InQuire NEWS

The University of Kent’s Student Newspaper

Issue 14.7 Friday 25 January 2019 inquiremedia.co.uk

Where next for Britain?

By Bill Bowkett Newspaper News Editor

Uncertainty gathers as May’s Brexit deal suffers crushing defeat in Parliament.

The big yellow ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ bus made its stop in Canterbury on the last week of the autumn term, with Kent Union Full-Time Officers and University of Kent Chancellor, Gavin Esler, in attendance (Photo by @BollocksBus)

Theresa May’s Brexit divorce bill was emphatically rejected in the House of Commons last week by 230 votes - the largest defeat for a government history - but survived a no-confidence motion to remove her as PM. Kent Union President Aaron Thompson labeled the vote on the European Union (EU) Withdrawal Bill as a “historic defeat” for the UK government on Facebook, with 432 MPs voting against her, many of whom were members of her own party. Thompson, who is also an activist for the pro-remain group For Future’s Sake (FFS), said the outcome “shows that this country has been successful in lobbying their MPs and lobbying government to vote down the deal as it does not serve the people. Now more than ever we must continue to lobby our MPs and stop this confusion and lack of movement. Let’s make a firm decision as a country.” The majority of Kent’s MPs rejected the government’s deal, despite the Prime Minister’s concerns that rejecting it would cause “catastrophic harm” to the electorates’ trust in politicians. Among those who voted against the proposals was Rosie Duffield, Member of Parliament for Canterbury, Whitstable and surrounding villages, who has been actively campaigning for a second referendum on EU membership. The 47-year-old, who was elected as the constituency’s MP in 2017 after displacing senior Conservative Sir Julian Brazier, said that she “cannot vote for any deal that will make my constituents poorer that will drive investment away” and will be voting “no confidence in Theresa May’s government” in “any future votes of no confidence brought before the house over the next few weeks”. In a letter written over Christmas, Duffield wrote to her constituents: “It has been confirmed by the Government’s own analyses and those of other respected institutions such as the Bank of England and the Institute for Fiscal Studies, that this deal threatens the economic prosperity of the UK. All outcomes currently on the table would leave Britain worse off.” She added, in relation to students: “Those leaving Canterbury’s universities need well paid, secure jobs; this deal not only threatens livelihoods, but it threatens futures.” Miss Duffield joined Kent Union and Canterbury Christchurch Students’ Union President in creating a joint statement in support of a second referendum. It reads: “The consequences from Brexit on the University sector will have an effect on research and innovation, International student recruitment, Erasmus opportunities for British students and creates a lack of stability for EU students and staff. “Brexit has large ramifications on those in the Canterbury area: not only does Brexit tangibly affect the staff and students of all three city universities, but it also affects the tourism, local businesses and residents in the local area.” Kent’s only Labour MP also took part in the following day’s bid by Labour to overthrow the government but fell short by 19 votes, 325 to 306. Mrs May came out victorious with parliamentary support from both Tory-backbenchers and Democratic Unionist MPs who had voted against her Brexit proposals the day before. Over the past two years, the Prime Minister has been trying to decide how Britain will trade with the rest of Europe once the country has left the EU, but the events of the last 2 weeks have raised fresh concerns for the residents of the county and students at the University of Kent, as the 29 March deadlines looms. Business chiefs in Kent have also come out in anger over the delay, which according to Jo James of Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce, is generating “growing anger” among firms. “Basic questions on real-world operational issues remain unanswered, and firms now find themselves facing the unwelcome prospect of a messy and disorderly exit from the EU on March 29. “The overriding priority for both government and Parliament must now be to avoid the clear danger that a ‘no deal’ exit on March 29 would pose to businesses and communities across the UK. “Every second that ticks by sees more businesses spending money on unwanted changes, activating contingency plans or battening down the hatches and halting investment, as they try to anticipate a future that is no clearer now than it was at the time of the referendum result.” A No-deal Brexit rehearsal in Kent two weeks ago, where only 89 trucks took part in trial of emergency traffic system designed to cope with 6,000 vehicles, was branded ‘a waste of time’ by critics and opposition leaders. A survey conducted by Survation back in December showing that Canterbury would vote for Remain if there was another Brexit referendum, with only 45% of respondents saying that they would Leave again. Many students are becoming impatient with Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is demanding a General Election instead of a ‘People’s Vote’, with many members threatening to leave the party in a bid for the Islington North MP to take a stronger stance on the issue. Ex-Kent Union President Ruth Wilkinson questioned the Labour leader’s decision to put forward a vote of no confidence in the executive. She tweeted: “This isn’t a fight between left and right, a vote of no confidence will not help, a general election will not fix our Brexit negotiations. I have no confidence in Corbyn, who is only thinking about the success of Labour, to decide our future. People’s Vote pls.” Not everyone is on board with the idea of a second referendum though. 15 British academics, including Senior Lecturer at the school of Politics and International Relations Dr Phillip Cunliffe, have written a joint letter to the Guardian in favor of a “clean sovereign” no deal Brexit. The letter reads: “British universities are the strongest and most attractive in Europe. With a clean sovereign Brexit, British universities get the best of both worlds. They escape the European commission’s shackles imposed through the withdrawal agreement and, like other successful third-party countries, can participate in EU programs like Horizon 2020 at will. “Now is the moment to tell the EU that the UK will be a close partner in academic research in the same way as 15 non-EU nation states are at present and that the UK will pay its way, as we did before. This is a winwin situation which does not require the UK to surrender sovereignty or accept destructive conditions.”

Future options?

1) No Deal Brexit

2) Second vote for MPs

3) Major renegotiation

4) Extend March 29 deadline

5) Another referendum

6) General Election

7) Another no confidence vote

8) Parliament takes control

9) Revoke Article 50

55% support for remain in Canterbury (Survation, November 2018)

Kent Union President Aaron Thompson speaking at an anti-Brexit summit in London back in November

Photo by Aaron Thompson | Facebook

Kent Business Summit tackles Brexit and local economy

Buisnesses are looking for assurances

(Photo by University of Kent)

By Syan Bateman

On 11 January, academics, and delegates from across the South East gathered at the University of Kent’s Sibson Building to attend the annual Kent Business Summit. People arrived with a range of expectations – from networking to agreeing on actionable points that would help policy makers identify where the interests of business leaders and workers lie. The attendance for this year’s conference was higher than previous years. There were seven talks in the morning, each lead by different industry professionals. The main theme of the day centred around innovation, tourism and transport, and each of these touched on other points of interest – such as how businesses will be affected by Brexit on March 29, protecting smaller businesses and last year’s encouragement of local employment. Vice-Chancellor Karen Cox said in her opening speech that “Brexit is something that we will have to deal with,” including the University of Kent which has campuses across mainland Europe; such as Paris and Brussels. With 90% of businesses in Kent being micro-enterprises, they have been found to be the least capable of dealing with the expected blow to finances post-March 29. Businesses of all levels are preparing as best as possible to plan for Britain’s departure from the European Union (EU). Those in attendance agreed that they hoped Westminster would be able to reach an agreement on the terms of divorce. Helen Walbey said during the day’s proceedings that “small businesses are the heart of British business”. Martin Meyer, head of the Kent Business School (KBS) told In- Quire: “Kent is the place to be, to live, to do business, to study”. Aside from Brexit, the issue of housing was mentioned. According to Andream Markides, MD of Markides Associates, the county will have to build 2,000 new homes over the next decade, due to population growth. He insisted: “we should not be building housing estates, we should be building communities.”

Kent Union Elections 2019

Photos by Kent Union

Kent Union’s 2019 Leadership Elections are set to take place between 21 January and 8 March, the winners of whom will undertake the full-time and part-time officer positions during the 2019/2020 academic year. George Knight reports.

At 12:00 midnight on the 21 January, nominations for full-time and part-time officer role will open to any and all University of Kent students currently studying, regardless of academic year. The winners will then be sworn into office at the end of the 2018/19 academic year. For an explanation to what Kent Union does and who currently runs the institution, read InQuire’s guide to Kent Union at inquirelive.co.uk This year will introduce new Full-Time Officer and Part-Time Chair positions as a result of Kent Union’s Democratic Review. Although these changes were subject to protest by the Kent Graduate Student Association (KGSA), the Union Executive Committee (UEC) voted with a majority to approve the changes back in December 2018.

Election Process

The election process will take place over the space of two months in several stages. The nomination period will be between 21 January and 11 February. Starting the week of the 12 February, will be the Candidate Boot Camp. This will be available to all the candidates, teaching them about manifesto writing, budgeting and other areas important to running an effective political campaign. In the following week, between the 16 and the 25 February, candidates will bring together their campaign team and prepare their manifestos: a statement published by the nominees in which they say what their aims and policies are. Following that will be Online Campaigning Week, 25 February to 1 March, in which candidates will promote their manifestos and aims to the student body across campus and online. There will be a series of debates during Online Campaigning Week with candidates going head-to-head in front of a live studio audience. The debates will be streamed live on KTV. Voting for the student body will open on the 4 March and will close on the 8 March. Ballots can be cast at the Venue, the Medway Student Hub and on the Kent Union website during this period. The results will be revealed on the evening of March 8 in the Result Night Event at the Venue. Anyone attending will need a student ID. Interviews with the winning candidates will be conducted following their announcements on March 8. Both CSR and KTV will undertake radio and video interviews with the individual winners just after their position has been obtained. InQuire will be conducting an interview with each candidate in week commencing Monday 11 March 2019.

Election Schedule

21 January Nominations open

11 February Nominations close

12 - 15 February Candidate Training

25 February - 1st March Online Campaign Week

25 Feburary InQuire Press Conference

26-29 Feburary KTV Candidate Debates

4 March Voting opens

8 March Voting closes & Results Night

For all the latest on Election 2019, stay tuned at www.inquirelive.co.uk and on social media.

Editorial Page 8 Why you should nominate yourself, or a friend

New FTO roles:

The Union President remains unchanged. They provide leadership for Kent Union working with and on behalf of students to ensure that the organisation provides the very support to students during study. They are responsible for the development of Kent Union and Chair of the Board of Trustees. The President is also a member of a number of senior university committees, including University Council and Senate and holds relationships with senior University staff and external stakeholders.

Vice-President for Education is to be become Vice President for Academic Experience. This position will be “representing the undergraduate experience in an academic context … fulfilling the union’seducation strategy”.

Vice-President for Welfare is to become Vice-President for Welfare and Community. This position will “campaign to defend the rights of and improve the wellbeing of students’ but will now also work to aid in ‘local community-based projects’ and will ‘be responsible for Kent Union’s work on the environment and sustainability’”.

Vice-President for Activities and Vice-President for Sports are to be merged into a singular role as Vice-President for Student Engagement. This position will combine the previous responsibilities of both positions becoming the “lead Officer for student groups, including sports clubs, societies, community action groups, RaG and student media”. They will be working to ‘develop’ co-curricular activities and will ‘work towards engaging’ students with the Union. Additionally, they will be working on ‘employability, alumni engagement and awards’.

A new position Vice-President for Postgraduate Experience will be introduced. This position ‘will be providing the postgraduate perspective on issues which impact their student experience’. These include ‘national issues’ such as funding and support, ‘academic issues’ supervision, employability, satellite campuses of solely Postgraduate students, ‘welfare concerns’ such as ‘finance and housing’ and ‘community development’ like events and activities ‘out of term’.

...Do not forget the Part-Time Officers

There are a number of Part-Time Chairs to be contested during the election period, including:

• Black and Minority Ethnic Network Chair

• LGBT+ Network Chair

• Students with Disabilities Network Chair

• Women’s Network Chair

• Sustainability Network Chair

• Faith Network

• International Network Chair

• Mature and Part-Time Students Network

• Students at Medway Committee President

• Sports Network Chair

• Societies Network Chai

• Volunteering Network Chair

For more information on these roles and more, visit www.kentunion.co.uk

Antifa group chat exposed.

InQuire have seen private messages from a now deleted Facebook group chat, which included Kent Union officers. The group discussed intent to “bait people into being abusive” at Carl Benjamin’s controversial talk at the University, while ignoring requests from the Union to contact security for student safety.

By Molly Hope (Editor-in-Chief) and Jesse Bedayn (Newspaper Editor)Research by Alejandro Javierre (News Sub-Editor)

InQuire have seen messages from a now deleted Facebook chat which planned to demonstrate against Carl Benjamin by “baiting people into being abusive”, while ignoring requests from Kent Union to contact campus security for student safety purposes. Four Kent Union Officers and Part-time Officers, including Vice-President (Welfare) Omolade Adedapo, were members of this chat. The Facebook app shows that Ms. Adedapo, along with three other part-time Union officers, had ‘read’ the three messages concerning student safety, including those about baiting abuse. However, when questioned on their involvement, the Union officers denied seeing any of the aforementioned messages, saying they “would have reported it if they had”. Carl Benjamin, a controversial You- Tuber known digitally as Sargon of Akkad, was invited by the Liberty Union to speak on campus back in November amidst backlash from various societies and the students’ union. A petition was launched by student activists in a bid to de-platform the 39-year-old, weeks before the event was scheduled to go ahead. According to a committee member from the Feminist Society, the petition was created by a “loose coalition of people from multiple societies and within the Canterbury community”. The group has been identified as the UKC Anti-Fascists, organised in the Facebook group chat ‘Kent Anteefah Lads’. The group chat was created in order to clean up Nazi graffiti that was found on campus on 9 November, the anniversary of Kristallnacht. Members of the group included around fourty student activists, many of whom were committee members of the Feminist Society, Marxist Society, Labour Society and an associate lecturer from the School of English. Four Kent Union officers and Part-time Officers, including Vice-President (Welfare) Omolade Adedapo, were also members of this secretive group. The Facebook app shows that Ms. Adedapo, along with three other part-time Union officers, had ‘read’ the three messages concerning student safety, including those about baiting abuse. After pressure from the coalition of societies to cancel Benjamin’s lecture, the Union released a statement on 22 November, stating: “We recommended to the University that permission to speak be denied due to the views expressed by Benjamin in the past and our belief that, given the speaker’s controversial views regarding rape culture, religion and race, there is a high risk that the speaker would incite hatred on the grounds of race, religion or sexual orientation and thus that the law could be broken. “Kent Union’s trustees then separately considered the risk of our Society hosting the event and have decided that there is a serious risk that the law will be broken and there is a risk to student safety if the event goes ahead (similar events with Benjamin speaking at other campuses have resulted in violence).” The University, however, “gave permission for the event to go ahead because of their legal obligation to uphold freedom of speech on campus but has imposed strict conditions, including the presence of a controlling officer”. After the University confirmed Benjamin’s appearance, plans were made by the group to demonstrate outside the event venue, Chipperfield Lecture Theatre. Despite the Union’s insistence upon safe and peaceful protests, one activist sent a messaged with said they intended to “bait people into being abusive”. The group also ignored requests from the Union to talk to security prior to the protest. The message was followed by agreement from three active members of the chat. On 27 November, a member of the chat sent: “The plan is to hand out leaflets with Carl Benjamin’s most virulent anti-Semitic comments and try and bait people into being abusive.” Another active member replied on the group chat: “Whatever you do, don’t appear violent yourself.” Nelle Porter, the President of the Feminist Society and the group chat’s administrator, told InQuire that their intention was not to incite violence. “We only assumed that, due to Carl’s nature and due to his fans nature, that they would end up being abusive,” she said. According to Ms. Porter and other members, they had considered the potential likelihood of a violent response from Benjamin’s loyal supporters and that, “to ensure [their] safety”, the activists filmed student’s who were entering the event. Ms. Porter did not trust “members of UKIP to keep me safe”, referring to some UKIP and Liberty Union members who acted as stewards at the event; but the group did not, after being asked three times, speak to security or warn members of the Union of their planned actions. Though the group was aware and worried about potential violent or abusive backlashes from those who attended the event, they ignored three seperate requests from the Union to contact security to ensure their own, and others’ safety. On 21 November, a member of the chat received an email from Kent Union saying: “The head of security has heard about the protest and would like to have a chat with whoever is planning/running it. I heard that might be you. Would you be able to get in contact with him?” Security said they received no offer to talk before the event. The next day, 22 November, a second request was made to Ms. Porter by Union staff. She relayed to the group chat that the staff member had “said it will be a good idea to touch base when we know if the event is cancelled or not to talk about the next steps - protesting or changing the format or the event”. The member of staff told InQuire that the group did not touch base with her again about a planned protest. On the day of the event, 28 November, the group was again asked to contact security. Vice-President (Activities) Sasha Langeveldt, sent a private message to Porter, who subsequently sent it to the chat: “If there is any type of protest happening today, could you please let the Union know so we can ensure your safety. Please email campus security. This doesn’t mean you’ll be in trouble.” After a discussion on the chat, the group decided to ignore Ms. Langeveldt’s request. The president of Kent Union and members of staff said these messages were not reported to them by those Union officers who were in the group chat. When questioned on their involvement, the Union officers that were active in the chat denied seeing any of the aforementioned messages, saying they “would have reported it if they had”. Porter said she “obviously knew” Union members were part of the group chat but was unconcerned that what was said on the chat could have been reported to other Union members. Kent Union president, Aaron Thompson, said protestors should “absolutely” tell security about protests and that “safety is our main concern at all times”. Though activists were aware of potential violent responses, neither security nor the Union were warned. Porter told InQuire: “[The] Union were not taking the proper precautions. I don’t trust the Union to be able to ensure our safety any more than the security already there.” At the event, no violence took place. The University asked security to monitor the event. Members of the group handed out flyers and recorded people as they entered the building. Later, Porter told InQuire: “[I] wouldn’t call it a protest. I would call it a group of students against the speaker who wanted to voice that. Protest is a heavy word.”

Union introduce gender-neutral toilets in Venue

By Ellie Fielding Website Features Editor

Gender-neutral toilets have recently been installed in the student nightclub The Venue. Kent Union announced the news on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag “#ALLWELCOME”. The Union have actively responded to students’ needs by creating a safe space for those who need to use the toilet The introduction of Gender-Neutral toilets in The Venue has been an ongoing project that the Full- Time Officer (FTO) team have wanted to achieve in previous years. Vice-President (Welfare) Omolade Adedapo has worked alongside Venue staff and Kent Union LGBT+ Part-Time Officers (PTO) to introduce the restroom. In a statement regarding this new instalment, Kent Union said: “We pride ourselves on being bold, inclusive and supportive of all Kent students which means ensuring that students are safe to use spaces in which they are comfortable in but also accommodating when using our outlets.” The LGBT+ PTO’s told InQuire: “We welcome and are pleased that Kent Union is committed to the expansion of gender-neutral facilities including toilets at our university.” The announcement received a range of responses, many of which were supportive and encouraging towards the LGBT+ community. President of the Feminist Society, Nelle Porter believes that “Gender-neutral toilets are the future, helping transgender and gender non-conforming students, as well as cis men and women who are tired of segregation”. Porter told InQuire that she would additionally like to see sanitary products in male toilets on campus. Many students remain apprehensive on the idea of gender-neutral toilets providing a safe space. One Venue worker has said that “it will give drunk students opportunities to take advantage of the space and encourage and increase sexual behaviour between them on nights out”. Alex Ruggles, Secretary of the Young Liberals also believes this new instalment could be problematic. He said: “Gender-neutral toilets are unnecessary and superfluous; we have managed fine with gender specific bathrooms for all of modernity and will continue to do so. The issue is not so much with the bad idea itself, but rather with its ideological undercurrent, of a far left, cultural Marxist and anti-scientific agenda. It is just another example of the university perpetually pandering to outrage and demands from a specific group, rather than fulfilling its role as the facilitator of education and reason.” Kent Union have ensured students that maps of all gender-neutral toilets on campus are displayed in every student accommodation, to increase student’s awareness of facilities available to them. This has proven to be controversial, as one University of Kent student highlighted that the Canterbury campus map labels gender-neutral toilets as ‘disabled toilets’.