The Martlet - Issue 13

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NEWS

What will the future of Apple be like under Trump?

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SPRING ISSUE

FEATURES

Reflections on the history of Game of Thrones

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SCHOOL

Librarian, Graham Gardner, tells us about his novel

Abingdon School’s Leading Newspaper

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SPORT

Have we seen the end of Arsene Wenger?

ISSUE 13

Who believes in Britain?

Blake Jones considers the future prospects of the Union

‘T THE BEECH COURT PROJECT P.3i

GUIDE TO UNIVERSITY INTERVIEWS P.18i

THE NEXT DJOKOVIC P.30i

ake back Britain’, the Leave campaign claimed before the EU referendum. Yet, in light of recent events, the nations of Britain may be taking their own independence from Britain itself. Nicola Sturgeon has called for a second referendum on Scottish Independence. Following the March elections, the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer has a Unionist majority. Carwyn Jones made a poignant speech recently commenting on how Wales could begin to turn away from the UK. The question is whether this is a short term disengagement of the devolved nations or a movement resulting in independence throughout these islands.

The spark that reignited the Union debate was the EU referendum. This may or may not have long term consequences for the United Kingdom, depending on how the deal turns out.

Concern over Brexit may have swung the Northern Ireland elections away from the Unionists. The relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is very difficult, however, EU membership nullified many of the questions about their relationship. Brexit would mean not only a border between the Republic and the North, but between the two regions that would be the only land border between the United Kingdom and the twenty seven countries in the EU. This would be harmful, potentially beyond what Ireland can take. Ireland is so unsuited to this that there are farms which straddle the border

and would have sheep entering and exiting the Single Market on an hourly basis. The fear of these consequences could push Ireland to take a vote on reunification which could be won. Sinn Fein are in favour of this approach and climbed 4% in the public vote this election, perhaps as a result of Brexit. However, Theresa May has worked to address these concerns and promises that there will be no hard border, with the possibility of a special status of free movement and trade. If this comes to fruition then the status quo may yet continue.

Brexit has had a further effect on the British identity. If the practical questions can be dealt with, there is still the matter of whether countries are suited to be with each other. Scotland has a long standing identity crisis with politics across the border, and has been a stronghold for the left wing over many decades in spite of the antics in England. Today, Scotland’s politicians are among the most diverse and culturally progressive in the Western world, whilst only one Scottish MP represents the UK ruling party and he was the only Scottish MP to vote in favour of Brexit. One of the most striking things in the referendum result was the results map, showing an entirely Remain Scotland on top of a largely Leave England. In addition, the Parliamentary map showed all but three Scottish seats as SNP. Are Scotland and England irreconcilable politically? This could be the case.

Continued on page 2

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News

Letter from the Editor D

ear Readers,

This marks the last edition of The Martlet for myself and the cabal of Upper Sixth formers who have dominated the news rooms of Abingdon School for four years now. This is therefore an opportunity to thank all of those who have contributed since our reformation and to say on behalf of all those leaving this year what fun it was to be involved. The Martlet is a fantastic activity for students of all year groups, and I would encourage anyone and everyone to join.

The fact that this is our last issue has spurred us on to make it the best ever, and it must be said, firstly, that it is the longest newspaper we have ever produced. Our front page is dominated by Blake Jones’ inspired analysis of the State of the Union and the possibility that the historic bond between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be broken asunder. Ffurther affield, Ben Ffrench brings you the lesser known story of the Civil War in Yemen and criticises the West’s role in bringing about Yemen’s current turmoil. Meanwhile, Dominic Oraee evaluates Apple’s position under the Trumponomics of the New America whilst Alex Thulin provides a concise study on the role of the Chief Whip within the modern Parliament, a position which will become more and more important as Brexit legislation begins to enter the Commons.

Our Features section opens with Jacob Lillie’s examination of the status of Macau and Hong Kong under an increasingly aggressive Chinese government. Pea Sermsuk reflects on his experience of university interviews over the last year from which many

readers may glean advice for their own upcoming UCAS experiences. Freddie Marshall interviews our very own Dr Gardner, about his novel, Inventing Elliot. Finally, Dan Alcock contemplates his time at Abingdon and the changes that have taken place at the school in a piece symbolically titled ‘Abingdon Revisited’.

In a debut entry in the Sport section, the school’s own 4th XI football team’s season is given a roundup by one of its players: our Sports Editor, Dan Brown. Toby Jupp has also written a polemic arguing against Arsene Wenger’s continued management of Arsenal FC while Ben Hutchison analyses the promising tennis stars of the future and tells us who to watch out for in future tennis tournaments across the globe.

As I mentioned, this is the last issue for the current Martlet team. Therefore, I am pleased to introduce the new Martlet lineup for the next year. This includes Ben Ffrench as Editor, Will Stewart as Deputy Editor, Kofo Braithwaite as News Editor, Sam Fenton as Features Editor, Ben Hutchison as Sports Editor, Weihan Huang as Blake Jones and Piers Mucklejohn as The Martlet’s proofreader.

That leaves only to thank Miss Williamson for shepherding us through this and many other issues of The Martlet. We have often relied on her leadership and advice to pull the newspaper together and for that we are very grateful.

Thank you for reading, and enjoy, Nick Harris

COVER STORY

Who believes in Britain?

Blake Jones considers the future prospects of the Union.

Continued from cover page Northern Ireland is even more detached politically with no English supporters in their politics with the exception of a few Tory council seats. The question then is whether such clear political differences are enough to push the devolved nations to leave the United Kingdom. That decision, though forged in politics, may be made by factors outside of it.

If there is a national identity which is felt throughout the Union and throughout all demographics, this would compel people to stay. There is a British culture of music, food and television made in Britain and meant for British people. These are somewhat frivolous things though and even if they are specific to countries, they are not unique things to have. All countries have decent national food that is readily available. For more meaningful things such as character and virtues, we could include a tendency to queue or perhaps a tenacious nature. Although these qualities may be equally present in other cultures, we pride ourselves in saying that these good qualities define us. What this deliberation intends to show is that though there may be some kind

of British identity, it does not seem to hold anything strong enough to affect politics.

The desire for change could push nations out of the Union. Austerity has brought many difficulties for people and in the digital era people are much more aware of the Michelle O’Neill, leader of Sinn Féin NI, is calling for a reunification referendum

Notions less of national identity, more of individual character could be invoked extent of the suffering which others are facing. Leaving the Union would change things, for better or for worse, but it would be a change and if people are desperate they will choose change, as Brexit demonstrat-

ed. Notions less of national identity, more of character could be invoked. The hope of being a proud and daring nation which controls itself rather than being controlled by Westminster can only sway people to leave.

These are long term considerations which are little different with recent events. Besides the Scottish Referendum firing things up, there does not seem to be a strong trend in any direction. Therefore, given the common nature of this tension within the Union, with the exception of the consequences of Brexit, will things simply continue as they are for a slightly rocky Union?

It is important to avoid bold conclusions on these matters, when often they are circumstantial. The SNP are dedicated to independence and will take any opportunity to restart that debate. Furthermore, in Northern Ireland, the elections were called

as a result of the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal, in which a scheme set up by First Minister, Arlene Foster, cost an extra £500 million in overspending. Though Unionism is an important question for voters, there are many other factors which affect how they vote. Hence, there is a limit to the conclusions which can be made, but public mood still leans in this direction.

Therefore, we cannot be sure about the future of the Union. The fallout from Brexit will largely determine the result of these decisions. It is not unreasonable for Northern Ireland to simply calculate whether it would be better in the UK or EU. However, if these concerns are not addressed and the EU negotiations bring out a side of the UK government that is callous and uncaring towards the devolved nations, we may see resentment that cannot be dealt with so easily.

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News INTERVIEW

The Beech Court Reshuffle F

Ben Ffrench interviews Estates Director Martin McKenna on the next stage of Abingdon’s development.

ollowing the unveiling of the brand new Greening Court and new sports facilities including the affectionately-termed ‘MUSA’, Abingdon is moving swiftly on with exciting new developments.

The ‘Beech Court Reshuffle’, a term coined by Director of Estates Martin McKenna in an interview with The Martlet, promises big things, with the development of the new Beech Court facility altering the look of the school: a revolution in facilities.

The most exciting project is Beech Court itself, a new development encompassing 1800 square metres of internal space, freeing up much space for its expansion and extension.

Development, he tells me, is like a Rubik’s cube; once you shift one side, a whole lot of space is created. This has implications not just for the library, sixth form centre, and Art department, which are relocating to Beech Court, but a whole host of other departments. Many interesting and innovative archaeological finds have been unearthed during the project, telling us more and more about the school itself. I ask the key questions: Tell us about Beech Court. What does the building consist of, what will be going in it, what stage are we at and when can we expect it?

We are currently at the enabling stage of having cleared the Head’s garden, and demolished the old bomb shelter, and we are at the stage where we can soon begin planning the ‘Beech Court reshuffle’ where we can start improving school departments.

Beech Court itself will consist of three floors. On the ground floor we will have a brand new sixth form centre, with full facilities including work spaces

and conference rooms, a project room, a boardroom space for presentations, and flexible seating space for lectures and other purposes. Our design aims for the

help prepare our sixth form students for university and higher education.

The sixth form space will benefit from external seating beside the cafe.

We are currently at the enabling stage

building are for an open plan building, and a contemporary modern facility that will serve as a kind of ‘social learning space’ in the university style. This will

The first floor will house the new school library, and we are aiming for the same effect again: a modern, open looking space, with opportunities for collaborative work. It will serve as a great place to think, with modern, curved bookshelves. These curved shelves will serve as ‘acoustic buffers’ allowing for a quiet but engaging learning space.

Popular and interesting books will also be featured around the shelves and study areas to pique the interests of boys.

The top floor will house the Art department. There will be a dedicated ceramics studio at the rear of the building, followed by art studios. There will also be a dedicated sixth form studio.

Overall, the design aim is for a modern sustainable building with reflective zones and active zones. The surrounding trees will provide a shade to outdoor seating. The 3.0 modelling design, in the attaching images, indicates a contemporary ‘plaza’ effect outside the building which will add to the building

aesthetic. The project will be completed by the main contractors by July 2018, and following the commissioning of the building by consultants, teachers will be able to move in with books, and the building will be ready for opening to the school in the new school year beginning September 2018.

What other developments can we look out for around the school?

Over Easter we will be developing a new cricket MUSA on war memorial field. Whilst it is not an entirely new development, one development many people may not have noticed is the renovation of Borders’ Hall on the way to lunch. We have restored many original features important to the hall and to the school, such as portraits of old headteachers. We have also included old archive punch journals, dating back to 1827. On this project, I worked with Sarah Wearne, the school’s archivist. Sarah was able to provide me with the school’s own crest of arms, with the family badges of John Roysse and Thomas Teasdale, two of the school’s famous benefactors, among others, which we were able to restore. We also bought an old antique grate and fireback for the fireplace.

After reading the interview, you may have noticed that I omitted an important piece of information. Just what is the special image that adorns the fireback in Borders Hall and what is its significance to the school? If you can tell me this by my 17th birthday, on April 24, I will be impressed.

Email martlet@abingdon.org.uk, or talk to me in person.

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News COMMENT

Dirty Diplomacy in Yemen Ben Ffrench gives his perspective on the global political and humanitarian crisis.

Boris Johnson, with US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Yemen envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed treads a difficult diplomatic tightrope.

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t was a diplomatic embarrassment on an unprecedented level, but the recent words of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on a diplomatic tour at the Rome Mediterranean Dialogues Forum shed light on the global issue of Yemen’s brutal civil war. Referring to the crisis of leadership in Yemen and surrounding countries, the Tory big beast didn’t pull his punches on the Yemen situation, saying, ‘That’s why you’ve got the Saudis, Iran, everybody, moving in and puppeteering and playing proxy wars.’ Whether you, the reader agree with the controversial overview remains to be seen. But what emerged was a stark picture of a region in chaos, a humanitarian nightmare posing difficult questions for the UK and others. The Foreign Secretary’s awkward jibe at Saudi allies highlights questionable diplomatic relations, with important consequences for Britain.

On the surface, Yemen is a catastrophic humanitarian crisis typical of the current situation in the Middle East. In what many have called a ‘highly conservative’ guess, the UN estimates that around 10,000 have been killed in the war. Further UN statistics paint an unambiguous picture. 3.1 million Yemenis have been internally displaced since the conflict began, and in the the first year alone, one

third of all casualties were children. 14.1 million are food-insecure. In addition, 21 million people have been deprived of commodities and basic services, and 1,900 of the country’s 3,500 hospitals are either non-functioning or partially functioning, leaving half the population without access to basic healthcare. But it is important to remember that these people are not just statistics. It is real lives that are affected, and in increasingly unsanitary conditions,

divisions in the region. North Yemen, known as the US-backed Yemeni Arab Republic, and South Yemen, the USSR backed People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, came together in what has proved a difficult period ever since. The Houthis, a religious and cultural ethnic group of Zaydi Shia Muslims, a majority in the north, strongly rebelled against Saleh’s government. The southern movement of Al-Hirak pushed for greater au-

My gut tells me we should suspend these exports with mothers struggling to feed their babies and families disrupted. The human impact is unable to be ignored. All of it is underlined by a complex political situation, stretching far back into history.

The 1990 unification of Yemen under military officer Ali Abdullah Saleh hid strong sectarian and political divisions

tonomy in the south. A fractious country was narrowly held together. But amidst Houthi rebellions in 2004 and 2010, this temporary peace came to an end in 2011, with the arrival of the Arab spring in Yemen. A popular uprising occurred against Saleh, with human rights groups critical of his corrupt and authoritari-

an 33-year regime. Saleh had amassed a $32 billion fortune, tightening his grip on power. A resulting crackdown led to the deaths of up to 2,000 people. A peace deal arranged by Saleh’s ruling general people’s congress party was signed for the President to stand down. Still he refused. But in November, the president agreed to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, sowing the seeds of a destructive civil war.

Hadi’s government was controversial, and unpopular among the Houthis as well as supporters loyal to former President Saleh. A difficult power balance was maintained until September 2014. Following a deeply unpopular fuel subsidy cut announced by President Hadi, the Houthi insurgency mobilised its support base in the north, backed by a popular uprising.

It took the capital, Sana’a, on 21 September, despite attempts at compromise by the struggling Hadi. Forcing President Hadi to resign and flee to Saudi Arabia following the taking of the presidential palace in january 2015, the Houthis established a Houthi Presidential Council (not recognised by the UN) and reached the southernmost port of Aden in March. Although pushed back north by Hadi forces, the Houthis now remain in control of great swathes of the west and north, including the capital. They were supported

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and endorsed by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in an uneasy power sharing alliance between pro-Saleh forces, and the Houthis. Hadi meanwhile controls a UN backed government from the declared de facto capital of Aden. But at the heart of the crisis, a deeply damaging network of foreign alliances is evident; Britain is deeply implicated.

The Houthis, to begin with, along with their strategic alliance with supporters and forces of former President Saleh, are widely thought to have the backing of Iran, a highly significant power in the Middle East. Russia, and even North Korea are among their secondary backers. The extent of their backing is highly disputed; since 2009, Iran is alleged to have been backing the Houthis in strategic and weapons training, with more recent allegations of humanitarian aid and weapon consignments in the civil war, with US reports in October 2016 claiming to have intercepted five weapons shipments from Iran destined for Yemen. This has been much cited by Saudi Arabia in their justifications for intervention: dangerous foreign influence from Iran, and a need to defend their territory and interests. The alliance motivations are strongly speculated. Many claim that Iran’s Shiite leanings may have sympathised with the Houthis’ Zaydi Shiism.

But this is not merely a religious war, as shared political objectives to overturn the pro-Saudi status quo are clear.

The rise of Al-Qaeda in the region is also highly significant. The group has gained swathes of territory in the South and East, posing a significant danger to the area’s stability. IS has also declared a caliphate. This is dangerous for Yemen, highlighting the chaos.

President Hadi and his supporters

meanwhile enjoy the support of a large and complex Saudi-led coalition. The Saudis are determined to assert their influence, in danger after President Hadi’s disposal. Saudi Arabia leads a group of ten African and Middle Eastern nations, including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, and Jordan, among others. But this coalition is not alone, for it in turn enjoys financial, logistical and intelligence assistance from many western countries; Canada, the United States, France, and most notably, Britain. An ugly relationship lies at the heart of the UK’s unsavoury Middle-Eastern partnerships that raises serious questions about Theresa May’s government.

The Foreign Secretary’s comments, three months ago in December 2016, were jarring for UK foreign relations in the context of Theresa May’s diplomatic tour to her Saudi and Bahraini allies, both key players in the Yemen crisis. In a desperate post-Brexit search for a trade deal, Britain’s relations with Yemen are only going to get more friendly. The UK’s support for Saudi Arabia in its Yemen campaign is extensive; since the first Saudi intervention in march 2015, the UK has given arms contracts worth £3.3 billion to the Saudis, wreaking forever more havoc as is becoming more and more apparent. Recently the Ministry of Defence has revealed that the Saudis have committed 257 breaches of international law since the conflict began. The UK has also sold licensed Typhoon and Tornado aircraft to the Saudis, which the government admits have been involved in combat missions in Yemen.

The death toll is increasing as a result. A March 2016 strike in a Saudi village market led to 106 deaths, including 24 children, and a further October 2016 attack on a funeral led to the deaths of 140 guests.

Yemen has been bitterly divided over the last three years.

Yemen faces a bitter military struggle, with divided loyalties.

Worse is yet to come: UK arms sales of 500 cluster munitions, now illegal under international law, between 1985 and 1989, have led to the weapons deployment in the current conflict. This has led to a high court case, called by the campaign against arms trade, to prevent UK arms sales as

the activity breaches international law.

But the government is unrepentant and complicit. Business secretary Sajid Javid was advised in 2016 against continuing sales to Saudi Arabia following an explicit warning by a civil servant.

He chose to continue the sales. Following the October 2016 funeral bombing, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox deferred a decision on new arms sales to the Saudis after exports control head, Edward Bell, wrote to him, “My gut tells me we should suspend the exports.” But he continued nevertheless, following advice from Boris Johnson. Given Johnson’s previous comments, this seems a strange contradiction.

Human rights must not be sacrificed in the interests of trade deals and foreign relations. Theresa May has shown no leadership on the issue, giving no clear response to the pleas from human rights groups who want her to raise humanitarian issues on her December gulf tour. The failure to reach a diplomatic solution means that the UK must be even more vigilant with its diplomatic ties.

Boris Johnson is right to raise concerns of ‘puppeteering’, for there is danger of this with the Saudis especially. Theresa May must practise what Boris preaches; suspending future arms contracts would pressure the Saudis into a diplomatic solution. IS and Al-Qaeda are also dangerous. The UK should be intervening in Yemen, but in the most effective and constructive way: diplomacy guided by humanitarian principles.

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News

Calls for Corbyn’s resignation are stronger than ever.

Labour Isn’t Working

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NEWS

Kofo Braithwaite analyses the failing leadership of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

eremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the Labour Party in 2015 with the hope of returning Labour to its pre-Blair socialist roots. After the party suffered a devastating and unexpected loss under Ed Miliband it was Corbyn’s job to revive and modernise (or revert, depending on how one views it) the party and make them electable again. However, very quickly things went awry for the new leader, and he now leads an opposition party marked with rebellion, disunity, ineptitude, and a sickly aura of unelectability.

After the vote to leave the European Union, the party was very quick to blame Jeremy Corbyn and claimed he did not campaign as robustly as he could have done in order to produce Labour’s desired outcome, a vote to remain. As such, a motion of no confidence was passed by the parliamentary party less than a week after the referendum, with only 40 of his MPs supporting him and 172 opposing him.

This was the beginning of the end, and a remarkable number of Shadow Cabinet resignations ensued. After Corbyn sacked Hilary Benn for expressing his dissatisfaction with his leadership, the likes of Angela Eagle (who subsequently ran against him before dropping out of the race), Owen Smith (who also ran against him), and Heidi Alexander all resigned from the Shadow Cabinet. In fact, there were 21 resignations in total, 70% of the Shadow Cabinet. It was clear that it was Jeremy’s time to pack his bags and go, as no party leader can credibly ask for the country’s support if they cannot even gain the support of their own MPs, nevermind their Shadow Cabinet. Even Kezia Dugdale, the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, said that Corbyn’s position was untenable and if in the same posi-

tion, she would step down. Nevertheless, he refused to step down and claimed that the mandate given to him in the 2015 leadership contest meant he was the rightful leader of the party.

He was victorious in the subsequent leadership contest, increasing his mandate from 60% to 62%, but only by the skin of his teeth as he was given a bye by the National Executive Committee, who ruled that his name would automatically go on the ballot without having to seek nomi-

down a Conservative prime minister, that Labour, not the Tories, would end up most divided over Europe?

The nightmare leadership only seemed to get worse, with Jeremy Corbyn polling the lowest out of any leader of the opposition in modern British history. After a stunning loss to the Tories in the Copeland by-election this year, a constituency where Labour had not lost for 82 years, calls for his resignation are as strong and persistent as ever. This defeat is a perfect example of

Corbyn is failing to connect with ordinary Labour voters nations from Labour MPs and MEPs, for if he did have to seek nominations, his future looked rather bleak. Although he did win a majority, he has been elected twice by the predominantly hard-left grassroots membership and maintains that this gives him the mandate he requires. But the dayto-day political weather is made by MPs at Westminster and not by the activists.

He leads a broken opposition, and beyond Corbyn’s hapless performances at Prime Minister’s Questions, he has worsened the state of the Labour Party by failing to give his party any sense of direction or ideological coherence. Who would have imagined, after last June’s referendum brought

Corbyn’s failure to connect with ordinary Labour voters, who are now looking to the Tories and also UKIP, who pose a real, as yet unrealised, threat to Labour in the next general election.

However, on the benches opposite, the leadership of Theresa May has shown the Conservative Party’s extraordinary resilience and ability to adapt to and recover from what to other parties might have been an existential crisis. The fact that just one MP, Ken Clarke, voted against the Third Reading of the Bill to trigger Article 50 on February 8 is testament to the party’s discipline and instinct to pull together in adversity, something the Labour Par-

ty greatly lacks as 52 Labour MPs voted against the Bill despite the three-line whip issued, a other blow to Corbyn’s leadership. Labour’s failure to amend legislation would trigger the negotiation of the biggest constitutional change of most of our lifetimes, further depicting the leadership crisis it finds itself in. A barely functioning opposition is good for no one, as effective opposition is necessary to the democratic process as it holds the government to account. But right now, Labour is arguably offering no form of opposition whatsoever, as Corbyn is busy dealing with internal issues, and the government is left searching opposition benches for someone to challenge them.

Many of Labour’s most experienced MPs have left the shadow cabinet and are no longer prepared to serve under Corbyn.

Even some of those who have taken up posts have now resigned or been sacked, forcing the leader into yet another reshuffle. Clive Lewis, the shadow business secretary, resigned on February 8 after voting against the Article 50 legislation. This testifies to the party’s fragile state: Mr Lewis, a former journalist and an MP since only 2015, is being described as a possible replacement should Corbyn step down.

With the Tories as strong as ever and Labour in its current state, there will be no Labour government in the foreseeable future, especially if Mrs May negotiates a good deal for our exit from the European Union. Labour is bound to suffer a devastating loss in 2020, or sooner. The Labour Party is a pitiful spectacle where morale could hardly be lower, and their only hope of minimising their losses when the people of Britain go to the polls, whenever that may be, is Jeremy Corbyn’s immediate resignation.

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News

Donald Trump and Apple POLITICS

Dominic Oraee explains how Donald Trump’s recent trade agreements will change the way big tech companies work.

R

ecently, President Trump has been trying to create jobs in America and bring manufacturing back to America, done by Americans. To achieve this, he stated that he will retreat from trans-Pacific Trade Agreements. In his campaign, he stated that he would make Apple manufacture their computers in the United States and not in China. Bernie Sanders called for something similar, wanting a portion of iPhones to be made in the US. Former President Obama too once asked Steve Jobs why Apple didn’t make their devices in their home country, to which he replied that China offered a skilled workforce, flexible factories and suppliers that could retool more quickly than their American counterparts, not to mention the cheap labour. This is of course important for any manufacturing business if they want to make good profit. However, cheap labour comes with a lot of problems and has sparked controversy for a while, about the rights of people, and their extremely low pay. Subjects of the controversy have been Nike, who continuously pay their employees extremely low prices that raises the question of how people can even survive on such poor wages, and a big example, which I will talk about, is Foxconn: the factories who produce electronics for the biggest electronic companies out there, such as Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony and more.

Currently, Apple devices are made in Foxconn factories, which also make

devices for Sony (Playstation 3 & 4), Blackberry, Microsoft (Xbox 360 and Xbox One), and Amazon (The Kindle and the Kindle Fire). Foxconn has been criticised heavily for their treatment of workers, accused of extreme underpayment, forced overtime and assault on workers. In fact, conditions are so bad that suicides are commonplace; the factory placed nets around buildings to prevent employees from jumping and

workforce of hundreds of thousands.

It includes 15 factories, housing for the workers, four swimming pools, and even its own fire brigade and its own television network (Foxconn TV). Many of the workers work for 12 hours a day and six days a week. Changing this by producing devices in the US would assure that factories placed in the USA have superior working conditions, bringing companies like Apple better publicity,

How bad are these changes for Apple?

take them back to work. In 2012 around 150 workers went as far as to threaten a mass suicide to protest against their poor working conditions. Their violation against human rights, despite being called out and having a lot of anger directed at them, has not changed much to date. Big companies are not about to suddenly stop using them, as they are the best company, in terms of getting as much money as possible, to get your devices made by.

Their largest factory is referred to as ‘Foxconn City’ due to its great size and

silencing many American protesters.

The sudden drop in working hours will be bad for companies like Apple however, as it means less production and therefore less items for them to sell.

However, moving factories to the USA could yield further benefits for Apple, as President Trump hinted in an interview with Tim Cook: ‘Tim, you know one of the things that will be a real achievement for me is when I get Apple to build a big plant in the United States, or many big plants in the United States… I think we’ll create the incen-

tives for you, and I think you’re going to do it.’ Apple’s devices all bear the mark, ‘Designed in California,’ but then, ‘Assembled in China.’ Changing this to a full ‘Designed and Assembled in the USA’ would boost Foxconn’s reputation in America.

Others criticize this idea, rejecting it as impossible. They believe that the inevitable loss of profits would deter large companies from moving to the US. They would simply reject any offer from the President. Some sources state that such a move would cost Apple $4.2 billion.

Also, how much does publicity matter to these companies, as long as they are making as much money as possible?

They seem to have done fine so far, even with all the criticism and hate directed towards them in the past.

Currently, an iPhone 6S is said to cost $230 to make and sells for around $750, with the components valuing around $159. The rest of its price is mainly to pay for workers and transport. Adding to the transport costs and component costs, the fact that the minimum wage in the USA is higher than in areas of China makes a huge increase in retail price unavoidable. Various sources state that it could cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars more to produce in the US. Added to this would be the extra cost of Apple’s increased prices to make a profit, which would result in the consumer paying even more for electronic devices such as iPhones and iPads. The end result is a loss of sales for Apple.

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News

The Trump Administration Shake Up POLITICS

Samuel King investigates the new ‘all change’ Republican presidency in America.

ALL CHANGE Within the first few weeks of his new administration in the White House President Donald Trump made drastic changes, many of which the optimists of the debates said he would never fulfil. A claim of Trump’s that managed to tunnel its way into nearly every political discussion prior to the 2016 American Election was his plan to build a wall along the Mexican border. Trump has made plenty of headlines with his myriad executive orders. They include his executive order to build a physical wall along the Mexican border. Throughout Trump’s campaign many speculated that Trump made those bold statements such as ‘I’m going to build a wall.’ and ‘I will ban Muslim immigrants.’ simply to gain voters’ support. They thought that if he were to get into office he would not

I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will make Mexico pay for that wall

fulfil his promises. He has proved them all wrong and is building a path to a very different America.

Trump has continued to hit nearly every headline with his new policies, the wall included. He has generated shifts in the political currents of the US. Taking a polar opposite opinion to the Obama administration, he is taking a pro-Russia and anti-China stance, pro-Japan and anti-Europe. On many occasions Trump has criticized and mocked China, mainly with the common argument that they are ‘taking our jobs’.

THE BREAK WITH OBAMA Looking at the differences of opinion between Obama and Trump on China and Russia, some radical changes are apparent. Obama had a big ambition to make significant progress regarding global warming. He also wanted to

clamp down on Russia, addressing the issues in Syria and its aggression towards Ukraine after seizing the Crimea.

As we know, President Trump is a global warming denier and wants to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Accord agreement which committed the US to reducing its annual carbon emission rates. He is also weakening the USA’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by appointing a new director who has criticized EPA regulations.

President Trump’s style is completely business oriented and this informs his approach to China whom he accuses of unfair trading practices. A significant increase in spending on the US military is one of Trump’s many goals. Working together with Russia, one of the biggest military presences in the world would be an obvious step for him.

AGAINST FREE TRADE; FOR PROTECTIONSIM With a focus on benefitting America rather than the wider world, he has made a withdrawal from two major trade deals, NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership). Trump thinks that this will benefit the US economy and in particular help American workers regain jobs which have moved to Mexico and China. However, it is likely that there will be a decrease in imports and exports for the USA, which will be a hit to the American economy. The main principle that Trump has for withdrawing from these trade agreements is that he is against free-trade and for protectionism. Almost all economists take the opposite view: free trade and globalization is good for economic growth while protectionism harms growth.

CHALLENGING THE INTERNATIONAL ORDER President Trump has also been extremely critical of the United Nations.

His chosen representative for America to the UN gave a speech and was extremely critical of the lack of action taken by the UN with regard to Israel.

A basic deduction from Donald Trump’s actions towards the United Nations is that he believes that it is a failed organisation and does not succeed in creating a peaceful world.

The UN represents the ideology of a world as a whole working together to solve international issues. This is exactly what Trump is against. Trump is

Trump and his wife arrive in Washington, D.C. for his inauguration. much more interested in national interests defined narrowly as the protection Americans at home, than he is in promoting peace and democracy abroad.

He calls this ‘America First.’ Therefore, he rejects the idea of helping the wider world.

THE BAN One move of President Trump, his most radical change to immigration policy yet, was his new travel ban. Trump issued an executive order banning immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Syria. His ban is for 90 days for extreme vetting; barring all dual nationals from these seven states and placing an indefinite ban on refugees. This is arguably religious discrimination since Islam is the main religion in these states; he is also not banning Christians from these states. He claims that terrorists come from these states but there is evidence to prove this.

The order was challenged by the Seattle Federal District Court, so he has now appealed to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals. In this court the three judges unanimously upheld the appeal and

so President Trump’s executive order is presently on hold.

THE WALL AGAINST MEXICO As we all know Donald Trump has issued an executive order for a physical barrier along the US Mexican border.

This border is 3,145 km (2000 miles) and the wall will stretch for 1,610 km. A big claim of Trump’s linked to the wall was that Mexico would pay for it. It was always obvious that there was no way Trump could pass the bill to the Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto. Mr Trump has announced that there will be a 20% import tax on all Mexican imports. Unfortunately there is not very much I can say about the wall. The motivation for its construction was to please a large percentage of Americans who do not like foreigners.

Whether Trump will be successful no one can say for sure. All that can be said is that there is a new current in US politics. President Trump cannot allocate new money under an executive order for its construction but he will be able to move some funds from the Department of Homeland Security to begin work at the site.

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News

POLITICS

Masters of the House of Commons

Alex Thulin explores the whip’s secretive role in British Politics.

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he Labour Party has recently suffered several resignations in the face of the party’s decision to implement a three-line whip system over the parliamentary vote on the triggering of Article 50. The three shadow cabinet members, Dawn Butler, Rachael Maskell and Clive Lewis resigned from their positions in protest against Jeremy Corbyn’s use of the whip system to ensure that Labour members vote in favour of triggering Article 50, claiming that they would not be fulfilling their promise to represent their constituencies if they voted for Article 50. The whip system has had a longstanding controversial position in British Politics since its creation in the 18th Century, with opposition to the the position claiming that the existence of the Chief Whip under-

mines our democracy; can we claim to be democratic if members of parliament are forced to vote for their party’s beliefs and not their own?

The Chief Whip is generally hidden from the public eye, preferring to operate behind closed doors. The Chief Whip has several roles and is often referred to by politicians as ‘the usual channel’ due to his wide-ranging role as the overseer of parliamentary activities. The main role of the Chief Whip is to manage the whipping system by which the whips ensure that as many of the party vote as possible and as many of the voters vote in the direction the party supports on the issue. Whips are appointed by each party from elected members of the House of Commons or representatives from the House of Lords.

The selection of the whips is carried out

by the party leader to ensure that whips will rarely revolt against the orders they are putting in place. The whips circulate a document known as ‘The Whip’ which details the business of the party in the coming week and the dates when votes are expected, The Whip used to be a paper document given to each party member. The name ‘three-line whip’ recalls the number of times the order of business was underlined to denote its importance.

In recent years, it has been digitalized.

Whips work on three levels; one and two line whips are regarded as less important while three line whips are seen as an unbreakable commitment.

The methods whips employ are almost completely unknown. Several former whips have referred to the vow of silence they take when they enter the role as absolute, so any ideas of techniques are based entirely on speculation.

Claims about how the whips operate have a tendency to verge into the absurd, and accusations have been made that whips threatened members of parliament with physical violence. The accepted reality is that whips use the political carrot of rearranging speeches so they are more prominent and make promises of holidays and increased pay while also threatening to place MPs on uninteresting committees and in more extreme cases creating problems in their local branch that could lead to the MP losing the re-election.

Whips certainly play an important

role in the daily running of government, for without whips policy making would break down and the country would grind to a halt. The position streamlines the process and allows decisions to be voted on by as many MPs as possible. This, of course, has to continue. But the coercion of an MP into voting the way the party wishes undermines the very reason we have a House of Commons.

Claims about how the whips operate have a tendency to verge on the absurd

The purpose of members of parliament is, above all else, to represent the views of their constituents. Their job is to ensure that the will of the people is expressed in law making. If the view of the party comes before the view of the people then the government becomes so distant from the people that it risks becoming what amounts to a dictatorship.

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News THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Prison Suicides at a Record High I

Weihan Huang explores disturbing statistics concerning prisons in the UK.

n 2016, a record number of 119 prisoners killed themselves in England and Wales, raising concerns over the mental well-being of the incarcerated. This highlights increasing problems with UK prisons as they become more volatile and unpredictable environments. 2016 also saw record numbers of self-harm incidents (37,784) and assault incidents (25,049), reflecting the deterioration of the rehabilitation programmes and security within our prisons.

These damning statistics released by the Ministry of Justice, coupled with the

of paranoia, putting a plastic bag over his head in his cell and clearly contemplating suicide, expressing his desire to discuss funeral plans with the chaplain. Despite his behaviour, the private health company in charge of his well-being reduced his level of observation, enabling his suicide on January 4th.

The subsequent inquiry found that the designated manager of the private healthcare company had expressed concerns over the cost of a constant suicide watch on prisoners. This reluctance undoubtedly contributed to Saunders’ death. The

By prioritising running costs over the wellbeing of prisoners the authorities have essentially given inmates a price tag

ever-increasing crime rate in the UK, will have explosive consequences if improvements are not implemented immediately.

One of 119 prisoners who committed suicide in 2016, Dean Saunders had a history of mental illness. He was arrested on a charge of attempted murder after he assaulted his brother with a knife before trying to take his own life. However, instead of transfer to a hospital, he was sent to Chelmsford prison due to a lack of beds in the hospitals equipped to house criminals. In prison he displayed signs

director of the inquest, Deborah Coles, said, “This is a complacent response.

Dean should never have been in prison in the first place. His death was entirely preventable.” Following this incident, an additional 2,500 staff were recruited into the prison system to remedy the budget cuts that had cost 8,000 personnel over the last six years, making the current officer to prisoner ratio one to six.

Therein lie the prison system’s problems. By prioritising running costs over the wellbeing of prisoners the authorities

In 2016, the cost per prisoner in the UK was £32,510.

At the end of 2016, the prison population stood at 86,288. have essentially given inmates a price tag.

They seem to represent a financial burden, nothing more. Instead of trying to balance the books, authorities should focus on rehabilitating and then reintegrating prisoners back into society. If prisons weren’t overloaded their limited staff wouldn’t be forced to cut corners and endanger the prisoners. Thus, the long-term future of the prison system depends on reducing the number of re-offenders and reducing the overall crime rate. Doing so would help stem the overwhelming flow of prisoners and ensure that resources are not as thinly stretched as they are now.

The first step towards a prison system that can claim to prioritise the rehabilitation of prisoners is to eradicate crime within prisons. Rife drug usage is shown through posts on social media where prisoners gloat about their lavish lifestyle. In fact, the drug industry within prisons is so profitable that some individuals intentionally commit crimes in order to gain access to it. This would not be possible without corrupt prison officials who turn a blind eye for a pretty penny. As a result, stamping out corruption and ensuring that prisoners are completely detached from a life of crime is crucial for the improvement of the prison system.

In its current state the prison system is like a dumping ground for human rubbish, whereas it should resemble a recycling plant where inmates renew themselves and right their wrongs. To achieve this it is imperative that new programmes, facilities and personnel are made available to prisons, ending the sort of negligence that

led to the death of Dean Saunders.

Measures that could be implemented include truly meaningful work in prisons.

Instead, prisoners are forced to do mundane tasks that require little skill, such as laundry or making hairnets. It would be better to equip prisoners with skills that

His death was entirely preventable

are in demand in the job market, helping them find work upon release. Once ex-prisoners are in employment, they will gain a steady source of income that will support them and deter them from committing crimes. The number of re-offenders will fall, helping the prison population reach a manageable level.

Such improvements may require significant government spending on top of the £100 million invested per annum, but reducing the crime rate in the long run will ensure that prisons are not as overcrowded in future. If the prison population is kept down, this investment will start to pay for itself.

Theresa May will take us, but we can rest assured the future will be bold, constructive and startling.

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News POLITICS

Government Whistleblowing: Causes and Consequences Piers Mucklejohn investigates government whistleblowing, and what should happen to those who leak information.

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histleblowing is the act of revealing information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical or not correct within an organisation, whether it be public or private. One famous example of a whistleblower is Edward Snowden, a former Central Intelligence Agency employee, who revealed classified information about the United States’ defence systems, among other things, and as a result was forced into exile in Russia. He was charged with theft of government property and two counts of violating the Espionage Act. Snowden refuses to re-enter the United States as he claims that the nature of his charges didn’t allow him to make a case.

Snowden stated in January 2014, ‘They don’t allow me to defend myself in an open court to the public and convince a jury that what I did was to their benefit.’

Many people think that Snowden’s involvement in leaking information about the National Security Agency (NSA), in which it is claimed that they had tapped into information held by U.S cloud-based services such as Google and AT&T was not right as both of the companies lost business internationally

due to public outcry regarding their involvement in NSA spying.

On the one hand, many believe that Snowden’s decision to leak information makes him a ‘patriot’ and believe that freedom of information is an essential right that citizens of a country have and

Many believe that Snowden’s decision to leak information makes him a ‘patriot’

that governments should not act secretively behind a population’s back, but rather be as transparent as possible.

The United States’ government, however, argues that what Snowden did put the country’s security and defence at risk

Chelsea Manning who was convicted by court-martial in 2013 for whistleblowing.

and so was an act of treason which should not be forgiven. For these reasons, the US government (specifically Vice-President Joe Biden) tried to persuade foreign governments to not grant Snowden asylum.

However, Russia agreed to give Snowden temporary asylum and that is where he resides to this day.

A more recent case of action towards a whistleblower is the commutation of Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence by Barack Obama on January 17th this year. Chelsea Manning was a United States soldier convicted by court martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Acts and other offences relating to WikiLeaks. In August 2013, Chelsea (named Bradley at the time) was sentenced to a 35-year prison sentence with a possibility of parole in the eighth year. Some of the information leaked contained information about military action in Iraq, including a video of an Apache helicopter firing on a group of people, some of whom turned out to be journalists from Reuters. Many people had campaigned for Manning’s release, arguing that he was supporting the people’s right to information and the need for government transparency. After her

release, Chelsea Manning tweeted her thanks to President Obama but later wrote a column for The Guardian, on January 26, saying that ‘what we really need is a strong and unapologetic progressive to lead us.’ Many people saw this as disrespectful towards Obama

Some leaks contained information about military action in Iraq

which seems odd given that Obama had recently commuted his sentence. Donald Trump tweeted, ‘Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!’

It is clear that whistleblowing is a very controversial topic. It is caused, some say, by a desire for freedom of information but others argue that whistleblowers do what they do for personal fame and enrichment despite the risks.

Many think that whistleblowing in government should be treated the same as whistleblowing within any other organisation, with protection from the law rather than prosecution.

In my opinion, the main issue with Government whistleblowing is that, when it comes to any other type of whistleblowing, proceedings would be handled by the police, whereas government whistleblowing is more difficult as it requires the government to put itself on trial. Often people overlook the fact that whistleblowers of any private firm have full legal protection in most western countries, this is ensured by law, but government whistleblowers forfeit this right, as is very evident in the cases of Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning. It’s a battle between government transparency and national security as very often governments make mistakes which, in being leaked, can cause national security to be put at risk.

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News

What are the Legal Consequences of Brexit?

POLITICS

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n January 22nd 2013, the former Prime Minister David Cameron announced that if the Conservatives were to win the next election they would give the British people the choice between staying in the EU or leaving the EU. A little more than three years later, on 23rd June 2016, the British people narrowly voted to leave the European Union by 51.9% to 48.1%.

The demographics of the vote were fascinating. Younger people generally voted to remain in the EU whilst the older generation voted to leave. However, this was just the start of the United Kingdom’s actual withdrawal process and legal challenges followed. The Supreme Court had to try a case regarding Brexit led by investment banker and philanthropist, Gina Miller. She was campaigning against the government alongside hairdresser, Deir Dos Santos.

However, on 3rd November 2016 the Supreme Court ruled that Parliament must vote on whether the government

The UK has a vast amount of EUderived law

can start the Brexit process. The court also ruled that the Scottish Parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies did not need a say in the triggering of the formal Brexit process. On 1st February 2017, MPs voted 494 to 114 backing the Brexit bill in the House of Commons. This gives Theresa May the ability to formally trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. So, “Brexit does truly mean Brexit” and the United Kingdom will be formally leaving the EU. At the moment, the UK has a vast amount of EU-derived law. Under the Ordinary Legislative Procedure, the European Commission proposes new legislation. The proposals are then revised by the European Parliament and by the Council of the European Union.

But, with Brexit, how will this all work and what will the impact on our legal

William Stewart discusses the potential legal consequences of Brexit. system be? The impact on existing law will be that on conclusion of the exit agreement or expiration of the two year period the UK will no longer be subject to the EU Treaties unless the terms of any exit or post-Brexit agreement says otherwise. The European Treaties and EU Regulations will no longer have effect. As there is no real requirement to introduce legislation for EU Regulations they will probably cease to apply, but many people argue that it will still be a complex process of disentanglement to work out which pieces of legislation are left standing. The impact on future law will be that the UK will not be required to adopt any new EU legislation and will not be subject to the law-making power of the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union). The practical effect will be fairly minimal as we often have to comply with EU law in order to trade with the EU and so certain areas of UK legislation will not change. Bureaucracy will be reduced however and sovereignty will be returned to the UK parliament.

The CJEU, situated in Luxembourg, is the final authority on questions of the interpretation of EU law. Given that the aim of Brexit is to achieve political independence from the influence of EU institutions, it is difficult to see the CJEU continuing to have a long term role influencing UK law and Brexit could mean that CJEU decisions would cease to be binding on the English courts. However, in practice, the UK courts are likely to continue to have regard to the rulings of the CJEU. Furthermore, previous CJEU decisions have influenced many areas of English case law and the English courts have looked at the specific wording of certain EU Directives for the purposes of understanding UK legislation which was passed to give them effect. It is possible that the UK courts may start to move away from such decisions once the UK is no longer bound by EU law and/or such decisions may be superseded by post-Brexit legislation, but in the interim it is likely that the interpretation of EU law will continue to play some role in English law.

What are the likely timescales for the Brexit process? The amount of time it takes to leave the EU depends on when Theresa May triggers Article 50.

She has said that she will trigger it by the end of March 2017 and in this case we would leave the EU by March 2019,

The UK’s split from the EU will have profound impacts on our legal system. as once Article 50 is used, the member state has two years to reach agreements. The European Union would not be able to delay our departure by dragging out the negotiating process as the treaty is clear that at the end of the two-year period we would cease to be bound by the European treaties. However, the actual triggering of Article 50 could be delayed and this would then slow the whole Brexit process further.

The government also needs time to carry out negotiations with other EU member states in order to secure the best deal for the UK. The timescales of Brexit are fairly clear: the UK aims to withdraw from the EU by March 2019. However, there is a huge amount of work that needs to be done. Lawyers will receive lots of inquiries from clients about how Brexit could impact their businesses and some firms have even set up hotlines and special teams to deal with this. The legal profession will definitely be kept busy over the next few years as lawyers will be needed to untie our current links with EU legislation and ensure that the UK is no longer a member of the EU in legal terms.

There are 40 years worth of laws and EU legislation to unpick so this is bound to be a mammoth task for lawyers.

In conclusion, it is clear that the consequences of the UK leaving the EU are enormous. This is truly a once in a lifetime situation. While some voters may have thought that the process would be very quick and that once the referendum result had been decided the UK would leave, in reality it is much different. The process is in fact

This is bound to be a mammoth task for lawyers

quite lengthy and the legal implications will require careful consideration as the United Kingdom formally withdraws its membership from the European Union. seems as if David Cameron’s premiership is very much a thing of the past, but we can all look forward to what Mrs May has in store.

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News POLITICS

The Special Relationship Sam Fenton looks into at future of the ‘special relationship’ with President Trump.

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or over 70 years the so-called ‘special relationship’ has been one of the most important bilateral partnerships in the world. It covers the unparalleled military, political and trading alliances between the two nations, which share deep historical connections.

In recent years the relationship has proven to be a cornerstone of Anglo-American foreign policy and a vital defense of western values. However, as President Trump begins his Presidency and the UK begins to negotiate its exit terms from the European Union, it remains to be seen whether this relationship will remain one of the world’s most formidable alliances, or fall victim to the President’s ‘America First’ agenda.

Although by the late 19th century the UK and US were fairly close allies after a period of strained relations in the mid 19th century, the term ‘special relationship’ was properly coined by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. After being ousted from no.10 in the 1945 general election, Churchill was a private citizen. In 1946 he took a tour of American universities to offer his view of the post-war world. It was in Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where Winston Churchill gave the famous “iron curtain’’ speech, one of his most significant post-war speeches. In it he claimed that an “iron curtain’ had divided Europe, between a democratic, free and liberal west and a totalitarian and oppressive east. It was following this speech that the phrase ‘special relationship’ entered common usage. As he came to the end of his speech he

concluded, “I come to the crux of what I have travelled here to say. Neither the sure prevention of war, nor the continuous rise of world organization will be gained without what I have called the fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples. This means a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States.”

Since the end of World War II the UK and USA have been close allies though various conflicts such as the Korean War, the Cold War, the Gulf war and the War on Terror, sharing military bases, nuclear weapons development and arms as well as cooperating in intelligence-sharing and on economic policy. However, while these joint projects make the special relationship what it is, many see it as a personal relationships between British Prime ministers and US presidents. This acts as a gauge for the health of the special relationship. Notable examples of relationships between Prime Ministers and Presidents include, Churchill and Roosevelt, Callaghan and Carter, Blair and Bush, and of course, Thatcher and Reagan. Thatcher and Reagan were often described as “ideological soul-mates”, sharing commitments to the free market, low taxes, strong defense and limited government, as well as a steely determination to win the Cold War. In the view of many this marked the highpoint of the special relationship. There was a brief resurgence of this relationship in the Blair-Bush era, amidst much controversy over the ongoing Iraq War. However, under the Obama-

Cameron administrations the relationship often seemed nothing more than a symbolic talking point, with Obama famously (or perhaps notoriously) threatening the UK with the prospect of being at the “back of the queue” for a trade deal if the UK should dare to leave the EU. Obama also criticized Cameron’s’ handling of Libya.

Many now wonder what the future holds for the special relationship, and the May-Trump relationship in particular. On the face of it, the PM and President could not have more contrasting personalities: a vicar’s daughter who prides herself on slowly reading her papers, looking through the evidence, and then coming to a firm decision; and the property billionaire reality TV star who shoots from the hip with “alternative facts”, as Councilor to the President Kellyanne Conway put it, and populist slogans. And yet 2016 conspired to throw them both into high office, with huge powers to fundamentally alter their nations, both without winning their own popular majorities.

Many have high hopes for the relationship between the two nations over the next two years.

On Friday 27th January, the Prime Minister became the first foreign leader to meet President Trump. This alone shows the seemingly genuine affection the new President has for the UK, although it was later revealed that Mrs May’s’ team pushed very hard for the meeting, following an upset in Downing street when it emerged that President Trump had spoken to 10 world leaders on the phone before the PM, including the leaders of Egypt, Ireland, Turkey and India. He said during their joint press conference, “The special relationship between our two countries has been one of the great forces in history for justice and peace. Today the United States renews our deep bond with

The PM and President could not have more contrasting personalities

Britain, military, financial, culture and political. We pledge our lasting support to this most special relationship,” the president continued, telling reporters that, “great days lie ahead for our two peoples and our two countries.” Mrs May herself emphasised the relationship between the two countries saying that, “The invitation [to Buckingham Palace] is an indication of the strength and importance of the special relationship that exists between our two countries, a relationship based on the

bonds of history, of family, kinship and common interests.”

As Nigel Farage has been saying, having Donald Trump in the White House is, for the most part, a blessing for Brexit Britain and Theresa May in her brexit negotiations. It would be plausible to say that Mrs May was steeling herself for a pro TTIP (The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), pro EU President Clinton, who would have likely sent the UK to the ‘back of the queue’ in order to focus on the single market. President Trump, on the other hand, is an anglophile with a Scottish mother and is in favour of dumping the EUUSA TTIP trade deal. Mr Trump has been a supporter of Britain’s choice to leave the EU, saying that he thought the UK was “so smart in getting out”, even calling himself “Mr Brexit”, and saying that his election victory was “Brexit plus plus plus”. Diverting from his usual protectionist “America first” policy, in an interview for the Telegraph with former education secretary and notable brexiteer Michael Gove, when asked about a potential US-UK trade deal Trump said, “Absolutely, very quickly. I am a big fan of the UK. We are gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides”. So it appears as though there is a true anglophile in Washington, a rather hot-headed anglophile, but an anglophile nonetheless.

Mrs May, however, is a lot harder to read. She directly criticized the President during his campaign for his comments about women, saying they were “unacceptable”. However, Mrs May acknowledged in an interview before jetting off to America that the relationship the UK has with the US is about something much bigger than the two individual leaders. When meeting with the President at the White House, the PM almost seemed a little awkward as the President made rather mundane jokes about the return of the Churchill bust.

Many may bring up the recent e-petition that was entitled “Prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to the United Kingdom”. As of February 9th this had garnered over 1.8 million signatures, showing the British public’s supposed opinion of the Donald and his state visit. It is likely that this is simply a very vocal minority in the same crowd as the ‘second referendum on the EU’ clique.

Although I believe that the parallels drawn between Trump and May and the Thatcher-Reagan ‘80s power couple’ by American media outlets are pushing it a little far, it’s apparent that both Mrs May and Trump, and with them the US and UK, understand the need to support each other.

The USA needs to get a trade deal as soon as possible and a friendly open relationship with the UK, to show that President Trump isn’t this huge protectionist who seems to be picking fights with anyone and everyone. The UK needs America’s backing as it begins its departure from the EU to show that Brexit won’t be the disaster everyone is saying it’s going to be. Instead, with the backing of our allies in the USA and the Commonwealth, it could be the emergence of a truly global Britain.

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News

What is The Alt-Right?

COMMENT

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Nick Harris sheds some light on that little known political strain called the alt-right.

ollowing the withdrawal of Dangerous (a new memoir/ political manifesto) by its original publishers Simon Schuster, the author, Milo Yiannopoulos, has been thrust into the spotlight of the mainstream media. Yiannopoulos is a familiar figure on the social media and Youtube political scene and because of his incendiary articles on right wing news website Breitbart which have born titles such as Would you rather your daughter had feminism or cancer? However, aside from a few appearances on Sky, the BBC and Channel 4, Yiannopoulos had enjoyed relatively little coverage from broadcasters and newspapers, at least in this country. But the withdrawal of his book over comments he made allegedly endorsing sex between younger boys and older men has made him a much more prominent figure, giving much greater media coverage to his political views. Yiannopoulos spends much of his time touring American college campuses and making speeches espousing alt-right principles which are frequently interrupted by Black Lives Matter and other left wing protest groups.

Through these speeches and his callous and hateful attitude towards his political opponents, he has gained a cult and an almost rock-star like following. He has come to define the alt-right ideology.

When asked by a BBC reporter what the alt-right was, Yiannopoulos replied that it was a new movement which contained three main strands of political protest on the issues of immigration, trade and political correctness and attempted to connect the alt-right movement to the success of Donald Trump, saying that these were the issues which were energising Trump voters. However, Yiannopoulos is certainly not the only representative for the movement. Other

prominent speakers for or at least connected with the movement include Paul Joseph Watson, who makes Youtube videos about current affairs, as well as Ben Shapiro who similarly to Yiannopoulos makes speeches across America and often appears as a pundit on American television. Alongside Breitbart, American Renaissance, which is an online magazine run by academic and white nationalist Jared Taylor, is often considered another outlet for the alt-right ideology.

Considering how many ideas and beliefs jostle underneath the alt-right banner, it is hard to pinpoint them within one line or even one paragraph. Yiannopoulos’ own definition is inadequate because it represents a clear attempt to manoeuvre the alt-right into Trump’s success and make it seem as though the issues that Trump got elected on were issues the alt-right had exposed. However, the trade and immigration issues which Yiannopoulos mentions were part of a broader change in attitude across America and had very little to do with what can be called the alt-right. The alt-right concerns itself most prominently with the issues of political correctness, feminism and white

Trump has motivated many people to support the alt-right. like 4chan as well as internet memes which frequently feature Pepe the Frog. A brief scan through these forum and meme

It is political protest on the issues of immigration, trade and political correctness

nationalism. The alt-right grew as an online phenomenon through web forums

Milo Yiannopoulos rose to fame by being a voice for the alt-right.

pages as well as through 4chan’s ‘Political Incorrectness’ page and Breitbart reveals that the main causes of concern are political correctness, particularly on American college campuses, and race.

The other portion of the alt-right movement is the more disturbing white nationalist side of it. When accused of such beliefs, many alt-right commentators deride it as a disingenuous slur by the mainstream progressive consensus. For instance, when accused of such an outlook, Yiannopoulos retorted that his nationalism is based upon the principles of nations like America of liberty and capitalism which he respects and therefore his outlook is that of a civic nationalist rather than a white nationalist.

However, American Renaissance can be described in no uncertain terms as a racist, white nationalist website. On its “Our Issues” page it argues that “one of the most destructive myths of modern times is that people of all races have the same average intelligence” and argue that Islam, as a race

as well as a religion, is the greatest challenge to the superiority of white America.

They spout fake history and half truths, excusing American slavery by pointing out the slave trade in Africa in the 19th Century, even though this slave trade was still extant at that point only because the Atlantic slave trade had made it so profitable. American Renaissance also argues that there are good reasons to be scared of black and Hispanic people on the grounds that they “rape and rob whites”. This side of the alt-right movement is underplayed and under-represented in writing about the alt-right, but runs at the very heart of the entire movement. Although popular alt-right figures like Yiannopoulos choose to emphasise their objections to political correctness as the core of the alt-right ideology, the academic basis for the movement originates with sites like American Renaissance.

It must be said that presumably the vast majority of alt-right supporters would not identify with any of the above views. It is largely seen as a mischievous and different way of approaching the world than the mainstream progressive liberalism. Many see the alt-right as striking a blow for freedom of speech by saying the unsayable and putting the socalled ‘Social Justice Warriors’ down a peg or two. This is still a part of the altright you should be worried about, even if you are comfortable with your viewpoint being challenged in an aggressive way. But the other, darker part of the altright which lurks in the shadows of this sort of thinking is still more dangerous, and the fact that prominent alt-right figures are willing to give a platform to it is very worrying.

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Features

The History that Inspired Game of Thrones CULTURE

Nick Harris draws parallels between characters from the award winning series Game of Thrones and the real historical events which inspired them. Spoilers from all series so far.

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lthough Game of Thrones features dragons, decade long summers and ice walls standing 600 feet tall. Much of the series is very realistic at a human level which is what makes it such powerful television. In fact, many of the characters are so realistic because they are based upon real historical figures who behaved in a similar way in late-medieval and early modern England.

Stannis Baratheon - Richard III Richard III’s Machiavellian nature may have been emphasised by the Shakespearian hunchback that has become the familiar stereotyped image of him.

Whatever his real character, Richard did seize the crown from his brothers in 1483 after declaring his nephews illegitimate are therefore ineligible to inherit the throne. Richard was then killed in battle at Bosworth Field, being the last English king to die in such a way. In a similar way, at the start of Series 2, Stannis Baratheon issues a decree declaring his nephews Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen illegitimate before scrapping with his brother Renly over the throne and finally dying in battle outside Winterfell at the end of Series 5.

Tywin Lannister - Warwick the Kingmaker Tywin and the Earl of Warwick are some of the richest men in the whole of their respective kingdoms, Tywin’s being Westeros and Warwick’s being England. Their support also proves vital in removing an unstable king with Tywin’s army sacking King’s Landing in order to destroy Aerys,

Talisa Stark - Elizabeth Woodville Robb Stark’s chances of victory in the War of the Five Kings in Series 3 are put in jeopardy by his marriage to Talisa Stark as he had previously promised himself to a Frey daughter in order to win over Lord Frey’s support. This betrayal of his implied betrothal proves to be his undoing as he and

Much of the series is very realistic at a human level which is what makes it such powerful television the Mad King, and the Earl of Warwick collaborating with Richard, Duke of York, in order to depose Henry VI who at this point had suffered a mental breakdown.

The support of both figures proves vital for all potential monarchs both in the Seven Kingdoms and in an England wracked by the Wars of the Roses.

his supporters are murdered by the Freys at the infamous Red Wedding. In a similar way, Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, a noble woman but of little political standing, contravened the Earl of Warwick’s desire for Edward to marry a French princess Hangered Warwick so much that he facilitated Edward’s downfall in 1470.

Daenerys Targaryen - Henry Tudor Both of these characters represent the last surviving member of their family House Targaryen and House Lancaster.

Both lived in exile for much of their lives with Daenerys in Essos, over the Narrow Sea, and Henry in Brittany, across the Channel. Both characters also fly a dragon as their banner. It is yet to be seen whether Daenerys will recover her throne in the same way that Henry Tudor would do in 1485.

Cersei Lannister - Margaret d’Anjou Cersei Lannister’s historical analogue, Queen Margaret d’Anjou of the House of Lancaster, shared many of the strengths and weaknesses of Westeros’ Queen Regent. Both women were fearless champions of their family’s cause: Cersei committed adultery, treason, and murder, and overthrew Eddard Stark’s regency to put (and keep) her son on the Iron Throne; Margaret d’Anjou led the Lancastrian cause (following the mental breakdown of her husband) through a dizzying series of victories and defeats that saw her flee into exile and return no less than three times to continue to fight for her family with the same strong loyalty that Cersei has for her children and family.

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Features

The Future of Hong Kong and Macau POLITICS

Jacob Lillie considers future changes to the autonomy of Hong Kong and Macau.

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ver since the handover of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997 from Great Britain to China, the fate of Hong Kong’s future has been speculated upon. There have always been doubts about how safe Hong Kong would be under China even before the handover in 1997 and the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984. The Sino-British Joint Declaration spelled out the terms of how Hong Kong would function under Chinese sovereignty once handed back to China in 1997. Under the Declaration, China would abide by the One Country Two Systems principle for 50 years.

This was the policy formulated primarily

by Deng Xiaoping, under which he argued that there would be only one China, but distinct autonomous regions within China such as Hong Kong and Macau, described further down. Major features of this One Country Two Systems principle include Hong Kong retaining its own independent judiciary, its capitalist system, its own laws, and its own independent judiciary amongst other things. Despite the passing of 20 years since then, doubts over what will occur down the line haven’t been assuaged, and remain very significant. The intrusive, arbitrary and undemocratic tendencies evident in the mainland government’s involvements in Hong Kong ever since 1997 have been the chief architects of these worries. This is also compounded by the fact that, although it is far away, the year 2047 will spell the end of the Sino-British Joint Declaration due to its 50 year shelf life. With the Sino-British Joint Declaration no longer in place, there are fears that Hong Kong will lose its special administrative status, and in the worst case scenario, become fully integrated into mainland China.

However, although 2047 will spell the end of the Sino-British Declaration, does this date really portend as much doom as some of the strongest critics of the Chinese government, and Hong Kong independence advocates claim? Although the Sino-British Joint Declaration expires in 2047, the Hong Kong Basic Law, its ‘mini-constitution’ which spells out the finer aspects of the One Country Two Systems principle, does not. Perhaps it would be a better question to ask what will happen to this document come 2047.

Despite typical characterizations of the Chinese Government as wanting to wrestle back full control over Hong Kong, it is hard to see a major reversal in Hong Kong’s position in the future. Mainland China currently extracts great benefits from Hong Kong in its current sovereign status. Given its position as a top international financial centre, regional transport hub, and the regional headquarters for many multinational companies, it is unlikely that the Chinese government will make significant alterations to Hong Kong’s political and legal system as this is partly what makes Hong Kong such a robust economy in the first place. Proper enforcement of contracts and a strong and uncorrupt legal system make Hong Kong the ideal interface between multinational companies and mainland China.

Such a strong financial environment under its capitalist system also provides benefits for Chinese firms, who see Hong

Kong as somewhere where they can raise large amounts of capital and conduct international business deals. Under the knowledge that legal uncertainties and the general business climate under the Chinese Communist Party which could occur if Hong Kong is fully integrated into China, the mainland will likely not take such a potentially damaging path. However, part of the complexities of speculating the fate of Hong Kong is that it is difficult to know what the China of 2047 will look like. That is not to say that the Chinese government of 2047 is guaranteed to have been strongly reformed, but it may not have quite the same undemocratic tendencies and poor human rights record that it has today. If there is greater integration, it may be with a Chinese Communist Party that is significantly different 30 years down the line. In that case, integration would not be as bad as some might think, although there are still argu-

ments against integration on the basis of social and cultural distinctions between China and Hong Kong.

However, as frightening as the future may be for some, perhaps it would be more worthwhile focusing on the present state of Hong Kong’s sovereignty. A mainland government which is undertaking increasingly arbitrary and undemocratic practices in Hong Kong in the present, could lead to a situation in 2047 where there is little difference between Mainland China and Hong Kong. For example, processes such as the mainland government’s barring of elected (albeit slightly agitative) members from standing in the Legislative Council are an affront to democracy, but Hong Kong seems powerless to stop it. While there may be a guise of self autonomy under the Sino-British Declaration, the inability to uphold the Basic Law against violations by the mainland government means that the line between Chinese and Hong Kong sovereignty is significantly blurred. This stems from the different interpretations of the Basic Law, with many Chinese legal scholars arguing that it derives its authority from the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. Such interpretations of the Basic Law have consequently led to the justification of Chinese strong-arming in Hong Kong, seen in the abduction of five employees of Causeway Bay Books in 2015 and the abduction of the tycoon Xiao Jianhua in 2017. While the Basic Law has been followed more often than not, much Chinese action has gone against the spirit of the Basic Law. Some would argue that this is partly due to the lack of action taken by the UK government to protect Hong Kong’s interests over 20 years ago, when they were negotiating a suitable system of governance. However, given the Chinese government’s almost unshakable position on Hong Kong, all things considered the British government received a fairly good deal under the One Country Two Systems principle. However, as Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong, would argue, it is certainly valid to say that the British government hasn’t been vocal enough on Hong Kong since 1997, leading to the erosion of sovereignty.

While the vast majority of Hong Kongers have little issue with sovereignty under China rather than Britain in itself, there is disagreement about how large a role the Chinese government has to play in Hong Kong’s affairs. A balance must be struck in the future between the Chinese government, which has ultimate sovereignty over Hong Kong, and the people of Hong Kong, who have the right to a degree of self determined rule. Such a decision will need to be made in the context of the future, in which Hong Kong and China will be different to what they are like now. Ultimately, it will need to come sooner than later, preferably many years before 2047 itself. Uncertainty over Hong Kong’s future will only fuel fears amongst the international businesses that are the cornerstone of Hong Kong’s economy. If the Chinese and Hong Kong

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governments don’t strike a deal of their own accord, business-related uncertainty will likely force a deal. This would mirror how business uncertainty over the state of Hong Kong, following the expiration of the British lease on the New Territories, was one of the driving factors behind the Sino-British Declaration of 1984.

Macau, the second Special Administrative Republic, has a similar future in store.

However this will come two years later in 2049, as the handover of sovereignty between China and Portugal came in 1999.

Nonetheless, until then, Macau will enjoy a similar extent of sovereignty as Hong Kong does now. Under the Declaration, Macau retained its own legal system under the Macau Basic Law and its own currency, the Pataca. Much of Macau today also reflects its large cultural differences from mainland China, with colonial architecture and Portuguese as an official language remaining from its days under Portuguese rule.

Indeed, there is a degree of uncertainty in Macau over its political future, but this isn’t at the same level as in Hong Kong. This is primarily because Chinese influence has always been more pervasive in Macau, before and after the handover in 1999. The Chinese government interfered much more in matters of Macanese governance before 1999 and leaned on the Portuguese authorities a lot. Since then the Legislative Assembly of Macau has always produced pro-Beijing lawmakers. For example, in the 2013 elections to the Legislative Assembly, 29 out of the 33 seats were filled with pro-Beijing candidates. This greater pro-China sentiment makes the future of governance in Macau slightly different to that in Hong Kong, with less fears about Beijing intruding on Macanese governance. Other factors that make greater Chinese involvement in Macau more likely in the future include the fact that Macau is simply much smaller than Hong Kong, and so would be easier

to integrate into Mainland China. Hong Kong covers an area of 1104 square kilometres whilst Macau seems relatively insignificant with a land area of 30.5 square kilometres. Hong Kong also boasts a larger GDP of $247 billion compared to Macau’s $51.75 billion. Furthermore, the nature of the Macanese economy, which does not quite rely on the independence of the judiciary and due process of law that Hong Kong’s economy does has implications on future reforms. The integration of Macau into mainland China, or significant negative reforms to its special administrative status, whilst not ideal, would not be as economically damaging as it would be for Hong Kong. The combination of the aforementioned factors has always meant that the people of Macau have been less vocal on issues of sovereignty than the people of Hong Kong. However, Macau in its current state of governance does provide tangible benefits for Beijing. With its

Many Chinese actions have gone against the spirit of the Basic Law

capitalist and legal systems, Macau is able to attract large amounts of foreign investment and also provides the context within which the gambling industry, the economic lifeblood of Macau, can thrive. However, compared to Hong Kong, Macau’s

economy is less dependent on a strong legal system due to a lower reliance on international investment and monetary flows. It is difficult to see either of the two Special Administrative Regions being fully integrated into China, but if they were to be, it would make much more sense if Macau did rather than Hong Kong.

It certainly isn’t all doom and gloom for Hong Kong and Macau in the future. It is unlikely that we will see these two SARs integrated fully into Mainland China. Doing so simply isn’t in the best interests of the Chinese government, given the tangible benefits it reaps from Hong Kong and Macau in their present states of autonomy. Protesting for full independence as some Hong Kongers and Macanese do is simply unrealistic as the Chinese government’s position on sovereignty over these two regions is virtually non-negotiable.

Given that Hong Kong and Macau will be approaching these negotiations from a position of lesser strength than the mainland government, it is likely that they will be the ones conceding more than the Chinese government. Until then, the Hong Kong and Macanese governments should do their best to ensure that the Chinese government acts in the best spirit of the respective declarations and Basic Laws,

although they have limited power to do so. This will ensure that come 2047 Hong Kong and Macau remain distinct from the Mainland, and will also put them in a position of greater strength when the need to find a suitable settlement between both

The people of Macau have always been less vocal on issues of sovereignty

sides arises. Given the cultural distinctions between these two regions and China, it would be a shame for them to lose their autonomy in the future. But if these autonomies are rolled back, Hong Kong and Macau need to be in the best position to secure a favourable settlement, in order to ensure the best deal for their people.

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Features

University Interviews: HIGHER EDUCATION

Guide to Success

Pea Sermsuk shares the experience of his university interviews and some tricks to stand out.

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s the number of applicants rises dramatically yearon-year, plenty of universities now interview candidates as part of the selection process. A few months ago, I was invited to interviews at two very different universities. It wasn’t long until I realised the lack of proper interview preparation materials available online, something any candidate would benefit from. This article is a collection of the questions I prepared for and the ones I was asked. When it’s your turn, this will help prepare you to your very best.

“Why do you want to study this subject?”

This is the bang-on classic question, isn’t it? When you’ve just sat down and the interviewer immediately puts you on the spot. Everyone should have an answer in mind ready to conquer this. You can dwell on how much you love particle accelerators or how the concept of market failures excites you, but this just makes you sound like all the other candidates. All they want to hear are three simple things: “I like it”, “I enjoy doing it/learning it” and “I want to know more

about it.” As simple as they sound, if you really are passionate for the subject you are interviewing for, these three phrases can be very powerful. Obviously, give some examples to go with it, but do be careful not to go off-topic, since this

benefit from doing research on the universities and courses that you’ve applied for, maybe even comparing it to other universities. You might refer to the course, whether it’s practical-based or theory-based, whether most of the

Treat it as a private tutorial; you’ve got your personal 30 minutes with the world-leader in your field!

question is meant to be short and snappy, just to kick start the interview.

“Why do you want to study this at this university?”

Another classic question at a university interview. This is where you’ll

work involves a lot of research or it is entirely self-crafted. Either way, you’ve got to tell them that you think it suits you, and that you think you’ll do well.

More importantly, because there are loads of universities out there and competition between the universities them-

selves is quite fierce, it may be advantageous to just start off by saying this university is “the best at the subject” and that “I only want the best for my further education.” They may well appreciate your recognition of their hard work and see you as a candidate who strives to be at the top.

“Why did you apply to this college?”

This one might be aimed at candidates for Oxbridge, Durham or any other collegiate universities. Again, one of the typical questions you might get, and there’s no set answer for this question. You can go on about how lovely the atmosphere is or how you think it’s the best at what you want to do. Some may know people within the college or nearby, and that’s absolutely acceptable. I did some research about my college and found that they have a Michelin Star chef, so I said that.

Throw in a couple of jokes just to show them you’re an enjoyable person to be around, but watch out not to say things that could suggest your less-desirable interest, like “it’s closer to the pub”, or “my girlfriend lives nearby.” You’ll never know what they take from it, and you

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want to constantly remind them that you are fully committed to what you’ve applied for.

“Why did you choose your particular A-Levels?”

Your A-Levels are the crucial stepping stones to your higher education and universities value them hugely.

Therefore, being able to give a good reason why you chose your A-Levels is important. Let’s recap this quickly: you can only choose four subjects for your A-Levels, so naturally, even if you didn’t know what you wanted to do at university, one would naturally opt for the subjects one enjoys most or is most interested in, and that’s what you’ve got to let them know. Say something along the lines of “They are the subjects I enjoyed most at IGCSE,” or “They correspond with my personal interests,” or “They complement each other very well,” or, if you knew what you wanted to do then say, “They prepare me best for this course / my aspirations.” Do not mention any constraints you might have had, such as limited choices or timetabling issues. Remember, you only chose it because you really wanted it.

“Why are you studying here instead of your home country?”

This question will probably be for non-native applicants, and was one of the first questions I was asked at one of the London universities. At the time, I had nothing prepared for that sort of question, but boarders like me have been asked this question a gazillion times before, and I just gave the answer I would give anyone else: “Because the education system here focuses on all aspects of life, not just academic, blah blah blah…” It all seems simple and straightforward. Two very important things to keep in mind are, firstly, don’t ever say, “At the age of 13, I decided that it would be more beneficial for me to study abroad.” You simply weren’t mature enough. In most cases, the decision was made by your parents and they know it. They just want to know how you’ve embraced the opportunity. Secondly, the key phrase they really want to hear is: “so I can bring back the knowledge I gain here to improve my own country.”

“If you were to graduate tomorrow, what would be the first thing you’d do?”

Most people, at this stage, do not know what they want to do after they finish higher education. This question reveals the true mindset of some people, since they have to come up with a quick answer and that doesn’t always turn out well! Obviously there are many good answers out there but what I would recommend doing is picking a topic that you are genuinely interested in and are ready to have a good discussion on (hydrogen fuel cell in my case). Then say that you’re currently really interested in this field and that

you want to do research into it once you’ve graduated. If the interviewer is interested, they’ll ask you more. If they don’t know much about it, they’ll just move on. Either way, you’ve given them a subject-relevant answer while demonstrating that you’re committed to take further what they’re about to teach you in the next few years!

“What are your weaknesses?”

A lot of people get scared of this question, but really, interviews are just giving you a chance to shine. One thing to remember with any questions: you do not want to give them reasons not to take you, and this question is no exception. You have to be able to give a negative statement that implies a positive fact. Some response ideas are “I am a total perfectionist - I spend too much time perfecting all my work”, or “I spend too much money on (subject) books!” I agree, they sound very cheesy, but there aren’t many ways you can respond to a negative question, and it could give your interviewer a bit of a laugh after a series of serious questions.

“What have you learned from your work experience?”

To those of you who are about to do any work experience, I cannot stress enough how useful it will be if you make a couple of bullet points every evening on what you have done or learnt each day at work. It will come in handy when you’re writing your personal statement and when they pick up the points at an interview. You have to remember the things you included on your personal statement throughout, and you have to be able to show your understanding when you’ve been asked a question relating to it. More details can only strengthen your answer.

Most interviews will include a problem-solving section. For STEM subjects, it could be to do some maths or science related questions, and for humanities, you’ll likely be given a subject-related problem to work on or discuss. Be honest, if you can’t do it then say so, take their suggestions, and work with it. The last thing you want to do is to fake that you know something as it will come through very clearly. Write out all equations you use, all working steps, and explain it fully to your interviewer throughout. Treat it as a private tutorial; you’ve got your personal 30 minutes with the world-leader in your field! Most importantly, enjoy it and make the most of it! If they accept you, you’ll be having lots more of these interview-like tutorials.

I hope that I’ve covered most of the general important things to note for an interview, and that this can be something you can file away to be looked at again when the time comes. Remember, be confident with who you are. Be genuine, and don’t panic. They only want to bring out the best in you.

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Features LITERATURE

Unwrapping Inventing Elliot

Inventing Elliot is Dr Gardner’s debut novel and a worldwide bestseller. Freddie Marshall asks Dr Gardner about his inspiration for the novel and about his literary life.

When did you first have the idea for Inventing Elliot?

The second year of my PhD in my twenties is when the idea and the inspiration came to me.

How long did it take before you started planning and writing the novel?

I started immediately as I had this vivid image of this boy in a room with boxes packed and I knew that he had just arrived in this new place and something terrible had happened to him before and that he wanted to reinvent himself. I got this opening moment down on paper as quick as I could and spent another year actually writing the book.

Could you give a summary of the novel?

The book is about a boy called Elliot Sutton. He is 13 or 14 at the start of the novel and he comes to a new town, new house and decides that he is going to create a new persona because prior to the move he has been bullied for two years which in turn followed his father being badly beaten up and injured by muggers. The idea is too much for Elliot.

He is going to go to a new school and this is going to happen all over again so he decides to be cool and hard, and it works, but it works too well. However, unknown to Elliot this school is ruled by a secret society ruled by a boy called Richard and he believes Elliot has qualities that will make Elliot a ‘guardian’ (one of them).

This causes Elliot to have a terrible dilemma: if he becomes a guardian he is safe, but at what cost? The guardians make people’s lives miserable.

If you were to give the novel a genre what would it be?

That’s really difficult as when I was writing it I had no audience in mind,

only the story, and then afterwards I realised it was going to be most appealing to the teenage audience - so the same age as the main character, and this is a genre in itself. However, if I were to put it in wider terms I would say it is a psychological thriller.

Authors have different reasons for writing their novel. What was yours?

The reason the book was an inspiration and not just just a vision inside my head is because I had had fairly unhappy school days and I had been a victim of bullying myself and I had seen a lot of bullying. When I left school I didn’t go to university initially because I decided I didn’t want to go back into that world so I went into sales at WHSmiths.

I was very good at it because I invented a personality for myself and put on a mask like Elliot. I got to thinking, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if I could have done what I did on the sales floor back at school?” I ended up being myself at school and I said what I thought despite the potential consequences which can be quite horrible at times, but when you are in an environment when success depends on people liking you or people feeling comfortable then you have to continuously not be yourself. When the inspiration came for Elliot I think that’s why I knew what he was going to do, because going to a new town is an opportunity to wipe the slate clean. In a way you could say the entire book is about me writing what might have been.

I discovered many people do this as well.

We are not the same with family as we are with friends and I had an opportunity to dramatise this issue.

What would you say is the most important part of the writing stage?

I don’t plan very much. I write scenes as they come to me, so Elliot was written back to front. I wrote the first scene first, then the prologue, then I realised what the end scene would be. I would then cut it up and cut and paste scenes together until the book was there.

The most challenging part of writing the book for me is getting inside the mindset of the characters.

Are you currently working on anything new?

Yes I am. I had a long hiatus after writing Inventing Elliot. I was offered a contract to write five more books and have so far not delivered any of those. However, I am working on a very different kind of novel at the moment which is psychological in a way, fictional

in a way and science fiction and is hugely exciting. It’s working title is Renegades.

Your book has been a great success in Germany. What can you say about that?

That was pretty amazing actually!

It was bought by a small publishing company in Germany and not much was expected of it but the publishers obviously saw something in it and it was nominated for the German equivalent of the Carnegie Award and it won! Chance would have it it was the 50th anniversary of the award so it was a massive ceremony and televised. It has just been astonishing. It is probably my second biggest market there and it has been put on the school syllabus.

Wasn’t there an interpretation of your book being about Nazi Germany?

Yes, and it was strange because I never thought of that. The first question I was asked was: ‘So, do you want to talk more about parallels with your book and Nazi Germany?’ It’s very interesting because in the UK we focus on the individual but in Germany they focus on crowds and peer pressure and every generation is brought up to focus on the holocaust. In the book it’s all about people taking part who are not doing anything to stop it.

It may also be interesting for readers to know that it has a different name in Germany: In the Shade of the Guardians or In the Shadow of the Guards.

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Features

Exit, Pursued by a Bear LITERATURE

Calvin Liu discusses Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, following the school trip to a production of it.

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ne of the most surreal of Shakespeare’s stage directions is disturbingly brought to life by Cheek-by-Jowl’s production of The Winter’s Tale, currently running at the Oxford Playhouse. Shakespeare’s invention of a wild bear in the bucolic countryside of Sicilia is just one of many peculiarities of the play itself. This puzzling direction kills off the unfortunate Antigonus whilst also propelling the play from its early tragic trajectory onto

The director Declan Donnellan embraces the mind-boggling strangeness of the play

a course towards its comic resolution.

On paper, the plot of the play does sound utterly bonkers: Leontes thinks his wife, Hermione, is cheating on him with his brother, Polixenes, leading to the death of both her and their son; 16 years later, Leontes’ lost daughter falls in love with Po-

lixenes’ son and the play is resolved when a statue of Hermione is presented to Leontes before suddenly coming to life.

The director Declan Donnellan embraces the mind-boggling strangeness of the play by transforming the bear into a mere projection – the image of a bear in black-and-white, mapped onto the unassuming plywood box in the background of the stage. The actual existence of the bear itself has been the subject of much scholarly debate; after all, the theatre in Shakespeare’s time was also the multi-purpose arena for bear baiting. Indeed, in a play that preoccupies itself with the muddled boundary between image and real life the audience is almost led to believe that the image of the bear would (literally) leap out of the box, which, in a sense, it does for the ill-fortuned Antigonus, who we later learn is killed by the projected bear.

The bear, then, is transformed into an ‘icon’ – an image or fictional creation with tangible power in real life, at least the real life of the play’s fictional world.

These brewing tensions culminate in the play’s ending, when the statue of Hermione snaps into life in front of Leontes. Hermione’s statue functions in the exact opposite way as the projected bear: where the bear is an image that is given tangible power, the statue is a tangible object (at first) deprived of life. Indeed, this is reflected by the way they are presented to us in Donnellan’s produc-

tion: while the bear is projected onto the screen facing us, the statue is placed on the edge of the stage, effectively turning

The theatre of Shakespeare’s time challenges the arbitrary divide between narration and action

the ‘fourth-wall’ into the screen it is projected onto, with the spectators looking directly at the audience. While the bear is the tragic event that turns the play into a comedy, Hermione’s apparition gives the comedy its unsettling quality.

Donnellan’s treatment of this scene is almost reminiscent of Webster’s macabre take on Shakespeare’s ending in The Duchess of Malfi. With the stage only lit by the actor’s candle and the whole cast of the play arranged in one long line – it

certainly smells of the claustrophobia in the sickening ‘dans macabre’ before the Duchess is murdered. Certainly, when Webster is writing Malfi, Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale had just been shown at the Globe. Webster’s wax figures become, like the bear that kills Antigonus, a disgustingly morbid reversal of Shakespeare’s comic ending. While Hermione’s statue ‘see[s] life as lively mock’d as ever still sleep mock’d death’, Webster’s wax figures become a case where life becomes indistinguishable from death.

Where Shakespeare has a statue come back to life, Webster has a living person turned into a portrait: the Duchess becomes ‘like to [her] picture in the gallery, a deal of life in show, but none in practice’. The tragic death of Antigonus by the image of a bear transforms The Winter’s Tale into a comedy, while the Duchess’ transformation into the icon of a martyr only serves to darken the tragedy.

The phrase ‘theatrum mundi’ was a popular expression in Shakespeare’s time, which he has Jacques succinctly translate into English as ‘All the world’s a stage’.

Contrary to the modern, realist notion of theatre as mimesis of real life, the theatre of Shakespeare’s time challenges the arbitrary divide between narration and action. We are not meant to be immersed by the bucolic world of Winter’s Tale, but the nightmarish [bear] of this world exits in pursuit of us, its audience.

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Features

The Future of Photography?

TECHNOLOGY

Rory Bishop explores what the future of photography might hold.

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hotography has been an essential part of culture since the 1820s and its role in daily life is becoming more prominent. Yet has this sadly led it into a downward spiral? Recent studies from The World Bank prove that over 75% of the world’s population are now in possession of some form of mobile phone, most of which have some form of camera on them. These are dominating regular camera sales and in the age of the internet, we have a constant stream of photos at our disposal. However, has this great abundance actually diminished our appreciation for true photography and is it limiting our passion for progression?

What is really at the epicentre of photography’s future is contrast, colour and creativity.

Smart phones and their cameras are always at our disposal and constantly in everyday life. It has been proved that most people take around 150 photos on their phone a month which is around five every day. The average phone also holds 630 photos and 24 videos. Although it does not seem like much this does not take into account the volume of digital photos we see in a day in various media such as the news, the internet and on social media. As a re-

Because the market is full of photographs like this one, they no longer stand out like they used to. sult, the market for professional photography has become flooded with photos, but it is yet to become saturated, and photographs still have a great impact; their role in our lives is merely changing.

Photography is still a developing industry with vast room for improvement: digital development in picture quality and human development in creativity. These are examples of the many possible paths which the future of photography could take. Although the discrepancies are invisible to some, the quality difference between a camera phone photo and a photo taken with an actual camera is still there. However, people just do not know how to use a camera to its full potential, which limits quality. Some people make naive comments about how virtual reality, 3-dimensional or other types of digital enhancements are the future but

Are phone cameras slowly crushing the camera industry and making photography obselete?

really we just need to stretch our limits for the highest standard of photographs first.

We are nowhere near the optimum quality for photography, and the main reason is that photography is not being shared enough. The technology is developing at a faster rate than ever before, leading to anxiety over delving into the world of cameras as it seems so kaleidoscopic and confusing.

This means that we do not appreciate photography now as we used to. Even in the late 20th century we appreciated photography but the spread of the internet has led to the young becoming ambivalent about the technicalities of it all.

What is really at the epicentre of photography’s future is contrast, colour and creativity. If people really want to be progressive, the most impactful photographs are those which are thoughtful and thought provoking. Whether this be because of the underlying message of the photo or expressive use of style. We will be unable to advance with mere sunsets and snapshots which seem to engulf the photographic market. This is where photojournalism enters the picture.

Photojournalism is a form of journalism where pictures are used to express a news article. Photojournalism surrounds us and photography is at the core of every news article though we do not realise the effect it is having on us. Even The Martlet itself is decorated with pictures to help enhance the stories. This is where the future of photography lies, as the story behind the photo is what truly matters now. This can range from photographs of refugees to pictures of politicians. Quality photography is only as good as the tale which it tells and we cannot ignore this. When you see a photograph of a landscape an instant reac-

tion is to wonder where it was taken. The background information intrigues us just as much as the photograph itself. Photography is not fading away, it is just reshaping itself. It is changing from an art form into a mechanism for telling a story.

It is near impossible to make any solid statement on the future of anything, but it is definite that photography is not going away anytime soon and is just evolving.

Although basic photography has room for improvement, we are starting to saturate the market as high definitions photos are uploaded onto the internet every second.

So pictures needs to become more than simply photographs. Photojournalism is

Quality photography is only as good as the tale it tells

the answer and we are beginning to accept that. Many news articles are now centred around photographs, an example of this is a recent article showing images from NASA of how the earth has changed and been shaped by the effects of climate change of overpopulation issues over the last 25 years. It is these sorts of articles which are the key to photography’s future and we should encourage it. After all, 65% of us are visual learners.

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Features ENTERTAINMENT

Video Games and Storytelling Scott Thomson considers the potential for video games as an alternative storytelling platform.

Do video games work as a storytelling medium?

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hen it comes to creating an interesting and engaging story video games are generally looked down on when compared to films and novels. There are difficulties concerning video games that make it incredibly hard to write well for them, and most high budget games fail on this front due to these difficulties, arguably made worse by a lack of talent in the industry.

One major obstacle to overcome when writing a successful story for a video game is the number of long sections of continuous gameplay. Naturally, gameplay and game design are usually the focus, so the actual story takes a back seat. This often means that little manpower and budget are dedicated to writing the dialogue and the story. A good story does not require a high budget and writers usually work better alone, away from conflicts of ideas, but talent is rarely attracted to this industry as films and books have much higher prestige and are generally easier to write for.

Another problem associated with the importance of gameplay is that long sections of play time are filled with this instead of progressing the story. A method writers have come up with to work around this is to have the main characters speak while combating enemies or traversing the environment meaning that the plot can progress without the need for cinematic cutscenes and allowing better flow and pace to the story. However, having to concentrate on audio while playing often means that you are distracted from the progression of story and characters and they go unnoticed. Removing cutscenes means that key moments are not as mem-

orable, as a cutscene indicates that something important is happening.

There is also a danger of the opposite: too much story and too little gameplay.

While this can work under certain circumstances, it really requires the story and characters to be engaging. Sadly this is not the case with most video games.

There is also the problem of the loss of interactivity within cutscenes. No matter how good a story, people play video games to have an interactive experience, not to watch characters speak pre-designated lines. This can lead to boredom and frustration from players. Many question the point of watching a story cutscene

ronments to explore, different factions to join and intuitive character progression.

While the actual plot of these games is often weak, the focus is more on creating an individual story for the player. Bethesda achieves this by allowing the player to choose exactly what the protagonist looks like with different races such as orcs, elves and nords. Many quests have multiple endings that the player can choose and have an effect on the world and the other characters you can interact with. Multiple dialogue options allow the player to decide the character’s personality. This sense of imagination allows the player to create a character

Talent is rarely attracted to this industry as films and books have much higher prestige and are generally easier to write for

when going to the movies offers more realistic visuals, better written characters and dialogue and much better acting.

Despite the inherent problems with video games as a storytelling medium, some developers have produced games that exceed expectations and find clever and imaginative ways around these problems. Bethesda Softworks’ Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises are games set in an open environment with massive envi-

tailored to how he wants to play, and exercises the player’s imagination while retaining a strong sense of interactivity.

Everything you do in this game has such an epic sense of scale that it essentially feels like building your own legend.

Some developers have taken the complete opposite approach and focused on story rather than actions over words. In my opinion the most successful and consistent are the developers behind Tell-

TellTale games are a leading developer for storytelling in video games.

Tale Games. They exclusively develop games that involve the player watching a long cutscene with episodes spaced out like a television series. The catch is that the players can choose dialogue and action options that affect the way the story plays, giving a strong sense of personalisation. These games also feature funny and likeable characters, meaning the players can genuinely be invested in the plot. TellTale games can also create a great atmosphere or sense of tension, most notably with their Walking Dead adaptation. This arguably creates a sharper sense of loss, despair and terror than the TV series. These games prove that games can be cinematic as well as interactive and enjoyable to play.

In my opinion, these games show that video games provide a creative and often incredibly enjoyable platform for a story.

While there are inherent problems with video games, not to mention a lack of nuance in high budget games compared to films and books, I really hope that developers increase the quality of their games by spending more time and money on developing exemplary plots.

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Features

Abingdon Revisited SCHOOL

Dan Alcock looks back over his time at Abingdon School.

The departing year squinting as they are forced to have their picture taken on a sunny day.

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s I approach the end of my last year at Abingdon School and write my final article for The Martlet, I have become quite nostalgic. Reflecting over how much has changed in the past seven years since I joined the school, both within this establishment and the wider world, I am quite astonished at how different everything is as I leave. So here I am revisiting my time at this school, looking over what these past years have been like.

When I joined, the Science Centre and Greening Court did not exist, the Amey Theatre looked different to how it is now, the Sports Centre was fairly new and exciting, plus the majority of houses had different housemasters to now. I remember choosing my Other Half for the first time with much anticipation and wonder; the Photography Club became an instant favourite of mine, although as far as I know it no longer exists. I also participated in the Table Tennis club, Rugby, and Junior Literary Society. Mr Winter’s Computing Club was hugely popular, with many boys being given the opportunity to make their own website! Yes - this idea was as bad as it sounds. No one in Lower School should have that sort of power. These aren’t all

necessarily activities that I continued to participate in throughout the next seven years, in fact looking back at it all I have actually ended up participating in quite a variety of random clubs, regularly sticking to very few. Funnily enough, The Martlet is the other half activity that I have been truly committed to for the longest period of time.

That brings me onto my next point of how The Martlet itself how changed.

Back in 2010, The Martlet was very different and was run by an entirely different crew; it was more of a glossy magazine than a newspaper. I seem to remember the old content having a striking resemblance to that of the Daily Mail.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, as the old team left the school, that version of The Martlet came to its bitter end. However, in 2013, the publication made a comeback starting again at Issue 1, boasting a bold new design as a newspaper. Now under the protective eye of Miss Williamson, the paper thrived with a good variety of content from current affairs, to school events, to enlightening sport articles, despite having a small team of fewer than ten people. From that point, The Martlet has only grown and flourished more

and more. As the crew grew bigger we moved from our meeting space in Boyd’s (which is now Morgan’s) houseroom to the space we now use, the entire Greening Court ICT suite on the top floor. As the current team of editors leave, I am confident that The Martlet’s growth is only going to continue and the paper’s content improve even more.

A huge advent that occurred fairly recently was the introduction of the single greatest invention in the last millennium.

Forget penicillin, I’m talking about Firefly. In the stone age, the dark period of the school, boys were forced to labour over prehistoric ‘prep diaries’, writing each piece of work they got into the feared device. Not only was this impractical, it was also inefficient. Often it would take far too long to write the entire prep in, plus if a boy was to receive a day of a specifically large amount of work - they would no longer have room to write anything more in. This would mean the writing would have to spill onto the next page, creating a domino effect of there never being enough room to write each prep for each day. Back in the day, tutors were also pressured in checking for a ‘parents signature’ in the diary … for some reason. The school

argued that this was so they could ensure that the parents were kept up to date with their boys work, however I still do not feel this was an entirely necessary process.

Not only did Firefly revolutionise the way that boys thought about and tackled their daily homework, it also brought along a whole new study site which everyone most definitely uses very regularly. The old study site had become a relic, with an ugly cream background and a confusing interface. Firefly is a breath of fresh air in which anyone can freely browse information. This includes many detailed pages belonging to teachers of each subject for their classes, among other features such as the overwhelmingly full-of-information Library page. The prehistoric study site was complemented by a rather outdated email system that was changed to the Gmail system in 2011 which the school of course still uses. Only Upper Sixth boys will remember this old form of email, but to be honest with you I don’t remember it well enough to say much about it, only that the current system is way better.

In my time here I like to consider that I experienced three different heads.

Even though Miss Lusk joined the same

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year I did, I was in fact interviewed by her predecessor, Mr Turner, who seemed nice. Of course we are now under the reign of Mr Windsor, who is bringing Abingdon into a new and exciting golden age. Something that many people don’t notice but I theorise about is that all this time we’ve really been under the rule of Mr Dawswell, who I am convinced is like a guardian who has been at the school since it was founded and will stay and watch over the premises for all eternity.

In the same amount of time, the entire force of teaching staff has been totally revolutionised. Not many teachers from seven years ago are still here. And, all in all, it seems there have been many improvements in many aspects of the school over the seven year period.

To me it’s quite funny how much the reputation of houses have changed.

O’Doherty’s (now Border’s) was a feared houseroom, where bundles were frequent and a visitor would not be able to leave without having their kidneys stolen. Webb’s (now James’) had a similar reputation, as one member of Webb’s in the current Upper Sixth suffered a long concussion due to events that occurred in the houseroom, and another had their arm broken. Other transformations include Boyd’s to Morgan’s, Christodoulou’s to O’Doherty’s, and Davies’ to Austin, though I do not feel the essence and spirit of these houses have changed that much over the years.

Not all has been sunshine and kittens though, there have been some tragic losses to the school’s history, heritage, and legacy, all of which frankly sicken and sadden me. For my first two years here, there was a great entity known as the Tuck Shop. Boys from all over the school would rush every break-time to get their hands on a treat from the legendary and beloved Tuckshop Tony; these moments among some of my happiest memories from my time at Abingdon. I distinctly remember the rumours and rumblings that occurred in the early parts of 2012 that the Tuck Shop might close, along with its

neighbouring Uniform Shop. At the time I could not believe it, and I didn’t give much credence to the claims. However, sure enough, by the time the boys returned in September, the Tuck Shop was gone, the vending machines were gone, the uniform shop was gone, and worst of all, Tuckshop Tony was gone! In its place now are offices, and the cafe is now the entity that makes up for the loss of food.

In addition, we still have some sort of Tuck Shop that is run by students in a tiny window out of the CMR I think? I’m not going to lie, I’ve never been there. It could never live up to the extraordinarily high bar that Tuckshop Tony set.

Sport has evolved a fair amount since I joined too. Football as a school sport did not exist at first, and the main focus for the school was rugby, hockey, rowing (not for Lower School) and athletics. Over the years this has dramatically changed, with a new focus on sports ranging from climbing, badminton, squash, ultimate frisbee, volleyball, chess, water/canoe polo, and more. Now some of you younguns may be thinking, “Oh wow! Whatever would we do without ultimate frisbee?” but trust me, this change has been a great one because there’s nothing better than variety.

To the newest members of the school. I would say never take what you have for granted, because I bet you it’s more than was here seven years ago, and the crazy thing is 2010 had way more options than seven years before that, and seven years before that, and so on. The school has always been great for giving students opportunities, and I’m astounded at how the standards keep being raised.

One of the biggest differences that I’ve experienced since my arrival at this school is how one’s perspective of it changes each year. In first year, I was terrified. Terrified of the teachers, terrified of getting a copy (a prehistoric form of punishment), and terrified of getting to lessons on time. I was so daunted by all the large buildings and places to go and things to do, especially as it was such a big step up from my

An actual picture of the school when I joined in 2010.

Of course the school also recently took over management of Tilsley Park. previous school. Second year was slightly less terrifying, but still involved a lot of nerves and trying my best not to get in anyone’s way (whether that be an older boy or a teacher). In third year my confidence grew, and I felt more comfortable. Fourth year, I don’t remember about anything really: it’s sort of a ‘nothing year.’ Not memorable, not fun, just learning the easier content of GCSE and chugging through life. Not much happens outside of school, not much happens inside of school, so you know what, I’m happy I don’t remember fourth year because it seems pointless.

Maybe the school will completely boycott the fourth year in the future? We can only hope. Fifth year is when one really comes into one’s own: it’s preparation for big ol’ sixth form, it’s fun, it’s full of tough engaging work, and you get around two months’ study leave which involves more sleep and frolicking in the sun than it does actual work. Then of course, sixth form comes along, and as you’d expect you feel pretty adult and confident in Lower Sixth. Upper Sixth however is full of the dread of having to live independently, but also desperation just to get school done with as you’ve been doing it all your life and you’re sick of it. As much as I love Abingdon, with nearly seven years under my belt, I’m pretty tired of the routine and I’m definitely ready to go.

Now I may be no prophet or oracle, but I still see a bright future for the school. Soon enough you will all be blessed with Beech Court, which I am quite sad to miss out on, and I’m sure there are other large active projects going on behind the scenes. Abingdon School is constantly evolving and developing, from a small scale, individual other half activities and subjects, to the technology used at the school, as well as a large scale building developments and expansions in sport. Whatever the future holds, if the last seven years show anything, it’s that things are constantly improving for the school and it is on an upwards trajectory. I, for one, am excited for university, but sad to miss out on the future of Abingdon School.

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Features SCIENCE

Do We Control Our Consciousness?

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Johan Nerlov investigates the relationship between consciousness and the brain.

e’ve all had that moment when we’ve started to ponder the afterlife, or lack thereof, only to come to the conclusion that we’ll have to wait and see what happens. This way of thinking doesn’t satisfy everybody, certainly not the theoretical physicist Ervin Laszlo.

This Hungarian genius has dedicated his life to dismantling the “false facade of mainstream science”. Together with the help of his book, The Immortal Mind: Science and the Continuity of Consciousness beyond the Brain, co-written by himself and British social scientist Anthony Peake, I will explore the near supernatural realm of the subconscious and eternally conscious.

The evidence for this bold claim comes from six different areas of scientific research of which I will specify three.

The first of these are NDEs (Near-Death Experiences), a topic that has been swept under the carpet by mainstream science due to a lack of explanations.

One of the most famous cases given as evidence in Laszlo’s book is that of singer Pam Reynolds. Aged thirty five, Reynolds developed a basilar artery aneurysm deep inside her orbital cortex (the back of the brain). Due to its location, the only way to access it was by cutting through her skull, and to do that they had to adopt a process called ‘Standby’.

Her body was cooled to below 20 degrees centigrade, her heart stopped and her carotid arteries (the ones that bring blood to the brain) severed and drained. Her brain was all but truly dead. The operation went on as usual and was a success.

Throughout the operation her brain and electromagnetic activity was monitored, and showed zero all the time. To add to that two ear-speakers were placed in her ears, blocking all sound and also helping to monitor brain activity. What happens next is truly spectacular. When she was woken up just hours after the operation she managed to recall both the process of her operation, which she had never been told about fully but, even more amazingly the conversations between those present during it. From the place where her nurse had bought her wedding ring, to the name of the tools which were used to operate on her. All this should have been impossible, and, rather spectacularly, shows that even when the brain is temporarily incapacitated and dead, consciousness can continue to function, even at a heightened level.

The next near-magical evidence comes from Past Life Regression. Much like normal hypnosis, it forces people in a calm environment to go further and further back in time and recollect their past lives. To much public amazement, these cases are far from ‘one-offs’, with over

30 million registered and confirmed cases. One of the most outstanding comes from a French researcher by the name of Albert de Roches. Throughout his life he documented thousands of cases, but one of his most documented is that of his own cook, Josephine. In one of her trance states she described being a man called Jean Claude Bourdon, a soldier in the Seventh French Army in Napoleonic times, fighting in Italy. She later recollected being a woman by the name of Philomène Charpingy, a soon to be married maid in the early 1700’s, work-

would be unscientific for anyone to rule them out simply because they cannot yet explain them.

The third, and final, evidence in this article is Instrumental Transmitted Communication (ITC). Before you put down this article, let me explain. ITC has been around ever since the dawn of electrical communication. Popularly depicted in film and on TV, there is more to it than meets the eye. One of the most perplexing cases happened in the mid 1980s. Two young and aspirational scientists decided to try their luck at transcommunication;

This is challenging the old, materialistic view of the world ing at the hunting lodge of Versailles. De Roches decided to delve into the French National Archives, only to discover that not only had these people existed, but some of the experiences recollected by Josephine corresponded exactly with that of her ‘past life’. Though many might call it coincidence, the precision, for lack of a better word, and continuity with which these cases arise and are found to be true is what makes them so credible. Though not concrete, the evidence for past life experiences is ever growing, partly due to their resurgent popularity, but also due to their intriguing nature. It

the results were astounding. They received information from someone who claimed to be a scientist from past generations. In case you think they simply made it up, all of this was recorded and the findings are now housed in the national archives in Berlin. What makes these tapes truly spectacular is that they are instructions for a medical device capable of curing a disease. When they built it, it worked. The intriguing thing is that thousands of cases such as these are everywhere, and are almost never studied.

So, even though there are thousands such cases, they are almost never stud-

ied. Why? Many call them isolated examples of hallucinations, while others go as far as talk about a conspiracy. The actual reason for the majority of us is that these experiences simply don’t fit into our mainstream materialistic view of science and the world. But there is a change in the scientific community and more and more people are beginning to take these as evidence of a more intrinsic element of the universe. How do they go from this to such a conclusion?

Quantum physics. We find that the more we study NDEs, ITC and Past Life Regression (and the other very promising evidence), the only way to understand them is through the wonderful world of quantum physics. So, this evidence is only isolated and unexplainable through the eyes of materialism, a view that is quickly becoming obsolete and outdated. I don’t mean to say materialistic attitude is wrong, but it is time for a new, modern and forward looking paradigm to take hold. I’m not the only one saying this. Hundreds of scientists are calling for a shift to a new paradigm of science, one that allows for a new way of looking at the word and the universe.

This, coupled with the ever increasing evidence from cutting-edge science and catalogues of such experiences, suggests that the chances of consciousness being more than a product of the brain are greater than ever. I’m sure there remains much opposition to this theory, but there is also growing support, so I leave it to you to decide. What do you think? What do you hope it to be?

If consciousness and its relationship with the brain interests you, you can find The Immortal Mind and books like it in the school library.

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Sport

So far, so good for the 4XI FOOTBALL

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his year’s 4th XI is the most successful team in the school with the highest win rate. This success has certainly not stemmed from luck but rather a very carefully planned formula put in place months before the football season had even begun. The history of the modern 4th XI well and truly began last season with the takeover of the manager come chairman, Mr Mason.

Due to the fact that the team last season was largely made up of lower sixth boys there is now a strong core of upper sixth boys representing the 4ths with a season’s experience under their belt. These players include the likes of Sammy Chambers (last year’s captain), Calum Egan, Ben Scrivener, Jack Dong, Toby Jupp, Billy Hickman, myself and JC (this season’s captain). To bolster the team even more our transitionary period to the 2017 season has allowed us to gain many talented lower sixth players who have massively improved the team.

The successful formula began during the Michaelmas term rather than the traditional Lent term in which football takes place. Pre-season training took place every Tuesday period 8 throughout the term.

This training allowed the team to develop skills and start improving their chemistry with the new members of the team as well as making sure the team was fresh and ready for the start of the new season.

Furthermore, during this period, there were major changes within the managerial staff. One such change came due to an unfortunate injury to Ben Scrivener, the star keeper of the team, the season before. As a result, he has taken the role of manager while Mr Mason takes the role of chairman of team. The managerial staff was then further strengthened by the employment of a new coach in a former 1st

Dan Brown gives a detailed description of the season so far. well and truly improved from last season.

This certainly boosted the team’s morale, and they had a positive outlook on the upcoming season.

This optimism paid off during the first game of the season with a vibrant performance at home against St. Edwards which resulted in a 6-0 win. The match was played on the 4G pitch at Tilsley park which provided the team with an incredible surface to play quality passing football. This inevitably led to Calum scoring two goals early in the match followed by Billy scoring two and Toby one in addition to an own goal taking the total up to six. After unfortunately missing a game against St. John’s Leatherhead through cancellation due to the weather, the form continued into the first league game of the season away to Hampton. The sheer reputation of Hampton as one of the top footballing independent schools in the country produced a lot of nerves in the team. These nerves may have got the better of the team as they conceded an early first goal. However, the 4th’s determination prevailed with the team not only equalising but managing four past the Hampton keeper. The goals from Calum, Toby, Sammy and myself ensured the somewhat comfortable victory against the Hampton side.

The next league fixture against Reading Blue Coat School turned into one of the most important games of the season.

The match did not go to plan from the start due to a delay in changing rooms meaning that the team received only two minutes for the warm up. The outright unpreparedness of the team showed on the pitch with Blue Coat taking a 2-0 lead with only an impressive header from Billy providing a consolation goal in a game that ended 2-1. Heads definitely dropped after

This rude awakening incentivised the team to improve as much as possible as possible for their next league game against Shiplake

team Cokethorpe player, Cam, who provided the team with tactical and technical improvements. One of the most important additions to the team was the signing of a new star upper sixth player, George English, better known as ‘The Beast’. With all of these improvements, the team has

this match, mainly due to the fact that the team didn’t play at all to their ability which was a real disappointment. However, on a positive note, this match provided a steep learning curve after which the team would make sure that a performance like that would never happen again.

The 4XI after their victory against Hampton This rude awakening incentivised the team to improve as much as possible for their next league game against Shiplake.

There was indeed massive improvement and the team played some of its best football to beat Shiplake at home by a monumental score of 13-1. The goals were shared around the team producing an extensive list of scorers: Sammy with two, myself with two, Billy with two, Jalil with two,

standard, the team outperformed expectations to ease to a 7-0 win despite poor weather and several disallowed goals.

Striker Billy Hickman netted a sensational first half hat trick, and the top scoring winger Toby Jupp scored before and after the halftime whistle. In the second half, James Morrell curled in a beauty from the left of the box for his first of the season, while Jack Dong brought the game

The successful formula began during the Michaelmas term rather than the traditional Lent term

Freddie with one, Jack with one, Johnny with one, Toby with one and George with one. The pick of the goals certainly came from Johnny’s incredible strike from outside of the box into the top corner and George’s volley which rattled the underside of the crossbar. Again form continued into the next league game against Forest School. However, this game would prove to be a much tougher game. The fourths had an incredible first half, scoring three goals - two from George and one from Toby. However, due to a lapse in concentration during the majority of the second half, Forest were able to score three and make the game equal. Luckily, the team showed enough resilience to hang on and allow Toby to score a great individual effort by going around the keeper and scoring giving the fourths a strong 4-3 victory.

The most recent 4th XI fixture was against Oratory and many were expecting a tough match from the side that beat them last season. However, as has become

to a comfortable close. The 4ths showed defensive solidity throughout the match, keeping a much desired clean sheet, with fantastic commitment to winning contests both in the air and on the ground.

At the time of writing, the 4ths are second in their league with one league match remaining. The only chance for the team to win the league is if Reading Blue Coat School lose their last match to Shiplake and we win our last game against Reading Grammar School. The likelihood of Blue Coat slipping up are slim but the best the team can do is place pressure on them by producing a comprehensive win against Grammar. Excluding the league, the local derby against Radley is still to be played as well as the last match of the season against Berkhamsted. Overall, the 4th XI have made a massive improvement compared to last season by winning comprehensively against teams they lost to last year such as Oratory and Hampton, further improving the legacy of the 4th XI.

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Sport

Arsene Wenger: FOOTBALL

Time is Up for Football’s Biggest Fraud Toby Jupp argues that Arsene Wenger’s best days at Arsenal are behind him.

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rsène Wenger is not a great manager. Many Arsenal fans who want him to quit at the end of the season believe that he has been a great manager in the past, but that he no longer has ‘it’. But let’s think about that. In his first eight seasons, Arsenal (and I stress, Arsenal, because it seems some fans think we’re Arsène FC) won three Premier League Titles. Don’t get me wrong, I’d settle for that now, but forgive me for blaspheming when I say this is nothing extraordinary. In fact, Wenger’s initial record of 3 titles and 2 FA Cups is easily surpassed by Sir Alex Ferguson’s tally of 5 titles, 2 FA cups and a Champions League in the same period. So don’t try and tell me this man is a legendary manager. And don’t try and claim that United were a supergiant we couldn’t compete with. Before Wenger’s reign, Arsenal: 10 titles, United: also 10 titles (three of which Fergie had already won). Our squad was at least on a par with theirs, and yet we won fewer titles, fewer cups, fewer trophies altogether.

Legendary manager? I think not.

Wenger’s one achievement that not even I could contest is that Invincible season in 2003/04. But this only proves that we should have won more. As Leicester’s one season wonder proves, miracles can happen. Yet to use this achievement as anything other than a tongue-in-cheek

at us, pipping the likes of Everton and Aston Villa (those were the threats when we moved to the Emirates) to fourth place! I won’t deny the financial importance to the club of the top four finishes. Being in the Champions League was integral to our financial security. But surely any manager worth

Arsene Wenger is not a great manager counter-jibe at rival fans is completely delusional. To judge a manager on one season when he’s been here for two decades is utterly ludicrous.

Oh, and the Emirates is not his ‘achievement’. Did he build it? Pay for it? He kept us in the top four, yes. Look

their salt could achieve that with the players he had at his disposal? A reward is not the same as an achievement, and it should not distort the judgement of the actual accomplishment.

We moved to the stadium to compete with the likes of Bayern Munich and

Barcelona, sides who we have lost 10-2 and 5-1 against in our last two knockout ties. Arsenal’s European struggles are (very) well-documented, but in the five ties before those two just mentioned, our heaviest two-leg defeat was 3-1 and twice we were only knocked out on the away goals rule. So if this isn’t regression, tell me what is. This is a hugely overrated, stubborn and arrogant man whose best days ended more than a decade ago. What does Wenger deserve so much respect for? Three league titles in 21 seasons? Finishing in the top four when Tottenham and Man City posed zero threat? Such mediocrity, and it is mediocrity, does not pass as excellence simply because the board has decided to play it safe for the last twenty years.

How arrogant does a man have to be to fail so repeatedly and still think he can do the job? And how gullible must a fan be to buy it, every single time?

Look at the facts people. His tactics are awful. He doesn’t win big trophies.

He is useless in the transfer market un-

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til it’s too late or a no-brainer becomes available. Frankly, this is a man who has now led Arsenal into mediocrity and we are no longer just the laughing stock of the Premier League. We are an insult to the very concept of competition. We play in the most popular league in the world but we are no more than an embarrassment to the nation we represent.

And as if two 5-1 defeats weren’t bad enough, he tries to blame it on an injury in the first leg, and the referee in the second. Shame on you, Arsène.

I am sick of people feeling sorry for managers. Look at the outcry at Claudio Ranieri’s sacking. People called it a disgrace; ‘everything that’s wrong with football’ one pundit remarked. Grow up.

These are paid professionals and when they’re not doing their job, their employers have every right to make a decision.

Why should Leicester get relegated just because they won the league last season?

I agree it was sad to see him leave, but how can anyone say it was the wrong decision, let alone a disgrace, when you see the impact it has had? And this is why the vast majority of people who support my club are just plain stupid. Why should we suffer perennially for the sake of humouring the sky-high hubris of a tactical dinosaur (as has been proved hundreds of times now), because he achieved something extraordinary 13 years ago?

Besides that, he is a very ordinary manager who inherited an exceptional squad and profited from his nationality, in that he knew about obscure talents in France before scouts really existed (which was a major advantage in signing the likes of Patrick Vieira and Nicolas Anelka). So why should he get to choose when he goes? He is an employee.

He doesn’t win big trophies

Evidently, Arsenal are no longer a huge club. Big clubs do not tolerate a manager who hasn’t won a league title in thirteen seasons (and counting). Big clubs do not have fans so spineless and so deluded that they are totally unwilling to look facts in the face. And these are facts, not wishy-washy sentimentalist mumbo-jumbo. Big clubs don’t struggle to retain their top players (even Spurs are better at that than us). If you are an Arsenal fan and genuinely want Wenger to stay, then you are an ostrich (as Nigel Pearson would say). You represent everything that’s wrong with our club: no ambition, no perspective, no courage, no bottle.

Arsenal fans owe Wenger no time whatsoever. This is not a charity worker. This is a manager who has ‘earned’ a nine-figure sum in his time at Arsenal.

Nine-figure. So we should not feel sorry for him. He’s paid to win matches and win trophies, and he’s not doing that.

So, as with any job, his position should be reviewed. Wengerites need to wake up and smell the coffee. There’s a reason Chelsea and Spurs fans have been singing ‘Arsène Wenger, we want you to stay’ in recent weeks. Tactically, he is inept. Did anyone ever expect us to get a result at Chelsea or Bayern (the two games which ended our major ambitions this season)? Pundits can lambast fans for pre-empting a result by bringing banners, but I didn’t see any of those same pundits rushing to predict an Arsenal win that afternoon at Stamford Bridge.

People say the players let him down. I think he let the players down. Alex Iwobi was in awful form and Wenger wrecked his confidence by not taking him out and giving him a rest. How could he play Iwobi ahead of Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott in those big games? Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain excelled in a central role, what does Wenger do? Moves him to the right at Bayern, brings back Granit Xhaka alongside Francis Coquelin (both in poor form) and we get utterly battered.

Why is he doing that? Lucas Perez has looked excellent, but doesn’t get a look in! I’m just baffled. His success was built on power and pace in every position, so why has he persisted with a team of dandy pushovers? He didn’t even build the 1998 team (our first title under Wenger) - he inherited arguably the best back five in Premier League history! Besides, if you’re going to say it’s the players’ fault and not Wenger’s, I’d encourage you to recall Wenger’s outlandish statement earlier in the season that this is our best squad since the Invincibles. So, if that is the case, we can quite clearly deduce that his astronomical (yes, sarcasm) management skills have diminished significantly (in addition to his judgement of ability which seems even more ropey than his defensive tactics). He sits in his seat for 90 minutes, clueless, and only getting up for an occasional moan at the fourth official. Name one other manager like that.

Other fans laugh at us, and ask them, they don’t understand why we keep Wenger. You think Chelsea cared about sentiment when they sacked Jose Mourinho, undoubtedly their best coach in their history (however brief that is)? And you think they care now when they’re going to win their 5th title with a 3rd different manager since we last won one? Whose position would you rather be in: Chelsea or Arsenal?

What are you so afraid of fellow Arsenal fans? We can’t collapse like United did, we haven’t got any success to sacrifice!

Are you enjoying the football at the moment? We don’t play beautiful football. We’ve scraped past nearly every team we’ve beaten this season ( just look

Wenger, in happier days at our fixture list and the inordinate number of late goals). So yes, ‘careful what you wish for’. I don’t wish for this.

What could be so bad that it’s worse than being humiliated in Europe to the extent that no one gives us a chance before a ball is kicked, that we get pushed over in every big match, season after season after season or are branded as perennial bottle jobs? If that’s all we’re gonna do, what’s the point in being in it. Chelsea are seeing the benefits of no European football. Frankly at this point I’m praying we don’t get any.

And don’t tell me there isn’t a manager of a sufficient calibre out there.

Max Allegri of Juventus, Sevilla’s Jorge Sampaoli or even Eddie Howe at Bournemouth (who doesn’t want an English manager to get a big chance?) could all potentially be excellent fits. Thomas Tuchel, Leonardo Jardim, Diego Simeone - the list goes on. And as we’ve already established, Wenger is overrated.

Filling his shoes won’t be hard, mark my words. Even Roy Hodgson could

inspire more passion than this phantom-like figure.

With all the pro-Wenger propaganda in the media, it is understandable that some would be fooled into thinking we should respect him, and to an extent, we should. Twenty years plus is a lot of service (even if it has been too long and well-paid) and he will go down, statistically, as our greatest ever manager.

But this makes him neither legendary nor irreplaceable. Had he left ten years ago, he would have been. Looking at it objectively, there is now no plausible argument to be made for us not to protest, much less believe he is the right manager for Arsenal FC. Wenger’s going to retire at some point anyway. He’s 67. So what’s the point in being afraid when it’s going to change soon? Hopefully you will have by now come to your senses and realise that the time for Arsenal’s specialist in failure has now expired.

I’ve had enough - and I can’t understand what sort of person would want any more of this for their club.

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Sport

Tennis: The Next Generation TENNIS

Ben Hutchison determines the root of Novak Djokovic’s decline and assesses the future stars of men’s tennis.

Federer vs Nadal is quite possibly the best rivalry to have ever graced the sport.

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n incredible, unprecedented 18th Grand Slam title for Roger Federer. Djokovic and Murray humbled. What does the future bring for men’s tennis?

When Roger Federer returned to compete in the Australian Open this January, aged 35 and struggling with recurrent injury, having won no major titles for four years, little was expected of the legend who had somewhat fallen from grace.

Coming into the tournament ranked 17th in the world, Federer showed his vintage class as he overcame countless odds and many youthful challengers as he made his way to the final. It seemed written in the stars that his opponent for the momentous occasion would be his fiercest and most famous foe, Rafael Nadal. As they have done so many times over the last decade, the pair produced some exhilarating tennis of five sets and ceaseless twists and turns before the great Swiss man finally triumphed. After consoling his old friend Rafa, Federer broke down in tears on court as he came to grips with the magnitude of his feat. For it was indeed magnificent. Admired by all, he is a fabulous icon for the sport.

However, with Federer’s success there came a more dispiriting story at this year’s Australian Open: yet another early exit from a Grand Slam tournament for Novak Djokovic. When asked what he would take away from his unbelievable five-set defeat by the then world number 117 Denis Istomin in the second round, Djokovic said he would take his bags and go home. Istomin

has had a fine career, spending plenty of time in the world’s top 50, but after an injury-affected 2016, he had to win the Asia Pacific Wildcard play-off in China to qualify for this Australian Open.

How could it be that the once seemingly indomitable Djokovic could be battered aside by such an unknown figure?

More significantly perhaps, why was it not a surprise?

Djokovic has lost his incessant drive for further success In the aftermath of Isotomin’s victory, the world number two exuded class and respect as he signed autographs, warmly congratulated his opponent, and refused to comment on any malaise that has been affecting his performances of late. It was uncharacteristic of the big Serb who is usually so fiercely competitive, but perhaps therein lies the problem. The passion that drives him on just did not seem to be present .

Since his victory in Paris at the French Open last year (through which he realised his incredible dream of becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four grand slam titles simultaneously) there just seems to have been a change in Djokovic’s mentality: he has lost his incessant drive for further success. An unwitting consequence of that magnificent achievement appears to be a diminished appetite for the ceaseless demands of the tennis tour.

Certainly not all tennis fans are complaining or even sympathetic. Not the most popular or charming figure in the sport, many had said this era of Novak domination was boring. Indeed, since the start of 2011 he has won 11 of the 25 grand slams played. Andy Murray in particular seemed unable to consistently compete with the Serb, having lost 25 of their 36 meetings in competitive tennis. And after losing three consecutive Grand Slam finals to Djokovic across 2015 and 2016, there were concerns that Murray just did not have the mental edge to defeat his fierce foe when it counted. Many feared the Scot’s golden years had passed him by relatively fruitlessly. It seemed a miracle therefore when at Wimbledon last summer Djokovic, then holder of all four grand slams, slumped to a disappointing defeat to world no. 41 Sam Querrey. We know of course what happened next, with home nation hero Andy emphatically reclaiming the Wimbledon title and restoring a bit of British pride in a chaotic summer.

For Novak Djokovic things seemed to

go from bad to worse, epitomised by the Olympic disappointment which left him heartbroken and tearful as he surely accepted that Rio had been his last opportunity for an Olympic Gold medal. Something has changed in Djokovic; he has neither the power nor the tenacity that once characterized his game. No one can know whether the decline will be permanent, but as the criticism mounts I personally cannot help but wish him further success.

For Andy Murray, however, his Wimbledon title appears to have been an impetus for further success. The Scot took an incredible second Gold medal in Rio, before becoming in November the first British world number one since the rankings began. His knighthood is richly deserved. But after Djokovic was knocked out of the Australian Open, Murray quickly followed suit despite being favourite to take the title, and with his 30th birthday approaching, we have to wonder whether his best years are coming to a close.

Although, unlike the case of Djokovic, I refuse to believe that the stumble was a result of lost passion, or even complacency. It is true that Murray has only won three of his eleven Major finals in a career with over seven years in the world top four but the fact is that we expect so much of the man and are quick to forget how much pride he brings to Britain. The desire for success is still there with Andy (just this month he won his 45th career title) and I believe he is already undoubtedly one of the sport’s greats. It is now up to the man himself as to whether he can become a tennis legend.

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The world number one has had a slow start to 2017.

Djokovic conquered Roland Garros for the first time last June.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE BRING? ALEXANDER ZVEREV GER, 19

NICK KYRGIOS AUS, 21

The sport’s highest-ranked teenager and the youngest player in the world’s top 30 since a certain Novak Djokovic ten years ago. He already has one ATP title to his name, and the great Rafa Nadal has tipped Zverev to be “a future No 1”.

The future certainly looks bright for the young German.

Young Kyrgios already world famous, but predominantly for the wrong reasons. The Australian has the potential to be one of the greats, but as of yet this talent is raw and in the big matches he has let anger get the better of him. It must be remembered, however, that the great Roger Federer once had a fiery temper of his own and was prone to on-court tantrums before becoming renowned for his composure and good grace. Nevertheless, Nick Kyrgios’ career has so far been a cruel reminder of how significant a clear mental state is in the sport.

MILOS RAONIC CAN, 26 The oldest of this selection, it seems strange to pick out the big Canadian as a future prospect, but it is easy to forget that, like so many others, for the past few years has been playing in the shadow of Djokovic and Murray. He has not yet won a Grand Slam but, under the careful coaching of tennis legend John McEnroe, he is constantly improving and looks set to win one in the near future.

DOMINIC THIEM AUT, 23 The young Austrian is already ranked 9th in the world, having already won 8 titles.

Playing on his favourite surface, he made last year’s French Open semi-final (beating Zverev en-route) before losing out to eventual winner Djokovic, and more success certainly looks imminent.

KYLE EDMUND GBR, 22 Born in South Africa but raised in Yorkshire, Edmund is only homegrown talent in this list. Admittedly it seems unlikely that the young man will match Sir Andy’s success, but then again he is a fast improving talent and certainly has the potential to make the world top ten in years to come.

GRIGOR DIMITROV BUL, 25 Dimitrov reached the Wimbledon semis in 2014 aged just 23 but has failed to hit those heights since, that is, until this last Australian Open. He lost out on a place in the final after losing in a 5 hour, 5 set thriller to Nadal. He has been nicknamed ‘Baby Fed’ (after Roger) on account of his stylish play and obvious talent, and we can expect to see many more successes for Dimitrov over the next few years.

As for the next Major, the French Open, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will triumph. I personally hope to see a 10th Roland Garros title for the clay king Rafael Nadal, who emphatically reminded us in Melbourne that his career can not yet be considered in its twilight years. The beloved veteran Federer will also be looking to continue his glorious start to 2017. Of course, success is more than a possibility for our hero

Andy (who made last year’s final, but clay is not his preferred surface and his sights will be more fixed on a third Wimbledon title). Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic will also offer stern challenges, as will the more unpredictable rising stars. The big question, however, is whether Novak Djokovic can bounce back and play his best tennis, as I am sure he so desperately wants to. It is, as they say, all to play for.

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Sport

The Dutch Revolution FOOTBALL

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Calum Egan explores the impact of Jaap Stam on Reading’s football team.

ccustomed to witnessing pushes for the Premier League or seasons with England’s elite, Reading fans feared the fade into obscurity after a couple of years into the lower depths of the Championship while suffering managerial changes, financial disarray, and the sales of leading players. Appearances in the semi and quarter finals of the FA Cup weren’t enough to satiate fans who were witnessing dismal football.

Steve Clarke had been sacked in December 2015 after a positive start was derailed

by Clarke’s flirting with Fulham, and was followed by a terrible run of form. Brian McDermott’s reunion tour did not go to plan, and being unable to recapture the magic of 2012’s title win, he was sacked in May last year. These successions of short reigns threatened to destabilise the club and descend into the rapid-fire hiring and firing seen so much in modern football as owners look for short term improvement over the long term. This fad was described by current Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers as “repairing the car while still maintaining full speed”.

A man best known for his dominating performances in the treble-winning Man-

chester United team of 1998 99, Jaap Stam’s appointment at Reading on 13th June brought much apprehension for the fans. A great player doth not a good manager make, as Marco Van Basten and Gary Neville have stunningly demonstrated. Despite the likes of Robbie Savage clamouring for ex-footballers like Ryan Giggs to be handed managerial roles, they aren’t always the best suited candidate. Yet Jaap Stam is not your typical ex-player-turned-manager. He wasn’t like most of the peers in his aspirations, remarking, “A lot of people say, ‘You can already see that this player will become a manager’ but I think sometimes that’s a load of crap.” Initially not persuaded by the career path into coaching, he said, “It’s a feeling that needs to grow on you.” He was asked to help out a couple of days a week at his first club PEC Zwolle following a break from football.

That was six years ago now and since then he has worked as an assistant coach at Ajax and as the under 21 coach there while getting his coaching badges. The fourth permanent manager at Reading since December 2014, Stam joined a club with league finishes of 17th and 18th in the previous two years. Safe to say, any improvement would have been welcomed with open arms.

One of the biggest issues at Reading is the financial instability of recent years.

One only has to look at the demise of Bolton or Portsmouth to see how an established Premier League club can fall so quickly when mismanaged at an executive level. Ironically for Reading, this financial instability began during their Premier League campaign of 2012/13.

Anton Zingarevich bought a controlling stake in the club on May 29th 2012, authorised twelve new transfers, such as Pavel Pogrebnyak, all on high wages, of which only three can be deemed a success. Garath Mccleary and Chris Gunter both still play for the club while Nick Blackman was sold for around £3 million in January 2016. Zingarevich failed to deliver on the promise of investment and left the club with a bloated wage bill and facing administration. Reading still feel these effects today as the club’s best players of recent years have all been sold to keep the club financially stable. Adam Le Fondre and Michael Hector were the most high profile departures, both leaving for around £4 million.

Stam has done a remarkable job with his signings, given the fact he inherited a squad not at all suited to his playing

style and had little to spend at all. Losing two key midfielders in Oliver Norwood (Brighton) and Aaron Tshibola (Aston Villa) for a combined £8 million was a necessary evil for the Thai owners who have shown they aren’t willing to invest serious money. However, it was still another hindrance in the manager’s plan to transform a squad that had finished 18th in the Championship. All in all, there were eleven signings made for a total value of around £3 million, as reported by Transfermarkt. The highlights were England under 21 midfielder John Swift on a free transfer from Chelsea and central defender Liam Moore from Leicester. Like the majority of the signings made in the summer, 22 year-old Moore and 21 year-old Swift are sure to have a high sell-on value given their age and English nationality.

Stam was quick to stamp his mark on the team, implementing a possession-oriented style of play not dissimilar to Pep Guardiola and Louis Van Gaal. Thankfully, it teeters more toward a Pep style, rather than the ultimately dull and slow play seen at Manchester United in the past couple of years. This can be traced back to how both Stam and Guardiola were influenced by Johan Cruyff’s ideals

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in their early coaching years. Reading are adapting to his philosophy well enough, averaging 59% possession per game, a total bettered only by Manchester City in England. It has proved to be highly effective as Reading are third in the Championship, only six points behind second-placed Newcastle with a game in hand. By keeping possession of the ball for so much of the match, Reading are able to tire opponents who are forced to chase the ball, scoring an impressive eight goals after the 85th minute in matches this season, winning ten points in the process. The new style is also conducive to winning more penalties, there has been ten awarded to Reading this season, already two more than Burnley, who were awarded the most (8) in the entirety of last season. Bizarrely, despite their poor conversion rate of only 50%, Reading have scored from four out of the five missed penalties through rebounds, surely on the way to setting a record for a niche football trivia question.

These results have been more than enough to sway restless fans, who became discontented early in the season with the lack of direct football, leading to Stam being crowned Batman via a sensational animation I’m sure can be found on YouTube.

If Stam is Batman, then Slavisa Jokanovic, currently manager of Fulham, is the Joker. Not quite as catchy, sure, but he’s one of the few managers to outwit Jaap’s possession play. Ironically achieved with his own brand of keepball, Jokanovic masterminded Reading’s heaviest defeat of the season, a 5-0 thrashing in October. Fulham have been somewhat of a bogey team for Reading in recent seasons, derailing the Royals’ season in 2015 with a 4-2 comeback win, and unbeaten in encounters since September 2014. The Cottagers have been nearly unstoppable when on form, crushing play-off rivals Reading and Hudders-

Paul McShane, Reading FC’s captain.

field 5-0 and edging promotion favourites Newcastle 1-0 on the opening day of the season. Yet inconsistency has been their Achilles’ heel. Those wins were the bread surrounding poor runs of form of three wins in twelve games and one win in three games, not good enough for a team aspiring for the play offs. A claim made by their manager at the start of the season as he set a target for top six in his first full season in charge. Jokanovic, his confidence perhaps buoyed by an extra six months in charge of his team, set far higher goals than his Dutch counterpart at Reading who set lower expectations by saying, “It would nice to get in the top ten but even that is going to be a hard job.”

It’s not all been plain sailing for the Dutchman and his charges however, as the aforementioned 5-0 defeat at Fulham was by no means an isolated incident.

Similar losses have included 4-1 defeats at Newcastle and Brentford, a 4-0 loss at Manchester United and a 2-0 loss at Wolves. They prove that Reading can be vulnerable defensively when without one of the first choice centre backs or losing the midfield battle. Four out of five of the mentioned defeats were without Paul Mcshane or Liam Moore, 32% possession at Fulham meant that the defence was horridly exposed and ultimately the majority of these defeats came against teams with more effective attacking plans. This was typified as Manchester United had only 42% of the ball yet had the attacking prowess of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to breach the defence at will.

Despite their irregularity, losses of these magnitude always tend to signify a bigger issue within the team. One can draw a few different conclusions: the strength in depth of the defence is simply not good enough, the tactics are not suited to tough away fixtures or Stam is too inflexible. So far, Reading have addressed one of these issues with the signing of Tiago Illori from Liverpool for a rumoured fee of £3.66 mil-

Jaap Stam, manager of Reading FC. lion, their all time transfer record. The Portuguese centre back is quick, good on the ball, and a young stallion aged just 23.

Stam’s inflexibility and the unsuited tactics are nearly interchangeable as if his side are unable to outplay the opposition, there seems little reversion to a plan B. Often this leads to Reading being too open in defence and too easy to break down, whereas other teams might approach a harder fixture with more conservative tactics. The biggest worry about this lack of flexibility is how Reading should fare in

the playoffs come the end of the season.

With an increasing likelihood that they will make the playoffs, a face off against promotion rivals could spell danger for Reading. While a visit to the play-offs will be applauded by fans regardless of their outcome, as it should be, Stam’s record against the current top six reads: won two, drawn one, lost one. Now this is really a good record, but not without its ifs and buts. Both wins were narrow and aided by fortunate goals, the loss convincing and, crucially, the only game played away from home. A tendency to win narrowly and lose heavily gives Reading the worst goal difference in the top six; it is a tendency that will worry the Reading faithful come the two-legged matchup potentially waiting in the play-offs.

Admirably, Stam has managed to build for the future while he secured the short term form of the side. Of the current match-day eighteen, ten are 23 or under, including academy-graduate Liam Kelly.

Only 19, Kelly has started at the Emirates and Old Trafford, scored a collection of incredible goals and made himself undroppable in the third placed team in the Championship. Standing at only 5ft 6in, he is both incisive in his passing and his runs. Furthermore, he’s making a stellar Andres Iniesta impression from the centre of midfield as has scored one and assisted three in his last two league games.

This includes his man-of-the-match substitute appearance at Bristol City as he turned in a masterclass to transform a lacklustre Reading team 2-0 down into an irresistible attacking force, 3-2 up, all in just twenty minutes.

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Features SCHOOL

From the Founding Fathers…

As the old guard leave The Martlet, Nick Harris and Blake Jones leave some parting words about the last four years.

The Founding Fathers of The Martlet, being Toby, George Washington; Blake, James Maddison; Dan A, Alexander Hamilton; Dan B, John Jay; Henry, Benjamin Franklin; Jacob, John Adams; Nick, Thomas Jefferson and slightly later Pea, JFK.

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ear next generation of The Martlet, As we, the current Upper Sixth who revived The Martlet back in 2013, pass on the mantle to you, we would like to share some thoughts. You must be ready for everything that being the leaders of The Martlet involves. You will face great scrutiny over your comments, particularly those written the night before a deadline and those proven wrong in subsequent global elections. You will be the subject of many brutal attacks from rival papers, particularly when those attacks are aided by traitors within our editorial board. You will also never be able to get people to write articles for online. The Martlet is yours to take in your own direction, but as you go into the future, we hope you do not forget The Martlet’s past. There are our collected of musings on the last four years.

Pre-2013 The Martlet was very different: a thin and glossy collection of ideas with a tendency to use the reflection effect on pictures. The paper gradually ebbed away with a lack of content and readership, increased when Mr Boyd went on sabbatical, and it could have died out altogether. Yet in September 2013, Miss Williamson came to the school with a mission to revive the school newspaper using a carefully selected team of people who happened to all be in her GCSE English class and did not have anything to do on Thursday afternoons.

The first meetings took place in the Sixth Form common room of Boyd’s (Morgan’s if you are a Middle Schooler),

a hangover from the former era. They tended to involve about six people and we would go around the room and talk about ideas for articles we could write.

In a trend very different to today, the said articles would often be written by the next week and single authors could take up on average four pages, an honour which nowadays is given only to Ben Fffrench.

As more content was produced we roped in a team of Sixth Formers who between them seemed to run the paper, even though our first editor did not last until the first issue was printed. The paper then had a design team and there were many Yeo-Jeffreys debates over curly brackets, Witney HTF and the appropriate number of columns. Fortunately we were able to come to an agreement and then had a brilliant, uniform design. Unfortunately, George would never follow this uniform design in his subsequent work on the paper. After half a year the first issue was printed.

Many key developments have occurred since then. The rest of the year found out that The Martlet could be used for Duke of Edinburgh and we had a great boom in articles about sport. Edward Turner-Fussell proposed a running feature of four pages about the history of battleships for every issue. This was rejected. Edward soon left. Soon we had writers from all years joining The Martlet and Nick learned all of their names.

One running feature throughout every issue has been the ingenious humour of Henry Waterson, taking on the persona of Dudley, answering the questions

of various members of the school over the last few years. He has achieved great acclaim and much petting as a result of this. Last year, I was in Miss Lusk’s office and I saw the wall of framed Dudley articles and it made me feel so proud of what The Martlet has done in its time.

What started out as a clandestine cabal of only a handful of fourth year students from Miss Williamson’s English class has now evolved to become, without a doubt, Abingdon’s leading and most venerable newspaper, populated by pupils from all years (mainly from Miss Williamson’s English class) and based in a bustling news floor in the penthouse of Greening Court ICT. The Martlet is without a doubt the most efficient engine of news, opinion and, crucially, sport, in the whole of Oxfordshire. It truly, to use Winston Churchill’s phrase, makes the political weather.

The Martlet had the foresight to predict a Labour victory in the 2015 election (Ben Ffffrench), Boris Johnson’s coronation as Conservative leader (Nick Harris) and a global recession in 2016 (Jacob Lillie). We are also the best place to go for news as it happens, reporting in our own particular way events that have happened between two to four months before our publication date. In this way we like to think that if you haven’t heard enough about certain events from almost every other mainstream media source, you can be reminded of it by us, some time after it has happened.

We specialise in articles which read like 4th year Geography essays - not out of literary deficiency of course, but be-

cause we make an effort to cater to what our readership is familiar with.

The thing that makes The Martlet stand out is, without a doubt, its range of political voices. Bordering from the extreme, hard left, near-Communist, to sensible Telegraph one-nation Conservatism, The Martlet has, and always will have, a unique selling point in being entirely inconsistent on its view on everything from one print run to another.

This is unlike other school publications which seem to comprise of a bunch of lefties and the kind of meme-generated Yiannopoulos worshippers which can only really be found among those who have been detached from normal society for the bulk of their adolescent years.

That said, The Martlet does not do everything. We do not, for instance, engage in any kind of poetry or fiction writing in our newspaper. Admirable though newspapers which attempt this are, the results of such writing I am told are the sort of whining teenage angst found only among frustrated internet addicts.

Furthermore, we do not manufacture quite literally “fake news” headlines in order to discredit our rivals. Such action is seen for quite what it is: clearly a desperate publicity ploy by a struggling publication which has run out of cheap laughs about the hard-working Sodexo team and has taken to quite frankly libellous so-called ‘humour’ instead.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed in any way to The Martlet over the years. I am sure it will continue to be Abingdon’s School’s leading newspaper for many years to come.

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Humour

Maggie’s Muddles ADVICE

Devastated by Dudley’s departure? Maggie steps into the breach solving readers’ queries with Louis Brosnan and Alasdair Czaplewski.

Dear Maggie, I hope you can help me. You’re no Dudley, but I have faith! Also, I know I’m not as resilient as I would like to be, and have heard that you have answers for this so I must turn to you Maggie to put me straight.

I’ve been in the third year for two terms now. Back in September, I escaped the depths of the Lower School cellar and joined School House, where I have been enjoying a smug feeling of superiority because now we can get toast whenever we want it.

But ever since I threw away the white shirt to don the glorious blue of the middle school, I’ve started to change. I can’t control it, I can’t understand it - it just seems to happen! I refer to anyone in a lower-school tie as ‘first year’ regardless of their age; I go ‘awwww’ when they walk on stage at house singing; I get infuriated when I hurry down the corridors, endeavouring to get to whatever lesson I, as a third year, am inevitably late for, only to be trapped behind a herd of small children ambling along, seemingly unable to hold a straight line.

The thing that gets me, is that only last year, I would get called ‘first year’ when I was actually in second year, I would be awww’d onto stage at House Singing, and my friends and I would take up the entire path when walking and sweep up whoever stood in our way in an inexorable waist-height tide. What has happened to me, Maggie? How have I lost touch with my former self?

Yours, Anonymous ex-lower schooler.

Dear Anonymous ex-lower schooler, Your concerns are justified and, alas, the passing of time is a mystery even I cannot unravel; times change and we who are left grow old. However, I can offer you some coping mechanisms.

Firstly, you must keep a stiff upper lip and embrace your new identity. It must never be known that you were ever part of ‘lower school’. You must refer to it in inverted commas and only for ironic usage.

To the outside world it has to appear as if your life began in the third year. Prep schools are often useful in an emergency if questioned about your past. Make up somewhere in the country. You probably wore shorts. Your school’s chapel cost more than most people’s houses. Blend into the horde of Abingdon Prep alumni. It’s easy as there are so many of them; I’m sure one more will go unnoticed.

At all costs don’t revel in your younger years. They are to be noted but with mandatory regret, complemented with multiple references to how much better your teachers are now. However, do not to overcompensate. Don’t be loudest when awwwing, nor tut too overtly when caught in a contraflow that is the human equivalent of a VW beetle. Instead, be like the motorcyclist: a ghost through the crowd.

It would help if you looked to the future: with connections in older years, who knows where you might end up? Perhaps on the school council, a successful rugby player or, and only if you possess the greatest degree of skill, a Martlet editor. But beware, this journey is fraught with danger, and there is but a fine line separating a functioning member of Abingdon society and a Words and That contributor.

Finally, I would like to congratulate you on reaching the promised land of School House. While it may not set you up for life as the Green Army can, I have confidence that you will survive. I only hope that you understand that with the great power of the School House lunch queue shortcut comes great responsibility. I trust you to do what is right.

If you make it through all that my son you won’t quite be a man, but it’s something to work on isn’t it? That’s the spirit.

Maggie

The

{Landmarks}Quiz

Here are various examples of worldwide architecture, landmarks and sculptures both famous and obscure.

What are they and in which countries can they be found? Quiz by Rory Bishop.

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NEWS EDITOR Ben Ffrench

DEPUTY EDITOR Dan Alcock

FEATURES EDITOR Jacob Lillie

COPY EDITOR Henry Waterson

SPORTS EDITOR Dan Brown

DESIGN EDITORS Blake Jones Felipe Jin Li Jate Jaturanpinyo Pea Sermsuk Sam Penrose STAFF WRITERS Alex Thulin Ben Ffrench Ben Hutchinson

Blake Jones Calum Egan Calvin Liu Daniel Alcock Dan Brown Dominic Oraee Freddie Marshall Jacob Lillie Johan Nervlov Kofo Braithwaite Louis Brosnan

Nick Harris Pea Sermsuk Piers Mucklejohn Rory Bishop Sam Fenton Samuel King Scott Thomson Toby Jupp Weihan Huang William Stewart

ONLINE EDITOR George Jeffereys

Contact us at martlet@abingdon.org.uk

Printed by the Newspaper Club

ILLUSTRATOR Gianluca Cau Tait Michael Man

Initial design by Asten Yeo

Answers:

Pont Du Gard, France Biosphere, Canada New York University Campus, USA London Bridge, England EDITOR Nick Harris

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MANAGING DIRECTOR Blake Jones

Bow and Arrow, San Francisco, USA Spiral Staircase, Vatican Saint Basil’s Cathedral, Russia Martyrs Memorial, Algeria

PUBLISHER Emma Williamson

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