The Badger 12th Edition (26/04/2021)

BADGER ·

thebadgeronline.com

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26th April 2021

THE

Official free fortnightly newspaper by and for Sussex students · Printed on recycled paper

Polls open for SU elections

Sussex students now have the opportunity to vote for new union representatives Joshua Talbot Editor-In-Chief Votes can now be cast in the Students’ Union elections, with all students having the opportunity to vote for representatives until April 30.

Those elected will represent the student body in making decisions with the Students’ Union in positions that include: • International Students’ Office • Education and Employability Officer • Wellbeing Officer • Sports, Societies and Events Officer • Diversity, Access and Participation Officer • Student Living and Sustainability Officer These are full-time roles that will be held by students seen to have successful campaigns, from last Monday when candidates were announced through to when polling closes on Friday.

Those who take the positions will either take a year out of their studies to complete the role or stay on a year, if they are due to graduate this term.

In addition to the six fulltime positions the five parttime officer roles to be assigned, include: • BAME Students Officer • Students with Disabilities

Officer • LGBTQ+ Students Officer • Women Students Officer • Trans and Non-Binary Students Officer These are positions that are reportedly meant to bridge the gap between the student body and the union as Student Voice Manager, Natalie Sacks told The Badger: “The SU is here to represent you, so it’s vital that you have a say in electing the people who are acting in your best interest.

“By voting, you are exercising your right to have your voice heard. You decide who makes big decisions about the things you care about and you decide what the Union prioritises.

“Read through the candidate manifestos, vote for your chosen candidates and use this opportunity to decide who gets the power to make real change at Sussex.”

After hustings events last week where students were able to ask those running questions about their manifestos, which were released on April 19, candidates will be hoping that they have done enough to convince voters of their campaign pledges.

In order to ensure a high voter turnout, the Student’s

News

Eco Sussex & Biden talks climate change 3

Comment

Becoming a bimbo & The changing nature of music9

Features

Union has made a prize draw for those who participate, with prizes ranging from a free drink at Falmer Bar to a pair of tickets to Boundary Festival.

These prizes will be unlocked at voter milestones with, for example, the festival tickets requiring 5000 ballots to be unlocked. This is a cumulative system that includes a pledge from the students’ union that an increasing amount of trees will also be planted for every 1000 votes the election receives.

To be eligible to cast a vote you have to be a full-time postgraduate or undergraduate student at Sussex when the vote opens at 9am on Monday 26th.

From then onwards, if you

are you can vote on the SU’s website, where you select the roles that you would like to cast a vote for and then rank the candidates in order of preference.

The SU advertises on its website that complaints of candidate misconduct should be sent to the Returning Officer at returning@sussexstudent.com.

These concerns must be raised no later than one hour after voting closes at 5pm on April 30.

After all referenda campaigns were accepted last month, next year’s officer team will work with the SU to deliver on the the discovered student priorities, including the commitment to remove beef from SU-run

Continued on page 4...

Ed Davey insight & Brighton’s theatre gem 13

Arts

Cinema memories & A chat wil Wolf Alice 17

Travel & Culture Thia Curry & Sea swimming’s simple joys 26

Science & Tech

Mamouth discoveries & A $2.9m tweet29

Brighton Skate Collective 22-23

Sports

Fans save football & Basketball’s UK struggle 31

Editor-in-Chief Josh Talbot badger@sussexstudent.com Print Production Editor Ellie Doughty Online Production Editor Georgia-May Keetch Print Production Sub-Editor Gurpreet Raulia Online Production Sub-Editor Margaret Arabambi Marketing Managers Alex Norman Sarah Wong The News Team Oliver Mizzi Ewan Vellinga Grace Curtis Jake Nordland Aiala Suso badger-news@sussexstudent. com The Comment Team Issy Anthony Will Day Libby Mills Joel Renouf-Cooke Rosie Cook badger-opinion@sussexstudent. com The Features Team Alana Harris Olly Williams Teddy Parkin Maisie Thorman badgerfeatureseditor@gmail. com The Arts Team Jessica Hake Robyn Cowie badger-arts@sussexstudent.com The Books Team Eric Barrell Molly Openshaw thebadger.bookseditor@gmail. com The Music Team Alice Barradale Dylan Bryant thebadger.musiceditor@gmail. com The Film & Television Team Yazz James Rob Salusbury thebadger.film@gmail.com The Theatre Team Elijah Arief thebadger-theatre@gmail.com The Artist Focus Team Luisa De La Concha Montes thebadger.street@gmail.com The Travel & Culture Team Hal Keelin Bryony Rule Katya Pristiyani badger.travelculture@gmail.com The Sports Team Charlie Batten Max Killham thebadger.sport@gmail.com The Science & Technology Team Eleanor Deane Rob Barrie thebadger.science@gmail.com Events and Publicity Jess Dingle Grace Ochieng Proof Readers Yasmine Yaguer Jake Nordland

Editorial

Josh Talbot Editor in Chief

Ellie Doughty Print Production Editor

Well, here we are. It’s the last edition of the year and it feels like we’ve only just begun. I’d like to start by saying that it’s been a real privilege to helm this beautiful paper. This year has been an absolutely fantastic experience and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I have been given to work alongside great people and to play such an active part in putting together something to be proud of every two weeks.

This year has been strange, yes. It’s been challenging, confusing, heartbreaking and relentless but ultimately I am left with a huge amount of pride and gratitude. The Badger has been my rock this year. A place to ground my creativity, voice my thoughts and distract me from the tumultuous currents of life at present. Above anything else, it’s been an amazing platfrom to collaborate and socialise with brilliant people from across the student body.

Recruiting and working with this year’s Badger team has been one of the most fulfilling pastimes I have ever had the pleasure of undertaking. I say pastimes because it has never been arduous, but always fulfilling.

In my final year at Sussex, I hope I have been able to give a little bit back to the student community that has given so much to me over the past few years. I feel very fortunate to reflect and to not have my thoughts tainted too much by COVID lament.

In working on The Badger for the past two years I have gained perspective that I will carry with me throughout life; an optimism that working through these turbulent times has afforded.

In a spontaneous push to apply for the position of Editor-in-Chief at the start of Lockdown 1.0 I stumbled into one of the most whole-heartedly rewarding situations I have ever expereienced.

Thanks to 2020/21’s ever patient editorial team, you guys made this year truely memorable, thanks to our writers and importantly thanks to you for reading.

Hi everyone and thanks for checking out the last edition of The Badger! It feels very odd to already be writing that, and what a surreal year it’s been!

I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to be The Badgers Print Production Editor this year and work alongside Josh, Georgia and the rest of the team. It’s been a pleasure writing, reading and working on the paper and everyone has worked incredibly hard. We all helped bring the paper through the pandemic, readjusted our working patterns and it wasn’t easy. We also restructured the internal system for deciding on next years editorial team, and I am really excited to see who will be leading the paper next year and all of the amazing things they’ll do!

I wanted to also note how difficult this last year has been for students everywhere, and everyone who has contributed to this publication has reason to be proud of the conditions under which they had to do that.

This edition is as usual, a great read, with lots of pieces to get your head stuck into if the diss stress is getting to you. Otherwise, give it a browse while you enjoy an actual pulled pint?

Thanks for reading our Badgers this year, we wouldn’t have a paper without it, and here’s to a bright summer!

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The Badger 26th April 2021

Editorial

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A Big Badger Goodbye As The Badger’s editorial year draws to a close the team says goodbye to their section, their writers and readers.

Oliver Mizzi News Editor This year has been a difficult one, for both the Badger and the News Team. Most of us at News have not had any prior experience in journalism and news coverage, and we’ve tried to make the best out of an abnormal situation. At times it was tough, but the News team have been excellent. It’s allowed us to cover important stories from far and wide. Without them, and the Badger’s main editors, I could not have survived this year, so thank you. It’s been a privilege writing about news that I think people should know about. Take care Sussex.

Aiala Suso News Sub Editor I started writing for The Badger because I love writing, and collaborating with the University’s student-led newspaper seemed like a perfect opportunity. Once I joined the News section, I instantly felt part of a team. It did not matter how much work I had on my back, I always found time to write for the section. I would like to give a special thanks to Oliver Mizzi for being an incredibly charismatic and talented Editor in Chief. Oliver is somehow able to motivate people to write without ever pressuring anyone –even in times of true article-scarcity–, and always with a smile on. He is always happy for people to bring ideas to the table, and gives both constructive feedback and appreciation to all writers. Thank you Oliver, Grace, Ewan and Jake, it’s been a pleasure to be part of the editorial team. Good luck in your future endeavours!

couldn’t have asked for a better team. I’d also like to say a massive thank you to Josh Talbot, who has been ever patient with the tumultuous nature of Comment, and been an absolute hero at editing a student newspaper during a pandemic. Until next year, Badger!

Rosie Cooke Comment Online Sub Editor My first year at the Badger done and what a pleasure it’s been!

When I got offered this role, I was so excited to see what it would bring, and it did not disappoint. It was so inspiring, week on week to feel more connected with what was going on in the world and exploring what people had to say about it. I am hugely grateful to everyone that has written for comment this year, I know I have loved being a part of it. I am already looking forward to seeing what new avenues and new explorations will be sprung upon us next year.

Thank you so much to everyone for making this a really self-defining experience.

ing me away from potential defamation, thank you to my colleagues for being such wonderful and creative people to work with; but most of all thank you to the readers! If my ramblings entertained just one of you then it was all worth it.

Robyn Cowie Arts Co-Editor Being Arts Co-Editor this past year has been more than anything I could have anticipated.

The arts team have excelled in their commitment and enthusiasm to the section. I am so grateful to them for all their ideas, efforts and quite simply for being such a lovely and dedicated team! I applied for a position within the section as a newbie to student journalism and had no idea what I was getting myself in for but can safely say being part of The Badger has given me new skills, talents, friendships and confidence, to which I am grateful for. It has been a pleasure to be part of the team this year.

Alana Harris Features Editor Being Features Editor for the past year has been an absolute pleasure, and pretty much a complete dream thanks to the rest of the incredible editorial team, and my lovely team of features sub editors. I have loved reading the work of so many amazing students and will thoroughly miss being entertained, surprised and educated by the articles submitted to the section. Thank you to the rest of the team and anybody who has read and appreciated The Badger.

Issy Anthony Comment Editor

Olly Williams Features Sub Editor

It’s been a weird and hard time for everyone, including The Badger, but we’ve made it through. Our Zoom meetings have bought a sense of unity to my lockdown life, and I can’t wait to see everyone at the pub!

I’d like to thank Will, Libby and Rosie for being such wonderful Comment Sub Editors, and keeping the section running. I

I can seldom say that the most stressful parts of my week are also the best.

Features is a very broad section and I’ve been so pleased to see so many diverse and thought provoking topics explored this year. I’m sure my weeks will feel quite empty as the Badger goes into hibernation for the summer.

Thank you Josh for gently steer-

Dylan Bryant Music Co-Editor It’s been such an amazing year as music editor at The Badger.

To say the least; the music industry has been hit hard by the pandemic and this has served up some interesting content from us. From interviewing Nathan Evans, who’s TikTok led to a number one single and global stardom to discussing the hardships of breaking through during a global pandemic and interviewing a Kiss FM producer in the process. Despite craving the feeling of walking into a crowded venue for a gig more than ever, I’ve still managed to have the best time fulfilling my role.

However, among everything,

it’s been a privilege to be part of such an amazing team.

Luisa De La Concha Montes Artist Focus Editor I came to Sussex without knowing anyone, but thanks to the welcoming environment of The Badger, I now have a lovely group of friends to support me in my scary future as a freelance photographer and journalist. It’s been a strange year, but thanks to my section, I’ve realised that despite all the restrictions, creativity is still thriving, and artistic communities are growing more than ever. In a world where the value of art is constantly being questioned, it has been an honour to be able to give emerging artists a space to highlight their work, whilst talking about their worries and wonderful ideas. I leave student media a bit unwillingly, but I know the lessons and values I’ve learnt here will transition into my career as a journalist. Farewell Badger team!

Hal Keelin Travel and Culture Editor That’s it from the Travel and Culture team! Thanks for reading our section, we are so pleased and so grateful to all our contributors this year for all their hard work and fabulous pieces .

We really expanded and experimented with the domain of our section this year and managed to include so much: from celebrating our local environment Brighton and the wider Sussex area, with all its alternative food, and fabulous nature and local history, to more global stories and cultural issues from around the world. Thanks to everyone who made this possible.

Bryony Rule Travel & Culture Print SubEditor Being a final year student this past year has been weird to say the least, but becoming part of The Badger team has been a truly rewarding and fulfilling addition to my Sussex experience. With the world in lockdown, it was perhaps not the easiest time to write about travel, when a holiday for most of us became redefined

to picking a new location for our daily walk. And yet, I’ve been continually inspired and amazed at the content I’ve been lucky enough to read, which has highlighted the wonderful diversity and vibrancy of our beloved Brighton and Sussex community. It has been a pleasure to work on The Badger alongside such talented and supportive editors and writers.

Ellie Deane Science and Tech Editor I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my year as Science and Tech editor at The Badger. From recruiting a team of 20+ writers, to making the discord, learning InDesign and writing for different sections it has been a really exciting and multifaceted role throughout.

Throughout the relentlessness of the lockdowns the Science and Technology team was always a positive space. At such a historically important time for science communication, it’s been a privilege to see our writing team grapple the latest science and technology news.

It’s really impressive to see the creativity, drive and dedication within the world of student journalism at Sussex. I can only thank the S&T writers and the Badger editorial team for their support this year.

Max Kilham Sports Online Editor It’s been an extremely trying year for everyone, which makes the achievements of those I have worked with this year even more special. As a part of the sports team, it’s been a pleasure to work with a collection of extremely talented individuals, whether they were writing for, or editing the section. The whole team at the Badger have worked hard to ensure that each edition has had professional, industry-standard content and I’m certain they will all succeed in whatever they decide to do next. Thank you to all those who have made this year an excellent experience, including the readers, and I hope the tight-knit community created this year can be continued in the years to come.

The Badger 26th April 2021

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... continued from front campus catering facilities and to continue to rally for the improvement of sexual safty resources on campus.

The latter commitment comes in light of a campaign run by student group Under the Sheets, which spoke of the importance of consent training and for better reporting tools to be introduced for all students at the university.

The Badger previously spoke to the Vice-Chancellor about the issues raised in an article available on The Badger’s site.

Other commitments that the SU as a body has made via the Spring Referenda, include the pledge to continue to lobby the university to investigate the International Student Awarding Gap and to set up a community kitchen on campus.

The elections and the referenda make up two prongs of the SU’s democratic system de-

signed to allow students to have a say on how the organisation is run.

Additionally, members of the Union Council meet monthly as a board of 50 student represent-

Postponed Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Elections Miranda Dunne

atives from across the student body. The officer team report to the Council in these meetings

which then makes decisions on the Union’s external policies and scrutinises the decisions of the Trustees whose job it is to make decisions about the internal running of the union as a legally compliant charity.

Three student trustees are to be elected in this weeks elections. Although they do not have a direct influence on the day-to-day running of the union they will go to make up the part of the 12 trustees that oversee the administation of the SU. Elected full-time officers will take the role in July, with a pay scale of around £20,000 for the year, part time oficers will take their post at the start of the next accadmic year and trustees are enrolled at the end of this accademice year.

To vote and for more information on the election process, candidates and their respective manifestos, visit w w w. s u s s e x s t u d e n t . c o m / elections

Sussex ranked in top 50 for global sustainability

Staff Writer

Miranda Dunne Staff Writer

Elections for the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) will take place on Thursday 6 May, in 12 days time, a year after they were postponed due to coronavirus.

Police and Crime Commissioners function to hold their police force to account on implementing policing that the electorate wants to see. They are responsible for deciding on a police and crime plan, the force budget and precept and appointing the Chief Constable.

The Police & Crime Panel then scrutinises such decisions made by the Commissioner. PCCs were first elected in 2013.

Brighton and Hove is included as one of 13 local council areas across Sussex; the combined vote across Sussex will determine the PCC.

Safety measures are being arranged at polling stations, alongside standard mandatory facemasks and social distancing.

Brighton and Hove City Council say the arrangement of a PCC serves to ‘increase transparency’ in how policing services are delivered and to ‘give the public the ability to ensure their police are accountable.’

If you are registered to vote in Brighton and/or Sussex, you can vote in person at your local polling station, but postal votes had to have been applied for by 20 April. Electors can vote for a first and second preference.

Safety measures are being arranged at polling stations,

alongside standard mandatory facemasks and social distancing.

These include: Hand-sanitising stations at entrances and exits Regular sanitising of pencils and booths Maximum numbers of electors allowed inside polling stations at any time.

The result will be declared on Monday 10 May, and the newly or reelected PPC will take office on Thursday 13 May. Candidates for Sussex Jamie Frank Bennett - Liberal Democrats

Kahina Suzanna Bouhassane Green Party Katy Elizabeth Bourne - Conservative Paul Adrian Richards - Labour and Co-operative Roy Thomas Williams - Independent The current commissioner is Katy Bourne OBE, Conservative Party. The most recent election was in May 2016 when Bourne was re-elected PCC. PCC elections take place every four years, but were postponed due to coronavirus.

The university of Sussex has ranked 41st in the Times Higher Education World Impact Rankings 2021 and ninth highest out of UK universities. A total of 1,115 institutions were ranked.

Impact rankings are based on performance on delivering a number of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Scores are calculated by combining its top three scores out of any of the 17 SDGS with its score in the specific SDG named ‘Partnerships for the Goals.’ In other words, universities have been scored on different SDGS, depending on what their focus areas are. Along with the ‘Partnerships for the Goals’ SDG for which it ranked 31st, Sussex was also ranked on the following: No poverty: 10th place Sustainable cities and communities: 26th place Peace, justice and strong institutions: 41st place Adam Tickell said: “The Sustainable Development Goals are an urgent call to action and our best hope for a global response to the existential issues our planet faces.

“Delivering on the SDGs is critical if we are to make this a better world for all, which is why we are placing the SDGs at the very heart of our emerging sustainability strategy.

“This ranking is a welcome reminder of how much progress we’ve already made and heartening evidence that we are ready to lead the way in global

Simon Carey higher education.”

Professor in sustainability at Keele University, Zoe Robinson, however, told Times Higher Education that cuts to research funding from overseas aid could undermine UK performance on the league tables. With funding from the UK’s foreign aid budget to overseas research projects set to be cut by nearly £300 million (70 percent), UK Research and Innovation has decided to stop funding for most overseas projects after cuts in government funding left it with a £120 million shortfall. Over 3,600 academics signed an open letter against the decision which could lead to projects in developing countries to be cancelled.

The University of Manchester was ranked 1st on the league table, making it the first time a UK university has lead the rankings.

The highest ranking institution from an ‘emerging economy’ is Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, at 23rd place.

The Badger 26th April 2021

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Boomtown cancelled again: Lack of government COVID insurance to blame Lana Hall Staff Writer The Hampshire hosted festival Boomtown, self-coined a ‘living theatre’, has been cancelled for the second year in a row.

Initially scheduled for 11th-15th August 2021 the festival announced on Monday 19th April that Boomtown 2021 will no longer go ahead.

In a statement released on the official website and social media platforms, titled “We Will Dance Together Again”, the festival team explain that without the confirmation of a COVID specific insurance for events such as theirs, the organisers could not risk going further with the 2021 Boomtown planning. Stating that the lack of insurance “means a huge gamble into an 8-figure sum to lose if we were to venture much further forward”. Unfortunately, “time has simply run out” to arrange with the government such insurance for Boomtown.

New dates for the festival in 2022 are between the 10th-14th August.

In late March, Winchester MP, Steve Brine raised the issue of music festivals restarting this summer without a government backed insurance scheme.

In asking for confirmation of an insurance scheme, Brine recognised it as a “leap of faith”.

Number 10 Sam Warrenger However, he continued to explain that it is key for organisers to continue with their planning of festivals and live music this summer, following the government’s road map out of social distancing measures on June 21st.

Brine: “without insurance they [music organisers] feel, and we agree, that the benefits to the sector are restricted.”

Brine went on further to describe how “70% of musicians have seen their work fall by at least 75%” during the pandemic, which is why it is vital for a government insurance scheme as organisers cannot risk continuing to lose out on profit: “quickly clearing this insurance

barrier is key to guaranteeing the recovery” of the music industry.

After this announcement, Boomtown now joins those of Download and Glastonbury who also cancelled their summer festivals earlier this year.

Without insurance in place, other festivals have opted to change their traditional peak summer dates, such as the Isle of Wight Festival. The famous rock-pop festival took place in 2019 on 13th-16th June however have shifted to the later dates of 16th-19th September this 2021 festival season.

Much like last year, tickets for 2021 Boomtown can be rolled over to the 2022 dates.

Caterpillar causes chaos for British supermarkets Charlie Batten Sports Print Editor

cake prompting many to speculate whether M&S will also file claims against them.

“

Marks & Spencer has lodged an intellectual property claim against Aldi over its Cuthbert the caterpillar cake.

M&S has made the claim that Cuthbert is too similar to its own Colin the caterpillar and believe the cake infringes on its own trademark. The complaint was made on the 15th of April even though Aldi’s cake had been removed from shops the previous February.

This led to a string of tweets from Aldi’s official account regarding the legal action. Some of these tweets included “@ JudgeRinderTV how’s your diary looking? Asking for a friend” (referring to TV Judge Robert Rinder) and “Marks & Snitches more like”.

Many people on social media joined the side of Aldi in its complaints over M&S’ actions resulting in the hashtag FreeCuthbert to trend on Twitter. A multitude of brands also responded to the situation with the twitter accounts of fashion brands Missguided and PrettyLittleThing both making light of the situation.

M&S was the first British supermarket to create a caterpillar themed cake, however Morrisons, Waitrose, Sainsburys, Asda and Tesco all have their own versions of a caterpillar

M&S has often used Colin as part of its charity initiatives with a special version being made annually in order to raise money for Macmillan.

This is not the first time a company has attempted to trademark their food products.

In 2018 Nestle attempted and failed to register its KitKat bars 4 finger shape.

Five days after M&S made the claim, Aldi tweeted out, “Hey @marksandspencer can Colin and Cuthbert be besties? We’re bringing back a limited edition Cuthbert and want to donate profits to cancer charities including your partners @macmilliancancer & ours @teenagecancer. Let’s raise money for charity, not lawyers #caterpillarsforcancer.”

M&S has often used Colin as part of its charity initiatives with a special version being made annually in order to raise money for Macmillan.

In response, Marks & Spencer replied with, “Hey @AldiUK we love a charity idea (Colin’s been a BIG fundraiser for years). We just want you to use your own character. How about #kevinthecarrotcake ? that ideas on us… and we promise we won’t do Keith”.

Bomb found in Northern Irish police vehicle Olly Williams

Features Sub Editor Earlier this month, Northern Ireland saw 12 days of sporadic violence, with crowds of predominantly young people rioting in towns and cities almost nightly since the end of March. Armed with bricks, bars, fireworks and petrol bombs, people as young as 12 have clashed in Londonderry, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Ballymena and Newtownabbey.

Videos of a bus being set alight appeared across social media on the afternoon of April 9th.

Police officers and press were attacked with Molotov cocktails, fireworks and bricks by the rioters in Belfast. A water cannon was soon deployed on the crowd who refused to disperse.

The Northern Ireland executive met the following morning to be briefed on the ongoing unrest.

A statement from Superintendent Davy Becky via Northern Ireland’s Police Force website read: “The senseless disorder we saw unfold in Belfast has achieved nothing but leave people petrified in their homes

such reckless criminal activity has only served to harm a local community by those who deliberately chose to engage in such disorder”. He went on to make a direct appeal to community leaders to try manage tensions among people in the area.

On the evening of April 19th more violence erupted in the area as the Loyalist Communities Council held a small demonstration outside Irish government offices and vowed to resume protest action against post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created new barriers and bureaucracy on trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Indeed, Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol appears to be at the heart of the conflict as loyalists express their anger at trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between the country and the rest of the UK across the Irish Sea. For many living in the border region, these scenes are reminiscent of the 30 years of ethno-nationalist conflict in Ireland commonly referred to as “The Troubles”. Two men

have been arrested in connection with the attempted murder of a police officer after a car bomb was found in a police car in Derry. Bricks and firebombs have been thrown from either side of Belfast’s “peace wall”.

The wall stands 3 metres high and divides the predominantly catholic Ireland and predominantly Protestant Northern Ireland. These recent events illustrate how Brexit tensions have threatened to undo years of reconciliation since the Good Friday agreement brought an end to the Troubles in 1998.

When the Brexit referendum was called in 2016 and it was announced that the UK would withdraw from the European Union, many questions were raised over the impact this would have on Northern Ireland. The UK and Ireland joined the European Economic Community at the same time in 1973, and their current economic and political relationship largely depended on their membership of the EU. Questions mainly centred around Northern Ireland’s peace process, how to operate the border between North-

ern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for people and goods, and preserving co-operation between the North and the Republic, and between the Republic and the UK. Both the UK and Ireland’s place in the EU meant that goods could freely move across the border under the EU’s Single Market for trade.

Threats to this arrangement and the word “hard border” cast a long shadow over Brexit talks.

A hard border in Ireland would entail a limited number of authorised (and physically controlled) crossing points. Drivers of vehicles crossing are required to declare goods in carriage, commercial carriers must produce bills of lading and evidence that the goods comply with the minimum standards of the territory being entered. Tariffs (in the form of customs duty) may be payable.

Former Prime Minister, Theresa May, promised there would be “no hard border” between the UK and Ireland. The UK government continued to renew these promises as Brexit talks continue, however on the 2nd of October 2020, UK Prime Minister

Boris Johnson presented a potential solution in which Northern Ireland stay aligned with the EU on product standards but remain in the UK customs territory. This would necessitate product checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but no customs check for goods expected to stay within the UK. Many Unionists have claimed this damages trade and threatens Northern Ireland’s place in the UK. Both Downing Street and the White House expressed concern over the violence of the past month. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said in a statement: “We are concerned by the violence in Northern Ireland and we join the British, Irish and Northern Irish leaders in their calls for calm.” She added: “We welcome the provisions in both the EU-UK trade co-operation agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol, which helped protect the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement.”

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Second Covid wave in India sees dramatic rise in cases, deaths amidst new variant Jake Nordland News Sub Editor A second Covid-19 wave in India reached new heights last week as the country struggled to cope with the combined effects of a more contagious variant, medical supply shortages and the easing of Covid restrictions.

The new wave, which started late last month, saw record levels of infections of coronavirus infections throughout last week.

The week started with 295,000 new cases reported in a 24 hour window from 20-21 April, a continuation of an exponential rise in cases throughout the second wave.

By Sunday, 349,691 additional cases had been recorded in the previous 24 hours, a grim milestone of four consecutive record-breaking daily case rises for the country. India is seeing thousands of Covid-19 deaths each day.

The capital Delhi returned to a week-long lockdown from Monday, as Maharashtra state home to financial capital Mumbai - also introduced tougher restrictions, in a bid to quell the latest surge.

The new variant in India, named ‘B.1.617’, has been blamed for driving the recent crisis. It has been described as a ‘double mutant’ because it has two spike proteins - the mechanism by which the virus gains entry into healthy cells.

Although little is known about the new strain, it is believed to

TazaaKhabar be more transmittable and responsible for the uptick in infection rates. Data also shows it is more deadly in some states, according to the BBC. An oxygen shortage has increasingly spiralled as hospitals in Delhi have battled unprecedented demand and severe supply shortages. Certain hospitals have put signs up outside saying oxygen is “out of stock”, according to a BBC article.

The Chief Minister of Delhi pleaded on Twitter for extra oxygen supplies as some hospitals in the city and surrounding area warned they had just hours of supply left.

India has simultaneously had to contend with a lack of beds as

hospitals are once again reaching full capacity. Nearly all ICU beds in major cities are full, and many Delhi hospitals have had to turn patients away, as well as discharge or ask Covid patients to leave to prioritise sicker ones.

In response to the new wave, the UK on Monday added India to its ‘red list’ - the list of countries from which travel to the UK is banned.

The addition came just after Prime Minister Boris Johnson had cancelled next week’s planned visit to India, where he was due to meet Indian PM Narendra Modi to discuss the future partnership between the two countries.

But the UK announced on

Sunday it was sending shipments of emergency medical supplies to India. Over 600 pieces of medical equipment, including 140 ventilators and 495 oxygen concentrators, are scheduled to arrive by Tuesday.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Twitter the surplus equipment would “help provide life-saving care for vulnerable Covid patients”. “No-one is safe until we are all safe”, he added.

Describing the nation state as a friend and partner to the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said India faced a “deeply concerning time in the fight against Covid-19”.

Director general of the The World Health Organisation,

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “The situation in India is a devastating reminder of what the virus can do”.

He expressed the concern about India’s surge at a virtual briefing in Geneva, and said people were dying across the world because they are not being tested, treated and vaccinated.

The surge and new wave comes during India’s election season, which has seen crowds of thousands gather for election rallies as recently as 17 April. The easing of earlier lockdown restrictions and subsequent large religious and cultural gatherings have resulted in crowded assemblies across India.

Mr Modi, who is seeking a third term with his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has been criticised after a rally in West Bengal, where he didn’t wear a mask and proudly remarked: “In all directions I see huge crowds of people … I have never seen such crowds at a rally”.

India recently overtook Brazil as the second worst infected country in the world, after the US, with over 16 million total recorded cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. More than 186,000 deaths have been recorded.

Last Tuesday, Mr Modi described the Covid resurgence in India as “like being hit by a storm”.

Czech Republic blames Russia for explosion at arm’s depot Diane Niameh Staff Writer Czech authorities have announced that two Russian nationals are linked to an arms depot explosion that occurred in 2014. The explosion resulted in the deaths of two people.

The two, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, are believed to be members of the Russian military intelligence (GRU), and are currently linked to the 2018 Salisbury poisonings.

It is believed that the explosion in the Czech Republic is also linked to the poisoning of a Bulgarian arms dealer called Emilian Gebrev.

Czech authorities have been led to believe that Unit 29155 of the GRU is behind the explosion.

The European intelligence agency believes that the GRU

will inform Nato and its European Union allies about those suspicions and will discuss the matter at the EU foreign ministers meeting being held on Monday.

“

It is believed that the explosion in the Czech Republic is also linked to the poisoning of a Bulgarian arms dealer called Emilian Gebrev.

Unit 29155 is tasked with conducting destruction, subversion and assassinations.

The Russian government has denied the allegations The Prime Minister of the

Czech republic Andrej Babis said that the country had to react to the revelations tying the blast to the GRU .

The Foreign Minister Jan Hameck said that the country

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it would “take retaliatory measures that will force the authors of this provocation to fully understand their responsibility for destroying a foundation of normal ties between our countries.”

The accusations have since led to both Russia and the Czech Republic to expel each other’s diplomats.

While Czech authorities have given Russia till May to with-

draw 63 embassy employees, the Russian government has also expelled 20 employees of the Czech embassy in Russia.

Other countries have also taken action in the wake of the revelations, with the United States, Poland and Bulgaria expelling Russian diplomats in their countries. The Russian government has acted in kind.

On Thursday, Slovakia joined in solidarity with the Czech Republic, expelling three Russian diplomats with Prime Minister Eduard Heger saying they “must leave the country in seven days”.

The blast that occured in 16 October 2014 destroyed windows in nearby buildings, and led to the evacuation of local schools. The remains of two men were discovered after more than a month.

The Badger 26th April 2021

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7

The US heads nations in pledging new climate goals Luke Thomson In a virtual summit held on 22 April, Joe Biden has pledged to cut US carbon emissions by 50% below 2005 levels by the year 2050. This doubles the amount previously promised by the nation.

Canada, Japan and South Korea also made several new promises. Canada has promised to reduce emissions by around 40-45% by 2030. Despite this, climate activists have strongly protested this; with the World Resources Institute claiming it “falls short of what is needed to avoid dangerous levels of warming”.

Japan also pledged to reduce emissions, this time by 46% by 2030. This almost doubles their previous goal of 26%.

Although many countries announced new and ambitious goals, some countries did not.

This includes China and India, the world’s first and third-worst emitters of greenhouse gases respectively.

China made no new goals or policies to try and combat their emissions, although leader Xi Jinping did hint that as their economy slowly recovers from the global recession they will try and slow down coal-powered energy.

India made no new pledges

Number 10 either and even questioned whether government action was as important as individuals and their lifestyle choices.

These events come after the joint Chinese and US pledge earlier in the week that saw the two nations will make more efforts into fighting climate change in the coming years.

The talks between them commenced on the week beginning 12 April, held between China’s climate representative Xie Zhenhua and the US’ John Kerry.

After these meetings, on 18 April, the two agreed on specific actions and policies that would target a major reduction of co2 emissions.

According to the US Gov web-

site, some of these policies will include things like an increase of renewable energy, green agriculture, energy-efficient buildings and an overall reduction of carbon footprint.

The website also declared that more “concrete actions in the 2020s to reduce emissions aimed at keeping the Paris Agreement aligned temperature limit within reach” will be taken.

This agreement aims to keep the global temperature increase to, at most, 2 degrees Celsius, although the ideal goal would be just 1.5 degrees.

The two countries have even agreed that they will try and help developing nations to afford switching from more effi-

cient carbon emissions to a less economically effective renewable energy source.

The meeting was held in Shanghai, making Kerry’s first trip there to be the highest-level official meeting between the US and China since Biden took over the presidency in January.

Despite the positive talks, Chinese vice foreign minister, Le Zhaoxing declared that “for a big country with 1.4 billion people, these goals are not easily delivered”, assuring that the nation likely won’t be able to lower emissions before they are expected to.

Indeed, Xi Jinping recently told reporters that he did not want climate change to “become a geopolitical chip” that could act as an excuse to set up trade barriers and restrictions and thereby damage their economy.

Despite these hesitations from Chinese officials, a key advisor for the world’s leading environmental pressure group Greenpeace was pleased with the progress between China and the US. He briefly labelled the news as “positive”. Adding that “before the meetings in Shanghai this is not a message that we could assume” Of the two nations, China is the worst contributor to emissions. They currently hold 1,058

coal plants – more than half of the entire planet’s capacity. Recent studies reflect that they must close at least 588 of these in order to fulfil their side of the agreement.

Yet, the US has the worst NDC global environment level in the world with their energy consumption being labelled as “critically insufficient”.

The two nations’ cooperation comes as a welcome relief in the midst of rising tension between them. Such conflicts include US anger over Chinese human rights abuses in the treatment of Uighur Muslims, and China’s attempted claims to have ownership over the South China Sea. On a separate note, the US’ climate policies have progressed majorly since Biden came into office. He re-entered the US into the Paris Agreement within just mere hours of coming into the presidency back in January after replacing Republican Donald Trump.

Biden has also pledged that the US will switch to an emissions-free power sector within the next 14 years, and a totally emissions-free economy by 2050.

Perhaps his most ambitious promise has been to invest a grand $2 trillion in hopes of revolutionising the US’ wider outlook into climate change.

Russia announces withdrawal of forces from Ukrainian border Oliver Mizzi News Editor After a month-long military build-up Russia has announced it will begin to withdraw its forces from the Ukrainian border. The build-up, which Russia has claimed is part of military inspections and exercises, prompted worries of a further escalation in the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that “the objectives of the snap inspection have been fully achieved. The troops have demonstrated their ability to provide credible defence for the country”.

Although a troop withdrawal has been announced, equipment has been left behind as another military exercise has been scheduled to take place later in the year. The Russia-Belarussian Zapad-2021 strategic military exercises are due to take place in September according to Russia’s state news agency Tass.

The military exercises consisted off Air, Ground, and Naval units. As part of the exercises,

Russia imposed no fly zones over parts of the black sea in order to conduct convoy protection and surface attack drills.

Russia has also closed off sections of the black sea to passage by foreign vessels between 24 April and 31 October. This includes the Kerch straight, which connects the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk to the wider black sea.

“

Russia had previously warned that it would intervene to help the breakaway republics if Ukraine launched an assault on the areas and that they would “defend” Russian citizens.

The build-up prompted tension between Russia and Ukraine, as well as with the US. The US has called it the largest build-up of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border since 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that an estimated 120,000 troops had been built up on the border, split between Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Russia’s President Putin to meet in the Donbass region in Eastern Ukraine where a war has been occurring since 2014. He said, “I am ready to go even further and invite you to meet in any part of the Ukrainian Donbass where war is ongoing”.

In a state of the nation address, Putin said “if someone mistakes our good intentions for indifference or weakness and intends to burn down or even blow up these bridges, they should know that Russia’s response will be asymmetrical, swift and harsh.”

The troop build-up first gained attention when videos emerged on social media of trains loaded with Russian equipment moving towards the Russian occupied Crimean Peninsula and passing through Rostov-on-Don which is located on the Black Sea near the Ukrainian border.

The equipment included T-72 main battle tanks, selfpropelled artillery, BTRs and other logistical equipment. The Russian navy also increased its

presence in the black sea, with amphibious landing vessels from the Baltic and Northern fleets entering the Black Sea earlier this week.

Satellite imagery also revealed new Russian forces have been moved into the region. The Wall Street Journal posted images of Satellite imagery showing “SU30 fighters lined up on a runway at an airbase in Crimea”. They had not been there in previous imagery from late March.

The Conflict Intelligence Team, a Russian open source intelligence group, reported that new camps being set up in the Voronezh region that borders Ukraine. Satellite imagery revealed hundreds of military vehicles being parked up in newly created camps.

The build-up came at a time when a July 2020 ceasefire signed to stop the war in the Donbass expired, and an intensification of fighting between both sides. The Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) announced earlier last month that it was conscripting citizens born between 1994-2003.

With Russian troops moving

to the border, and a ceasefire not renewing, Ukraine’s President called on Nato to speed up Ukraine’s pathway onto membership status, with the prospect of joining “the only way to end the war in Donbass”. He also signed a law allowing reservists to be called up without announcing a mobilization.

Russia had previously warned that it would intervene to help the breakaway republics if Ukraine launched an assault on the areas and that they would “defend” Russian citizens.

The build-up also comes at a time of tension in US-Russian relations. The US has recently tightened sanctions against Russia after the Czech Republic accused Russia of being behind the explosion of an ammunition dump in 2014, prompting an exchange of expelling each other’s diplomats. The same occurred between Russia and the US and Poland.

Over 14,000 people have been killed in the war that started in 2014.

The Badger 26th April 2021

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8

Derek Chauvin found guilty for the murder of George Floyd Grace Curtis & Robyn Cowie A jury in a Minneapolis courthouse has unanimously found Derek Chauvin guilty of all charges over the death of George Floyd. In May 2020, Chauvin was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, which prevented George Floyd from being able to breath, during his arrest last May. Derek Chauvin ignored pleas from Floyd that he was unable to breathe, George Floyd was declared dead an hour later.

This incident prompted waves of protests in support of racial justice in both America and the rest of the world.

It took the jurors only ten and a half hours to find Chauvin guilty on verdicts of of second degree murder, third degree murder and manslaughter. The former Minneapolis police officer had denied the charges, but he was found guilty on all counts.

Chauvin showed little emotion as the guilty verdicts were read out. He was then remanded in custody, handcuffed and led out of the courtroom. Chauvin will remain in jail until he is sentenced.

It will be another eight weeks before Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill will sentence Chauvin, allowing time to consider the options. Under Minnesota guidelines, the minimum sentence is 12.5 years for the most serious charge.

However, the three counts which all require Chauvin’s ac-

Chad Davis tions to have led to Mr Floyd’s death but interpret his intentions differently - have varying maximum sentences.

The second-degree murder charge, one which applies if you commit a serious assault which played a substantial role in causing an unintentional death, carries a maximum penalty of 40 years. The third-degree murder, defined as showing a reckless disregard for human life while in “depraved mind” by doing something considered “eminently dangerous” to another person resulting in their death, carries

a maximum penalty of 25 years.

The charge of manslaughter in the second degree, defined as acting negligently, creating unreasonable risk, and consciously taking chances of killing or harming another person, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, or a fine of $20,000.

It is expected that when sentencing takes place, once again all eyes shall be on the same Minneapolis courthouse as they were for the trial.

Floyd’s brother Philonise was the only family member in court, due to COVID procedures. He

sat praying in the minutes before the verdict and was visibly shaking as it was announced.

“I was just praying they would find him guilty. As an African American, we usually never get justice,” he said immediately afterwards.

Outside the court building, a crowd of several hundred people erupted in cheers when the verdicts were announced.

Upon the announcement, President Joe Biden released a statement in which he applauded the verdict as a “step forward” before calling for more to be

done to ensure genuine “change and reform” for racial justice.

He said: “state and local government and law enforcement needs to step up, but so does the federal government” and pledged to “continue to fight for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act”.

Vice President Kamala Harris said: “Racial injustice is not just a black America problem or a people of colour problem, it’s a problem for every American. It is keeping us from fulfilling the promise of liberty and justice for all.”

The news of Chauvin’s sentence provoked a reaction from a number of world leaders.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the verdict, said that he had been “appalled” by the murder of George Floyd and shared his thoughts with Floyd’s family and friends.

The verdict is considered historic. In the United States, police officers are rarely convicted for deaths that occur in custody.

According to the BBC, the guilty verdict in this trial has been widely understood as an indication of how the US legal system may treat such cases in future.

However, a number of civil rights organisations were quick to point out that there is still work to be done. The American Civil Liberties Union released a statement saying: “While today’s verdict is a small win for police accountability and may help heal a grieving community, the systems that allowed George to be murdered... remain fully in-

Chad’s President Idriss Déby dies from combat wounds Ewan Vellinga News Online Sub Editor Chad’s President Idriss Déby died from combat wounds on 20 April, the country’s military has confirmed.

The 68-year-old died while visiting troops in northern Chad, where the army is fighting rebels belonging to FACT (the Front for Change and Concord in Chad).

A curfew has been imposed and borders closed, while a state funeral is set to take place on 23 April.

The rebel group FACT accused the late-president of repression in the run up to elections that took place recently on 11 April.

They are based in northern Chad and southern Libya, and have been advancing on the capital N’Djamena since fighting resumed last Saturday.

The BBC notes that provi-

Rama sional elections released the day before Déby died suggested he would win a sixth term in of-

fice, with a projected 80% of the vote.

Déby, previously an armed of-

ficer himself, was in power for over 30 years, having become president in 1990 during an armed uprising.

Parliament has been dissolved following his death, and a military council including 14 generals, led by Déby’s son Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, will govern for the next 18 months.

The army has said that once this transition period is over, “free and democratic” elections will take place to elect a new president.

However, the BBC states that experts have called the move “unconstitutional”, arguing that the speaker of parliament should take charge when a sitting president dies.

The Guardian quotes army spokesman Azem Bermendao as saying “the national council of transition reassures the Chadian people that all measures have been taken to guarantee peace,

security and the republican order.”

FACT has rejected the council of transition, saying in a statement that “Chad is not a monarchy. There can be no dynastic devolution of power in our country.”

Condolences have poured in from various countries.

France, a long-time ally of President Déby, have expressed their condolences, with the French presidency calling Déby a “brave friend.”

Senegalese President Macky Sall said on Twitter “I salute his memory and pay tribute to his contribution to the stabilization of the Sahel,” while Guinean President Alpha Conde said “we have lost a great friend and a tireless advocate for Africa.”

Both expressed their condolences to his family and the people of Chad.

The Badger 26th April 2021

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9

News Where You’re Not

Grace Curtis, News Sub-Editor, reviews some of the big stories from across the country Scottish Highlands & Islands – Unusual bug spotted for the first time since 1989

Highlands

Bug off! The cow wheat shieldbug – a very rare insect - has been spotted in the Scottish Highlands for the first time in over 30 years. The bug was spotted, for only the 8th time ever in Scottish history, in Strathspey in the Cairngorms. The insect has a black body with two distinctive white spots. According to the BBC, scientists fear there has been a “worrying decline” of sightings of the bug recently in England.

Sunderland – 19th-century windmill becomes polling station A 19th-century windmill in the North East will be getting a new lease on life next month in its new function as a polling station. Fulwell Windmill will be hosting voters in their tea room during the 2021 council elections that will take place in May. The Local Democracy Reporting Service said that in places where there is a shortage of civic buildings, it can be easier to set up polling booths on existing premises rather than erecting temporary buildings.

Wales – Movie star funds Oxford scholarship for Welsh students A bursary named after Frost/Nixon star Michael Sheen has been established in collaboration with Jesus College, Oxford, to support the education of Welsh students. The means-tested bursary is intended to help disadvantaged Welsh students access an Oxford University education. The world-famous actor, who was born in Newport, Wales, said: “I hope that these bursaries not only make it possible for Welsh students to take advantage of the educational possibilities at Jesus, but also help to encourage a sense of what is possible for young Welsh people generally.”

Sunderland

London – HSBC boss ditches office to start hot desking Big bank HSBC announced this week that their top managers have lost their private offices in the Canary Wharf HQ and will instead hot-desk with other workers on the open-plan office floor. The revelation came at the same time as plans to shrink their office space by 40%. On Linkedin, Chief Executive Noel Quinn said that HSBC will switch to a “hybrid working” model and that he will work from home for part of the week. He said, “my leadership team and I have moved to a fully openplan floor with no designated desks”. This change means that the top executives will be competing with colleagues for desk space while, according to the BBC, their old offices have been transformed into client meeting rooms and other communal spaces.

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BADGER needs you!

Wales

Essex – Community radio station told off for playing ‘extended sexual moaning’ Caroline Community Radio, a radio station broadcasting to the Maldon area of Essex, has been criticised by Ofcom for playing a song containing “prolonged sounds of sexual moaning” at breakfast time. The watchdog ruled that playing French Kiss

by Lil Louis on 17th December breached the broadcasting code, Essex as it was scheduled at a “time when children were particularly likely to be listening”. The song, which reached number London two in the UK charts in 1989, contains no lyrics but, rather, “prolonged sounds of sexual moaning lasting two minutes and 20 seconds”.

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THE BIG DEBATE In The Big Debate this week, two writers debate whether voting should become mandatory, or if low voter turnout can be solved with better political education.

Yes

No

Issy Anthony Comment Editor

Miranda Dunne Staff Writer

With the mayoral elections in London soon to be upon us, I’ve found myself thinking about what it means to vote.

Having only voted in one election, voting is still an exciting novelty to me.

When I went to vote in 2019, I was so nervous that I accidentally stole the pencil from the booth as I had been gripping it so tightly- apologies to the University of Sussex polling station.

To me, voting is something that has been fought for, and something that we should all take pride in doing. You can probably gather that, as Comment Editor, I’m a rather politically opinionated person.

I feel like we shouldn’t really complain about politics if we haven’t even tried to go out and make a change. But how can these changes be made when voter turnout, especially for our generation, really isn’t good enough.

“

Politics is often reserved as a tool for the bourgeoise, and I think that making voting mandatory will make it a tool for all people, not just the privileged ones.

According to Statisa, voter turnout in the 2019 election was 67.3%. Now, that is not a ridiculously low number. However, it also isn’t really that high. It means that just over 2/3 of eligible voters are actually using their vote, and just under a 1/3 aren’t.

And if we narrow it down to 18-25 year olds, voter turnout was just 47% in 2019.

When I first heard that statistic, I was really shocked. I don’t think I have a single friend where politics has not come up in a conversation, even just in passing.

But clearly less than half of us are actually turning up to vote, and something has to be done to make sure this changes.

So why isn’t voting mandatory? In 2015, while Labour MP for Walsall, David Winnick argued that voting should not be just a right, but instead a civic duty. He stated that, ‘We all have to pay local and national taxes...we can’t opt out and we don’t want anyone to opt out. Is that an infringement of civil liberties?’.

His argument actually does make a lot of sense. As citizens, we agree to a set of rules expected from us by society. To abide by the law, to pay taxes and fines, to participate in jury duty, all in the name of keeping our society civilised.

So why not add voting to this list? This would mean that the result of the vote would actually be truly representative of all eligible voters. I’ve often found myself

wondering why voting hasn’t yet evolved into being done on an app.

Now, before you roll your eyes in frustration, I know why-it is far to susceptible to hacking. I’m talking more conceptually here-voting should be easy, it should be quick, and it should be done by everyone who is eligible.

Let’s take Australia, for example. It is one of only 11 countries that has made voting mandatory, and they have one of the highest levels of voter turnout in the world.

The argument against this is often that just because people are voting, it doesn’t mean that they are politically engaged. I often feel that there is an element of classism to this answer, as I feel it discriminates against those who aren’t raised seeing themselves represented in politics, and haven’t always had access to the kind of education that can help you become politically engaged.

Politics is often reserved as a tool for the bourgeoise, and I think that making

Less than half of young people are choosing to vote. In the 2019 British General Election it was estimated by Ipsos Mori that turnout from 18-24-year-olds lagged at 47%. Overall turnout was 67.3%, a decrease from the 2017 general election.

For years, low turnout has evoked debates surrounding how to best confront the issue, notably the suggestion that the UK should introduce legislation to make voting, or actively abstaining, a requirement.

This is the case in Australia, whereby electors who fail to vote must pay a $20 fine if they do not provide a ‘valid and sufficient’ excuse to the state.

This is despite the fact that there is no evidence that enforced voting - patriotically dressed up by its proponents as ‘civic duty’ - tackles the causes of low turnout. The symptom of low turnout is often mistaken for an isolated problem, when actually it is but a symptom of political apathy, disillusionment and

Should voting become mandatory? voting mandatory will make it a tool for all people, not just the privileged ones.

In the 2019 election, those from upper middle and middle class families had a voter turnout of 68%, higher than the national average, while those from working class families had a turnout of 53%, according to Ipsos Mori.

“

Now, I know that voting doesn’t make all the difference. There are many more actions we have to take apart from voting, but I think it is a pretty good place to start.

If voting was mandatory, we would be hearing from all voices, and our elected politicians would become far more representative of what the whole country wants, not just the wealthy.

Now, I know that voting doesn’t make all the difference. There are many more actions we have to take apart from voting, but I think it is a pretty good place to start.

It’s time we realise that voting isn’t just a privilege, it should be our civic duty. We cannot hope to raise a generation that will become more politically engaged until we bring politics to them, and making voting mandatory may be just the way to do this.

frustration with the majoritarian system, to name a few. A pattern with complex interweaving roots cannot be met with a lazy, ineffective solution. If the roots are not untangled, the problem will persist and rear its head in other ways.

Research has consistently demonstrated that one of the best ways to tackle low turnout is to engage citizens in political education, preferably during school years. This is partly because an education in politics can instill political interest in students, a key determinant of political engagement.

However, Politics as a single-subject does not currently exist on any UK curriculum at GCSE level, with students having to opt into the subject at A-Level.

Citizenship education has existed as a national curriculum foundation subject since it was first introduced under the Labour government in 2002, but is still not being taught in many schools.

ShoutOut UK is an organisation advocating for mandatory political literacy courses in UK schools. They have reached 3,000 young people, introducing students to British political systems and institutions, how to engage with representatives and employability skills.

Their social impact report, 2019-2020 demonstrated that, not only were young

people more informed on the British political system and felt more motivated to create change in society, but that a majority felt more empowered to make informed voting decisions.

This also interplays with class and family background, strong indicators as to whether or not an individual is more or less likely to be engaged politically.

If, like me, you grew up in a home where politics was not discussed or did not come into contact with people who were politically active, you’d be even less likely to be interested in politics, then vote, in turn.

In my case it’s taken the accumulation of thousands of pounds worth of debt to gain a basic understanding of the British political system, time and money not everyone has to do so - degree or otherwise.

In the end, perhaps that is what it comes down to - in a competition for scarce resources, simply meting out fines to disinterested or frustrated voters would be a quicker and cheaper solution.

But in order to profit in the long run in this case via a more politically engaged electorate, you need to make a larger investment.

This is understood by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Political Literacy who seek to strengthen political literacy in schools and explore improved politics-based qualifications, for example through a GCSE in politics.

Disillusionment is also a sizable factor of low turnout. Reportedly, a study

by Survation found that in the 2015 general election, most of the people who did not vote felt that no one in the choice of candidates and parties best represented their interests.

Mandatory voting, moveover, will not address the genuine issues people have with first-past-the-post.

Many don’t vote even if they do feel aligned with or support a party - for example a Labour supporter living in a Tory stronghold might not even bother under the majoritarian system.

Overall, advocating for mandatory voting would not serve any of us in the longrun; instead it would serve as a red herring distracting us from the numerous explanations for low turnout.

Without addressing apathy, lack of knowledge, disillusionment and the genuine issues people have with the voting system, we don’t foster meaningful change. If we opt to focus only on the what and not the why, then we are doing ourselves, our democracy and the future generation of electors a disservice.

The Badger 26th April 2021

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Why intersectional environmentalism is essential Polly Wallace Intersectionality, a term coined in 1989 by Kimberle Crenshaw, defines a lens which observes how different forms of inequality ‘often operate together and exacerbate each other’. This theory is particularly apt when looking at the environmental crisis and the much needed solutions to it.

Activist Leah Thomas created the movement of ‘Intersectional environmentalism’ (May 2020) after the Black Lives Matter protests occurred in an attempt to raise awareness of the white dominated environmental movement of Western countries. These movements fail to acknowledge the origins of climate destruction and whose voices need to be listened to in order to understand how to move towards a climate solution.

Intersectional environmentalism pledges to protect the planet and people, listening to and amplifying indigenous voices who have been living sustainably for centuries. Thomas states that the world cannot achieve a climate solution without climate

equality. Black and brown people are disproportionately experiencing climate change, and thus if racism is not addressed, a climate solution can never be achieved. The indigenous people in post-colonial countries and post-colonial diasporas such as African Americans in the USA are central to the environmental debate and their voices must not be silenced. Carolyn Merchant for instance, declares that talking about environmental justice demands recognition of the originators of environmental movements.

The devastation of colonialism produced long-term effects on eco-systems and the environments of former colonised countries. This damage is contributing to the current climate crisis of the 21st century which is severely endangering indigenous ways of life. Euro-centric and white-dominated narratives of history fail to inform environmentalists of the origins of the climate threat that the world is collectively facing. However, the word ‘collective’ suggests that everyone is experiencing the same effects of climate change, which is incorrect. This refers

to the obvious difference that Eastern countries such as India and Bangladesh are already experiencing severe effects of climate change such as deforestation, mass flooding and droughts, whereas the West remain relatively untouched from life-threatening effects. Further, it refers to the discrimination within societies; minorities and lower classes are more likely to be threatened by climate change. For example, living near a nuclear power plant or threats of involuntary resettlement due to development plans.

The historic and cultural preservation and respect for the planet which can be seen among indigenous communities was obliterated by European greed. In India, Britain’s largest and arguably most important ex-colony, suffered mass environmental destruction from two hundred years of imperial rule. The British, after having decimated the forests for economic profit, specifically in the Himalayan region, introduced forest reserves that prevented forest-dependent communities from access to any forest resources. It is important to note

that the British continued their tradition of Shikar expeditions as a form of sport which endangered species such as tigers and elephants. The British in India introduced environmental issues that would not have occurred had they not been there in the first place, linking to historian Richard Grove’s concept of ‘Green imperialism’. The forest legislation was introduced in an attempt to protect the environment, however in doing so it was destroying the communities who had been taking care of the forests and ecosystems for centuries. Therefore, the British destroyed the equilibrium of the Indian environment through forest management, expanding their political hegemony and creating lasting damage that India is still fighting today.

Current Western environmental movements often fail to acknowledge climate origins in colonialism and their responsibility to listen to the people who have been experiencing the effects of the climate crisis for decades. White environmentalism is overlooking important knowledge to be learned from indigenous people and centring

Europe in this global struggle.

The role of big neo-colonialist corporations in the environmental monopoly over third world countries is also significant; eliminating these will have a profound effect on indigenous people. A significant example is the World Bank’s impact on Indian farmers who are currently protesting for their rights.

Environmental history offers contemporary views on Imperialism, reassessing traditional Eurocentric narratives with an environmental perspective.

Therefore, the need for an inclusive environmental history is extremely important and topical if a climate solution is to be found for the future of the planet. Evidence shows that a significant amount of the current environmental issues we are facing today commenced with imperialism as well as sparking an environmental racism that is pervasive in the 21st century. Environmental damage is not constrained to borders and therefore a global, inclusive perspective is needed in order to create a future for the planet.

The isolated student: Too little too late Hanani Aslam On March 24th 2020, the whole of my university experience came to a standstill. Seminars, lectures, social events, and even graduation ceremonies were cancelled. Most students travelled back home to be with family, though some – such as international students like myself – remained stranded on desolate campuses. I would complete my undergraduate degree in my bedroom, alone.

A year later, I will have done the entirety of my master’s from my bedroom. While the government has announced that a full return to face-face teaching for students in England has been planned from May 17th, this for me is far too late and not enough. Right now, I can go out to the pub for a drink but I can’t attend my seminars. By mid-May, thousands of students will have finished their seminars and lectures, leaving students to face assessments after months working online. The majority of students will be sitting their end-of-year exams, which will still be online to accommodate

those who cannot return to campus. So, it has me thinking, what is the point of opening up?

This is yet another late announcement with no explanation for the reasons for delay. In 43 of Boris Johnson’s addresses to the nation on the Covid-19 crisis, only 10 mention universities or students. The way university students have been neglected by the government is frustrating and disappointing. When young people are mentioned, it is to urge them not to ‘kill their grandparents’ by spreading the virus despite the fact that it was the government that instructed students to travel to campuses.

No one was expecting to have a normal university experience in the middle of a pandemic but the lack of support we have received has been upsetting.

There were doubts and warnings from experts in August about the government’s plans to reopen universities, fearing that the mass migration of students would lead to a dramatic increase in outbreaks of Covid-19.

After a month of blended learning, with few face-to-face sessions, on October 31st 2020, we

went back into a lockdown. This was around the time my housemates and I had found accommodation in Brighton, meaning we missed the first few weeks of face-to-face sessions. Most students were confined to their halls of residence, isolated and unable to return home. And then in January, those who had gone home were told not to return to their university accommodation.

Since October, almost all teaching has been online. Yet during this period, the workload, assessments, fees and rent have all been the same as they would have been pre-pandemic. Only students on creative and practical courses have been allowed in-person teaching. Around half of university students in England were not eligible to return to campuses. When I chose to do my masters at Sussex, I was hoping to have some access to facilities and equipment. Everything being online has curtailed my opportunities to gain in-thefield experience. As a postgraduate student in International Journalism, I haven’t had access to video and audio recording

equipment that are vital to my education, and I am missing out on learning the practical techniques that employers look for.

We have been working from home, with unreliable internet connections, inadequate working areas, an inability to access libraries or practical equipment, and isolated from friends and peers. The workload and the academic pressure is the same but how can we be expected to perform as normal when we’re not getting the same experience? It has also been difficult to socialize and connect with other students through virtual courses.

No one wants to spend more time on zoom than they need to.

Anxiety levels have increased because of the uncertainty, the lack of face-to-face contact with peers and teachers, and fears for the future. Studies show that students in higher and further education describe their current mental health and wellbeing as worse compared with their life before the pandemic.

Medical experts predict that social isolation and economic stress caused by the pandemic will have a damaging impact on

mental health. Accessing mental health support was difficult and long even before the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has since been harder to access with longer waiting lists and limited time slots.

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Since October, almost all teaching has been online. Yet during this period, the workload, assessments, fees and rent have all been the same as they would have been prepandemic.

Online learning does not provide the same value for money and students should not be charged their full fees. Despite Boris Johnson’s vows to look into rent rebates, only a few universities have independently offered rent reductions and waivers. You’re entitled to a refund if you have a ticket booked for a holiday, but if you signed up for a year’s tuition and student accommodation only to be stuck somewhere else, learning online? Tough luck! We are being exploited for profit and nothing is being done about it.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Comment

12 How to be a bimbo

Charlotte Pringle-Lait The word “bimbo” has most commonly been used to negatively describe a woman who is gifted with looks but lacks intellect. However, most recently the word has been reclaimed by semi-ironic users on TikTok who are redefining the term in a positive light.

The word “bimbo” originates from the Italian word “bimba” - meaning “female baby” and was originally used in English as early as 1919 to refer to an unintelligent or brutish man, with the word over time becoming gender-neutral. The usage of the term slowly died out over later decades but resurfaced in the 80s and 90s and was popularised by using the term in conjunction with political sex scandals - “Bimbo eruptions”. Over time the word came to refer to females exclusively; hence the variation “himbo” which is used to describe males. But make no mistake, just because there is a male variation of the word – doesn’t mean it is any less misogynistic.

The trope seeped into popculture, noteworthy fictional examples are Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday, Karen from Mean Girls and Shelley from The House Bunny. Whilst real examples of women who have been labelled as bimbos include Paris Hilton, Anna Nichole Smith and

Pamela Anderson. The “bimbo” is often considered to be ‘above’ women in regards to attractiveness but ‘below’ other women intellectually, meaning that she is often an object of jealousy and aversion simultaneously. They are stereotypically vacuous, blonde, busty and speak with a breathy voice - echoing Marilyn Monroe - usually being seen solely as sex objects. Unlike other female stereotypes, such as the ‘dumb blonde’ or ‘girl next door’, the bimbo’s sexuality and sex appeal are quintessential parts of who she is. The bimbo lacks such character that she is almost a two-dimensional caricature freshly ripped from this month’s issue of Playboy.

But if we delve deeper, this supposedly negative bimbo character possesses an array of positive attributes, such as being body confident and sexually liberated. The assumption that a

bimbo’s look purposefully caters to men is not always correct and is inherently misogynistic as it erases the possibility of a woman wanting to appear attractive for her own pleasure. Social media self-proclaimed bimbo Chrissy Chlapecka said “I don’t do this for the misogynistic male gaze. I do it for my gaze!” Bimbos also challenge the expectation of having to dress a certain way to be respected and taken seriously – instead dressing for their own joy. So, what is a bimbo if anything but an attractive, fun-loving and fashionable woman who puts her joy above societal norms?

In film and television, the bimbo is portrayed in a multitude of ways. The first way that is portrayed is as a character that MUST undergo a transformation of some kind – for example Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods transforms herself into a top Harvard

Law student. Whilst in Mean Girls, Cady Heron transforms into a bimbo and then back to her original self, realizing she preferred who she was before.

In some circumstances, the bimbo is purely a side character whose purpose to the storyline is to serve the male characters desires and needs. In How I Met Your Mother Barney Stinson and Ted Mosby refer to their own and each other’s past flings as bimbo’s, with Barney saying “I love their vacant, trusting stares, their sluggish unincumbered minds” – clearly signifying he doesn’t hold these women in high regard. These characters always fit the bimbo stereotype and serve no real purpose to the show, other than hooking up with the men until the men eventually find the more ‘respectable’ loves of their lives.

The most dangerous enemy of the bimbo is not the overt man who sexualizes and caricaturizes the bimbo openly – it is the covert woman. In reality and fiction alike, the bimbo is demonized by fellow women out of jealousy. Women often blame bimbos for attracting male attention and for being happily sexually liberated, think Gretchen Wieners telling Karen Smith: “Regina says everyone hates you because you’re such a slut”. But now the tides are turning.

In recent years many terms have been reclaimed, such as Amber Rose’s SlutWalk helping

women reclaim the term ‘slut’ with ‘bimbo’ being the latest term to be reclaimed thanks to TikTok. Users of the platform have been encouraging women to redefine the term ‘bimbo’ to include meaning a liberal, nonjudgmental and carefree mindset, as well as calling out the internalized misogyny that has led to the ultrafeminine bimbo trope having only negative connotations.

So, what can we learn from the bimbo? The bimbo defies the notion that women must look and act a certain way to be taken seriously and respected. Paris Hilton even capitalized off of the stereotype, in 2020 she revealed “I’m not a dumb blonde. I’m just really good at pretending to be one.” Perhaps Cher from Clueless is a more realistic portrayal of a bimbo – she is beautiful, ultrafeminine and loves shopping but she is also kind, smart, witty and sexually inexperienced. The modern bimbo isn’t dumb or uneducated, but their personality doesn’t necessarily revolve around their academic achievements either. This modern trend of ‘bimbofication’ has also led to the invention of the inclusive term ‘thembo’ as the bimbo of today is completely intersectional and transcends the traditional blonde, thin, booby and vapid woman stereotype.

Be feminine, be carefree, be confident, be a bimbo.

Young creatives: Our time is now Libby Mills Comment Online Sub Editor Why youth-lead organisations such as Brighton’s radio station Platform B are essential to creative futures Thankfully, the narrative that the key to success is within choosing ‘core’ academic subjects seems to be heading towards its long overdue expiry date. However, whilst attitudes might be changing, opportunities are still largely limited.

Not-for-profit and next-gen radio station Platform B has been broadcasting online since 2016, with the station first airing on 105.5 FM and DAB in 2018.

With both an organic and contemporary approach, Platform B offers young creatives aged 18-25 a stepping-stone into the highly competitive music and creative industry. Prior to this year, they were only able to provide two full time paid roles;

Lauren Mabbet Photography until funding from the Youth Music’s Incubator Fund allowed for Platform B to launch their very own breakfast show: The Rising. This only highlights the

importance and ever-growing need for financial support towards such ventures, with the Youth Music’s Incubator Fund allowing for hosts Erin James,

Jordi Carter and Elsa Monteith and producers Eva Lunny and Bobby Brown to all be paid. It’s all too common that unpaid time and effort is required in order to gain experience within a creative environment and for young people in today’s financial climate, this can be detrimental to their ability to pursue a creative career.

Student and Platform B presenter and producer Angharad Evans shared with me how the station has boosted her confidence in networking within a space of like-minded people, as well as feeling supported both emotionally and creatively. Angharad explained how within such industries, knowledge is power and how the environment curated by Platform B offers a hub of knowledge that is wanting to be shared onto the next generation.

“Platform B listen beyond the loudest idea, look beyond what’s

trending and listen to their inner circle.”

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Student and Platform B presenter and producer Angharad Evans shared with me how the station has boosted her confidence in networking within a space of like-minded people, as well as feeling supported both emotionally and creatively.

As put by Brighton’s MP Caroline Lucas, The Rising is “a great addition to the city’s media landscape.” And it seems Platform B is only getting started.

Tune in to Angharad’s radio slot Savvy Selections every other Monday 8pm-9pm.

To find out more and listen in you can visit: platformb.org.uk or follow them on Instagram @ platformbradio and Twitter @ PLATFORMBradio.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Comment

13

How streaming platforms have altered what music means to humanity Roxanna Wright Staff Writer

Music is one of the few creations by humankind which is universally loved. For thousands and thousands of years, music has created moments in the days of ordinary people which allow peace, happiness, and a break from the routines of everyday life.

Music is a storyteller which engages us with tales of raw emotion whether that is joy, anger, hope, sadness, or love. This definition has little changed over the years, but, over the last century, in particular, the way we have listened to music has evolved and digitalised massively. From the golden age of radio in the 1930s to jukeboxes and vinyl’s in the 1950s, to cassette tapes and Walkman’s in the 1970s, to CDs in the 80s and now the modern, revolutionary online streaming platforms.

Even though the definition of music hasn’t much changed, the progress of how we listen to music has altered the impact music has on our lives. Streaming platforms, which dominate the Western countries and are in the midst of dominating the world, have altered the impact music has on humanity, and I can’t decide whether it is in a good way or bad.

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Music is a storyteller which engages us with tales of raw emotion whether that is joy, anger, hope, sadness, or love.

Music is about so much more than just listening to melodies, rhythms, and lyrics. Music has the power to shape identities, portray culture and dominant ideologies and create a sense of togetherness amongst people.

One perfect example of bringing people together through music is the 1939 song ‘We’ll meet again’ by Dame Vera Lynn, which became a beacon of hope for the UK through World War Two. The song became a symbol of hope for the soldiers fighting in the war, and on the 75th Anniversary of VE Day, which was in the midst of the first lockdown in 2020, the entire country listened or sang along to ‘We’ll meet again’ with 103-year-old Dame Lynn. American novelist Sarah Dessen defines music as “the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in

Paul Bence common.” This definition is so beautifully true as music has the power to be a massive influence in the world, however, I believe streaming platforms have slowly disintegrated this ability.

We have so much choice to the point that maybe it is too much.

In the 70s, you would have to save up money, go down to the local record vinyl shop and flick through which record you were happy spending a fair amount of money on and that you would listen to, both A and B side of the record. Music in the past was significant because we were paying for a specific album or an artist. Now, you are paying a cheap amount of money a month to a website that allows you to listen to anything, anywhere. I think I listen to about 6 different genres a day, from 7 different decades and the amount of different albums or artists is uncountable. It is brilliant that we have this choice, but it is killing the sentimental value of music. I remember the first album I ever bought as a child; going to HMV with my dad and my younger brother and flicking through albums then finding one which I loved, and I still have that album today. Children nowadays and in the future will no longer have this kind of excitement. Yes, there will always be the buildup before an album release, but having to physically go out and buy an album and be able to call it yours is a feeling that Spotify and Apple Music will never be

able to provide.

Sometimes I wish that I was born in the 70s, back when music shaped identities. When you could walk down the street and you would be able to tell what kind of music someone would listen to just based on their clothing. Because, like fashion, music is about identity. You choose to listen to the songs that you relate to or want to relate to. You choose the genres based on your personality traits and vibes and how they make you feel. You could determine whether a person listened to ABBA, David Bowie, or AC/DC by just looking at their clothing and hairstyle in the 70s.

Whereas now, there might be a few instances where you can tell, such as if a boy is wearing a full Nike tracksuit, he most likely listens to rap, or they are wearing baggy jeans and a vintage jumper, I would guess they listen to Indie music. But, in most cases, young people do not have a certain genre or artist they swear by.

This is a wonderful thing in a way because it allows people to find their niche’s and they are able to broaden their tastes which, also correlates to how it broadens their view of the world.

Music is a reflection of the world and listening to so many different perspectives and genres allows people to look at the world in so many unique ways. Now, people are not replicas of each other as everyone has original

playlists. This is extraordinary of course, but sometimes I do wish I witnessed what the music world was like when it was popular to be a die-hard fan of a singer or a band, back when music had almost cult-like fanbases, only because it is something that will most likely never be experienced again.

One result which comes from the decrease of die-hard fanbases is the ability for artists to become icons.

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Music is about so much more than just listening to melodies, rhythms, and lyrics.

Yes, we do have some iconic artists that are still producing music today, like Beyonce, Rihanna, Drake, and Ariana Grande. But, the majority of artists, don’t have the influence to make a change in society anymore. Bob Marley is a perfect example of an icon as not only his music is still popular today, decades after his passing, but also how his music changed the world. His music was, and is still, known as a symbol of peace, love, and a beacon for change amongst not just his povertystricken home country of Jamaica, but also the world. His songs spoke of truth and hope, which he went on to win the Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations and the Jamaican Order of Merit. His music brought people together and it spoke of honesty politically

and culturally about society.

Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, Cher, Queen, Whitney Houston, The Beatles, David Bowie, Prince, and many more icons are names that will carry on for decades.

They are names my future children will know and I still listen to them regularly. Not only their music, but their personalities stood out in the past, and I sometimes wonder how many names which I hear on the radio now will be remembered in 50 years? I dread to think of how low that number is.

A final thing that music brings is a representation of our culture. Online streaming platforms allow everyone to make music which offers a massive diversity in what music we decide to listen to that day. It gives certain people a voice, which mainstream record deals or mainstream radio stations may not have offered. Streaming platforms represent the Western culture by itself because it presents the diversity, freedom of speech, and levels of equality not reached in the past. Anyone can write a song about anything and it can reach people. For instance, in the 60s, women didn’t sing about sex and their sexuality; they sang about love. But now, there are female rappers like Cardi B, who started as a stripper, singing about her ‘Wet A** P****’.

This wasn’t an article slating streaming platforms because they allow so much creativity and opportunities for upcoming artists, also they allow audiences to create their own, unique taste in music. In the 90s, it was only a small number of people that’s music actually reached the public, and admittedly, the group of artists that reached fame were chosen by most likely fatphobic, racist, homophobic, and sexist companies.

Now, everyone can produce and release their music to online platforms and there is a lot more equality in whether your music makes it or not. Maybe this is an article where I just complain because I feel like I have missed out on the greatest music decades ever, just because I was born in the 2000s. Or maybe it is an article presenting how music and audiences have moved out of one golden era of music to another golden era; an era where maybe music doesn’t shape people, but people shape music.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Features

14

The Fight Against ‘Draconian Powers’ Print Production Editor, Ellie Doughty, interviews Lib Dem leader Ed Davey

Ellie Doughty Print Production Editor

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he Government has found itself in hot water once again in recent months when a variety of civil rights issues have come under focus alongside renewal of the Government’s emergency Coronavirus Act, a series of actions the Liberal Democrats are calling ‘draconian’.

Ed Davey, official Lib Dem leader as of August 2020, sat down with me to discuss the ‘liberal issues’ they’ve been championing as a party in response.

Davey says that to him, being a selfdeclared ‘classic liberal’ means ‘the need to call out broken politics in the United Kingdom’, which he says ‘is so centralised, and doesn’t give citizens the rights they should have. It’s unrepresentative.’

He discusses his take on the ‘draconian’ measures also featured in the recent Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill, which sparked nationwide protests and attention. The recent killing of Sarah Everard further ignited public feeling, and the vigil held at Clapham Common was a point of national focus on police behaviour.

‘Particularly in the last year’, he says, ‘we’ve had a cut through on civil liberties, with the debate around the Clapham Common vigil and Cressida Dick as Metropolitan police commissioner, followed by the police bill, which was taking away rights to peaceful assembly. Followed by the Coronavirus act renewal which should not be happening, and then the threat of vaccine passports. There’s a whole set of liberal issues we’ve been managing to champion.’

‘Most of the measures, in fact almost all of the measures used to deal with the pandemic didn’t come from the Coronavirus Act. They came from another act, the Public Health Act 1984. This essentially gave government powers to act in an emergency, for example with things like lockdowns and so on. And so you didn’t need the Coronavirus act, despite its draconian powers, I mean hugely draconian powers, you didn’t need it and that became crystal clear.’

‘There were also awful things about taking away the rights to care for disabled people. So we alone voted against its renewal, in its first renewal last Autumn. When it came back for renewal this time, although they made a few changes, there were still huge and unnecessary grabs of power from the centre, away from the citizen, so again we voted against it.’

‘There were a few people with us’, he tells me, ‘some Tory back-benchers and I think the SNP. But you know, we’ve been leading the fight against unnecessary draconian powers.’

When asked about recent opposition provided by the Labour Party under Keir Starmer, Davey said: ‘Well the Labour party’s got to explain itself really, It’s not for me to ex-

Liberal Mark Democrats - Flickr plain their position, But, I do note that it’s been the Liberal Democrats leading the opposition’.

When discussing the vigil held for Sarah Everard, Davey tells me he thought the Commissioner’s decision to cancel the vigil was a ‘serious mistake’.

Davey says the Commissioner was informed by the High Courts that cancelling the vigil would be at the discretion of the Met, when the Human Rights Act overrode Covid regulations.

He says, ‘The Commissioner decided she would cancel it, and that meant the organisers couldn’t then provide the stewards, facilitate the social distancing, or provide a staggered approach to the vigil’.

‘The local authorities’ intelligence and understanding was that something would happen, there would be some sort of vigil, and it would be better if it were organised. But the Commissioner didn’t listen’, ‘it was truly shocking’.

Another point of recent contention in Government has been the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities Report, or so called ‘Race Report’.

A report which summarised Britain as a system no longer ‘rigged against ethnic minorities’ and which has been condemned by UN experts who suggest it could ‘fuel racism’.

‘I thought it was a very poor report, I didn’t agree with many of its conclusions,’ Davey says, ‘There were things, I think, we should point to in the report and hold the government accountable.

The report did talk about problems around social inequality and social injustice. And we should say, okay, there are things in the report we don’t like but there’s also this, and what are you going to do about it?’.

‘I absolutely think the report was partial and reached the wrong conclusions in a number of areas. But one of the smart things to do in politics is if there’s an agreement in a government report you think is right, use it merci-

lessly and say well what are you going to do about it?’.

‘There are things that ought to be uncomfortable for this government to read about, because they’re not the sorts of things they normally care about. And so we should use the report in that way’.

When discussing his takeover during the pandemic, ‘It’s slightly frustrating’, Davey says, ‘because you’re not able to campaign or see colleagues in the way you would normally do’.

‘But with the miracle of zoom and other things we’ve been able to do a number of things. I’ve been pleased with the internal reforms we’ve been able to do in the party, on the way we campaign,’ he adds, ‘I’ve been doing a major campaign on carers which will go on and on and on’.

As a young carer for his mother, grandmother and now son, Davey tells me: ‘I’m passionate about seeing my carers campaign as a health campaign, but also as a social justice campaign’.

‘Carers tend to be less well off because they can’t work, or the person they’re caring for can’t work, and they also tend to be women by the way, so there’s a gender equality issue here’.

Davey also tells me of his campaign on small businesses and the selfemployed, his assessment being that without supporting them, the economy won’t recover.

‘That’s where the jobs are’, he says, adding that ‘The Tories have been doing a very poor job of that, and Labour don’t tend to speak up for small businesses and the self-employed so there’s a big opportunity there’.

When discussing University students, Davey says: ‘They should either be allowed to redo their courses free of charge, or be compensated in some other way because they’ve not been able to complete their studies’.

‘People whose education hasn’t been

completed, they should be properly, fully compensated. There’s also the issue of people who’ve been paying for accommodation that they’ve not been able to use’ ‘I would question some of the expenditures the government has made, I think they’ve wasted a lot of money, but there are other people for whom they haven’t turned up. Students come into that group of course but so do, I would argue, the self-employed. It’s been atrocious to leave them unsupported. I genuinely don’t think the government has treated certain groups in society fairly, and students are one of those groups’.

Discussing one of Davey’s passions, the environment, he suggests some impacts from the pandemic: ‘There are many aspects to the climate change debate but the pandemic has shown there’s less need to travel, particularly by f light. And I think the election of Biden is very positive’.

‘In terms of the pandemic itself I think it’s main environmental impact will be on f lights. On aviation. The technologies that are being used now, when applied to a business f light, possibly some other journeys but those in particular, suggest the need for the level of business f lights we used to see before as highly questionable’.

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‘Carers tend to be less well off because they can’t work, or the person they’re caring for can’t work, and they also tend to be women by the way, so there’s a gender equality issue here’.

‘Given aviation was the fastest rising source of greenhouse gases, I think that’s a really important development’.

When asked about the upcoming May elections, Davey fills me in on a pandemic campaign. ‘It’s probably the weirdest set of elections I’ve ever been involved in,’ he says, ‘by now you’d normally have been knocking on doors for six months, having lots of conversations, and you have a sense of where the country is at. That’s just not happened, it’s only in just a few areas we’re beginning to get some feedback’.

‘And now we’ve had the very sad death of prince Philipp which had sort of, again, created a different dynamic to campaigning. And of course we’re still in the pandemic. So it’s been the weirdest set of elections, and the reason I give you that introduction is not to try to avoid your question, it’s just difficult to know’. ‘I like to think there’s some evidence that we’re on the up, we’ve been doing well in a number of areas.’

‘I’d like to think that we’re gonna see us making gains from both Labour and the Tories. And that there will be some very positive things to take from these elections’.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Features

15

Looking Up in Brighton Olly De Herrera Features Sub-Editor

Features Sub-Editor, Olly De Herrera, explores the history of the tower block

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rchitectural array of Brighton is truly eclectic, well ref lecting the culture of the city. St Bartholomew’s Church rises imposingly out of the landscape, pomp and out of place despite being older than most of the buildings surrounding it. The splendid arches of the viaduct transport our imaginations back to when Brighton was a Victorian holiday destination for the smoke choked Londoners that f looded off the trains on a sweltering July – a sight still familiar to modern Brightonions.

My-self, having grown up in Oxford, am not so susceptible to architectural splendour. Much of the mundane of home includes relaxing in the shade of Christchurch College or hurrying for a bus under the Venetian inspired Bridge of Sighs.

When I first moved into Brighton, having spent a year on campus, I found the most fascinating facet of the landscape to be the four, staunch, magnolia, tower-blocks that f lank my street.

These upward ventures of the everyday life don’t seem to stir much within the architectural gaze, especially with the likes of the Pavilion centring Brighton’s architectural identity.

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Tower blocks still covet the horizons of most industrial cities and stir emotions of all kinds.

These such blocks began to be built in Great Britain after the Second World War. The first residential tower block, “The Lawn”, was constructed in Harlow, Essex in 1951; it is now a Grade II listed building.

Mark - Flickr These tower blocks still covet the horizons of most industrial cities and stir emotions of all kinds.

Having family of my own in Coventry, I feel quite indignant whenever I hear Coventry referred to as a “concreate sh*thole”. Often, when we drive into the city, my mum will point out remaining fragments of an ornate 14th Century Sandstone Wall that once surrounded Coventry before the ariel bombardment of the Second World War. Like many working-class families in Coventry, much of my maternal grandfather’s side built their lives around Alfred Herbert, which was once one of the world’s largest component manufacturing companies. Indeed, it was this prowess for engineering brilliance which made Coventry the target of merciless ariel destruction.

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ably soured by the modern collective memory of the Grenfell tragedy, the deadliest structural fire in the United Kingdom since the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster and the worst UK residential fire since the Second World War.

The Tower-block became a symbol of the Post-War Consensus.

Library of Congress - Picryl In many cases, tower blocks were seen as a “quick-fix” to problems caused by the existence of crumbling and unsanitary 19th-century dwellings or to replace buildings destroyed by German aerial bombing in the Capital and Coventry.

My Grandfather will proudly talk of his father’s contribution to the war effort. As a Draftsman, he was enlisted on a secret project designing Dept Charges used by the warships, staying for a week in residence whilst the Admiralty were visiting. By night he was an Air-raid warden, working in the plotting rooms of the Home Guard in Coventry.

When being taught History in school, my teacher would tell me how his Birmingham-resident father would rush to the window as he heard the planes pass overhead and watch Coventry glow with fire on the horizon.

In the wake of such devastation, the Tower-block became a symbol of the Post-War Consensus.

Notions of community, welfare and development are all apparent in the initial conceptualisation of the Tower-block. This legacy is undoubt-

Wikimediacomms

It is true that many Tower-blocks in the UK have not undergone meaningful renovation since the 60’s and have come to represent the precarious lives of those languishing in poverty in our society.

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In 2019, eight such tower-blocks were investigated in Brighton following reports of cracks and the possible use of gas Grenfell was not the first disaster of its kind though. This incident brought back painful memories of the Ronan Point disaster in 1968. The 22 story Tower-block, Ronan Point, in East London, partly collapsed just two months after it had opened. A gas explosion blew out some load-bearing walls, causing the collapse of one entire corner of the building, which

killed four people and injured 17.

The tower was built using a technique known as large panel system building (LPS), which involves casting large concrete prefabricated sections off-site and bolting them together to construct the building.

This design was hailed as engineering’s genius at the time, relying heavily on gravity to keep the structure together.

However, the tentative balancing act of LPS buildings leave them vulnerable to disasters as seen at Ronan Point.

A Tower-block built using this LPS system stands mid-way up St James’ street in Brighton, among many others within the city.

In 2019, eight such tower-blocks were investigated in Brighton following reports of cracks and the possible use of gas- which has been banned in LPS buildings since the Ronan Point disaster.

“

Sussex Heights was the 48th tallest building in the UK. Until 2005 it was the tallest residential tower in the UK outside London.

Despite the connotations and controversy, tower blocks appear to have quite a social and architectural fanbase; Sussex Heights, a tower block on the Brighton seafront, boasting its own Wikipedia page. Built between 1966 and 1968 on the site of a historic church, Sussex Heights rises to 334 feet (102 m)— as of March 2013 Sussex Heights was the 48th tallest building in the UK. Until 2005 it was the tallest residential tower in the UK outside London.

Richard Seifert’s design has been criticised for its overbearing scale and contrast with neighbouring Regency architecture, but it is acknowledged as an “imposing and prestigious” luxury apartment block with good facilities.

It must also be acknowledged that a battle over the tower-block is being fought at the opposite end of the economic spectrum, as local councils are enacting rapid gentrification of social housing, evicting residents to transform the neglected tower-blocks into lavish apartments for outside investors.

The legacy of the tower block is very much still being written. Whilst many see the tower block as a symbol of poverty and systematic failure of working-class people, some see it as engineering genius, an answer to a devastating past and still shaping the housing climate of modern Britain.

As the story continues to be written and headlines continue to be made, we should pause for greater thought as we pass under the humbly overbearing tower block.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Features

16

Brighton Hippodrome’s restoration: Hope for Britain’s most at risk theatre A phoenix from the ashes? The complex history that led to the rise and fall of Brighton’s most flexible theatre space.

Josh Talbot Editor-in-Chief

I

t’s Sunday, 2 June, 1963, The Beatles are on stage on the first of three occasions that they play in Brighton, but they aren’t in the Dome’s concert hall, the historic but small-capacity Theatre Royale’s auditorium or on the later-constructed Brighton Centre’s stage. They are in the current most at-risk theatre in the UK- an important and increasingly unique piece of national theatre heritage, tucked away down by the seafront which, after decades of neglect, has been bought by local developers, Matism Properties.

As a project that has seen an outpour of public support in recent years, there is a feeling of apprehensive relief from the Our Hippodrome Community Interest Company who have been rallying hard for action to be taken, but there is not yet cause for celebration.

As David Fisher, Director of the CIC, explains, there is pressing work to be done: “We were arguing that there should have been an urgent works notice issued two owners ago,” he said.

Since 2014 both Our Hippodrome CIC and campaign group, Save Brighton Hippodrome, have been trying to work with the series of owners to achieve what they think to be the best possible outcome for the property, but have largely struggled to know what is happening behind closed doors, as David said: “I don’t think they had the faintest idea what was implied.

“I remember standing on this mezzanine above the stage and I could hear rain dripping on the carpet behind me, so that should have been done years ago.

“This basic work should have been done at least five years ago.”

The Theatres Trust whose work focuses on preserving quality theatre spaces for future generations, has had the Hippodrome on its list of Theatres At Risk, since the list was conceived and, in recent years, it has consistently been given the status of the highest priority project in the UK. On its website, the trust describes it as “The UK’s most architecturally significant circus theatre- the finest example of its type in the country.”

venture that proved popular for only a short time before one of the most prestigious theatre architects of the period, Frank Matcham, was enlisted to transform the space in 1901.

The venue then operated as a circus for a brief spell before a lack of popularity led to its closure in 1902 and to another esteemed architect, Bertie Crew, removing the circus ring and reconfiguring the auditorium with a more conventional stage.

“

But what is a circus theatre and how did it wind up like this?

The Brighton Hippodrome started life in 1897 as an ice rink. This was a

The proposed plans assumed that 60% of the heritage aspect was going to be lost which was thought to be ‘less than substantial’.

This switch put the seafront location on the map, attracting A-list acts from across the globe, including Lauryl and Hardy, The Rolling Stones and the famous escapologist, Harry Houdini, to audiences of a size unmatched by venues in the surrounding area.

Fast forward to 2006 and the venue is left for ruin, after many years of operating as a bingo hall. With maintenance work needing completion and the financial viability of the one-acre seafront site being prioritised, the council granted planning permission for the development of a multiplex cinema, incorporating the period buildings.

In response, the community rallied together and in October of 2014, met in the Friends Meeting House where David remembers: “All sorts of people turned up, it was bucketing down with rain but it was standing room only.

“Out of that, I posted a petition saying that it should be protected and we got 1200 signatures which was ok to

begin with.”

As to why the proposed development of the Grade II* listed property was not appropriate, he explained: “There were a number of reasons.

I was an analyst of screen media and one of the things I did was to advise two different government departments about cinema statistics.

“When the cinema proposal came along, I looked at the Hippodrome’s potential as a cinema and I worked out that theatre was a much better prospect”

There was also the threat of the development ruining the integrity of the property, with David mentioning that the proposed plans assumed that 60% of the heritage aspect was going to be lost, which was thought to be ‘less than substantial’.

After devoting six years to the cause, alongside other groups, there is an acceptance of a need to compromise, and this is what Our Hip-

podrome CIC lay out in their viability and management plan reports, commissioned with funds raised of over £100,000.

The priority for the group is to preserve the rear yard space for touring truck access, with the hope of bringing West End shows down to Brighton.

The unique nature of the auditorium with a fly tower that allows for scenery to be winched in and out of the space is also an important and exclusive feature that reportedly makes it worth saving.

“So long as any demolition you were to make elsewhere on the sight was there to protect the auditorium Historic England would consider it,” David said.

“The balance is in being able to do enough to ensure that it is a 21st century, very flexible theatre but to retain as much of the character of the building as possible.

As a building that is often regarded as the jewel in Brighton’s theatre crown, it’s renovation as a theatre has the potential to not only boost the local entertainment industry but, as per Brighton and Hove City Council’s Old Town Management Plan, the oldest area of the town where it is located, too.

One thing that Matsim Properties has made clear, however, is that it intends for this to be a development that will benefit as much of the Brighton community as possible and, with the uncertainty presented to the theatre industry by the Coronavirus pandemic, it is unclear what will be revealed if and when the Hippodrome’s curtains rise again.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Arts • Books

17 When the Lights Went Out

Adam Kerry Staff Writer A new London airport in the Thames, referenda on EU membership, and radical zines. All sounds very 2010s right? Well yes and no.

This is actually the world of the 1970s that Andy Beckett draws us into in his 2009 political history book When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the Seventies.

Though I love fiction I always seem to end back in the depths of non-fiction, and my latest foray led me to this book.

I won’t lie, before reading this I didn’t really know much about the 1970s, with the extent of my knowledge coming from religiously watching Life on Mars as a kid and seeing old photos of my dad with a moustache leaning on Ford Cortinas.

Whilst writing this I spoke to my Dad asking him to sum up the 1970s, his response was ‘A time of near anarchy close to revolution’, doesn’t exactly sound encouraging does it?

This book tackles what is largely considered the most difficult decade in Britain’s history, a time when the UK was regular-

ly referred to as the ‘sick man of Europe’. Beckett presents an all encompassing view of the political world in the 1970s, encompassing everything from miner’s strikes and gay liberation marches in the early 70s (The movie Pride comes to mind!) to the behind-the-scenes rise of Thatcherism and eventual Tory landslide victory in 1979.

The decade is presented through a series of interviews with important figures of the

time, and Beckett is not scared to ask difficult questions to Ex-Prime Ministers and Union leaders alike. While I am sure many titles were penned in the 80s about the events of that troubled decade, this effort is unique in its more recent perspective. The interviewees aren’t the icons of power they once were, and most seem to have spent much of their last 30 years reflecting on their past decisions, either with regret or in some cases, hardened resolve.

I’ve struggled with political non-fiction in the past, the use of academic language tends to put me to sleep and completely demotivates me from reading, but that wasn’t the case at all here. At points the book almost feels like a novel, with Beckett weaving individual narratives that draw you into the events he’s recalling, be it oil crises or economic stagnation.

The book begins right at the beginning of the decade, detailing Conservative leader Ted Heath’s seemingly fluke win in the 1970 General Election and his subsequent acclimatisation with his newfound power.

However, Beckett doesn’t just

limit himself to the humdrum of Westminster, he also details the subtle cultural revolutions that began to materialise in the decade. The author shows us that whilst many consider the 70s to be ‘a hangover of the fun of the sixties’ it was actually when the great party started.

Beckett details a range of 60sesque events that took place in the 1970s, from the Watchfield Free Festival that was in essence a Government mandated bender, to a commune in Notting Hill populated by gay activists and drag queens. At one point we read an interview with Gay Liberation Activist Andrew Lumsden who remarks that ‘you were always offered dope and acid’, maybe it wasn’t all so doom and gloom back then.

It wasn’t all free festivals and drugs after 1969 however, the 70s were also a time of immense political upheaval, with attitudes to the idyllic welfare state starting to sour, anti-immigrant sentiments beginning to merge, and unimaginable amounts of union action. We learn of the unfortunate rise of the National Front, and their vile racist attacks against Bangladeshi immigrants in Brick Lane.

But there was also optimism for race relations in Britain at the time. Beckett writes of the 1976 Grunwick strikes, where a largely female group of East African Asian workers fought for higher wages with the aid of miners and dock workers. The author draws attention to the fact that those same dock workers had marched in support of Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood speech’ just 9 years previous.

Though hard to imagine, the Left actually flourished in this bleak decade. I always thought that Thatcherism was essentially inevitable, a matter of when not if, but Beckett completely changed this narrative for me.

An interviewee remarks that ‘the one inevitability in political life was the victory of world socialism’. Compare that to even mentioning socialism in the current political climate.

Beckett takes a well thought out impartial view in this book, even though it could be easy to be swayed by figures like headstrong miners and free market enthusiasts. He recognises the 1970s for what they were, a decade of mass change, and is not scared to criticise those that brought it about.

Review: Klara and the Sun Hanani Aslam Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro’s eighth novel and first book since winning the Nobel Prize in 2017, presents an elegant tale about artificial intelligence, love, and what it means to be human.

Klara, the titular character, is an observant and deeply empathetic ‘artificial friend’ who waits for the day a child will choose her to be their companion. She is a solar-powered synthetic girl, who for the first half of the book is displayed at the store window, making keen observations of the world around her. In the second half, we follow her relationship with 14-year-old Josie, the young girl who chooses Klara to be her companion, and the people in Josie’s life.

There is an eeriness that resembles our own reality when Josie does her studies remotely by videoconferencing with her teachers through devices called ‘oblongs’. It is only during an organised social event that Josie is able to interact with other children, and even this is just a means to practice their socialisation skills.

Ishiguro toys with the line between literary fiction and genre fiction, with little concern for the details of how the science and mechanics of his world works. His prose is far more interested in the subtext. Still, through Klara’s observations

know more. Klara’s observations reveal the social divide in this alternative reality, where clothing defines ‘high ranking’ positions and privileged children from wealthy families are ‘lifted’.

Though this term is unexplained, it seems to be a euphemism for a form of genetic editing that secures the children’s future successes. Though this comes at a cost of making the children sick, as we see with Josie. Her mother and her human best friend, Rick, are willing to do whatever it takes to help ease Josie’s condition.

I think this is where Klara demonstrates her capacity for love and her ‘humanness’, as she loves Josie enough to want what is best for her. She sets out to make an offering to the Sun, which as a solar-powered being, she reveres and almost perceives like a deity. Whether or not the Sun’s ‘special nourishment’ works remains unclear, but Klara holds on to her faith.

Following on from Ishiguro’s 2005 novel Never Let Me Go, Klara and the Sun also builds on the theme of obsolescence.

Kathy and her friends in Never Let Me Go were created as clones waiting for their organs to be harvested before ‘completing’. In this lonely environment, Klara’s sole purpose is to help Josie through the lonely years until college as she states, ‘it’s now my duty to be Josie’s best friend.’ Halfway through we also

learn more about the conditions of this world as a woman protests Klara’s presence at the playhouse: ‘First they take the jobs. Now they take the seats at the theatre?’ Even Josie’s father has been ‘substituted’ – a euphemism for having lost his job to machines. Klara herself becomes obsolete at the end of the novel, when Josie has outgrown her and goes to college, leaving Klara behind the way we do with our childhood toys and teddy bears.

“

Ishiguro drips feeds crucial pieces of information about the

world, which at times is frustrating as you are left wanting to

Through Klara’s perspective, Ishiguro examines the means by which we tell ourselves that we are human.

Despite the reminders of Klara’s synthetic nature, with one neighbour asking her ‘After all, are you a guest at all? Or do I treat you like a vacuum cleaner?’, her thoughts and emotions are deep and real. She demonstrates a willingness to love and form meaningful relationships.

Through Klara’s perspective, Ishiguro examines the means by which we tell ourselves that we are human. Ishiguro’s prose is simple but poetic, creating a fascinating and poignant world.

It is certainly an intriguing take on the role artificial intelligence may play in our future.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Arts • Film & Television

18

Missing the Movies: Our Favourite Cinema Memories Parasite and a Post-Pub Trip

by Emma Frith I didn’t know it at the time, and although it had been planned for months, it was going to be one of my last cinema experiences for a while. I remember waiting for the bus in pouring the rain, irritated, and tweeting something along the lines of “this film better be worth it!!!”

The film was Parasite, and it was absolutely worth it.

My friends and I are big fans of director Bong Joon-ho. I cried my eyes out for a good threequarters of an hour over the ending of his previous film Okja, and his earlier feature Memories of Murder is my friend’s favourite - booking tickets for his next film Parasite was essential.

We decided to go to our local Picturehouse screening, which was showing a livestreamed Q&A with Bong Joon-ho after the movie. Although I got lost on the way there, and the popcorn was incredibly expensive, sitting alongside some of my favourite people for one of the first UK screenings of a film that would go on to win four Academy Awards less than a week later, was extremely exciting.

I loved the movie right away and was literally speechless after when the lights came on. It had become somewhat of a ritual for my friends and I to dissect films for hours at a time, and we headed straight to the pub to do so. Discussions about theories and observations, and the now notorious “Jessica... only child...

Chicago...” rhyme, were had over pints and some pub chips; all of us collectively stunned by having our expectations exceeded so greatly. We haven’t been able to go and see a film together in the last year, but I hope by the time Bong Joon-ho’s next film comes out, we can come together for another memorable cinema trip.

How I Ended up Running the Only Cinema in Brighton

by Laila Rumbold - Kazzuz I have been running a popup cinema in Brighton since 2014, and over the past year we have become the only operating cinema in Brighton, running in a socially distanced manner during the lifting of lockdowns, when all other cinemas sadly remain closed. We call ourselves White Wall Cinema, our name predicated on the idea that all we need to be able to put on an exciting evening of films is… you guessed it, a white wall!

Over the past few years our modus operandi has been to lug around our own equipment (fourteen-foot screen, speakers,

4K projector) and show up wherever we are permitted, or requested to be. I feel a twinge of guilt when I say this as I genuinely mourn for the closure of cinemas at large, but this pandemic has expanded our cinema beyond anything it’s ever been before. Life has generally been awful over the last year, but I can’t deny that White Wall Cinema, which over the past year has become the most joyful thing in my life, owes some of its recent success to the necessity to adapt to the new world.

We have had great success with our events from our start in 2014, and in recent years have developed somewhat of a cult following in Brighton. At every screening, I see familiar faces alongside new ones and there is a tangible excitement about the DIY feel that we bring to our events. Screening old and new films alike, our main criteria is that we put unseen or overlooked but, vitally, important films in front of eyes.

Our definition of important isn’t always married to an ideological message either. Like the films of Terrence Malick or Jean-Jacques Beineix’s visually intoxicating Betty Blue, we believe in the importance of pure, aesthetic cinema as much as we value culturally significant storybased cinema. We are simply interested in showing people great films in their many forms, whether heavily narrative, or void of one altogether. In a world of streaming and laptop screens, we just want to provide a space for people to continue experiencing film on the big screen with big sound and popcorn and for a reasonable price. Many people’s favourite aspect of our offering though, is that we give a short speech before every film, putting the film into context and unlocking the hidden joys of the film for our audience. On our special mystery film nights (Secret Movie Club) where the film’s title is only revealed when the opening credits roll, these pre-

film rambles are cryptic and often hilarious as we try to drop clues but skirt around the film enough that we don’t ruin the surprise.

Given our status as a pop-up, underground and volunteerrun cinema then, it’s almost ironic that we have ended up being the only remaining big screen in Brighton throughout the months where multiplexes were forced to close. Because of our volunteers, and our cinema being a passion project whereby tickets cover the cost of running only, we have been blessed in that there is no financial impetus weighing on us to close our doors - we don’t rely on the latest blockbuster to keep us going. In fact, since the summer of 2020 we have inhabited Wagner Hall just off West Street on somewhat of a permanent basis, becoming more of a bona fide ‘cinema’ than we have ever been before.

Rather than popping up in various locations across the city (which we love to do but became impossible with the closure of shops, bars and pubsour usual favourite haunts!) we have established ourselves as somewhat of a local favourite.

Our pop-up nature makes us unique in that we can configure our cinema any which way we please, so our summer 2020 season was one to remember!

In the months leading up to the closure of the multiplexes, we carried our fourteen-foot pop-up screen into Wagner Hall’s beautiful garden, set up our speakers outdoors with the help of cable ties, wires, ropes and the shade of Wagner’s wonderful fig tree, and created an incredible outdoor cinema for the lovely yet sometimes scorching summer months.

When restrictions ease enough in (hopefully) May, we will be back at Wagner Hall for our Spring 2021 season and ready to go all over again.

Until then, if you’re looking for some home entertainment and have rinsed Netflix and Disney +, perhaps you’ll consider supporting your local cinema with a Home Service that’s sure to bring a bit more movie magic to your doorstep than your standard streaming fare and is certainly more personalised than any anonymous algorithm can be!

Find out more and check out White Wall Cinema’s Screenings: www.whitewallcinema.co.uk

Ghost Stories in a Ghost Town

by Daisy Holbrook Being from a relatively small town with a dying high street, finding things to do with my friends was always a struggle.

Between wandering aimlessly or going to the local spoons, we were never exactly spoilt for choice when it came to nightly entertainment. However, one night the local cinema was hosting a mystery screening.

It was £5 for a ticket, with the catch being that you had no idea what film was going to be shown, only that it was unreleased. That was enough to tempt us - each of my friends bought a ticket, we smuggled as many snacks as possible into our backpacks and headed to the cinema.

The film ended up being Ghost Stories, a British horror anthology movie. I had gone in with low expectations and ended up getting to watch what is now one of my favourite films.

It had beautiful cinematography, great comedic relief, genuine scares, and an incredible cast.

I don’t think any of us spoke throughout the entire movie.

After the film had ended, we each had a thousand questions.

We all shuffled out the cinema into the night, not wanting to go home without unpacking what had just taken place on the screen. We found a local cafe whose doors were surprisingly still open at such a late time, and we spent the next few hours huddled around a table littered with hot chocolates, discussing the movie and sharing our own conspiracy theories about the film (as the film was unreleased at the time, there was a real lack of Reddit threads to help explain, leaving us alone to figure it out). It was an entirely wholesome night, bonding over a shared adoration of film and the viewing experience, it made me value the cinema so much more and the enjoyment impact that can come from it.

What’s On It’s the last edition of 20/21.

Your Film and TV editors (Yazz and Rob) have had a lovely time working on The Badger and want to leave you with recommendations of our favourite films on streaming platforms right now.

Yazz James: Whisper of the Heart (2005) dir. Yoshifumi Kondō Last year saw my favourite Studio Ghibli film finally added to Netflix. Based off of a 1989 manga of the same name, Whisper of the Heart follows bookworm Shizuku as she meets her match Seiji through library loans.

Filled with singing, antique cats and beautiful animation, it was the first theatrical Studio Ghibli feature to be directed by someone other than Miyazaki or Takahata.

Whiplash (2014) dir. Damien Chazelle In this deeply captivating film, Chazelle guides you through an anxiety-inducing contemplation on the brutality of obssession and achieving perfection, through the medium of jazz drumming.

Whiplash - a tense, claustrophobic, and relentless watch, sees Miles Teller & J.K Simmons give the most engaging performances of their careers unforgettable one. Available on Netflix Rob Salusbury: Hoop Dreams (1994) dir. Steve James As someone who has absolutely zero interest in basketball, I’ll admit I was pretty sceptical when I was first recommended this 3 hour documentary.

But this is so much more than a sports film, crafting a multigenerational story about the struggle to pursue a dream in the face of extreme racial and economic hardship. I don’t think any documentary has ever stuck with me quite like Hoop Dreams.

Stream it on BBC iPlayer Vampyr (1932) dir. Carl Theodore Dreyer If there’s one film that’s come as close as possible to depicting pure, unmediated fear, it’s Vampyr. I really have never seen a film quite like Dreyer’s defining horror masterpiece, a hallucinatory journey into the depths of existential dread, complete with ghostly apparitions, impossibly long shadows, and a particularly stunning first person sequence set in a coffin. One for the whole family!

Stream on MUBI Thanks for supporting student journalism this year!

The Badger 26th April 2021

Arts • Theatre

19 A Well Awaited Festival

Elijah Arief Theatre Editor Brighton is set to play host to it’s annual Brighton Fringe Festival on the 28th of May after receiving a £143,000 fund from the governments Arts & Culture revival scheme.

The arts festival has been given the green light to go ahead after a year of unpredictable chaos and anxiety within the Arts sector. Many actors, directors, producers, and technicians have suffered intensely at the hands of COVID-19 and the impact that the virus has had on the economy, but also due to live performances being banned due to lockdowns.

Last year Brighton Fringe had to cut their annual festival in May, and instead reopen houses in October for a restrained yet significant Fringe Festival.

For the most part, theatre and live performances have had to adapt around social distancing laws and on-going lockdowns, with many creative industries having to reinvent and establish new platforms on how to view live entertainment.

Throughout May and October in 2020, many theatre venues created livestream websites to stream live theatre to adapt and overcome the challenges of not being able to see theatre live.

When asked streaming services and accessing live theatre online, Andy Moseley director and writer of ‘Makeup’ says “there are so many digital opportunities out there, and people are now able to see shows that they wouldn’t of been able to previously, it really is a democratisation of theatre”.

Brighton Fringe will have many online performances available for those unable to view live performances, and some tours will be digitised also.

The build-up to the Fringe this year has been an emotional and intense journey for many.

Without decent rehearsal spaces and being able to have the opportunity to meet up to rehearse pieces, so many artists have had to adapt.

“The biggest challenge is that you’re not in the room” Andy Moseley says, and explains how directing has been a challenge due to the fact that that he cannot be in the venue space to visualise how the show will look.

“We’ve developed everything

over Zoom” Zoom, FaceTime and Skype have replaced in person rehearsals, with many taking place over the recent lockdown.

“A real challenge has been rehearsing, you can’t sing over FaceTime as there’s a time delay!” Heather Rose Andrews,

on their lung capacity which has meant that singing and acting can be physically painful.

“A lot of us haven’t performed in a year – your body is an instrument and if you are not using it, it gets tired” Heather Rose Andrews says regarding being asked about further

actor in ‘Jekyll & Hyde, A One Woman Show’ says.

It seems as if the lockdowns have brought a wide variety of problems that aren’t just related to rehearsing pieces to put on in May. Performers who have had COVID-19 have reported the virus having long-term effects

challenges.

Whilst preparing for the upcoming Fringe has been challenging, there also seems to be a sense of excitement and optimism growing amongst those who will performing for live audiences.

Live theatre is intimate, personal, and unpredictable,

BADGER needs you!

and the Fringe provides the perfect opportunity for artistic experimentation whilst also receiving audience feedback.

Many artists and audiences alike prefer Fringe Theatre to larger scale venues due to its unrestricted and edgy nature, and the festival is a perfect opportunity to dip your toes into the theatre world if you have never seen live performances before.

Furthermore, it places Brighton on the map every year and showcases some of the best art, theatre, music, and culture that the city has to offer.

As the Fringe is such a livelihood to so many, it is no wonder that the excitement and anticipation is growing.

“I just want to perform, it’s what I do” Heather Rose Andrews admits If you do intend on seeing live theatre during the Fringe, it’s important to remember that social distancing measures will still be in place, and masks will be required when sitting inside the venue. Venue seating capacities will also be reduced, with fifteen to sixteen seats being a full house.

“This Fringe is not for profit; people aren’t making any money from this” Heather Rose Andrews says again “But they will have the chance

to perform and get back on their feet, and I think that’s vital”.

Brighton Fringe 2021 will also be hosting a few outside live performances at Brighton’s BOAT (Brighton Open Air Theatre) for those who wish to see live performances but feel safer in an outside environment.

This is a trend that we could possibly see appear in Edinburgh Fringe this year, and perhaps into the future outside performances will gain immense popularity, weather permitting.

There will be many changes and it may feel alien to some, but after the very small Fringe that happened in October, mostly artists are excited to be stepping foot onto the stages once more.

“Whatever happens, we’re going to put the festival on” Andy Moseley says The Arts Sector has really come under the spotlight within the last few months as the government announced that on the day testing may in place for live entertainment and nightclubs. This would mean audience members and club go-ers would have to undertake a rapid COVID-19 test before entering venues.

Of course, with the mass vaccination scheme currently underway, there’s a chance of the population being fully vaccinated first which would suggest the Arts Sector going back to how things where prepandemic.

As well as the government announcing funds to help the recovery of the Arts, The Theatre’s Trust has announced that they will be donating £100,000 to non-profit venues to help them recover after the hits that the pandemic has given.

It comes as no surprise to say that the journey into being able to perform live again has been a hard road full of so many challenges, but the optimism that is brewing around Fringe is infectious.

No matter what, Brighton Fringe is set to give audiences its heart and soul.

Andy Molesley’s show ‘Makeup’ will be performing at the Rialto at 6:30pm -7:30pm from the 11th of June Heather Rose Andrews will be performing ‘Jekyll & Hyde: A One Woman Show’ & ‘Bignell & Andrews Do A Fringe!’ at Sweet Venues.

Want to find your inner journalist?

Come to our Zoom Writers’ Meeting!

Wednesdays 12pm - details on social media.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Arts • Music

20

Interview: Wolf Alice discusses their third album ‘Blue Weekend’ After a four-year-long hiatus, the London-based alternative rock band Wolf Alice has announced their third album ‘Blue Weekend’, and it’s a banger.

Alice Stevens Music Editor Following their 2017 Mercury Prize-winning album ‘Visions Of A Life’, Wolf Alice is back and stronger than ever before.

After becoming one of the UK’s most adoring and successful alternative bands, the fourpieces new album ‘Blue Weekend’ perfectly confirms that title. After being sent the album in early April, you could definitely say I was jumping for joy.

The album is quintessentially themselves: self-assured, hopeful, cool, and unpredictable. During our interview, Joff Oddie, the guitarist, explained that the title ‘Blue Weekend’ can have two meanings; “being blue is a cliche thing of feeling a bit down and glum, but a blue weekend can also mean blue skies and fun, a promising time of excitement. So it has multiple meanings. Joel said it in an Uber once and we couldn’t stop saying it.”

“I don’t think we quite realized just how long the gap is

ing to journalists like you and they say ‘how does it feel to be one of Britain’s biggest bands and I’m like ‘are we? So it feels like we have grown in that time in between and it feels like now we’re kind of seeing the outcome of that growth.”

Following the release of the first single “The Last Man on Earth’’ from Blue Weekend back in February, Oddie explained that: “after such a long gap between releasing music, It felt like the naughtiest one to release first in a way. I think first and foremost it’s a good song, but I think it’s the thing that would hopefully make people go ‘oh what’s going on here?

What’s this new album going to do and what’s it going to be like? It was the song I first heard from the demo that Ellie sent over, and I was fairly certain it was an important song from that very early stage. I hope people will get that vibe.”

On the 15th of April, a 12-second teaser for the track ‘Smile’ was posted to social media (my personal favourite from the

Wolf Alice -Jordan Hemingway. with releasing new music because we spent so long touring for Visions of a Life. The more we talk to people and hear their reaction to the record, it’s just making me even more excited” -Joff Oddie.

With the band’s first two albums My Love Is Cool (2015) and Visions Of A Life (2017) just missing out on the UK’s Number 1 spot, pre-orders for Blue Weekend are reported to have

surpassed those of Visions Of A Life within two weeks of its launch, once again proving high anticipation for their return.

After winning the 2018 Hyundai Mercury Prize with Visions of a Life, Oddie emphasised how “It’s odd as we won the mercury right at the end of our campaign so it always feels like we didn’t see much of the ‘return’ you’d expect because we were away, and now we’re back talk-

album.) It is a heavy-no-craptaking expression of female independence, “a part of the sphere of empowerment and going ‘‘I’m a boss, fuck you.’”

It has proved to be a successful year for the band with the release of their new album on the 11th of June and the announcement of the virtual Glastonbury live stream that is to take place this May. The band is to play alongside the likes of Coldplay; IDLES, Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Jorja Smith.

“It’s always amazing to be close to Worthy farm, it’s a really special place for us and internationally. It’s an important part of our heritage now, it feels like such an important cultural institution. To be there with some wicked bands and artists will be great! Live-streamed gigs have been a lifeline for so many people, witnessing something live and having a shared experience is a good way to feel a part of something when everyone is stuck.”

Wolf Alice’s ‘Blue Weekend’ is out June 11th.

Deep Dive into Royal Blood’s upcoming album; Typhoons Luke Thomson Staff Writer Brighton based band Royal Blood will be releasing their 3rd album Typhoons on 30 April, 4 years since their sophomore record How Did We Get So Dark?. So far, the group have released four singles from the upcoming album: Typhoons, “Trouble’s Coming”, “Limbo” and “Boilermaker”. The group have been working on the album ever since last March when the pandemic hit the UK. All four tracks roughly contain the hard rock style that the band has become known for over the years; although the first two tracks add more elements of dance, and at times, ambient music too. My personal favourite of the three, “Limbo”, retains much of the same style that the band used in their debut album, Royal Blood; the one that received the highest audience and critic praise. The track comes in at almost 5 minutes, making it their longest song to date and holds several surprising key changes too. The last two minutes of the track takes listeners back to an 80s style synth classic, a new sound for

for a more sombre black and white, introspective look.

By far the best received of the singles so far has been “Trouble’s Coming”, amassing around 20 million streams on Spotify. The track starts off with a catchy guitar riff that keeps constant throughout the whole song, and combines itself nicely with screeching vocals around the chorus. The song is very reminiscent of the Arctic Monkey’s 2013 self-titled record, AM. Indeed, the bands work for the same management company as each other and in AM’s headlining Glastonbury performance in 2013, drummer Matt Helders could be seen donning a Royal Blood tee throughout the performance.

the band.

The music video to “Limbo” pays homage to legendary duo Daft Punk, who retired back in February 2021. The Brighton couple can be seen donning helmets very akin to the French- based electronic masters, and motorbikes that take influence from TRON, to

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which Daft Punk created the soundtrack to. These futuristic visuals match the style of Typhoon’s cover art; a bubblegum-coloured set of LED lights very much like something from TRON or Blade Runner. It marks a distinct difference from the covers of the group’s previous two albums, both of which went

The music video to “Limbo” pays homage to legendary duo Daft Punk, who retired back in February 2021.

The last single, “Boilermaker”, is very similar to “Trouble’s Coming” with its more poprock style that calls influences on earlier works. In my opinion, it is the weakest of the four and showcases the band’s only real major flaw in a lack of

vocal styles and ranges from Kerr. Whilst the hard and rough sound is done perfectly, the track suffers from not featuring different vocal tones and general experimentation in harmonising.

Royal Blood consists of just two members in Mike Kerr (lead vocals and bass guitar) and Ben Thatcher (drums).

Kerr grew up in West Sussex’s Worthing and Thatcher is from Rustington. Although Kerr is on bass, his use of distorted guitar pedals and amps allow the guitar to sound like both bass and electric. Their sound has been compared to the shoegaze subgenre of rock, made popular in 1990s Britain with such bands as Ride and My Bloody Valentine being pioneers of the dreamy, instrumental style.

The band plan to do some touring this summer too, their closest date being 28 May in Newcastle, and, Covid travel bans permitted, also some July dates in Spain, Belgium and Russia. If this fails, Thatcher says, the band guarantees to do several live performances on Instagram Live, their music very much being designed to play in front of live audiences at festivals.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Arts • Editors’ Choice

21 Editors’ Choice

Editors’ choice is a column in which the Arts Editors have both the platform and opportunity to share what we are engaging with from the world of the arts. We wanted to create this section so that we are not only being the Arts Editors this year but also have the chance to write as well. We hope you shall discover some up and coming events, ideas, artists, productions, musicians and texts which may peak your interest, as we share what has caught our eye as well as getting us thinking about the events, new releases and ongoings from within the arts. For our first article we wanted to share some of our all time favourite texts; movies, books, podcasts, artists, albums, magazines, social media accounts and our cultural highlights, as a way to establish this new column and also share the types of artistic media we consume and enjoy.

Robyn Cowie Arts Co-Editor I am sure I do not need to remind anyone, pubs are back, albeit in an alfresco way.

But come April 12th the British population welcomed it all, in order to reunite with the nation’s favourite pastime.

As soon as it was announced by the government that outdoor hospitality could potentially reopen, it gave the nation … well hope. Like many I am sure, you were not surprised by the news stories the following day, sharing with us the tales of those who queued up, awaiting for the strike of midnight, to return to the humble abode of the pub. It was not for lack of trying thanks to the unpredictability that is the weather in the UK, we were greeted by flurries of snow and a cold snap. Did that stop us? I should think not. As a nation we returned to the pub gardens, wearing out bobble hats, layered up, blankets packed and hoping that the warm amber glow of a humble pub heater shall be able to grace us with some sense of warmth. All so that millions of us could return, to be back in our pub of choice, reunited with our friends and drink our chosen tipple.

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“Here’s to alcohol, the rose-colored glasses of life.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald And it is that I must explain the institution that is the British pub. An institution like no other around the world, and in fact in the United Kingdom alone, there are more pubs than any other public setting.

Which when we think about what the pub can mean to so many, should not surprise us. Historically, other than the church, which has been completely overtaken, the location of the pub has been the hub for many communities. The pub is the most social of settings, where we can go, find like minded individuals and have a place to think, debate, to express ourselves and to distract from life’s daily problems. It is a place to be inherently social, after months of a lack of sociability, the pub is offering solace and a way for us to reconnect with friends and perhaps to find new ones. We go there to support our favourite teams,

see our favourite people, it is a place of solace following most funerals as well as being a place for pure elation, I cannot wait for the days when the pub disco returns, most of all it is a place for living.

I find it inherently British for the setting to which we often feel the most comfortable, where we choose to spend some of our most intimate and precious moments,

where we socialise, get to know people, and often form a sense of attachment to an institution based on consumption. And it is with that sociability where the pub can transform conversation and the ideas of individuals to great debates and artistic explorations.

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“For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity or perception to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication.” - Friedrich Nietzsche There is a sense of artistry when it comes to the pub. Obviously, there is no real need to explain the commonality of a vast amount of artistic endeavours and the reliance upon substances, in order to create such works, giving us the confidence to turn them for ideas into actions, items or great works. However, what I feel is far more important is the fact that the pub is a base for these things to occur.

It is simply a place for discussion, ideas, debates, fights, love, mistakes and chaos to all ensue. What art does not grow from these? Often this can be happening all at once in the melting pot of, for the time being at the very least, a pub garden.

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Jessica Hake Arts Co-Editor The joy of the pub – more like the joy of a two-month long wait list because all the tables have been booked up. More like the joy of waiting in line outside ‘Kings and Queens’. More like the joy of walking up and down the beach looking for an empty table only to finally have to settle in at Shoosh and address all your drunken memories from that seafront hell hole.

That being said, it is where one dear friend got with her now serious partner – so I won’t hate on Shoosh too much.

I love the pub. I think pub culture is incredible, it is one of the very few things that isn’t horrifically awful and aggressively colonialist, it can quite often be very sexist but that is avoidable, about British culture. I would take a bar over a club any day of the week – mostly due to laziness (what can I say, I’m a Taurus) but also practicality. In clubs I’m more likely to be groped, either pay more money for a watered-down drink or have a rugby lad buy me a drink and think it means he gets to have sex with me, the music is too loud and it’s sweaty. The pub, on the other hand, is just a bit calmer. I can sit down, take off my shoes, potentially have a nap halfway through and it’s really unlikely I’m going to find someone doing coke in the bathroom.

The art of the pub is underrated and so is the club; however, there is one that surpasses them all.

Jazz clubs.

The environment jazz establishes allows for fluidity and inclusivity without sacrificing the sex appeal. Fashion is just one aspect of that. The chill vibe of jazz and jazz clubs is replicated in the fashion, fitting the aesthetic and ethos of jazz.

Where clubs seem dominated by sexual deviance and pubs the joining of sexual intimacy, jazz clubs do both. It means that you don’t have to wear (or see) neon biker shorts and bras or settle for a jumper and jeans – you can wear a slip dress with a slit that’s both pub comfortable and has club sex.

Now, I would like it stated that I’m not hating on neon clothing, big jumpers or jeans, they’re all brilliant additions to the world of fashion. However, having been in lockdown for the past year – neon just isn’t cutting it for me anymore. When I go out, I want it to be an experience, not just a gateway to a random one-night stand or sweaty encounter. Granted, I’m talking about date culture here. As much as I love my flatmate, she deals with me enough and I don’t think I can make her take me to a jazz club… Can I? I don’t think that jazz should be my biggest motivator to start dating people, it sounds like a question from a BuzzFeed quiz about healthy dating. Having abandonment, commitment or confidence issues are all definitely worse reasons to start dating than jazz. Right?

Just imagine it. A darkened basement club, warm low lighting, there’s smooth jazz in the background and it smells like whiskey and tobacco (but not in a head-

“Here’s to alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all life’s problems.” Homer Simpson I shall leave you with the wise words of none other than Homer Simpson and a parting image of my favourite local pub garden, a place I am elated to return. If anything just to be back to where that sense of pluralism of people, sociability, ideas, experiences, emotions and fun is occurring once again.

Hassocks5489 Yes, technically this is a club. However, it is not the regular club. It isn’t really shouty loud, the music is beautiful, dancing comes as a natural accompaniment to the music, you can drink sitting down so you don’t end up spilling drinks or spiked by someone grooving on and it is just cooler.

ache-inducing way). You’ve just been dancing, are lightly flushed (but not sweaty) and you sit down in a booth with a little lamp on the table, drink from your rum and coke and breathe. That, plus me in a slip dress.

Bottom line - take me to a jazz club.

ARTIST T H E A RT I ST S

Artist Focus: Brighton Skate Collective As a farewell to this section, I wanted to dedicate the last instalment of Artist Focus to a creative community in Brighton that is close to my heart: the Brighton Skate Collective. When I moved to Brighton, I barely knew anyone. With a pandemic in full blast, and a Master’s degree to finish, I was pretty sure that my social life would be pretty non-existent. However, in a whim of boredom, I decided to take up skateboarding, and through that, I became part of the Brighton Skate Collective. Growing up with skateboard-obsessed cousins, I had been meaning to learn to skate since I was a kid. I remember being annoyed at Vans for not having shoes on my size, and watching Avril Lavigne’s videos obsessively on MTV, frustrated that I couldn’t be like her. The reason I never learnt as a kid is simple: I was a girl. I was told by my family that I could injure myself. They didn’t care about my cousins injuring themselves, but injuries became frightening as soon as a female-skin was involved.

After finding the BSC, I was suddenly made aware that I wasn’t the only woman with a similar experience. The skate community is still male-dominated, so often, girls start skating later on in life. It’s not that skater girls are not good enough, it’s that as a woman, we’re not taught to take up space, and skating is about taking over the urban space. Through the Brighton Skate Collective not only have I made friends, but I have also learnt to love my bruised legs, and to own the city as if it was ours, because it should be. In this article, I spoke to Weezy and Annie, the creators of the BSC. We spoke about their experience with skateboarding, how the collective came about, and the ways in which skateboarding can be considered a performancebased art form.

Tell me a bit about yourself and how you got into skating.

W: I started skating when I was ten. I used to longboard and cruise, and I wanted to get involved with skateboarding at parks, but I didn’t have any mates who skated, and I was too scared to go on my own.

Eventually, I found the girl skate nights in London. They have one every month in different skateparks, one of them is funded by Vans and the other one by Nike. They are really good fun, you go, get a few drinks, and meet all these girls who are skating. One of the girls there approached me and told me that they had a group chat for all the girl skaters in London, and she added me. That’s how I started meeting people, and that is also how I got the idea for the Brighton Skate Collective.

A: I was the same in terms of always wanting to skate. I’d see the boys skating when I was young, but I didn’t want to go on my own, and I just didn’t know any other girls who wanted to go with me. it was until I was sixteen that I found a group of girls who wanted to come skate with me. We went to the BYC girl’s night, because we were still too scared to go out by ourselves, even as a group of three. I stopped skating for a few years because of health issues, but after getting better, I turned to one of those nights by myself, and met Weezy there.

Could you give me a brief description of the Brighton Skate Collective? How did the idea emerge?

W: The BSC is a safe space; a group for people to come and have a go at skating, regardless of their skill set. It’s also just a place to meet like-minded people. I think it’s been especially nice after lockdown, because a lot of people haven’t met anyone for a long time. Some people come along and don’t skate that much, but it’s really an opportunity to be in a group of people that you feel comfortable with.

That’s really the aim, and also, to make everyone great skaters!

A: People come to skate, but they stay because of how nice the social environment is. It’s a great space to meet new people, but it’s also very inclusive. We try to be open for any women or Queer people that might feel intimidated to turn up to a skatepark by themselves.

Would you say there is a sense of art-based performance in skateboarding?

W: I do. A lot of people don’t even realise it but skating is definitely a performance-based sport. You can see it with all the guys who are really good skaters; they are performing for each other by doing all these tricks. It’s all about who can make the best line, or who can connect the tricks in a different way. So, it’s a type of creative art form.

It’s like dancing, but with a skateboard. You’re always choreographing your moves.

It seems to me that skateboarding culture is intrinsically connected to creativity, how do you think that plays into the BSC? W: There’s so many people who are artists within the skate scene.

What we found with the BSC is that there’s a lot of people doing film, photography, illustration, and so many creative things. So, it’s really nice that we have connected through skating, but then we can

FOCUS

The Badger 26th April 2021

O F B R I G H TO N

also create amazing things together. We’re actually working on a BSC zine at the moment.

A: If you think about the essence of what skateboarding is, specially things like street skating, it’s all about creating. You have this really simple tool, and you need to ask yourself: “what can I do with this?”

If you think about all the tricks there are, someone had to think them initially. Someone had to choreograph them, and that is an artistic endeavour in itself.

To read the rest of the interview, head to our website.

Words and photos by Luisa De la Concha Montes (@erst.while) Questions by Robyn Cowie (@robynacowie) Contributions by Weezy (@weezyy_) and Annie (@a.sherred) Brighton Skate Collective: @brightonskatecollective

The Badger 26th April 2021

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The Badger 26th April 2021

Travel & Culture

25

Thai green curry and Ramadan Festivities Amongst sticky coconut rice

Covid-19 Lockdown Ease

Katya Pristiyanti Travel & Culture Online Sub Editor The months leading up to the holy month of Ramadan inches closer each year. Leading up to April, preparations for suhur and iftar is prevalent in countries with a Muslim majority population.

Growing up in Indonesia, a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, this celebration has always been extremely anticipated. From the commercials surrounding Ramadan to planning matching outfits with the family for Eid and even arranging gatherings during iftar – it was an exciting time that even outsiders partake in the festivities.

As with all other holidays and celebrations this past year, Covid-19 has affected part of the festivities. Zoom continues to become a go-to during Eid, and prayers are only conducted with smaller groups. Despite setbacks, this holy month continues to highlight the importance of religious practices, connection with God and togetherness.

Although the restrictions of Covid has been met with more disappointment, being at home safely with family often takes some of the burdens.

Since returning to Brighton, I have not been met with the same festive energy. Instead, pressures of deadlines and ease of

This warming vegan dish is quick and easy to make and a great way to pack in lots of veg. Easily customised to use up whatever you have in the fridge, this curry would also taste delicious with cauliflower, aubergine or sweet potato. The sticky rice is subtly sweet and makes the perfect accompaniment.

lockdown restrictions have been a more popular line of discussion.

Additionally, the long hours of the fasting period make the opening of restaurants and pubs a big temptation.

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Although Eid celebrations may not be as festive and meals may be lonelier, undergoing this month without the comfort of a family can force a person to grow up and truly inspect their relationship with their religion.

Regular zoom calls with the family become a way to track the dates of Eid, strengthen ties with the family and even ask for meal ideas to break the fast. The time difference is a huge struggle, waking up to my family breaking the fast and having my suhur time coincide with their fasting time.

The Muslim community in Brighton has been one of the most vocal and active circle. Posts by the Al-Medinah mosque or even the Islamic society on campus help provide support by updates on prayer times and even small gatherings to emphasize religious practices. Events such as the Iftar drive held by ISOC and the regular tajweed classes from the Al-Medinah mosque instil some excitement that could be missing this month as well as that nostalgic feeling of Ramadan regularities that may be needed in these Covid times.

Bryony Rule Travel & Culture Print Sub Editor

You will need: For the curry:

Although Eid celebrations may not be as festive and meals may be lonelier, undergoing this month without the comfort of a family can force a person to grow up and truly inspect their relationship with their religion. Walks along the beach and mindlessly window shopping (now that restrictions are easing) can be a new way to pass the fasting period. With the end of Covid in sight in the UK, Ramadhan coincides with the start of activities once more. The support of family and friends are more important now more than ever, and although zoom calls may be traumatising as it is often linked with classes, any support system should not be glossed over. This alone is an essential element to the practice of Ramadan.

2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 large white onion, diced 5 tbsp Thai green curry paste (check ingredients for fish sauce if vegetarian) 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely diced 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into small cubes 1 green pepper, sliced 1 courgette, cut into half moons 400g can coconut milk 150g mangetout 150g baby corn or tinned sweetcorn 100g spinach or leafy green Small bunch coriander, roughly chopped Juice of half a lime

For the rice:

(2 servings) 150g jasmine rice 200g coconut milk (half a tin) 150ml water Pinch salt Start by heating your oil in a large pan. Add the onion with a pinch of salt, and fry until translucent.

Add the curry paste and chilli, cooking with the onion for two minutes.

Next, add the butternut, pepper and courgette, mixing to combine with the curry paste.

Add the coconut milk along with 200ml of water. Mix well, bring to a near boil before covering, turning down the heat and leaving to cook for 20 minutes.

Now, start making your rice. Rinse the rice in a sieve, before placing in a saucepan with a lid. Add the coconut milk, water and salt.

Bring the rice to the boil. Once it has started to boil, turn the heat down low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it – you may need to add more water as it cooks, to prevent it getting stuck to the bottom of the pan.

When your rice has around 10 more minutes left to cook, add the mangetout, corn and leafy greens to your curry. By now, the squash should be nice and tender.

After 20 minutes, take the lid off your rice, and turn the heat off. Allow to continue cooking for 5 minutes.

Hal Keelin

Stir the lime juice through your curry. Serve alongside the fluffed up rice, with a sprinkling of coriander on top.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Travel & Culture 26 Pyrenees travel diary: Walking the GR10 - a tough hike to Bareges Travel and culture editor Hal Keelin recounts a trip through the heart of the Pyrenees aged 19 with one of his best friends from school.

This account is from one of the toughest days of a two week 150-mile trip that snaked across the French and Spanish border.

Hal Keelin Travel & Culture Editor We awoke sometime after half past 6. The air was cool, and a pale mist had descended upon the valley, encasing the islet of our refuge in a pasty whiteness.

“We should get up,” My friend said abruptly.

Breakfast was at 7:30 and we had planned to pack up and leave swiftly from the refuge no later than 7:45. I agreed reluctantly with him and stepped outside, yawning, groggy from the night before and watched as a small mammal made its way down the side of the steep verge ahead. Its movements were slow, precarious, and as it came closer, the figure took full form, it was a Chamois, unique to this Pyrenean hillside. I watched as it made its calculated movement, picking its way down the hillside before me and I smiled, reflecting on the night before.

“What are you laughing at!”, Dan asked from inside.

“Oh, just last night, it was fun wasn’t it!” I grinned. “Red Red wine!”, I cried, and Dan repeated, remembering the bald man’s toothy grin as he bellowed out UB40 while we tucked into our meal last night.

We swiftly packed up our gear: compressing the air out of the sleeping mats, rolling up sleeping bags, and stuffing valuables into our elastic pouches attached to our waists. After a breakfast of warm coffee and cereal, we set off sharply on the cusp of 7:45, having

Hal Keelin

to round the lakes northern edge to reach the opposite end and find the path that snaked up and over, onto Bareges.

The air had been cold when we first awoke, but now, rounding the lake, the sun shone through the clear blue sky. It burned the sharp early mist away. The dam was now on the far side of the lake to us, to the south, and sat between two huge faces that enclosed it like the trough formed by the letter V. The mountainsides framed the reservoir, accentuating its beauty. I was reminded of the sheer strength that concrete wall

Hal Keelin

We would head northeast from here. We traced the route on the landscape below us with our fingers: skirting around shallow tarns that glinted a deep blue in the bright sun, passing through deep woods and then ascending, up and over those imposing faces we looked upon now and down swiftly onto Bareges.

The town was still some 20 km away and it was late morning, and we had barely started.

“Still a long way to go mate”.

Dan shouted over a wind that had picked up after we summited.

“Yes, let’s go I agreed.”

I remembered the enthusiastic young guy from the night before who had told us that we should allow for seven hours walking to Bareges. It seemed a long way off and I assumed, that while he was enthusiastic he was also probably stretching the truth a little.

“I’m not sure we should take too

possessed, and could only begin to understand the monstrosity of the task that had faced those first construction workers in 1912. On the opposite shore of the lake, we passed small bothies, tidy shepherds huts between the shore of the lake and the fern forest to our west.

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It was wild and harsh up there, the name fitting the character of the mountain distinctly.

We were looking for a sharp cut in the Gr10 up through this forest, and this we found and followed.

A steep climb that carved parallel beside a stream and through thick ferns took us to a soft grassy plateau, a few hundred metres or so above the lake to the east. We passed hiking couples sweating in the heat with sunglasses and safari-style sun hats.

We continued to climb. Up through the grassy pasture where the path was clear now.

Cap d’estoudou on our left, Soum de Monpelat our right, with the lake now out of sight behind us.

We summitted Cap d’estoudou in the late morning, stopped and caught our breath, looking upon what was now beneath us. The scale of the peaks in front were intimidating sites. The taller ones neared 3000 metres in height, their rocky faces were jagged, casting huge shadows over the lakes, clefs, and woods in front of us.

I took a compass bearing.

Hal Keelin

much notice of that guy from last night’s estimate” I shouted at Dan, to be heard over the wind, as he was desperately pinning his flapping sun hat to the side of his head with his hand.

“Ha! I think he was slightly flexing his masculinity with that, there’s no way we could do this in seven hours!”

We pressed on, descending quickly, knowing it wouldn’t be much fun walking in the dark.

Our path made its steep descent through wood and we passed a family with two small children in the lead, anxious to reach the summit behind us first.

“How much further to the top of d’Estoudou?” The dad panted in English, he had a baby on his back.

“About an hour maybe” I replied, aware the small kid’s enthusiasm may dwindle as the ascent through trees continued.

We reached a road, and after that two small lakes flanked us on either side. Our GR10 guide books

told us their names: Lac d’aubert and Lac d’aumar almost islanded our Gr10 trail as we pressed on, passing swimmers and resting parties of hikers on the lake’s shore.

We stopped, and I took my socks off, eager to feel the sensation of plunging them into cool freshwater. They emerged from the water; revitalised and replenished as Dan took the chorizo and bread out of his side pack pocket and handed me slices in turn. A surreal site took form before me. A martial arts group, in their white gowns, practised in the shade of the trees beside us. We were several thousand feet in the air, in a remote valley of the Pyrenees and here were a group practising martial arts.

After our short pitstop for lunch, we continued along the flat banks of the lake until the ground began to rise and we began our ascent of the Pic de Madamete.

The path curved up and round to the first col, and, meeting huge slabs of granite rock, we picked our way around a hidden tarn. The tarn had the appearance of a deep well, cut from the mountainside and an even deeper shade of blue to the lakes we had left some 400 metres below. For now, in midsummer it appeared as an Icecold plunge pool: in mid-winter, it would be thickly ice-bound.

It reminded of a mountain in Snowdonia named Moel Siabod I had climbed once with my Dad. We had passed a tarn too that day when scaling that snow canvassed peak, but this one was ice bound as it was mid-winter. I had taken a photo and shown it to my mum, convinced that it should be on a postcard. The name Mosiabod has stuck with me just like the image I took has. The unusual cluster of harsh consonant and vowel sounds strung together - Moelsia-bod, they caught in the airunfamiliar.

It was wild and harsh up there, the name fitting the character of the mountain distinctly. Underfoot, the snow had embedded itself to the mountainside, while the icy wind had made our cheeks raw. In quite a different climate, we were relieved atop pic de Madamete. That was the high ground completed for the day and we stayed for a minute or two: savouring the moment, catching our breath, and taking pictures.

Atop the cairn that signified the summit.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Travel & Culture

27

The simple joys of sea swimming Bryony Rule T&C Online Sub-Editor Over the past year, with the conventional avenues for recreation and keeping fit closed, people have looked elsewhere for opportunities to get active and find pockets of joy in otherwise monotonous days. Under these conditions, sea swimming has become somewhat of a zeitgeist.

Previously branded as a pastime only for the foolhardiest, this year has seen increasing numbers don their swimming costumes and brave Britain’s bitter coastal waters. The adrenaline rush imparted by plunging into icy seawater offers a remedy for the absence of orthodox fun we’ve had this year, and is a feeling that for many, has become quickly addictive.

Whilst it may sound thoroughly unappealing to expose yourself to the elements in the midst of winter, the benefits, both physical and mental, proffered by swimming in the sea are bountiful. Regular swimming in cold water helps to improve circulation, as the heart rushes to pump blood around our organs in response to the temperature drop. Although dunking yourself into freezing water may seem counterintuitive for fighting off colds, immersion in cold water can help to boost your immune

Bryony Rule

system. Outdoor swimming is also shown to improve sleep quality, by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, which is tasked with relaxing and repairing the body.

As well as these physical gains, research detailing the mental health benefits of sea swimming is extensive. A large body of studies on ‘blue space’ – not just the sea and coast but also rivers, canals and lakes – consistently reinforce that spending time in

or near water provide a myriad of benefits for your mind. Blue Health research outlines the psychologically restorative impact of water, offering greater benefits to mood and wellbeing than even spending time in green spaces. To counterbalance the sharp sting of cold water on your skin, the brain releases endorphins, which translate into a sense of positivity and wellbeing once back on land, which stays with you throughout the day.

Sea swimming is also lauded for its ability to build mental resilience and strength. Prising yourself from a warm bed and making the decision to go for a dip on a cold morning is no mean feat. By pushing yourself to face this discomfort head on, you are training your mind not to run or shy away from challenges as they arise, but to lean into the discomfort and trust that the outcome will be worth the initial unease. Convincing yourself to do this more and more helps your mind to adapt to dealing with stressors, giving you the strength to cope when things don’t go your way. The benefits provided by sea swimming also offer a valuable lesson; there is often much to be gained by breaking free from the boundaries defined by your comfort zone and pushing yourself to try new things, whether swimming in the sea, picking up a new hobby, or applying for an exciting opportunity.

Floating in the sea enables a connection to the natural world akin to no other. You are quite literally immersed and enveloped in the environment, coaxing you to be present in your body and focus on the sensations of the sea around you. Watching sunlight refracting off the gently textured surface of the water.

Feeling yourself be carried with the rhythmic sway of the waves.

Looking out beyond the horizon can help to put your life into perspective, encouraging you to look outwards and recognise that you are part of something much bigger, putting a pause to ruminating on the chatter in your mind.

Even if actually getting into the water seems intolerable right now whilst the cold winter air is still clinging on, just heading down to Brighton beach and watching the waves break can provide innumerable benefits for a stressed mind. The sea represents letting go, recognising the ebb and flow and recurrent rhythms of life, a constant presence to ground you in a time when other areas of our lives are widely marked by uncertainty.

A Post-COVID World I wrote a ‘Post-COVID World’ back in the first lockdown. It began as an imaginative exercise, inspired by the moments of unanimity that were brought about by the pandemic. The prose seeks to use creativity to encapsulate and convey moments of solidarity, extending them to the exploration of a post-COVID society in which these processes are sustained.

Maozya Murray Staff Writer Sleepy days blurred from one to another. Laughter peeled on echoey walls, while smiling faces obscured and pixelated before restless eyes. Socially distant.

Physically removed.

Bodies returning to earthy graves. Silent streets birthed new narratives.

Foreign language became a native tongue. Even in loneliness we stood together. Intimacy returned, we learnt to go within.

In our hearts we found love. In the stillness we found creativity.

Creation was born from isolation; a spirit so full of life and rhythm that in unison we danced. Humanity was nourished by the activism of art, by a deep need for expression and human connection. United we stood in solidarity, fulfilling

the need to be part of something, something bigger than our immediate realities.

Through disconnection, we awoke to interconnection, to the inextricably intertwined nature of all life. We began to care, to love and act in unity with each other, to stand for something more than ourselves. To stand with our brothers and sisters, no matter their colour, religion, culture or sexuality. As the virus transcended borders, it left a trail of commonality, a universe consolidated through mutual struggle, brought together by the understanding that our similarities are more fundamental than our differences, by the realisation that most ‘difference’ is constructed to keep us afraid and apart.

The reality of neoliberal capitalism was exposed. A system

where white-collar professionals were paid four times the amount of ‘essential workers’ was no longer viable. Instead, nurses, bus drivers, farmers, supermarket workers and bin men were paid in accordance with the societal value of their work. People came together in the name of humanity, opening borders, hearts and homes. They fought for Black Lives in a world that profited from systematic racism and structural inequality, one whose functionality was based on the suffering of the majority.

“

United we stood in solidarity, fulfilling the need to be part of something, something bigger than our immediate realities.

An inadequate government watched the collapsing economy

with the realisation that taxing wealth at the same rate as income would help build a more economically egalitarian society.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was replaced with Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), for success and growth weren’t purely economic. Growth was health, happiness, gender and racial equity, it was access to education and the minimisation of pollution.

Success signified natural, social and economic wellbeing, for progress was all-encompassing.

As the waters of Venice turned translucent blue and the UK’s oldest bird returned to summer skies, we were reminded of the climate crisis, of all that we could be doing to save the planet. The truth was declared, climate and ecological emergency became a priority, governments acted

drastically to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mother earth was given legal rights, her abuse, rape and torture considered jail-able offences.

“

Through disconnection, we awoke to interconnection, to the inextricably intertwined nature of all life.

With the fragility of our mortality at the forefront of hearts and minds, we began to value community, localisation and the vitality of Gaia. In unity, we found our strength. Together we collaborated, connected and worked in the name of social justice, in honour of a kinder world. Together we created something beautiful out of chaos.

A new world was born.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Travel & Culture

28

White Saviourism - Sapa, Vietnam, 2018 Maozya Murray Staff Writer The main street of Sapa, Vietnam was quietening down. Travellers walked in small pockets, boozy giggles emanating from their midst as they stumbled back to hostel dorms. Local sellers gathered their wears, weary after a long day of heckling and bartering.

Emily and I were amongst the backpackers, we'd spent the evening rowdily watching the world cup and chasing down street food with bottles of Saigon beer. Now we walked home, arms linked, laughing our heads off at a joke we'd probably told a million times. The time was 11:30 pm, the mountain air, gentle and breezy, a sweet relief from the days stifling humidity. It was then that we heard the cries.

A young girl, no older than five sat on the pavement curb. A myriad of merchandise lay strewn and forgotten on the Aztec patterned cloth that surrounded her. In her arms, she cradled a small child, desperate sobs rattling his tiny frame. He couldn't have been more than a few months old. The girl strived hopelessly to console what must have been her little brother. Stopping immediately, we knelt down beside them. The world felt huge from down here.

The looming faces of careless tourists stood dark and taunting.

I could only imagine the fear she felt.

Minutes passed, his cries continued, voice turning hoarse with unheard screams. We tried everything; water, food, milk, holding him. Nothing helped.

I began to worry, we both did.

The cries were so hard I thought he may choke. We tried to communicate with the little girl.

She was afraid and didn't speak English. I knew he needed his mother.

Minutes turned to hours. It was past midnight now. A group of street kids stopped to see what the commotion was about. One of them spoke a little broken English. We told her the story; that all he needed was his mother.

She seemed unfazed and replied by gesturing to the top of the street. Holding the baby tightly I walked quickly, anguish in my step. The mother sat chatting with a group of friends and coworkers. She peered up at me, bright, bushy eyes. There was no fear, if anything a glimpse of curiosity. I handed her the still screaming child. Clutching him to her breast, she held him close.

He stopped crying immediately,

However, a desire to help is not inherently problematic. I was not wrong for feeling what I felt. It can be hard to fight your emotional instincts when faced with such a dire situation. Not every single white person helping a black person is a White Saviour, context and the power dynamics at play must be considered. In my case, it was simply that the desire to help was not sufficient for change. That night I learnt that compassion and empathy were not enough. That, if I truly wanted to help, I needed more than my own pain and desire to 'grow'. This wasn't about me.

They were not my tears to shed.

As a British woman of colour, I still represent colonial power and wealth.

Maozya Murray comforted by the kind of love only a mother can provide. Dismayed and emotionally drained, I led the way home in silence that night.

“

Many of us jump to humanitarian aid or voluntourism without a proper understanding of colonial history and the processes which sustain unequal power distributions.

I didn't sleep much that night.

Too many questions filled my mind. Instead, I researched.

Rapid economic growth and human development in the last two decades have done an immense amount for Vietnam's 26 million children. Most children attend primary and secondary school, have access to adequate healthcare and can expect to live longer lives than their parents.

Yet, there are still many who have been left behind by this dynamic socio-economic development.

Rural Sapa, known for its misty hills, tumbling rice terraces and verdant valleys, is one of the few regions that has been excluded from economic progress.

“

It is easy to offer sympathy, food, water and money, but systematic change takes dedication, effort and hard work.

The mountainous region is also home to many of Vietnam's ethnic minorities. This factor contributes to the population’s susceptibility

to disease and malnutrition. The community’s locals hold a strong belief that tourism will alleviate poverty. Ethnic Minority Markets, along with multicoloured street stalls, are dotted around the town and the surrounding mountains.

These must-see events proudly showcase and sell everything from vibrantly dazzling dresses, handwoven blankets and intricately made clothing, to everyday souvenirs, Vietnamese food and farming tools. The small child on the curb had belonged to a stagnant population of street children. With no access to education, they are forced to enter the working world at a very young age. In a bid to gain tourist attention, and hopefully money, it was a common feat for mothers to leave their babies to scream. The longer we had stayed to comfort the baby, the longer he was left to cry. Everything we had done was counterproductive. Any attempt to help, futile in the face of this knowledge.

That night I had experienced an aspect of the White Saviour Industrial Complex. I didn't know the trope by definition at the time, but I felt it. I knew I had put my own emotional gratification before the needs of the child. I knew I hadn't been educated enough to act. If I had only taken the time to understand the situation. As defined by the majority femaleled advocacy campaign 'No White Saviours’, White Saviourism is 'a symptom of racism and white supremacy which places those in a position of privilege into the

role of saviour over those who have been historically oppressed and exploited.' The complex situates the white person as the centre of the story and shows up in a variety of ways and to differing degrees. For example, the loss of 105 Ugandan children at the hands of U.S missionary Renee Bach represents its deathly consequences, whilst the trope also shows up in ‘voluntourism,’ media, movies and non-profits that engage in international work.

It is important to note that it is not always intentional, that it often 'hides behind benevolence whilst upholding systems of oppression.' Many of us jump to humanitarian aid or voluntourism without a proper understanding of colonial history and the processes which sustain unequal power distributions. This causes unnecessary damage and perpetuates the racist idea that the Global South is inherently poor, helpless and incapable.

To touch briefly on a complex and nuanced topic; much of what we call 'international development' or 'foreign aid' is a neo-colonial tool to maintain Western power. Namely, there is a failure of accountability and lack of awareness for the ways in which Western countries have and continue to contribute largely to natural and socio-economic disasters in the South without any repercussions. Humanitarian aid and voluntourism are often just ways for Westerners to act as saviours despite the role they’ve played in creating the crisis.

“

White Saviourism is 'a symptom of racism and white supremacy which places those in a position of privilege into the role of saviour over those who have been historically oppressed and exploited.'

White Saviourism does not necessarily refer to skin colour but privilege and power. It is easy to offer sympathy, food, water and money, but systematic change takes dedication, effort and hard work. True concern stretches beyond momentary emotional gratification. I knew this moment was a droplet in an ocean of injustice. That I would need to dedicate time to educate myself.

That I needed to learn to realise solutions that would be tangible and sustainable. And I did. I am still learning today.

“

This causes unnecessary damage and perpetuates the racist idea that the Global South is inherently poor, helpless and incapable.

Remember to support blackowned grassroots charities where possible. Before you donate to an organisation, do your research.

Make sure they are 100% aware of and can demonstrate that they care about the culture and politics of the place they’re going to and adjust their projects accordingly.

Be aware of organisations that portray black people as helpless, passive, victims, not the empowered agents that are struggling to cope and find ways to navigate a white supremacist world. Read up. Prioritise justice.

Educate yourselves further on this issue. It is dangerous and potentially deadly.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Science & Technology

29

New mammoth species Oldest sequenced DNA reveals new mammoth species Becky Sainty The record for sequencing the oldest DNA is now held by ancient mammoth DNA over one million years old, breaking the previous record from a horse leg bone estimated at 560,000 – 780,000 years old.

The problem with sequencing ancient DNA is that it degrades over time, leaving shorter and shorter fragments that are harder to piece together. Many samples taken from permafrost have previously been found to have too little DNA for sequencing, and it has to have been permanently frozen to stand a chance. Because of the need for consistent permafrost, the theoretical limit for DNA sequencing is estimated at 2.6 million years old due to the geological conditions.

Mammoths first arose around five million years ago in Africa and colonised most of the Northern Hemisphere.

Three mammoth teeth were analysed that were excavated from north-eastern Siberia in the 1970s. Once extracted and sequenced, the mammoth DNA was aligned to a modern-

DNA, showing that Columbian mammoths came from a mixture of woolly mammoths and the newly discovered Krestovka lineage. The analysis also shows another later mixture with woolly mammoths.

day elephant genome, which is similar enough to help reconstruct the order of the sequence. The researchers were able to construct complete mitochondrial genomes for all three of the samples. However, from the main genome, they were only able to recover 49 million base pairs from the oldest sample, compared to 3,671 million base pairs from the youngest.

“

It is estimated to be between 1.1 and 1.65 million years old and when the DNA was examined it turned out to be from a previously unknown lineage.

The samples have been named after the places where they were excavated. The youngest sample, the Chukochya specimen, is 500,000 – 600,000 years old. The shape of the teeth predicted that it was from an early form of the woolly mammoth, and the DNA sequencing supported this. The next sample, the Adycha specimen, also matched the prediction from its shape. It comes from a

Wikimedia Commons steppe mammoth, a European species ancestral to the woolly mammoth, 1 – 1.3 million years old. The upper age of these estimations come from genetic dating. The age of the DNA is estimated by looking at the variants in the mammoth DNA compared to a modernday elephant, and assuming that there has been a constant mutation rate over the last million years. The lower age of the estimations comes from the sediments where the samples were found.

However, the third and oldest specimen from Krestovka is more exciting. It is esti-

“

This new DNA has shown that Columbian mammoths actually arose from a mixture of lineages around 420,000 years ago, much more recently than previously estimated.

mated to be between 1.1 and 1.65 million years old and when the DNA was examined it turned out to be from a previously unknown lineage. It was thought that the Columbian mammoth evolved from steppe mammoths when they colonised North America, with a separate line establishing woolly mammoths. This new DNA has shown that Columbian mammoths actually arose from a mixture of lineages around 420,000 years ago, much more recently than previously estimated. This is the first evidence of hybrid speciation from ancient

Another benefit of the study is it has given more information about how mammoths adapted. This ancient DNA has shown that the early mammoths in Siberia had already evolved many of the traits needed for cold adaptation, such as the woolly fur, which had been thought to come much later. The study is an exciting new development in studying mammoth evolution.

But more than that, it proves that sequencing ancient DNA is possible, and there may be many more discoveries waiting in the genomes of other ancient species.

A novel way of targeting brain cancer Waqar Ahmed A median survival of only 15 months following diagnosis makes glioblastoma multiforme the most aggressive brain tumour – with local tumour recurrence in up to 90% of cases despite intervention.

When treating brain cancers, surgical resection often leaves small parts of the tumour behind. This means that chemotherapy is necessary to stop the cancer from recurring – though clinicians can only administer agents that can cross the blood-brain barrier, which is a highly selective membrane that does not allow many substances from crossing. The glioblastoma treatment that is currently used, however, is not specific and has the same universal action on both malignant tumour cells and non-cancerous neuronal cells.

Scientists at the Linköping University in Sweden and the Medical University of Graz in Austria have recently demonstrated through in vitro studies that an implanted ion pump is

Wikimedia Commons capable of targeted drug delivery of gemcitabine, a chemotherapeutic agent that is not normally able to pass the bloodbrain barrier. This advance in research has meant that healthcare professionals may be able to target glioblastoma cells with high precision without harming neuronal cells in the process. Though in early stages, the results from cancer cells in the laboratory have been “extremely promising” and in five to

ten years we may see this new technology “used in treatments for brain tumours”, according to Daniel Simon who is an associate professor at the Department of Science and Technology at Linköping University. Using the “GemIP” ion pump has also been demonstrated to kill more cancer cells than other treatments, such as temozolomide.

Currently, gemcitabine is used to treat breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and bladder cancer.

Since its mechanism of action depends on disrupting cell division in rapidly growing tumours, it will have no effect on noncancerous brain cells since they do not usually undergo cell division.

However, though it has proven itself as an efficacious chemotherapy agent, it has not normally been used to treat cancers of the brain since its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier is poor. GemIP is able to transport gemcitabine due to its positive charge and small size. The experimental study involved loading gemcitabine into an electrolyte reservoir before using the GemIP device to pump it directly into cancer cells through an ion transport channel. The ion pump makes use of a low voltage and low current, which means that large electrical power supplies would not be necessary if they were eventually to be used in a clinical setting. The benefits of ion pump-mediated drug delivery also include avoiding disrupting the sensitive balance of pressure inside the brain, as well

as the ability to control dosage through electrical charging which allows for extreme precision.

The study has revealed how electrically driven chemotherapy may hold the potential to drastically improve treatment of glioblastoma adjuvant chemotherapy.

“

This advance in research has meant that healthcare professionals may be able to target glioblastoma cells with high precision without harming neuronal cells in the process.

Though in the early stages, the authors envision a broad application of such technology in the long term, including the potential treatment of surgically inoperable tumours. The next stage of this ground-breaking research involves making use of the ion pump to assess different chemotherapy drugs that have been avoided in the past due to serious adverse effects or their inability to pass the blood-brain barrier.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Science & Technology

30

A farmer, a propellant tank and SpaceX Why was part of a SpaceX rocket found on a rural farm in Washington?

Rob Barrie Science & Tech Sub-Editor Falcon 9 is a partially reusable rocket employed by SpaceX mainly for its Starlink missions. Starlink missions occur on a frequent basis and aim to provide remote areas of America and eventually the world with high-speed internet connection.

The first stage of the rocket, which provides the initial thrust to break free from Earth’s gravity, detaches once the rocket is in space and autonomously lands safely for reuse. The second stage, however, detaches after correctly propelling the main module onto its correct orbital path.

This booster does not land for reuse and instead is left in space as “space junk”, eventually re-entering Earth’s atmosphere on a “deorbit burn” upon which it completely disintegrates.

The second stage of the Falcon 9 from the most recent Starlink mission, however, missed its deorbit burn which led to a delayed re-entry. The new trajectory of the booster meant it did not completely burn up, and large portions of it fell to the ground. The partial burn up created a beauti-

NASA ful spectacle of illuminated trails in the night sky over rural Washington. The display, resembling a shot from a comet-impact apocalyptic film, was photographed by professional and amateur astronomers alike throughout the north-western state of America.

The resulting f lying debris is not without danger, however. Every day, one to two thousand kilograms of “space junk” including non-functioning satellites, space fragments and rockets enter Earth’s atmosphere. The vast majority are completely disintegrated but the odd large fragment can still survive the threethousand-degree Celsius atmospheric re-entry. Fortu-

nately, there have been no recorded injuries from falling space debris and the segment from this Falcon 9 rocket was no exception. The part, discovered by a farmer, was confirmed to be a propellant tank

and was promptly collected

by SpaceX employees who were swiftly dispatched to the impact site. The only lasting damage from this particular incident was a four-inch hole in the ground.

SpaceX has already been analysing why the second stage of this Falcon 9 rocket missed its re-entry sequence and how such instances can be avoided in future missions but it will certainly not serve as a source of deceleration for the space company’s ambitions for other missions.

One such mission occurred just the other day. On 23rd April, SpaceX sent a crew to the International Space Station (ISS) in collaboration with NASA . The four astro-

nauts will stay on board the station for six months to conduct engineering work and scientific research.

The ISS is not the only planetary object that SpaceX is targeting. On 16th April, NASA awarded SpaceX the muchcoveted contract to help build the spacecraft to land humans on the moon for the first time since 1972. Part of NASA’s Artemis Programme, this will include landing the first ever woman on the moon.

The lander will be based on SpaceX’s Starship which is currently still in early, but increasingly successful, testing stages.

More ambitious missions, such as SpaceX’s civilian space travel programme, are also passing through important checkpoints. In early April, SpaceX announced the final crew members for their first ever commercial space f light that will launch later this year. Such a launch may potentially signal a new era of tourism whilst also redefining the concept of what it means ‘to go on holiday’. After all, why look up at the stars on a camping trip when you can travel to them instead.

SpaceX

A tweet worth 2.9 million dollars Eleanor Deane Science & Tech Editor The market for NFTs has skyrocketed over the past year – but what are NFTs and why have they taken off so rapidly?

fungible assets the opposite is true; each one is unique and cannot be swapped with a similar asset. This is analogous to how an original work of art is likely to be worth vastly more to a replica. NFTs are often described as being a digital signature.

“

The tweet, which reads ‘just setting up my twttr’ was sold as an NFT for $2.9m to a businessman, based in Malaysia.

NFT stands for NonFungible token. Fungibility refers to the ability of a good or asset to be exchanged with similar assets of equal value. For example, currency is a fungible asset. For non-

The appeal of NFTs is that they fix a problem for digital creators – how to make your work valuable in an environment where work can be replicated so readily.

The most expensive NFT to date was sold for $69.3.

The work was sold during an auction at Christie’s, an auction house that previously only sold physical art. The

BITPOD.95 by Beeple, Wikimedia Commons digital

artwork

was

titled

‘Everyday:

the

First

5000

Days’ and was created by Mike Winkelmann, a digital artist known as Beeple.

The first tweet to ever be published was written by Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and CEO of Twitter. The tweet, which reads ‘just setting up my twttr’ was sold as an NFT for $2.9m to a businessman, based in Malaysia.

A single pixel was sold for $1.36 million as part of a work by digital artist Pak. NFTs are a type of cryptocurrency.

An advantage of NFTs over other cryptocurrencies is that it allows for setting more complex terms such as enabling an original creator to earn commission on each resale of the asset.

However, buyers should be wary that it may be difficult to determine whether a seller is the original creator.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Sport

31 The day fans saved football

Charlie Batter Sports Print Editor Never before has the football world banded together so quickly as they did last week and it was all for one reason, to stop the Super League.

On Sunday the 18th of April, the news broke that 12 of Europe’s top clubs had joined one another to create a new midweek tournament in which the best teams in Europe would face each other more often than they would in the Champions League. On the surface it seems like a very good idea, but then when you begin to look a little closer it all starts to unravel.

The structure of this competition would involve 20 team playing one another in a midweek league which would act as almost a step up from the Champions League. Out of the 20 teams, 15 would be permanent members meaning that even if they had had a bad season, they would still be a part of this competition. 5 other places would be available for other teams around Europe although it was never made clear as to how they would earn

Mohan these positions.

The competition is the brainchild of Real Madrid president Florentino Perez who claims the competition is needed as “young people are no longer interested in football” and he believes a competition where the best plays the best constantly will pique their interest again.

When the competition was announced, the 12 teams that had signed up for the competition were Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan,

Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal with PSG, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund expected to sign up in the coming days.

UEFA, FIFA and various other governing bodies were furious at the announcement and stated that any team that joined this league would be removed and banned from all other competitions due to the fact they didn’t sanction it and also that it could be harmful to the sport as a whole The best way to explain the dangerous nature of competition is with former Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera who said “I fell in love with popular football, with the football of the fans, with the dream of seeing the team of my heart compete against the greatest. If this European Super League advances, those dreams are over, the illusions of the fans of the teams that are not giants of being able to win on the field competing in the best competitions will end.”

What this league would do is remove “big club” from domestic tournaments such

as the Premier League which would mean that although other teams would find it easier to win, they wouldn’t technically have played the best clubs from their country. It also would affect clubs lower down the footballing pyramid as for many of these teams, they dream of climbing up the leagues so one day they can compete against Manchester United and Liverpool, but of course if they left, they would never get to play these historic teams.

As Sunday ended, most of the football world was in chaos as no one truly understood what was going to happen next, but when Monday morning arose, the fans made themselves perfectly clear.

Protests were held across the UK from fans of clubs involved in the tournament and fans from clubs who were not. All of them were saying the same thing, the owners of these clubs only cared about money and not the sport itself.

Twitter, Reddit, and radio shows were filled with fans talking about the anger and the pain they felt hearing that these owners would do something like this and that some fans even

went as a far as changing teams due to the love they once had being ripped away. Hundreds of Chelsea fans even blocked the cubs own coach from entering its stadium in protest of the competition.

These testimonies were heard by the clubs and by 11pm on Tuesday, all English clubs had withdrawn from the Super League.

After this it was clear that the new competition was over with Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli even saying it was “impossible to continue with just six teams”.

What this three-day saga clearly conveys to not only the world but also to football owners is that football is for the fans. Even though joining this competition would have made the clubs a lot of money in the long run, it still wasn’t good for the sport. People watch football for its exciting competitiveness and the fact that no matter the two teams playing one another, anyone can win.

Fans are the life blood of football and if you turn on them, football will die.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Rachael Blackmore Wins the Grand National Robyn Cowie Arts Co-Editor Rachael Blackmore became the first woman to ever win the Grand National. In the competitions one hundred and seventy three year history, the sport has been considered a privileged, boys club, that few female jockeys have had the opportunity to participate in, let alone win.

Rachael Blackmore rode Minella Times at Aintree, beating off fierce opposition and breaking the glass ceiling of the sport in the process.

The National has been a British sports staple since its creation in 1839, and is the most popular and lucrative betting day in the British sporting calendar.

Blackmore odd’s were placed at 11 to 1 giving her a strong chance of winning the race. It was her 2nd time participating in the event, but her first time completing the race after falling at the fifteenth fence in 2018.

On the day, she demonstrated perfect performance and timing, guiding Minella Times expertly round the 30 fences.

“This is so massive. I had such a beautiful passage around. Minella Times jumped

fantastically and didn’t miss a beat anywhere. I couldn’t believe it, jumping the second-last - I don’t know, it’s just incredible”.

The 31 year old from Tipperary has now been heralded as the leading woman in the sport, she herself was elated at the result stating, “I don’t feel male or female right now. I don’t even feel human”.

Later she went on to express how proud she was in what that moment meant for gender

equality in sport more widely.

Blackmore has been a leading figure in the sport as of late, she had already achieved a monumental success at last month’s Cheltenham Festival when becoming the first woman to be the meeting’s leading jockey. And she shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, The closest a female jockey had previously come to winning the race was Katie Walsh on Seabass in 2012 when she

finished third.

There were no spectators at the Merseyside track because of Covid-19 protocols, but the historic moment was not lost due to the online presence of the race, making up for the lack of spectators.

This particular result has garnered so much attention as despite being one of the most watched annual sporting events in Britain, as it is incredibly rare to see a woman winning a mixed gender sport and entering the history books in the process. Sadly in 2021, it is still newsworthy for gender equality to be a leading take away from any mass sporting event.

The win for Rachael Blackmore is no less impressive, because for a sport which is already quite exclusive due to the need for sponsorship, the hefty cost and quite simply the inaccessibility to train, Blackmore overcame the obstacles and is set to continue this streak.

The daughter of a dairy farmer and a school teacher, Rachael has worked hard for her achievements.

She was just the second woman to hold a professional jockey’s licence in Irish jump racing when switching from the

amateur ranks in March 2015.

But it was once she teamed up with Henry De Bromhead, a world renowned trainer in his own right, that she has had the funds and the opportunity to compete in numerous major rides within the sport, which ultimately led her to her biggest win of all.

Blackmore’s win follows a trend of moving in the right direction, wherein the courage of female athletes in mixed sporting events as well as female sport more widely is gaining the representation it rightly deserves. Although this particular event is covered a lot in the media, it is still a sport which is not in the limelight as much.

Blackmore is continuing this progressive trend, of greater representation, media coverage, sponsorship and attention for female athletes.

Overall, the events of the Grand National are groundbreaking due to this progressive win.

One which not only highlights the individual success which Rachael Blackmore herself has achieved. But also, hopefully, it is yet another sport where the fight for gender equality is winning.

The Badger 26th April 2021

Sport

32

Amelia Sandie: Basketball, Injury and her journey to the US An interview with the Brighton native crossing the pond to play ball Max Kilham Sports Online Editor Basketball has consistently struggled to find its footing amongst the major sports in the UK. With football, rugby, cricket and even Formula One dominating the metaphorical space present, there is little room for Basketball to squeeze in.

Enter Amelia Sandie, an 18-year-old basketball player with the world at her feet.

Sandie, a Brighton native, has been attached to the sport ever since she started playing for her local club, Brighton Cougars.

Since first stepping onto the court, Amelia has risen to a point by which she has represented England on multiple occasions.

The rising star is now playing her basketball at Nicholls State University in the United States. A Division One women’s basketball college, Sandie is playing with, and competing against, the best of the best.

Sandie described her journey into the sport: “I grew up in Brighton, where I was born and raised and my dad is actually from Australia.

“So he played semiprofessional basketball in Australia and was actually a really successful basketball agent. So he had players in the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) for the Australian national team so he was really into basketball.

“I think when I was eight, my dad took me down to a Brighton Cougars session. So I was in Brighton Cougars and I really enjoyed it.

“I was really bad! But I really enjoyed it.

“I was there until I was 15 and all through that time I did like (played for) Sussex, South-East and I played for England when I was 14.”

Trying to make it to the very top of your sport comes with sacrifice. Take footballer Lionel Messi, who moved from his home country, Argentina, to Spain at the age of 13. All to play for European Giants Barcelona.

Although her experience in relocating does not quite compare to Messi’s in terms of geographical distance, the sheer ability to move away from home at a young age warrants admiration.

Sadie explained her decision

franchise opportunities to relocate: “At 16 I made the decision to actually leave home.

“My mum’s side of the family is from London.

“I stayed with a host family, a family friend and then my grandparents and went to a basketball academy called City of London Academy.

“I did my two years there and was playing for GB (Great Britain).

“I got a Division One scholarship, so now I’m in Louisiana.”

However, it has not been smooth-sailing for the young prodigy. A number of injuries have made progression tough: “I injured my knee, I tore my ACL, which is a pretty big injury.

“It was a while ago. I was battling with some knee injuries even before that, I like semidislocated my knee.

“

“The whole centre of sport is in America because they put so much money into it and it’s so well broadcast.

“I’m almost out of the woods.

But obviously it’s a hard injury to get out of.”

The contrast between US and UK sport is stark, and Amelia has experienced both sides of the pond. You only need to watch one college basketball game to understand the impact results have on a community. The only real comparison remains the fan to club connection amongst

teams in the lower divisions of UK football.

But that is precisely the point: university sport in the UK cannot compare to university sport in the US, in terms of coverage, support and lifestyle. College sport in the US, especially basketball and American football. For example, the last Major League Soccer Cup Final had a viewership of 1.071 million, whereas the March Madness game between Gonzaga and UCLA peaked at 18.8 million viewers. This is just one of many examples of the levels of disparity between university sport in the US and the UK. Amelia described the range of support present at her college basketball games: “It’s kind of with any sport in the US. It’s a lifestyle!

“College is their life.

“They’re some elderly people who come to our games. It’s not like they have a grandchild here, they just genuinely love this school.

“The whole centre of sport is in America because they put so much money into it and it’s so well broadcast.

“It’s so easy for me to watch a US college game.

“But the WBBL, which is the professional league in the UK, there’ll be one or two livestreams. But it’s not like every game is getting livestreamed and put out.

“I guess (the role of)

accessibility and money is a massive thing.”

Despite her major injury, Sadie was upbeat about her future aspirations. Displaying the hustle renowned amongst basketball players, she discussed her aspirations for college and her professional career: “I think if you’d asked me this a year ago, before I tore my ACL, my answer would be different.

“Right now, I want to have a great college career. I want to have a really great college career.

“If the opportunity came up for me to play for someone professional, and it was the right fit for me and what I want to do with my life, then of course I would consider it “But since tearing my ACL, I think basketball has become something that I definitely want to pursue. But also, I need to listen to my body, because I’ve only got two knees and one of them is already a little bit… I wouldn’t say bad, but it’s not 100%.

“So I think, just having a great college career, getting my education, getting my degree.”

There are clearly a number of figures that have helped Amelia to get to this point and achieve the goals she set out for herself.

Her parents, like most parents, are her number one supporters.

Growing up in Brighton and London has also enabled her to meet other influential figures that have had a major positive

impact within her life. Her coaches, both in Brighton and London, have provided a monumental amount of support and motivation in getting Amelia to where she is today.

“Obviously my mum and my dad, like my mum and dad are, you know amazing. My mum’s my best friend. My dad and I are really close, he obviously introduced me to basketball.

“Definitely one of the biggest people, is Nick Stevens.

“He was my coach when I was under 16’s and he believed in me so much. He believed in me more than I believed I myself!

“He used to call me superstar!

I was like, ‘please don’t call me that!’”

He believed in me so much and used to push me so much.

You know he got me playing against the boys which at the time I hated.

“But in hindsight, the boys weren’t men out here. It was a stage where it was good for me to play against the boys.

They were obviously bigger and stronger but it wasn’t like they were going to break my bones.

“He believed in me so much and when I said, you know, ‘I’m going to leave Cougars, I’m going to go to City of London,’ he was so supportive of it. It was never ‘oh you should stay.’

“

The contrast between US and UK sport is stark, and Amelia has experienced both sides of the pond. You only need to watch one college basketball game to understand the impact results have on a community. The only real comparison remains the fan to club connection amongst teams in the lower divisions of UK football.

“Two of the most recent people are actually my coaches at City of London Academy.

Jackson Gibbons and Brian Nguru. They really did help raise me, of course through basketball, but you learn so many life skills through basketball and they taught me so much.”

It remains to be seen as to how Amelia’s career within basketball will pan out. Her ability to overcome her setbacks will be a clear hallmark in her resulting achievements in the years to come. We have a potential superstar within our midst, who is looking to take the world by storm.