes to add to the frivolities.

A special mention must go to DUAXC Race Secretary Neil Holloway for temporarily discarding his usual aura of masculine authority by dressing as a Jodie Marsh-esque incarnation of Alice in Wonderland. A disturbing sight yet all for a fantastic cause!

Contributions were not restricted to those running on the track.

As well as putting in their fair share of laps, other names deserve notable mentions.

Ali Hills, Alex Hughes, Neil Holloway and Hainsworth struggled through sleep deprivation to stay for the whole 24 hours.

Alongside all of the athletics, the cake sale overseen by Harriet Welch and Reece Straker raised over £250.

Many of the runners had words of high praise for the exceptional cake that Reece Straker had baked for the event, which went down a treat for all those fortunate enough to nab a slice.

Caitlin Mcardle was another key helper in ensuring the event ran as smoothly as possible.

Finally Bryony Potter, the brains

behind the organisation of last year’s event and who pioneered the idea with RT projects, returned to Durham for the weekend to offer a helping hand once again.

Even a few scattered showers of rain couldn’t dampen the overwhelmingly positive mood of the relay.

On the day, the final total of money raised between the contributions of the Harriers, Team Durham athletes and staff, RT Project clients and the local community was estimated to be roughly £1900.

As a result of some late donations, the revised figure for money raised reached an impressive £2106.

MC24 was a perfect example of the harmony between the local community and student population of Durham.

By working together in this event, a lot of money has been raised which will be used to make a real difference for a cause that desperately needs the additional funds to continue their important work.

Durham University Horse Racing Society kicked off the post-exam season in thunderous style on Friday 29th May with an incredible 600 students attending the annual race day at Newcastle Racecourse.

Despite the morning showers, punters flocked in their numbers on coaches to the venue and were not disappointed by the quality of racing.

The first race was won by a head by the outsider My Amigo with Blue Humour, a popular favourite, narrowly pipped at the post by the winner’s impressive late surge.

However, in the second race of the day, it was the best-priced 5-4 favourite Khalaas who put in a strong performance under Paul Hanagan to take the spoils and deliver a decent result for punters.

Next up, favourite Card High won easily in the third race of the day, marvellously outstaying the rest of the field, whilst Mawaqueet ensured that two miles was no easy feat but got the job done in the next.

25-1 shot Margaret’s Mission impressed in the handicap to the delight of the bookies.

However it was Classic Flyer’s striking turn of foot over five furlongs in the last race completed a solid return for many throughout the day.

An organiser spoke after the day of racing. “It was wonderful to see so many students were interested in horse racing.

“We were delighted that we were able to accommodate taking such a large group. The society hopes to put on more of the same events in the coming years.

“Fortunately, the racing proved to be top draw on the day and we can hopefully build on this success.”

Overall, the Durham University Horse Racing Society’s second annual outing was a huge success. Based on this year’s popularity among students, the Newcastle Races will now be a popular new fixture in the Durham summer diary.

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