Suffering on our doorstep
For many refugees, escaping a war zone does not mean an end to hardship
You may have heard something in the media about migrants ‘massing’ in Calais, France, trying to smuggle themselves into the UK. You might well have heard the victory cries of the British government as what became crudely termed the Pashtun ‘Jungle’ was destroyed in September, and assumed the problem was solved.
You might even have picked up on the negative press that the campaign group No Borders has been getting recently, for the simple act of setting up a shelter for destitute refugees during the coldest continental winter in 30 years.
Death to capital punishment
To protect the innocent we must force America to stop executions
Usually, I’d open with a joke. Or at least, something light-hearted. Sadly, though, there’s nothing funny about capital punishment. The death penalty. Institutionalised murder.
You probably haven’t heard about Linda Carty’s case, reported briefly in The Times last week. She stands to become the first black British woman to be executed in America in over a century. Convicted of abduction and murder, the grandmother awaits her fate on death row in Texas. Her last hope is a re-trial. After all, her first one was a total farce.
America's nuclear bombshell
It's time for real cutbacks in arms stockpiles, not more empty promises
*Since the bombing of Hiroshima 65 years ago, nuclear weapons have remained a significant threat and a key factor in international relations. Since his election, President Obama has frequently reiterated his hopes of a nuclear-free world, but will recent commitments be enough to make his dream a reality? *
Obama’s plans for a new nuclear treaty remain sketchy, but the US and Russia both optimistically agreed last year to reduce their number of warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675 each. Yet despite this sizeable reduction, the quantity of nuclear weapons on both sides of the Pacific is still overwhelming and the question as to why both sides require so many must be asked. As both nations dedicate time and effort to finalising the terms of their agreement, we have to consider whether these actions will provoke any change in the balance of power between these two nations and the rest of the world.
America's nuclear bombshell
It's time for real cutbacks in arms stockpiles, not more empty promises
*Since the bombing of Hiroshima 65 years ago, nuclear weapons have remained a significant threat and a key factor in international relations. Since his election, President Obama has frequently reiterated his hopes of a nuclear-free world, but will recent commitments be enough to make his dream a reality? *
Obama’s plans for a new nuclear treaty remain sketchy, but the US and Russia both optimistically agreed last year to reduce their number of warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675 each. Yet despite this sizeable reduction, the quantity of nuclear weapons on both sides of the Pacific is still overwhelming and the question as to why both sides require so many must be asked. As both nations dedicate time and effort to finalising the terms of their agreement, we have to consider whether these actions will provoke any change in the balance of power between these two nations and the rest of the world.
Actually, this will hurt a lot
The consequences of a tuition fee rise are potentially devastating
The possibility of the tuition fee cap being lifted after this year’s election raises all sorts of difficulties and dilemmas for Cardiff University for a number of reasons. However, if the recommendations by Universities UK are followed and the cap is lifted to £7,000, a typical student wanting to attend a research intensive university in England would see their level of student debt rise to £33,000.
With the Brown Review into Higher Education Funding and Student Finance expected to report later in the year, and the real threat that the tuition fee cap may rise to £5,000 or £7,000 a year, I was pleased to see the article “This won’t hurt a bit…” in Issue 914 of gair rhydd, discussing the pressures on higher education funding and the battle we have ahead of us.
BBC killed the radio station
Does the BBC really need tough love to drag it into the twenty-first century?
Facebook and Twitter have been buzzing this week as the nation has rallied behind 6 Music after the BBC announced plans to cut the channel as part of their strategy review. The station, a cult favourite amongst music aficionados, is facing the axe along with the Asian Network.
Other aspects of the BBC, however, won’t be receiving such vocal support. As well as the radio reshuffle, the review will see the sale of a number of BBC magazines, a halt of 25 percent of the BBC’s online content and a sweeping reprioritisation of television spending, including a cut on foreign programme acquisition – which could tragically mean the end of Mad Men on BBC Four.
Is Britain's drug policy Nutts?
Is the fact that they are illegal actually worsening the perception of drugs?
Prior to Professor David Nutt’s lecture last week, all I knew about him was that he was a scientist and he was involved with the government. I had ingeniously gathered this from the lecture title, “Government vs. Science”.
For those unfamiliar with his work, Nutt was the government’s chief drug advisor before being sacked last year for claiming ecstasy and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol.
Stop Scots eating? Fat chance
Scotland's obesity epidemic is costing us millions
You. Yes, you. You’re fat. Obese, actually. So ridiculously, dangerously overweight that the government is going to have to do something to curb your lard lust immediately before you drop dead at the age of 28, mouth stuffed with greasy burger.
Well, if you’re Scottish, that’s what your government thinks of you. In fact, those ever-considerate MPs north of the border are busy dreaming up new measures to keep scotch eggs from podgy Scots’ fingers.
Bankers: good for Britain?
Perhaps bonuses for bankers are a necessary evil
With a recent YouGov poll revealing that 76% of people support a cap on bankers’ bonuses, there has been a growing debate in parliamentary circles about whether the government should restrict what many see as the excessive salaries of those in the financial sector.
Recent rumours that RBS, which is 84%-owned by the taxpayer, has set aside £1.3bn to spend on bonuses for its staff has added fuel to this fire and seems to show that the government is incapable or unwilling to take action. What is not clear, however, is the effect that a blanket cap on bonuses – seemingly favoured by the public at large – would have on our banks and the economy overall.
Sometimes, there is an excuse
Torture cannot be clear-cut until we learn to discuss it openly
Sometimes the nature of journalism forces us to take hypothetical decisions based on circumstances we are unaware of and in situations we will never find ourselves in. I do not agree with torture, but that is not to say that I cannot understand its use and even, in specific examples, acknowledge its importance.
Case in point: last week’s gair rhydd contained an article in which Oli Franklin stated that ‘There is never an excuse’ for torture, in response to an article from Independent journalist Bruce Anderson arguing that ‘We not only have a right to use torture. We have a duty.’
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