The Journal - Edinburgh Issue 69

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PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR 2012 » Scottish Student Journalism Awards • PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR 2012 » NUS Scotland Awards

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EDINBURGH’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

ISSUE LXVIII

SPECIAL REPORT: UNION IN CRISIS

MAX DODGES THE AXE

FRIDAY 8 MARCH 2013

“Let the team drop some points and places as they adjust” HACKER / Discussing the rewards of patience in football

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IN SPORT / 20-23

• Football: Napier 3s promoted • Squash: UoE in BUCS QF action • UoE athletes at BUCS indoors • Rocket Ronnie back for good?

• SPL: familiar faces return

IN SPORT / 22

Feud at Edinburgh University Students’ Association reaches tense climax, as embattled president and vice-president survive no-confidence votes

ONLINE

NEWS » 3

• Endgame: Max Crema and James McAsh survive campaign to oust them over alleged “gross misconduct” • Exclusive: Former VP lifts the lid on deepening rift between reps and staff brought to light by the Crema scandal

FULL COVERAGE AND ANALYSIS OF THE NO-CONFIDENCE VOTES: www.journal-online.co.uk / @EdJournal on Twitter

American football

Napier KNIGHTS

6

Glasgow TIGERS

36

2 / CONTENTS

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The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

THIS WEEK INSIDE THE JOURNAL...

Douglas Alexander The shadow foreign secretary argues for a Scottish national convention

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Edinburgh College students ‘poisoned’ Ten hospitalised at Granton campus following food poisoning outbreak in college canteen, linked to dodgy tuna sandwiches

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SCOTS TAKE LONDON BY STORM The Journal reports from London Fashion Week, where Scots designers are becoming a serious presence on the fashion scene

Find us on Facebook

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THE ANATOMY OF AUTONOMY In our continuing series on the implications of independence, a Scots academic explores the future of the welfare state in Scotland

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The Journal is published by The Edinburgh Journal Ltd., registered address TechCube, 1 Summerhall Square, Edinburgh, EH9 1PL. Registered in Scotland number SC322146. For enquiries call 0131 560 2825 or email info@ journal-online.co.uk. The Journal is a free newspaper for and written by students and graduates in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Contact us if you’d like to get involved. Printed by Morton’s Printers, Lincolnshire. Copyright © 2008 The Edinburgh Journal Ltd. Elements of this publication are distributed under a Creative Commons license - contact us for more information. Distributed by Two Heads Media, www.twoheadsmedia.co.uk. Our thanks to PSYBT, Scottish Enterprise, and all who make this publication possible.

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STUDENT POLITICS / 3

Sabbs escape the firing line Former VP: sabbs not EUSA president and vice-president survive no-confidence bid Kathryn MacPhail

Marcus Kernohan Editorial director

In Journal interview, Crema’s predecessor discusses difficult staff culture at the union

Two Edinburgh University Stu-

dents’ Association sabbatical officers this week narrowly survived a determined bid to remove them from office in the endgame of a months-long scandal over alleged “gross misconduct”.

In the dramatic denouement of an unprecedented political crisis at EUSA, motions of no-confidence against vicepresident services Max Crema and president James McAsh were put to a vote at a tense emergency general meeting on Wednesday 6 March.

Following a heated debate in the George Square Lecture Theatre, the motion fell 263-287 against, substantially below the two-thirds majority required for passage.

Speaking after the vote, Crema told The Journal he was “incredibly humbled and grateful for the support of the student body.”

He added: “I appreciate that some students are still upset, but I promise to work incredibly hard for the rest of the year for all students, no matter how they voted tonight, to improve their lives, and I hope to make it up to them.”

A motion of censure against McAsh also failed, with 105 votes in favour and 259 against. A proposed amendment upgrading the censure to a full no-confidence vote fell by a wide margin, with 388 voting against and only 44 in favour.

McAsh told The Journal: “I think it’s been fantastic how many people have turned out tonight... Obviously I’m pleased with the result; I think that the vote against no-confidencing me was overwhelming and I’m very, very grateful for that.”

The fiasco surrounding Crema’s suspension last July over “ageist” comments and allegations made in an anonymous post on his blog of widespread sexual harrassment, has rocked the union, with allegations of a cover-up and widespread outrage at their decision to seek a court order censoring a story in campus newspaper The Student.

The motions, proposed by ‘Are You Happy With EUSA?’ blogger and former Student junior editor Cameron Taylor, called on EUSA “to immediately relieve [Crema] of his duties as a Trustee, and hence his position as a Sabbatical Officer and as paid employee of EUSA”, claiming that his position “is no longer tenable, and has not been for months.”

“trusted, empowered or facilitated” at EUSA Callum Leslie Student Politics editor

Former Edinburgh University

He also argued that McAsh, as chair of EUSA’s board of trustees, should have sacked Crema, and that the president “must be held accountable for his lack of judgement and unprofessionalism.”

Responding to the failure of both motions, Taylor said: “I am overjoyed that so many people came to the meetings tonight and finally held two of our sabbatical officers to account.

“It is a sign of a healthy democracy that so many people have come to engage... I send my best to James and Max and hope they continue to carry on with their good work in their time left in office.”

The imbroglio had moved far beyond the issue of Crema’s suspension in recent weeks, with the fact that both motions also criticise unrelated political decisions by Crema and McAsh — particularly their involvement in the recent passage of EUSA policy boycotting Princess Anne’s chancellorship of the university — leading the two to argue that the bid to oust them was politically motivated.

The president’s pacifist boycott of last year’s university Remembrance Day ceremony proved controversial, prompting Falklands War veteran and mature student John Wallace to push for his sacking.

Wallace, who submitted the no-confidence amendment, told The Journal before the vote that McAsh “acted on his own beliefs, which are acceptable, but not ours... He was elected as a symbol of Edinburgh University. He should thus serve as that. As such, I feel his position is now untenable.”

The scandal has brought to light the deepening tensions between student

representatives and professional staff at EUSA, exacerbated by the widespread leaking online of documents obtained by The Student and placed under interdict by the Court of Session. In one, a senior EUSA staff member wrote that the issue “demonstrates (yet again) how dangerous it is to have totally inexperienced and almost unaccountable people in positions of responsibility and authority in an organisation that has a turnover of over £9 million.”

In another, the grievance panel which investigated complaints against Crema said that his position had become “untenable”, but admitted that they did not know how he could be removed from office.

Legal advice sought by the union concluded that there only a no-confidence vote could remove a sabbatical officer.

Crema was suspended for ten weeks in July 2012 following complaints that he made ageist remarks during and after his election campaign. While suspended, he published an anonymous post on his EUSA blog alleging routine sexual harrassment of staff in Edinburgh festival venues.

On the eve of this week’s vote, EUSA staffers — who were controversially warned that they would not be permitted to discuss their employment at the noconfidence debate — launched a blistering attack on the sabb. In a statement signed by 40 EUSA employees, staff wrote: “The very workers he claims to believe in protecting have been ignored and abused as a result of his false allegations.”

Additional reporting by Callum Leslie, Rachel Barr and John Hewitt Jones.

Students’ Association vice-president Philippa Faulkner has spoken out about the troubled union’s difficult professional culture, claiming that as a sabbatical officer she often felt sidelined by staff, and would have to resort to drastic measures to achieve her goals.

A tense relationship between elected officers and professional staff is understood to have become an increasing problem within EUSA in recent years, with the suspension last year of Faulkner’s successor as vice-president services Max Crema only the most public flashpoint. The 2011/12 sabbatical officer said she had chosen to speak out now so that candidates in the upcoming EUSA elections, for which campaigning officially opened today, were aware of the challenges they could face if elected.

In an interview with The Journal, Faulkner said that she frequently had to involve the association’s trustees in order to get her point across to staff, despite the four sabbatical officers being ultimately responsible for the strategic direction of the organisation.

She claimed the trustee board, which includes the four sabbatical officers, has become increasingly politicised as a result of the union’s fraught internal dynamics: “A lot of the time to be taken seriously I felt we had to involve the other trustees in order to have our voices heard and get things across to staff.

She added: “I had to fight political battles at a trustee board level which should not have been fought there, but I had to do that because it was the only way to get things done.”

Suggesting that EUSA’s institutional culture led to student sabbatical officers “not being trusted, empowered or facilitated”, Faulkner added that while she “took their professional advice very seriously... I didn’t feel that was reciprocated.”

In fact, she said, the association’s elected leaders were frequently sidelined by staff during her tenure: “I felt that there were times when I wasn’t as involved as I should have been in projects

that EUSA were doing because they didn’t think it was important for me to be involved and I would disagree with that assessment.

“I felt sometimes there was an attitude of not recognising that I was the elected leader of the organisation.”

A EUSA spokesperson declined to comment for this story, referring The Journal’s enquiry to the sabbatical officers. Union president James McAsh told The Journal: “We have been working hard to develop a culture where student-led democracy is taken seriously. Key decisions in EUSA should be made democratically by students, not by an unaccountable trustee board or unelected managers.”

Shortly after this story was published online, vice-president academic affairs Andrew Burnie told The Journal: “I have never felt sidelined in my time as VPAA. EUSA’s staff are there to support sabbs and bring experience to the table that a sabbatical, elected for a one-year term, just doesn’t have. I could not have achieved as much this year without staff input.

“I can’t comment for the experience of an ex-sabbatical but EUSA is a constantly-changing organisation and I’ve always felt supported by our staff.”

Faulkner also admitted she was unsurprised that one senior EUSA staffer had said that it was “dangerous” to have elected students in charge at EUSA, saying: those views represented “the more extreme end of the attitudes that I encountered, but that it doesn’t surprise me that that has been said.”

Addressing the ongoing Crema scandal, she said she sympathised with the controversial sabb’s feeling that after he, McAsh and vice-president societies and activities Hazel Marzetti had all raised the issue of sexual harrassment with EUSA’s commercial management it had nonetheless not been dealt with.

“I wish I had been stronger on certain issues, and I wish I’d taken more drastic action earlier and spoken out at the time in order to make issues public,” she said.

“I wish I had been stronger on certain issues. I can understand his frustration at not feeling like his concerns were listened to or taken on board.”

Brittany Brown elected HWUSU president Brown, who ran on platform of accountability and improving mental health support, garners over 50 per cent of vote Callum Leslie Student Politics editor

Heriot-Watt University Students’ Union (HWUSU) has elected

its new president, with favourite Brittany Brown taking more than 50 per cent of the first preference votes and winning in the first round.

Brown stood on a platform of increasing accountability, mental health provision and study space that saw her attract 711 votes.

The turnout for the presidential

election was just over 17 per cent.

Brown triumphed over Conor Murray-Gauld, who received 337 votes, and Lily Hendron who received 233.

Becky O’Hagan was successful in the election for vice-president, taking 653 votes to Katie Cassidy’s 494.

Jonathon Andrews completes the sabbatical line-up as president of the borders campus, taking 81 votes in an uncontested race on a turnout of 14 per cent.

Commenting on her election,

president-elect Brittany Brown said: “It is a great honour to be elected by the students here at Heriot-Watt, to the role of Student Union president: it’s an exciting time to be at HeriotWatt, expectations are high and next year promises to be no different! I am looking forward to working alongside an officer as astute as Becky [vice-president elect]: together, we will deliver on our policies, ensuring accountability, student engagement & equality are at our very core.”

Conor Murray-Gauld was magnan-

imous in defeat after losing the presidential contest, posting a statement on Facebook saying: “Thank you to everyone who supported me, sadly I lost, but I’m proud of everything I achieved and the campaign I ran... it was just fantastic to engage with over 1000 students, and challenge the status quo.

Make my points known and stand up for what I believed in.”

Brittany Brown will succeed Mike Ross, who has served the maximum of two terms as president and was elected unopposed for his second term.

4 / STUDENT NEWS

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EdCol students ‘poisoned’ Campaign begins Poisonous tuna in Edinburgh College canteen puts 10 in hospital at troubled EUSA Gareth Llewellyn & Greg Bianchi

Students and staff at Edinburgh

College were rushed to hospital after eating tuna fish sandwiches at the Granton campus.

An Edinburgh College student told The Journal that students began to feel ill after eating the sandwiches around 12:30pm on Thursday 28 February with some showing clear signs of swollen glands, rashes and visionary impairment.

Speaking to The Journal, an Edinburgh College Students’ Association spokesperson said: “The college’s response to the outbreak was appropriate and well coordinated.

“The contaminated area was quickly identified. The students’ association was regularly updated on the developments and [we] were on site to support students who were affected.”

The Scottish Ambulance Service and Lothian and Borders police confirmed they attended the campus with six ambulances and an incident unit deployed with the college’s hair and beauty and eating areas shut down by 2:30pm as the college initiated a rapid response to contain the problem with emergengy services gone by 3pm.

No fewer than 10 students and staff are understood to have been affected with the possibility of further casualties not yet known to the college or emer-

gency services.

Some students were affected to different levels, with some people who had eaten sandwiches not knowingly affected at the time paramedics attended the site.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman confirmed to The Journal that at least six students had been taken to hospital.

Despite the Students’ Association’s statement that the response was Speaking to The Journal, Edinburgh College lecturer Dr Donny Gluckstein raised concern about the impact on proposed college management cuts. He said: “There were some concerns raised regarding a delay in the calling of ambulances after some staff and students fell ill at about 1pm and ambulances were called at about 2pm.

“There are concerns about cuts to the number of safety officers, currently one per campus but as a result of the merger and a 60 per cent reduction in management staff this could result in fewer Health and Safety officers.

“This is further emphasised by an event at the Sighthill campus last week which resulted in a student being trapped in a lift close to the end of the day - alarm failed to work and some smoke came through the panels.”

It is understood that one student fainted and fell down stairs at the campus, the extent of the injuries are

unknown.

A college source told The Journal that it is believed the problem originated with the supplier of the tuna and environmental health officers were satisfield with the processes and high standards of food hygiene in the college kitchens and removed a sample of sandwiches for testing.

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, a college spokesperson said: “An isolated incident occurred this afternoon at Granton Campus of Edinburgh College, where a small number of students and staff suffered an allergic reaction.

“The incident is currently under investigation, but it is believed that this may be linked to a batch of tuna sandwiches.

“An ambulance team from Scottish Ambulance Service attended to a small number of patients on site, who responded well to treatment. Almost all have been admitted to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, for observation.”

Toxins in spoiled tuna are known to produce symptoms similar to allergic reactions with histamine fish poisoning (HFP), a chemical intoxication that occurs after eating bacterially contaminated fish, a common occurrence.

NHS Lothian could not confirm that HFP is to blame and those admitted to hospital were released on Friday evening.

Dozens of candidates in 2013/14 elections Callum Leslie Student Politics editor

The

Edinburgh

University

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Students’ Association (EUSA) elections officially kicked off on Monday at noon for the four union sabbatical positions, as well as a host of other positions within the association.

As the clock struck twelve, student politicians converged on the Teviot Row House union building, Bristo Square and university campuses to cover every inch of allowable space with posters. At the same time, Facebook pages, web sites and videos sprang up as the campaign now begins in earnest.

Some nominees chose not to wait for the beginning of the campaign period, with Fiona Das and Jacob Bloomfield both launching websites and videos hours before on Sunday evening. It remains unclear if they will face any sanctions for this.

As posters and stickers went up, some candidates expressed concern at their banners being covered by their opponents’, though Briana Pegado was the only candidate to put her posters out of bounds in George Square.

EUSA has managed to avoid a repeat of last year’s controversy, when many campaigners put up election materials outside the allowed areas and were forced to remove them.

The candidates now have ten days to campaign and win over students, with voting commencing next Tuesday and results announced on the Thursday evening.

The race to succeed incumbent union president James McAsh is hotly contested, with Mike Shaw of Defend Edinburgh, Hugh Murdoch of Labour, far-left activist Liam O’Hare, international action group convener Briana Pegado and business school rep Sian Robertson fighting it out.

Societies convener Arron Ashton, Defend Edinburgh’s Nadia Mehdi, Conservative society vice-president Ashley Squire and former BLOGS president Sophie Tolley will vie for the position of vice-president (societies and activities), while Labouraffiliated Claire Rackley will battle Defend Edinburgh’s Alex Munyard for the vice-president (academic affairs) role.

The election for vice-president (services) sees charity campaigner Kirsty Haigh, Defend Edinburgh’s Jacob Bloomfield, former school rep Fraser Graham and former Exchange 360 president Fiona Das running for the position.

Recent scandals at the students’ association are already becoming a core issue in the election campaigns, with a number of candidates standing on platforms of “reclaiming” the union, to “take back EUSA” or make “a new EUSA.” The motions of no-confidence in union president James McAsh and vice-president Max Crema are also expected to influence the campaign. Candidates — even Crema and

ANALYSIS /

DESPITE EUSA’S TROUBLES, A CROWDED FIELD EMERGES

So as the EUSA elections are underway, all the pieces are set for an intriguing set of races.

In the presidential contest Hugh Murdoch is considered the front-runner, continuing the great EUSA tradition of standing twice, however Mike Shaw and the Defend Edinburgh campaign machine are formidable and have had great success in the last two years. Liam O’Hare is also not to be counted out due with his high activist profile on campus, and Briana Pegado’s campaign looking to capitalise on students’ current negative views of EUSA. Sian Robertson is something of an unknown quantity, but hard work and lots of voter contact always do well.

Vice-president (academic affairs) is a straight fight between Defend Edinburgh’s Alex Munyard, also running for the second time, and Labour affiliated Claire Rackley, who has been heavily involved in EUSA for many years. Two well oiled campaign teams go head to head here, though Rackley scored an earlier victory in the poster battles by putting up a banner.

In the VP services race many believe that Defend Edinburgh’s Jacob Bloomfield and ex-Defend Edinburgh candidate Kirsty Haigh stand the best chance, however Fiona Das has society connections which always helps candidates and Fraser Graham has a good amount of previous EUSA involvement.

Societies and activities provides possibly the closest race on paper. Sophie Tolley has been very organised and is incorporating many of the elements of Hazel Marzetti’s successful campaign from last year that she worked on. Nadia Medhi of course has the Defend Edinburgh support, but surprisingly Arron Ashton did not put any posters up at the start of campaigning. Ashley Squire, who has a host of societies connections, had a decent sized team out that shows he is no pushover.

McAsh’s Defend Edinburgh allies — are hesitant to take sides in the row.

McAsh commented on the elections, saying: “I’m really excited to see so many people running on such a wide variety of issues. This is what students’ unions are about: committed students who want to make positive change. Democracy is the lifeblood of students’ unions. It’s great to see it flourishing at Edinburgh this week.”

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STUDENT NEWS// 5

Prof defends principals’ pay Students fed cocaine in parliamentary hearing in university study Prominent Edinburgh academic defends generous remuneration

King’s College London pay participants in trial

Hannah Dowe Standring Student News editor

Molly Hunt

A University of Edinburgh pro-

fessor has defended the high salaries enjoyed by university principals.

Professor Stuart Monro stated that he feared that the University of Edinburgh would find it difficult to appoint a new principal of ‘top class’ quality when the time came, given that the salaries of principals have not seen a rise in the past four years.

Prof Monro, a prominent geologist who holds a number of positions in Edinburgh’s scientific community, including Scientific Director at Our Dynamic Earth and a Non-Executive Director of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, is currently a visiting professor in the University of Edinburgh’s School of Geo-Sciences and Vice-Convener of Edinburgh University Court.

The comments regarding rates of pay to university principals came as Prof Monro gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s education committee, in which he expressed doubt that an appropriate principal could be secured “on the salary we pay the

prime minister.”

Prof Monro also suggested that the freezing of principals’ salaries in the last few years was a response “to an attitude that’s around at the present time”.

Although Prof Monro admitted that he was in no position to judge what the appropriate salary for David Cameron should be, he went on to say that: “I think I am in a position to judge the sort of salary that a principal of a university, with a turnover of something in excess of £700 million a year, should actually be paid.”

Currently, the principal of the University of Edinburgh, Prof Sir Timothy O’Shea, has a salary of £227,000, almost £100,000 more than that of the prime minister, and is consequently one of the highest paid principals in Scotland.

Scottish National Party MSP Joan McAlpine refuted Prof Monro’s suggestions that university principals’ salaries were reasonable and necessary, noting that: “a lot of people are sceptical about principals’ salaries at a time when things are really tough for students and ordinary staff”.

She also suggested that, given Prof Monro’s comments, perhaps university

chairs did not inhabit the same planet as everyone else.

A university spokesperson pointed to the freezing of the principal’s salary for the previous four years showed that the university was “acutely aware” of the need not to allow public sector pay to spiral out of control.

King’s College London (KCL) emailed students last week asking them to take cocaine as part of a research trial.

The email sent to both undergraduates and postgraduates stated that the study was looking for healthy male volunteers aged 25 – 40 “to take part in the clinical study involving nasal administration of cocaine.”

The purpose of the research trial is a comparison of novel detection methods of cocaine. The research trial is being run by the Department of Forensic Science and Drug Monitoring at KCL and will be overseen by the Clinical Toxicology Department at St Thomas’ Hospital London.

Participants must be healthy and not recreational drug users. Medical and dental students are also banned from participating in the study. Participants will be asked not to cut or dye their hair during the 120 days of the study follow up period.

The trial requires a preliminary visit to check suitability, the main experiment and then five more visits at which biological samples of blood, urine, sweat, hair and saliva to be taken.

The email states the benefits of taking part in this study “There is no direct

benefit from taking part. Reasonable financial compensation will be made for your time, effort and expenses incurred from completing the study.”

A spokesperson for KCL spoke of the importance of the study saying: “This is an important scientific study to investigate how cocaine and its metabolites are spread through the human body. All the relevant ethical approvals were received for this study. The study will be conducted under the highest level of medical supervision in a dedicated clinical research suite.”

While the study has been ethically approved, a research trial of this kind does bring into question the implications of paying students to take potentially harmful substances.

Cocaine stimulates the nervous system and initially can increase alertness and competence, however the drug can also cause anxiety, paranoia, restlessness and supresses appetite. Its effects include addiction, which can lead to severe damage to nostril cartilage and also a danger of overdose.

Cocaine is a class A drug in the UK and with an estimated 700,000 people said to have used cocaine in 2012 it is the second most popular drug in the UK after cannabis.

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New EUSA crisis: chip portions cut Union discover they have been serving double portions for two and a half years Hannah Dowe Standring Student News editor

Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) have down-

sized their chip portions in venues including Teviot after apparently serving double portion sizes for the last two-anda-half years.

Students contacted The Journal after being served what seemed to them a decreased amount of chips in Teviot in comparison to the usual portions.

After enquiring about this to staff, the manager apologised and went away to investigate the matter.

Following this, the students were informed that portion control has now been increased after venues have been serving twice as much as they should have been for at least the last two years, so to rectify this have now halved the portion sizes, while keeping the price the same.

Speaking to The Journal, a student affected said “I don’t know how I feel right now, I’m just really confused.”

Gram for gram it is now cheaper to buy chips from a Bristo Square area chip-shop than from university venues.

The quality and price of hot and cold food in EUSA outlets is clearly

an important issue for students; three of the 17 motions in the recent referendum centred around improving one of these two criteria.

However, in the wake of the referendum results, in which one of the few motions passed referred to the lowering of food and drink prices in EUSA venues, and this latest episode, questions now arise as to whether this will be possible without having a detrimental effect on either the quality or quantity of the food itself.

A second referendum question on the need to review catering menus across the university outlets to ensure consistency was not passed, failing to reach the 1,500 figure needed to be quorate by 27 votes.

Ian Britton

6 / LOCAL NEWS

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The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

Archbishop of St Andrews Horsemeat scandal hits Edinburgh schools and Edinburgh resigns and care homes Cardinal resigns amid allegations of ‘improper conduct’ since 1980s Tested products reveal presence of horsemeat Mike Walmsley

The Archbishop of Edinburgh and

St Andrews has resigned amid allegations of improper sexual conduct.

Cardinal O’Brien has been accused by three priests and one former priest of ‘inappropriate contact’ in claims reaching back 30 years.

Acknowledging the claims, he admitted that “there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal.”

The anonymous allegations came less than a month before O’Brien was due to retire on his 75th birthday. He submitted his resignation to the Vatican in November citing ill health among his reasons for going. The resignation has been accepted early in light of recent allegations.

As the most senior member of the Catholic Church in the UK, O’Brien was to be the only British cardinal able to vote in the upcoming papal election following the shock resignation of Pope Benedict XVI..

The cardinal’s sudden departure comes as a surprise to the Scottish Catholic community, within which

O’Brien was a popular figure thanks, in part, for his role in the papal visit to Scotland. Edinburgh University’s Catholic Student Union (CSU) told The Journal that in their experience the cardinal was always a friendly man and a great patron of their society who has served the church very well. The union has shown sadness over his departure, particularly within the circumstances given.

The cardinal is regaled by the CSU for being ‘courageous’ and a ‘speaker of the truth’ due to his voicing of unpopular opinions. O’Brien’s opposition to priestly celibacy contrasted sharply with his staunchly traditional views on euthanasia, abortion, and particularly on sexual equality. Gay rights charity Stonewall named O’Brien ‘Bigot of the Year’ in 2012 for his opposition to samesex marriage and adoption.

Speaking to The Journal, campaigning group Secular Scotland has said: “The Catholic Church should recognise from the persistent nature of the abuse scandals and the public outrage over their response, the time has come to openly face the consequences of years of obfuscation over widespread and serious abuses within the church.

The place for such openness is within secular law.”

Sexual equality groups also hope for new beginnings. The Equality Network said in a statement:“the Catholic Church does a huge amount of good work on issues like poverty, and it’s a shame that this important work is so often overshadowed by its position on issues of sexuality.” Colin Macfarlane, director of Stonewall Scotland, said “we hope that his successor will show a little more Christian charity towards openly gay people than the former cardinal did himself.”

Maria Carolan

Edinburgh City Council has been

forced to withdraw frozen beef supplies from schools and care homes after horse DNA was discovered in a frozen burger.

The burger, from a major supplier that provides food products to all of Scotland’s councils, was found to contain horse DNA after testing positive at Cumbernauld High School, North Lanarkshire last week.

On the instruction of procurement firm Scotland Excel, beef burgers had already been removed from the menu in Edinburgh’s schools and care homes — this request has now been expanded to include all products containing beef.

A city council spokesperson commented prior to the withdrawal of all beef products that the beef burgers had been pulled from schools and council canteens “as a precaution…until further information is available”.

They added that “scientists at the council’s Edinburgh Scientific Services laboratory are continuing their sampling programme of meat products supplied to the council and our enquiries so far have shown no cause for concern.”

Meanwhile, the Scottish Green Party has called for action from government

ministers upon the news of this discovery.

Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for Lothian and food spokesperson for the Scottish Green Party has said: “The Environment Secretary-- is failing to reassure the public, in particular, parents whose children eat school meals. Ministers seem to be putting faith in a new food standards agency for Scotland, but that won’t happen overnight so they must act sooner to localise our convoluted supply chains.”

The latest test results released by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) revealed that six products out of a total 1,133 checked tested positive for horsemeat at a higher level than 1 per cent.

These products, which included Aldi’s frozen beef lasagne and frozen spaghetti bolognaise, Tesco’s Everyday Value spaghetti bolognaise and frozen beef burgers, and Co-op frozen quarter-pounders among others, have all since been pulled from shelves.

The procurement firm Scotland Excel has instructed local authorities and public sector customers “not to use any current stocks they hold of frozen beef products, including frozen beef mince, or order any new stocks until the outcome of further, detailed investigations is established... as a precautionary measure.”

1 0% STUD

EN DISCOU T NT on all labou r

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NATIONAL POLITICS / 7

SNP’s EU-Turn on union application After months of denial, deputy first minister confirms independent Scotland would have to apply for EU membership Gareth Llewellyn Deputy managing editor

The SNP has conceded that an independent Scotland would have to apply for EU membership.

After months of denial, is the first time that the party has accepted it would not automatically inherit the same membership terms as the UK. With the issue of membership playing out publicly in the last 12 months, the SNP made the announcement in Brussels.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it would aim to retain the same membership terms as the UK. She had previously insisted Scotland would inherit the same deal, including Britain’s opt-out from the euro single currency.

Speaking at the European Policy Centre think-tank, Sturgeon said Scotland would immediately issue a notification of intent to negotiate membership if Scotland votes for independence in next year’s referendum.

She said: “We would begin as a nation keen to be an equal and constructive partner in the EU – recognising its benefits; participating in dialogue about its future; and contributing to its development and growth.

“And we would begin seeking to apply the principle of continuity of effect: in other words, on issues like the euro, Schengen and the rebate, our aim would

be to retain the prevailing terms of Scotland’s membership.”

Her announcement during her speech completes a dramatic U-Turn for the Scottish government from its position in the last year when ministers, including Sturgeon, insisted an independent Scotland would automatically retain EU membership on the same terms as the UK. She added: “This divergence of views between Scotland and elsewhere in the UK is not a recent or short-term phenomenon.

“While I would not suggest that it doesn’t exist at all, it is nevertheless the case that euroscepticism has never had the same potency in Scotland as it does in parts of England.”

In London, the Scotland Office said: “The deputy first minister’s speech finally acknowledges that an independent Scotland would have to notify the EU ahead of negotiations and accession would need agreement of all member countries. This is a major concession.”

International law experts, Professors James Crawford and Alan Boyle published legal opinion last week confirming the growing consensus that Scotland would have to create a new set of domestic and international arrangements.

Their report said: “Negotiations would need to take place with the UK government on any requests to retain UK wide arrangements on matters such as a currency union, financial regulation and national security. An independent Scot-

land would also need to negotiate with the European Union to agree new terms and conditions.”

Latvia’s foreign minister, Edgar Rinkevics, has also said Scotland would have to apply for membership as a new state.

His country will take over the EU presidency in 2015, and his thoughts echo those of foreign affairs ministers in Ireland and the Czech Republic.

Advocate general, Lord Wallace, said: “The position of the European Union is unique in many ways - it has its own body of law, its own institutions, and in that sense is unlike any other international organisation – it is a ‘new legal order of international law’.

“Nevertheless, Professors Boyle and Crawford point out, it is an international organisation, and in the absence of any specific provision in its rules to the contrary, a new state, such as Scotland, would not join automatically on separation from an existing member state.

“There is no explicit treaty provision for this process in the EU’s own membership rules, and so there is no reason to think that Scotland would be entitled to join without some form of accession process, and therefore no basis on which Scotland could somehow automatically inherit the UK’s existing opt-outs.”

By contrast, the remaining makeup of the UK would not be obliged to renegotiate any of its existing international treaties or memberships.

Scottish Government

Abbeyhill

P R O P E R T Y L I S T I N G S P R O V I D E D BY W W W. C I T Y L E T S . CO. U K

Property

Spring Gardens, 695, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 9424 Moray Park Terrace, 680, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 9560 Waverley Park, 525, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9424 Spring Gardens, 515, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9422 Lyne Street, 500, 1, 1D O, 0844 635 9679 Royal Park Terrace, 1115, 4, 1S 3D, 0844 635 3700

Broughton Broughton Road, 725, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 9446 Broughton Road, 650, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9424 Broughton Road, 560, 1, 1D E Z, 0844 635 9679 Blandfield, 1300, 4, 4D G PG P, 0844 635 9314 East London Street, 1050, 3, 3D G PG Z, 0844 635 9460

Brunstfield Montpelier Park, 995, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9324 Montpelier, 825, 3, 3D G O, 0844 635 9302 Bruntsfield Place, 2460, 6, G Z, 0844 635 9679 Leamington Place, 2250, 5, 5D G CG O, 0844 635 9302 Bruntsfield Place, 2100, 5, 5D G CG Z, 0844 635 9592 Leamington Terrace, 2005, 6, 4S 2D G Z, 0844 635 9322 Leamington Terrace, 1940, 5, 5D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Bruntsfield Place, 1855, 5, 1S 4D, 0844 635 3700 Montpelier Park, 1640, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Viewforth, 1600, 4, 1S 3D 1B G CG Z, 0844 635 9592 Montpelier Park, 1400, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9424 Viewforth, 1365, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Barclay Place, 1350, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Montpelier Park, 1340, 4, 1S 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9362 Bruntsfield Gardens, 1235, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Bruntsfield Place, 1170, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 9316 Gilmore Place, 1150, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 9314 Valleyfield Street, 1095, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9322 Merchiston Bank Avenue, 1080, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Montpelier Park, 1050, 3, 1S 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9424 Viewforth, 1050, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Viewforth, 1050, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 9314 Forbes Road, 1005, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9320 Gillespie Street, 1005, 3, 3S G O, 0844 635 9322

City Centre East London Street, 960, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9424 Blair Street, 850, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 2287 South Bridge, 760, 2, 2D E, 0844 635 3931 Cowgate, 725, 2, G Z, 0844 635 9679 Candlemaker Row, 695, 1, E, 0844 635 9679 Shaws Square, 650, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9320 Candlemaker Row, 600, 1, , 0844 635 9679 West Crosscauseway, 600, 1, G Z, 0844 635 9679 Bread Street, 550, 1, 1D 1B, 0844 635 9679 Candlemaker Row, 2850, 6, E, 0844 635 9679 Forrest Road, 2850, 6, E, 0844 635 9679 South Bridge, 2000, 5, 5D G, 0844 635 9302 South Bridge, 2000, 5, 5D G CG, 0844 635 9302 South Bridge, 2000, 5, 5D G, 0844 635 9302 South Bridge, 2000, 5, 5D G, 0844 635 9302 South Bridge, 2000, 5, 5D G, 0844 635 9302 South Bridge, 2000, 5, 5D G, 0844 635 9302 Bank Street, 1838, 5, 5D E Z, 0844 635 9316 Candlemaker Row, 1800, 4, E, 0844 635 9679 Union Street, 1640, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9302 Hillside Street, 1600, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 3337 Hillside Crescent, 1500, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9679 George Street, 1440, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9478 Lauriston Street, 1400, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9302 Forrest Road, 1295, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9322 Hopetoun Street, 1170, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 9424

Oxford Street, 1100, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 3931

Dalry Murieston Crescent, 990, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Dalry Road, 975, 3, G, 0844 635 9314 Cathcart Place, 960, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Dalry Gait, 775, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 9592 Caledonian Crescent, 680, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 9560 Caledonian Place, 675, 2, 2D E CG O, 0844 635 9468 Cathcart Place, 595, 2, 2D 2B W CG Z, 0844 635 9312 Dalry Road, 575, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9322 Cathcart Place, 570, 1, 1D, 0844 635 3700 Dalry Road, 525, 1, 1D G CG Z, 0844 635 1424 Downfield Place, 495, 1, 1D E Z, 0844 635 9312 Caledonian Place, 1050, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9679 Caledonian Road, 1050, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Dalry Road, 1030, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Murieston Crescent, 1005, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Murieston Crescent, 1005, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Caledonian Road, 1000, 3, 3D, 0844 635 9316

Easter Road Drum Terrace, 960, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 St. Clair Road, 750, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 6872 West Norton Place, 670, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Maryfield Place, 660, 2, 1S 1D, 0844 635 3700 Edina Street, 620, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Easter Road, 595, 2, 1S 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9488 Rossie Place, 550, 2, 1S 1D G, 0844 635 6872 Bothwell Street, 540, 1, 1D 1B G CG O, 0844 635 9448 Elliot Street, 535, 1, 1D G, 0844 635 3330 Albion Terrace, 520, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9328 Edina Place, 515, 1, 1D G, 0844 635 3330 Albion Road, 495, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9460 Rossie Place, 475, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9434 Rossie Place, 1400, 4, 4D G PG O, 0844 635 9302 Cadzow Place, 1350, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Easter Road, 1250, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Easter Road, 1140, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Easter Road, 1000, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Easter Road, 1000, 3, 2S 1D, 0844 635 3700

Fountainbridge West Bryson Road, 750, 2, 2D E P, 0844 635 9679 Dundee Street, 475, 1, 1D G Z, 0844 635 9322 Gilmore Place, 2220, 6, 6D G CG O, 0844 635 9302 Bryson Road, 1280, 4, 4D G CG O, 0844 635 9679

Gorgie Gorgie Road, 990, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Gorgie Road, 960, 3, 3D G PG O, 0844 635 9679 Westfield Court, 930, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9302 Westfield Court, 850, 3, 1S 2D G O, 0844 635 9560 Alexander Drive, 675, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 9320 Westfield Street, 650, 2, CG O, 0844 635 9679 Stewart Terrace, 575, 1, 1D G P, 0844 635 1312 Stewart Terrace, 535, 1, 1D G, 0844 635 3330 Westfield Road, 530, 1, 1D G O, 0844 635 9478 Watson Crescent, 500, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 1312 Wardlaw Place, 495, 1, 1D, 0844 635 6450 Westfield Road, 495, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9334 Mcleod Street, 485, 1, 1D, 0844 635 9560 Robertson Avenue, 475, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 2287 Wardlaw Place, 475, 1, 1D E CG O, 0844 635 9464

Grassmarket West Port, 750, 2, 1D, 0844 635 6872 Grassmarket, 725, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 6872

West Bow, 625, 1, 1D E Z, 0844 635 9302 St Marys Street, 1295, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 West Port, 1130, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700

A USERS GUIDE TO CITYLETS LISTINGS

Haymarket Torphichen Street, 975, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9320 Torphichen Street, 2125, 5, 5D G, 0844 635 3330 Grove Street, 1900, 5, 2S 3D, 0844 635 3700 Morrison Street, 1400, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Duff Street, 1175, 3, 3D G CG P, 0844 635 2287 Morrison Circus, 1100, 3, 3D E CG P, 0844 635 9322 Upper Grove Place, 1010, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700

Meadows

Area Agent phone number

Buccleuch Street, 750, 2, 2D W CG Z, 0870 062 9434

Bedrooms Monthly Rent

Holyrood

Location

Nether Craigwell, 895, 1, G CG P, 0844 635 9679 Viewcraig Gardens, 1400, 4, 4D G O, 0844 635 9302 Viewcraig Street, 1400, 4, 2S 2D G, 0844 635 3330 South Bridge, 1080, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9478 Viewcraig Street, 1050, 3, 3D W CG O, 0844 635 9679

Bedrooms: Heating: Garden: Parking: Furniture:

S Single D Double T Twin B Box G Gas Central W White Meter E Electric PG Private CG Communal Z Zone O On-Street P Private UF Unfurnished

Leith Walk Dalmeny Street, 930, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Dalmeny Street, 855, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Leith Walk, 825, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Leith Walk, 735, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Brunswick Street, 700, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9340 Stead’s Place, 650, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 9300 Dickson Street, 625, 2, 2D W CG O, 0844 635 9312 Iona Street, 625, 2, 1S 1D G O, 0844 635 0859 Cameron Court, Leith Walk, 550, 1, 1D E, 0844 635 3330 Albert Street, 525, 1, 1D E CG O, 0844 635 9312 Smith’s Place, 520, 1, G PG P, 0844 635 9316 Dickson Street, 495, 1, 1D 1B G CG O, 0844 635 3920 Elm Row, 2200, 5, 5D G Z, 0844 635 9302 Leith Walk, 2145, 6, 6D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Antigua Street, 1760, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9679 Haddington Place, 1590, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Croall Place, 1340, 4, 1S 3D, 0844 635 3700 Leith Walk, 1200, 5, 5D, 0844 635 3700 Brunswick Place, 1200, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Elm Row, 1185, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Leith Walk, 1135, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Haddington Place, 1115, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Dicksonfield, 1110, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 9302 Leith Walk, 1100, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Allanfield, 1095, 3, 3D P, 0844 635 9460 Arthur Street, 1050, 3, 3D G O, 0844 635 9679 Leith Walk, 1020, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700

Leith Kirk Street, 960, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Duke Street, 950, 3, 3D G O, 0844 635 9424 Great Junction Street, 950, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Bernard Street, 930, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Easter Road, 930, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Easter Road, 930, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Hawkhill Close, 930, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 2287 Hawkhill Close, 925, 3, 3D G CG P, 0844 635 2287 Dickson Street, 915, 3, 3D O, 0844 635 3700 Easter Road, 900, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 McDonald Road, 900, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 9592 Chancelot Terrace, 885, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Kirk Street, 885, 3, 1S 2D G CG O, 0844 635 9679 Madeira Street, 875, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Leith Walk, 875, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Portland Place, 875, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Great Junction Street, 850, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Great Junction Street, 850, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Leith Walk, 850, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Easter Road, 825, 3, 2S 1D, 0844 635 3700 Great Junction Street, 805, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700

Easter Road, 775, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Balfour Place, 725, 2, 2D E, 0844 635 3330 Easter Road, 720, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Constitution Street, 700, 3, 2S 1D G O, 0844 635 3337 Edina Street, 695, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Hermitage Park, 690, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Springfield Street, 675, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 9320 Portland Terrace, 670, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Taylor Place, 670, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Ferry Road, 660, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Fox Street, 660, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Great Junction Street, 650, 2, 2D, 0844 Leith Walk, 1250, 5, 1S 4D, 0844 635 3700 Easter Road, 1240, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Gladstone Place, 1200, 5, 5D, 0844 635 3700 Leith Walk, 1160, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Pitt Street, 1125, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Ferry Road, 1060, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 3700

Marchmont Marchmont Crescent, 960, 3, 3S G O, 0844 635 9302 Roseneath Place, 945, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Gladstone Terrace, 800, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9392 Roseneath Street, 800, 2, 2D E CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Roseneath Terrace, 720, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9320 Livingstone Place, 650, 2, G CG Z, 0844 635 9422 Warrender Park Road, 2200, 5, 5D G CG O, 0844 635 9302 Findhorn Place, 1850, 5, 5D, 0844 635 3700 Strathfillan Road, 1770, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9302 Marchmont St, 1760, 4, 1S 3D G, 0844 635 3330 Warrender Park Road, 1760, 4, 4D G, 0844 635 3330 Marchmont Crescent, 1720, 4, 1S 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9679 Warrender Park Road, 1715, 5, 5D G Z, 0844 635 9316 Thirlestane Road, 1680, 4, G Z, 0844 635 9322 Thirlestane Road, 1620, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9302 Spottiswoode Road, 1605, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Marchmont Road, 1600, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9478 Roseneath Terrace, 1600, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9302 Thirlestane Road, 1560, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9302 Thirlestane Road, 1560, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9302 Thirlestane Road, 1560, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9302 Marchmont Crescent, 1540, 4, 3S 1D, 0844 635 3700 Roseneath Street, 1520, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9478 Roseneath Terrace, 1500, 4, 1S 3D 2B G CG Z, 0844 635 9592 Marchmont Street, 1400, 4, 4D, 0844 635 9322 Warrender Park Road, 1350, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 3330 Thirlestane Road, 1320, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9478 Warrender Park Road, 1295, 3, 1S 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9460 Marchmont Crescent, 1290, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9362 Marchmont Road, 1290, 3, 3D G O, 0844 635 9302

Marchmont Road, 1280, 4, 1S 3D G O, 0844 635 9560 Gladstone Terrace, 1230, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9478 Marchmont Road, 1230, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Marchmont Crescent, 1185, 3, 3D G O, 0844 635 9322 Thirlestane Road, 1180, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9314 Spottiswoode Street, 1170, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 9314 Sylvan Place, 1145, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9322 Marchmont Crescent, 1135, 3, 3D E CG O, 0844 635 9322 Roseneath Place, 1135, 3, 2S 1D, 0844 635 3700 Moncrieff Terrace, 1130, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9362 Arden Street, 1125, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9320 Warrender Park Road, 1110, 3, 3D, 0844 635 9320 Marchmont Street, 1080, 3, 1S 2D G PG O, 0844 635 9302 Marchmont Crescent, 1050, 3, 2D 1B E CG Z, 0844 635 9592 Marchmont Road, 1000, 2, 2D G PG Z, 0844 635 2214

Meadows Moncrieff Terrace, 795, 2, , 0844 635 9679 Melville Terrace, 2700, 6, 6D G Z, 0844 635 9679 Melville Terrace, 2700, 6, 6D G Z, 0844 635 9679 Lauriston Gardens, 1700, 4, 4D G, 0844 635 9314 Argyle Place, 1320, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9679

Merchiston Abbotsford Court, 800, 3, 3D G CG P, 0844 635 9592 Merchiston Avenue, 2000, 5, 5D, 0844 635 3700 Merchiston Crescent, 1822, 5, 5D G Z, 0844 635 9316 Merchiston Avenue, 1800, 5, 5D G CG Z, 0844 635 9302 Mardale Crescent, 1560, 4, 4D G O, 0844 635 9316 St Peter’s Place, 1100, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 9314 Maxwell Street, 1055, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700

Morningside Ethel Terrace, 990, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Comiston Road, 980, 3, 3D G CG, 0844 635 9478 Falcon Avenue, 975, 3, 1S 2D G, 0844 635 9314 Balcarres Street, 930, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Comiston Road, 930, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Balcarres Street, 875, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Morningside Road, 750, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Balcarres Street, 650, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Springvalley Terrace, 595, 1, G, 0844 635 9679 Balcarres Street, 525, 1, 1D, 0844 635 3700 Morningside Road, 1750, 5, 3S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Morningside Road, 1750, 5, 5D, 0844 635 3700 Morningside Road, 1650, 5, 2S 3D, 0844 635 3700 Maxwell Street, 1625, 5, 3S 2D, 0844 635 3700

Maxwell Street, 1500, 5, 5D, 0844 635 3700 Morningside Road, 1490, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Morningside Road, 1480, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Falcon Avenue, 1400, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9478 Morningside Road, 1400, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Falcon Road West, 1390, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Morningside Drive, 1280, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9478 Morningside Drive, 1100, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9322 Comiston Road, 1060, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9322 Morningside Road, 1030, 3, 1S 2D G Z, 0844 635 9316

New Town Howe Street, 990, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9320 Elm Row, 980, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Montgomery Street, 930, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 St Stephen Street, 900, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Dundonald Street, 875, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9478 Ferry Gait Place, 560, 2, 2D E P, 0844 635 9488 St. Stephen Street, 495, 1, 1D E PG Z, 0844 635 3931 Jamaica Mews, 470, 1, 1D, 0844 635 3700 Mansfield Place, 1875, 5, 1S 4D G O, 0844 635 9316 Dundas Street, 1800, 4, 4D G, 0844 635 9314 London Street, 1785, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9316 York Place, 1740, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9322 East London Street, 1640, 4, 4D G, 0844 635 9320 Annandale Street, 1600, 4, 4D G CG O, 0844 635 6872 Thistle Street Lane Nw, 1600, 4, 4D G, 0844 635 9314 Royal Crescent, 1500, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9320 Cumberland Street, 1440, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9320 Gayfield Square, 1400, 4, 1S 3D G Z, 0844 635 9316 Drummond Place, 1260, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Canon Street, 1255, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Cumberland Street, 1200, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9320 East London Street, 1200, 3, 1S 2D G, 0844 635 6872 Hopetoun Crescent, 1200, 3, 3D G PG P, 0844 635 9302 Learmonth Court, 1050, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9679

Newington Ratcliffe Terrace, 995, 3, 1S 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9324 Dalkeith Road, 990, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Buccleuch Terrace, 975, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Dalkeith Road, 975, 3, 1S 2D G, 0844 635 9314 Macdowall Road, 975, 3, 1S 2D G CG O, 0844 635 9320 Montague Street, 960, 3, 1S 2D E, 0844 635 9314 Potterrow, 950, 2, 2D G CG, 0844 635 9679 Oxford Street, 880, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 South Clerk Street,, 850, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700

St. Patrick Square, 798, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9316 Mayfield Road, 1320, 4, 1S 3D G O, 0844 635 9322 Lutton Place, 1320, 3, G P, 0844 635 9679 Lutton Place, 1320, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9679 S0844 635 2287 Lutton Place, 1100, 3, 1S 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Rankeillor Street, 1100, 3, 3D G PG Z, 0844 635 9679 South Oxford Street, 1074, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9316 Dalkeith Road, 1071, 3, 3D, 0844 635 9316 East Crosscauseway, 1070, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Buccleuch Street, 1050, 3, 1S 2D G Z, 0844 635 9302 South Oxford Street, 1050, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Blackwood Crescent, 1045, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 South Oxford Street, 1030, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9424 Dalkeith Road, 1020, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Montague Street, 1020, 3, 3S, 0844 635 3700 St Leonards Hill, 1000, 3, 2S 1D G, 0844 635 9314

Old Town West Bow, 850, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9478 Blackfriars Street, 795, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Inglis Court, 760, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 3931 Robertson’s Close, Cowgate, 725, 2, 1S 1D G P, 0844 635 9679 South Bridge, 575, 1, 1D G, 0844 635 3931 Forrest Road, 1760, 4, 1S 3D G Z, 0844 635 4830 Blair Street, 1495, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 6450 Bank Street, 1340, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Tron Square, 1260, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 9302 Merchant Street, 1200, 4, 4D E, 0844 635 9314 South Bridge, 1200, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3931

Polwarth Harden Place, 975, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9592 Fowler Terrace, 930, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Polwarth Gardens, 705, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 2287 Temple Park Crescent, 560, 2, 2D E, 0844 635 9560 Ritchie Place, 520, 1, 1D CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Watson Crescent, 475, 1, 1D G CG Z, 0844 635 9592 Polwarth Place, 2100, 5, 5D G CG Z, 0844 635 6450 Dundee Terrace, 1360, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700 Polwarth Gardens, 1360, 4, 4D Z, 0844 635 9320 Polwarth Gardens, 1320, 4, 4D 1B G Z, 0844 635 9320 Polwarth Gardens, 1320, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9320 Fowler Terrace, 1285, 4, 1S 3D, 0844 635 3700 Polwarth Crescent, 1150, 3, 3D G O, 0844 635 9316 Yeaman Place, 1130, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 St Bernards Crescent, 975, 3, W, 0844 635 9314

Dean Park Street, 515, 1, 1D W CG Z, 0844 635 9312 Learmonth Crescent, 1095, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Learmonth Court, 1050, 3, 3D E CG Z, 0844 635 9679

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ACADEMIC NEWS / 9

Europe gives green light to € 1.9bn brain project Projct including researchers from University of Edinburgh, will use supercomputers to simulate the human brain Oliver Gauld

Scientists from the University

of Edinburgh are to play a central role in Europe’s largest and most ambitious brain project to date.

Last month saw the European Commission give a consortium of European researchers the green light to proceed with initial phases of the Human Brain Project (HBP). The HBP, coordinated

by Henry Markram in Switzerland, is a 10-year project initiative (2013-2023) that has gained Future and Emerging Technologies Initiative (FET) flagship support with a grant of 1.19bn euros — a huge vote of confidence for European science.

A collaborative federation of around 80 European and international research institutes, including three departments within Edinburgh University, are set to work on the project.

The team have a unified vision — advancing our understanding of the nervous system by using powerful and sophisticated supercomputers to model and simulate the human brain and brain circuitry in its entirety.

The human brain weighs similar to an average bag of sugar, runs incredibly efficiently on the same amount of energy as a 15-watt light bulb, and is the most complex information-processing machine known in the universe. In

short, the very nature of the brain has not made the scientific study of the brain very straightforward.

The HBP embodies an international effort to answer many long-standing questions in neuroscience, and sees Europe taking a leading role in tackling ‘one of the greatest challenges facing mankind’, according to Patrick Aebischer, president of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.

The planned outcomes of the project include the development of a platform that facilitates a multidisciplinary and integrative approach to the study of the human brain. This will significantly advance current understanding of fundamental neuroscience, while having unprecedented implications for healthcare and medicine.

Not only is the project forecasted to revolutionise the way scientists study the nervous system and address neurological disorders, but positive outcomes are also anticipated in computer-science, neuro-informatics and neurorobotics — as the endeavour is largely a computational project.

The Journal spoke to Professor Seth Grant, university professor of Molecular Neuroscience and leader of the HBP Cellular and Molecular division, regarding the role the University of Edinburgh will play in the project, and what the

future will entail for research, teaching and post-project neuroscience.

Professor Siddharthan Chandran (Cognitive Neuroscience) and Professor Douglas Armstrong (Informatics) will supervise other groups involved in the project.

Explaining how to create a computer model of a brain Prof Grant said: “To simulate the human brain, one needs to understand its components and building blocks.”

It is only by understanding how the ‘building blocks interact with one another’, that scientists can begin to comprehend how the brain functions as a whole – and thus begin to build a functional computer simulation.

This fundamental and essential research will be predominantly conducted in Edinburgh University laboratories under Prof Grant’s supervision.

Prof Grant expects the HBP to deliver many positive benefits for both students and the university with “lots of opportunities and specific training programmes for students.”

Additionally, Prof Grant reassures that “laboratories will be very enthusiastic to recruit energetic and visionary students, who want to do something that’s new and different.”

While the proposed outcomes are welcomed within the science community, what can be expected from the

HBP on a more societal level? On discussing the public impact of the HBP, Grant explains: “society is always interested in medical advancements, and to the extent that HBP can contribute to those advancements, society will feel that impact.”

While a common way to assess the success of a large-scale scientific research is to look to ‘medicines as an obvious benefit’ it is also claimed that much more can be expected from the HBP in terms of technological development.

Speculating as to why we have seen a shift in research focus from the individual to the collaborative over the last decade, Prof Grant explains that “big biological problems are not the sort of thing that typically get solved quickly or easily.” Pooling resources can help society tackle big fundamental problems in a manner which is not possible for individuals or small groups.

While research is at a point in time whereby the molecular composition of the brain can be analysed to high resolution, scientists are relatively far from translating this information into a representational understanding of how the brain works as a functional entity, which supports cognition and complex human behaviour.

By integrating data from across multiple layers of biological organisation

— from molecular pathways to human behaviour — the HBP strives to provide a means to answers many of these multifaceted questions in neuroscience.

On suggesting what the future may hold in store for scientific research postHBP, Grant suggests: “I think what will come next will be a whole era of highly sophisticated computational research, carefully and deeply coupled with biological research.” For scientists, future scientists and anyone who has an interest in the brain, and what constructs our human identity and personality, the next few years are undoubtedly going to be exciting.

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Ancient tooth decay DNA reveals effects of changing diets Study of ancient teeth shows the effects of modern society on oral hygiene

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A study has been able to show the exact effect modern diets have had on oral hygiene. In the last week, an international team, led by the University of Adelaide’s Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD), along with the University of Aberdeen and the Sanger Institute at Cambridge, has published the results from a series of ancient tooth decay DNA tests.

Professor Keith Dobney, the project co-leader, and also the Sixth Century Chair of Human Palaeoecology at the University of Aberdeen said that the results “provides us with a completely new window on how people lived and died in the past. Knowing the real genetic history of diseases we still suffer from today will help us better understand and even treat them.”

The team, operating in a ‘hyper-clean’ laboratory, carefully extracted DNA from tartar from 34 prehistoric, Northern European skeletons. From these tests they managed to trace the changes in the nature of oral bacteria from the last

hunter-gatherers to farmers in medieval times, revealing the extent of the impact changes in farming and manufactured foods have had.

Both the development of farming around 10,000 years ago and the much more recent emergence of the processed foods industry, have had a significant impact on our health, contributing directly to tooth decay, diabetes and heart disease.

Study leader Professor Alan Cooper, director of ACAD, after asserting the importance of the study concluded that “the modern mouth basically exists in a permanent disease state.”

As the research team expands its studies to other species such as Neanderthals, there are plans to focus on ways to rectify this concerning health revelation.

In the 21st century, and for the majority of the 20th century, people have been constantly made aware of the negative effect that sugar has on teeth. With the emergence of dental brands and heightened stress on the importance of a regular visit to the dentist, it is apparent that a rapidly changing global diet is having an effect on the health of our teeth.

10 / EDITORIAL

The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

EDINBURGH’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER The EUSA scandal’s endgame

James and the Giant Impeachment The scandal that has defined this academic year for Edinburgh University Students’ Association has now concluded, with the failure as The Journal went to press of the motions to censure president James McAsh and to sack vice-president services Max Crema.

In a saga which reaches back well beyond the beginning of this academic year. It has been difficult to maintain perspective through each ‘scandalous’ episode. This distortion over time has only been intensified first by the union’s ‘radiosilence’ approach, then by their active censorship of the news story.

In such an environment it is all too easy to yield to temptation, compiling scraps of gossip and ripping ‘evidence’ from its proper context in order to fit a presupposed theme, which is then projected upon events. That is not the proper

method of dealing with a matter such as this.

A great many sweeping generalisations were made and some outright untruths were marshalled in support of the motions – a factor exposed more clearly in the more adventurous motion against McAsh. There are important distinctions that need to be made regarding what constitutes sufficient ground to forward such serious motions as these – specifically, the distinction between an objectionable stance and actual dereliction of duty, as well as the distinction between fact and insinuation.

Take, for example, the case of McAsh’s refusal to lay a wreath in his capacity as EUSA president at a Remembrance Day ceremony. McAsh is not the first EUSA president to forego the laying of the wreath, and EUSA was still represented at the ceremony by Andrew Burnie, vice

president academic affairs. Crema was accused of not taking his sexual harrassment concerns through the proper channels, despite having made a public statement issued only days previous that he had tried fruitlessly to do exactly that. McAsh was slammed for not initiating processes to remove Crema himself, despite explicit legal advice (which was even leaked, at least in part, to purusers of the motion) that he had no such power.

Details such as these, overlooked as supporters worked themselves into a rhetorical lather in the preceding days, undoubtedly dented support for the motions. The time remaining in this term is limited, as is the flow of information in this scandal by the legalities which EUSA has repeatedly cited. Nevertheless, that is no reason to push on without a sound base of reason.

The Catholic Church in Scotland

From one turbulent priest to the next In the aftermath of Pope Benedict

XVI’s shock resignation last month much breath has been spent and gallons of ink spilled in a grand conversation about the recent history and future of the Catholic Church, and about the pressing need to ‘heal the divisions’ in that theocracy.

It certainly appears that the church, trapped in the eye of a seemingly relentless storm over its abject failure to address endemic child abuse by Catholic clergymen, has been left a battered vessel, listing heavily. A convincing case can be made that the decades-long scandal represents the ultimate abdication of the church’s moral authority, and a serious challenge to its already-parlous relevance in 21st century society.

But while that tempest rages on, there are stormy waters for the Holy See elsewhere: particularly in Scotland, and the furore caused by the sudden resignation (by papal order) of Cardinal Keith

Holy hypocrisy, Batman!

O’Brien, the archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh and Britain’s most senior Catholic cleric.

Cardinal O’Brien resigned scarcely 36 hours after allegations in the press by four current and former priests of inappropriate sexual conduct over a period stretching back to the mid-1980s. There is a grim irony to the fact that it was allegations of predatory homosexual behaviour that ended this particular ecclesiastical career: after all, this is the same cardinal who has been the church’s lightning rod on social issues in Britain. He has, over his long career, given voice and face to some of the church’s most reprehensible positions, particularly regarding LGBT rights.

This is the same Keith O’Brien who in 2005 described homosexuals as “captives of sexual aberrations”; who in 2011 claimed that “same-sex relationships are demonstrably harmful to the

medical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of those involved,” and who last year declared that if equal marriage were legalised “society would be degenerated further than it has already degenerated into immorality.” The cardinal has preached bigotry for years; his exit from public life is no sad day, and his hypocrisy is intensely sad — not least because it is no doubt accompanied by deep internal emotional conflict.

It gets worse: the church have chosen as his interim successor the archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia — who last year offended just about everyone after claiming that respected Labour MP David Cairns’ death was directly linked to his sexual orientation. Pancreatitis, not homosexuality, killed Mr Cairns. If the church cannot find leaders who will disavow bigotry and hate speech, how can it expect to persuade modern society of its relevance?

by Jen Owen

A clear picture is yet to be established, but is it really possible that such an almighty mess as has been witnessed this year could be solely the responsibility of two sabbatical officers at EUSA? Does such evidence not rouse suspicion that it may be the institutions, not the incumbent officers, that are rotten?

The absence of clarity permitted some the opportunity to steer students’ opinions to suit their own unrelated interests.

Not enough questions were asked regarding those who might, in the cause of their own broader endgame, hijack students’ legitimate willingness to solve grassroots problems.

Proposers of the motions have now resoundingly cried ‘wolf,’ before all the facts of the scandal have been retrieved and established. Where to now, should it emerge that either these sabbatical officers – or anybody else in the higher echelons of EUSA, for that matter – did indeed commit an act worthy of such a motion?

In such light, this whole business appears little short of frivolous.

// REACTIONS Former VP: EUSA sabbs not “trusted, empowered or facilitated”

I admire Philippa Faulkner for

coming out on this issue.

One thing I have noticed from past interactions with EUSA is that it appears to suffer from Whitehall syndrome. Unelected civil servants can balk on any proposed reform no matter how enthusiastic the sabbaticals were.

When I would come to meet a certain former president with a proposal, I felt more compelled to direct my lobbying to the EUSA staff during the meeting and appease their interest than concern myself with what the president thought on the matter (no doubt a nice person that genuinely shared my view). EUSA staff exercised a veto over any reasonable change and believed they knew what was best for the organisation. It was like an ordinary episode of Yes Minister.

Given how opaque EUSA’s power structure is, I could only glean so much from my experience with it. Several rules were clearly in place though.

The SRC (antecedent of the student council) was feckless and comically irrelevant, passing unhappily drafted resolutions right and left to no effect.

If there were a structure of power it looked something like this: a balance of power between the board of trustees and the EUSA civil service. All the major battles over reform ran along this relationship alone.

In my time, the staffers had the upper hand, although I would not discount the possibility this relationship undergoes an annual flux, depending on the strength of incoming executive leadership. Anyone attempting to influence EUSA should keep this in mind when dealing with the organisation.

- Ralph Snyder, via web. .

Please direct all letters, complaints, threats and general rants for publication to letters@journal-online.co.uk.

Letters may be edited prior to publication. To contact a specific member of staff, email firstname.lastname@ journal-online.co.uk.

PUBLISHER Devon Walshe EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Marcus Kernohan EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sean Gibson DEPUTY EDITOR Jamie Timson MANAGING EDITOR Jen Owen MANAGING EDITOR (DIGITAL) David Selby DEPUTY EDITOR (NEWS) Greg Bianchi NATIONAL POLITICS Daniel do Rosario LOCAL NEWS Callum Leslie STUDENT POLITICS Rachel Barr STUDENT NEWS Hannah Dowe Standring ACADEMIC NEWS Kirsten Waller COMMENT Jon Vrushi FEATURES Lydia Willgress DEPUTY EDITOR (ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT) Laurie Goodman BOOKS John Hewitt Jones MUSIC Rebecca O’Malley FILM Nathanael Smith ART & DESIGN Gillian Achurch FOOD & DRINK Ben Kendall FASHION Oliver Giles DEPUTY EDITOR (SPORT) Ruth Jeffery PICTURE EDITOR Christopher Rubey DEPUTY PICTURE EDITORS Malgosia Stelmaszyk Ella Bavalia Stanley Liew Allan MacDonald LAYOUT DIRECTOR Alina Mika SUBEDITORS Jonathan Langley MARKETING DIRECTOR Andrew Robinson SALES Arran Walshe Charles Beare

The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

COMMENT// 11

DISCUSSION&DEBATE

COMMENT

A National Convention for Scotland The shadow foreign secretary calls for a grand national debate if the Scottish electorate votes ‘No’ to independence Douglas Alexander MP Shadow foreign secretary For all that we may comfort ourselves that “We’re all Jock Tamson’s Bairns” for too long in Scotland too many voices have simply not been heard.

Voices of those left behind, the marginalized, the poor, the young. Voices too of our entrepreneurs, our third sector, our diverse communities. The haves and the have nots. In other words, the mosaic of diverse experience in Scotland without access to the discourse of the political elite. The kind of voices that I hear each week in my surgeries, but too rarely on my television or radio. Too much of our political life has been dominated by debates about constitutional change to the exclusion of social, political, cultural and economic change.

And those debates have been further diminished by a recurring “I’m right, you’re wrong”, “He said, she said” conflictual discourse that satisfies no-one.

Least of all those it is supposedly there to persuade. It has led to a shallowing, not a deepening, of our debates about the kind of nation we should be.So having decided Scotland’s constitutional future, we should be debating instead the different Scotland we want to build.

Last month I travelled to Denmark and Sweden where I saw for myself

how a national mission defined around childcare and early years education has helped define their sense of who they are and how they see themselves over recent decades.

After 2014, in Scotland we will have much more space to decide anew what is our shared mission and purpose for the years ahead. But that thinking has to begin now. Our economy, our services and our people cannot be left on hold while the constitutional deckchairs are shifted around by political deckhands.

We need a vision by which to navigate our nation’s future. Of course, politicians will have a central role to play in shaping that agenda. But the discussion and debate cannot – and should not – be limited simply to politicians. So today I suggest one way to throw open the doors of democracy a little wider.

Twenty five years before the 2014 vote, back in 1989, the Scottish Constitutional Convention came together to agree the ‘Claim of Right’. Although the Nationalists and the Tories in tandem boycotted the Convention, it brought together churches, trade unions and representatives of civic Scotland alongside politicians from Labour and the Liberals. It recognised and responded to the need for constitutional change.

Today our need as a nation is different. Our Parliament is in place, and in 2014 our referendum will take place.

And if, in 2014, Scotland chooses to stay together with our neighbours across the UK, that choice will see the defeat of the defining mission of the present Scottish

Could we in 2015 gather together a National Convention — “Scotland 2025” — to chart a new vision for an old nation for the next decade?

Government and indeed of the Scottish National Party.

But we will also have an opportunity to start a different journey – not one defined by difference or grievance but possibility, potential and hope.The choice to stay together will create an opportunity for politicians to lay the ground for a way of doing politics differently. A time where politicians no longer speak about ‘the people of Scotland’ but instead the people speak and the politicians listen, deliberate and decide.

So I ask: Could we in 2015 gather together a National Convention - “Scotland 2025” - to chart a new vision for an old nation for the next decade? Gathering 25 years on from the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, this National Convention would look beyond an agenda of constitutional change.

And in convening and directing this endeavour Scotland could, and should, look outwards and learn lessons from

others more recent experience. Five years ago in 2008 Australia’s then Labour Prime Minister Kevin Rudd brought together more than 1000 leading Australians to the national parliament to debate and develop long term options for the nation across ten areas of policy.

For Scotland, a national convention could be a gathering that embedded itself into and enriched our civic life as a cornerstone of public debate and reflection, shaping the very framing of how we engage in dialogue and discussion.

From how to raise our economic productivity, to the needs of our rural and island communities, from the challenge of sustainability, to harnessing the full potential of Scotland’s creative industries, it could draw on the talents, ideas and energy of Scotland’s many communities.

And rather than pretending politicians have all the answers, it could

Beige: the great evil of our time The tyranny of beige, the Great Destroyer, must be wiped from the face of the earth Edinburgh Anonymous I hate beige. The colour, the tone,

the texture. Everything about the colour beige. Is it even a colour? It’s more a general mood, an apathy, an absence of originality. Its not white, its not even cream, its just beige.

People who wear beige clothes; I don’t even think they know that they’re doing it. They look at themselves in the mirror, they must hate themselves.

Beige. It doesn’t even make sense in its conception. Why does it exist?

When did someone decide that what the world needed was an off-white, a colour that’s not quite white, not quite grey, a mixture of the two. Just why?

Beige. Its absurd, its mere existence is unfulfilling, no one ever says

“oh yeah she looked really good last night…in beige”. It just doesn’t happen. Surely what the world needed was a mixture of turquoise and terracotta — exciting colours, colours with pizazz, not white and grey, not beige.

It’s even a hideous word to say. It doesn’t really rhyme with anything; Dr Seuss would never use it. If you watch someone say it, their face contorts with the same expression babies have if you feed them a lemon.

The anti-beige brigade needs to stand up and be counted; for too long we have struggled in a world full of beige. Beige student flats. Beige student dinners. Beige IKEA furniture. Who allowed this? Who made this the go-to colour of choice for student living? Beige is oppression, it’s the suppression of values that we as a nation should hold dear.

Beige. Its never been acceptable.

Even in the 70s when all taste and understanding went out the Formica-

clad window, people didn’t want beige. The 80s, the decade of white blazers and Miami vice, that wasn’t the decade of beige. There should never be (and has been) no decade of beige. And yet it’s ever present. So why does it persist? It has held on for far too long.

Did you know that a particular type of beige was used extensively by the German army in World War II? Yes, it was called ‘feldgrau’ because even the Nazis couldn’t bring themselves to use the word beige. So all this beige propaganda about being inoffensive and neutral is bollocks. Were the Nazi’s inoffensive and neutral? Was Adolf ‘The Beige-Crusader’ Hitler inoffensive and neutral? No. In fact, they were almost the exact opposite of that.

Beige apparently blends in well. So that’s great, conformist, indistinctive, unmemorable beige. Just what we need, more people blending into the background, more anonymous indi-

viduals spouting their views. More beige.

You know another interesting beige fact — yes, slightly confusing the word interesting for boring, dear reader, but if you’ve come this far you deserve it — its apparently notoriously difficult to print onto paper. So it shouldn’t even really be a thing, we shouldn’t even know what it looks like. Like dodos or the telegram, it should be something of the past.

It should be the subject of talking heads TV shows called ‘I Love the Sixties’ in which Ant from Ant and Dec says “Oh yeah, and there was this horrible thing called beige, but we got rid of it because it was used by the Nazis”. Beige. It’s the real evil. “The greatest trick beige ever pulled was to convince the world it was acceptable.”

So there you have it, 500 words on beige. And each one infinitely more interesting than Max Crema and student politics.

engage the people of Scotland in deliberating together a new vision for an old nation. It could turn a referendum lost by those who want to walk away into an opportunity for us all to walk forward together, no matter where our cross went on the ballot paper.

I am determined that the next chapter of our history that we write together after 2014 is indeed an exciting one. It can be a chapter where we change not who we are, but how we are.

Where we remember what makes us different, and use that to walk together.

And where we grasp an opportunity for a new way of deciding our future together, transcending what might divide us, and sharing what inspires us, to be the Scots we know we can be.

Douglas Alexander is the Labour MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, and shadow secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs.

12 / COMMENT

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The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

Prostitution needs to be safer Proposals to criminalise the purchase of sex risk making the lives of prostitutes even more dangerous

Lydia Wilgress Features editor

It is the oldest profession in the world

and in recent years it has become one of the most dangerous.

Recently, the laws concerning prostitution in Scotland have come up for reform. The latest proposed change comes from Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant.

Grant’s idea is to prosecute customers with the Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex Bill, which is currently in parliament. However, as with

most proposals concerning prostitution, it is proving a tad controversial.

Current laws on prostitution appear to be rather convoluted.

According to George Lewis, co-chair of SCOT-PEP — a charity dedicated to helping sex workers — the laws for prostitution are confusing and differ slightly depending on your area.

However, the main points are that you can, in fact, sell sex and buy it from an adult without breaking the law. It is the moment you walk the streets attempting to sell your body, or head to your nearest red light dis-

trict in search of sex, that you are breaking the law.

Safety in numbers is also out, as it is illegal for two or more people to work together to sell sex; by law this denotes a brothel. Even if a prostitute manages to work their way through all of these laws, they cannot actually live off the money they make as it is illegal to live off of ‘immoral earnings’.

Margo MacDonald, MSP, is one of a number of politicians who opposes the idea of criminalising sex purchasers, insisting it would only serve to

drive prostitution underground and decrease the safety of workers.

“If it is seen as a ‘nuisance’ for most people as they go about their lives and it is managed in the interests of the sex worker...and the general public, it has been shown that fewer sex workers are beaten up,” said MacDonald in an interview with the Edinburgh Evening News.

“Less criminality attaches itself to the sex business; underage women (and men) can be more easily prevented from selling sexual services.”

MacDonald also stressed the need for local strategies to deal with the issue of prostitution. These are in place in cities throughout Scotland to different effect: “Edinburgh chose to licence saunas as places of entertainment because this allows inspection by the authorities, and for many years these operated alongside what was known locally as the ‘Tolerance Zone’.”

However, tolerance zones are a thing of the past and Edinburgh’s sauna licences are up for renewal in the next year. The future of somewhat regulated prostitution in Scotland is at risk, especially if Grant’s Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex Bill is passed.

What prostitutes need is a safe place to work, with access to support services and the knowledge that if someone is abusive towards them the police will take appropriate action.

Criminalising those who visit prostitutes will only serve to stigmatise their line of work and make them retreat further away from the safety of support services and police.

One such support service was set up last year. The National Ugly Mugs Scheme (NUM) allows sex workers to report abusive customers and to

use their resources to bring them to justice. Since its launch in July last year over 200 cases of violent clients have been reported to NUM. UK coordinator for NUM, Alex Bryce, said: “NUM exists because sex workers are targeted by very dangerous offenders — often with escalating behaviours — but often don’t report these incidents to the police.

“Those who target sex workers often do so because they believe that the incident won’t be reported or if it is the victim won’t be taken seriously by the police because he or she is a sex worker,” added Bryce.

The relationship between prostitutes and the rest of the population doesn’t help matters. Prostitution is a taboo among the general public and a stigma with the police. Prostitutes often don’t trust the police to look beyond their profession and help solve their problems; this is, in part, due to often heavy handed enforcement of existing laws.

Laws for sex workers do need to change, but proper research has to be done to best suit the workers themselves. Local strategies have proven effective and the organisations, such as NUM and SCOT-PEP, that regularly deal with issues concerning prostitution best know how to make these changes.

“Criminalising the purchase of sex, as proposed in Scotland and Northern Ireland, will further stigmatise sex workers, silence their voices even further, plunge many into poverty and ultimately put them at far greater risk of harm,” says Bryce.

“These proposals are based not on research and evidence as they should be, but driven by ideology and are a dangerous attempt to impose morality through legislation.”

Internships exploit student desperation The summer internships offered to the youth of today are fast becoming one of the least rewarding experiences Lydia Wilgress Features editor

As summer approaches, many students will be looking for internships.

Work experience is now a crucial part of any student’s CV; with jobs getting scarcer and more people applying, the ability to ‘stand out’ has been drilled into us for years.

There are now a multitude of companies who advertise global internships; from community radio broadcasting in Perth, to law internships in Ghana, to First Aid Africa and conservation internships across the globe.

Yet students need to be careful when looking at the value of these experiences, as they often exploit our need for valuable work experience.

Part of the reason these opportuni-

ties are so attractive is because there is often less competition for places (plus, is travel and work experience combined really a bad thing?). The list of opportunities is endless, and once you have decided what you want to do a quick deposit secures your place.

While some companies ask you to send a CV or fill in a brief form, it is a world away from the lengthy application processes, endless waiting and lack of opportunities available in most sectors in the UK. However, these opportunities don’t come without a cost. Many of the companies charge anything between £700 to £7,000 depending on where you are going and how long for.

Often, you pay for accommodation, food and transport to and from the project itself. Moreover, the cost of flights, transfers, insurance and spending money has to be covered by the student.

On further exploration, it becomes clear that a lot of the money being paid to the company is going on overheads, being donated to charities of the company’s choice on your behalf and

paying people to man their call centres.

I was accepted onto one of these programmes last year and, whilst I had to fly home early under exceptional circumstances, the project was disorganised, the accommodation was appalling and I was left alone in South Africa in what, I still believe, were dangerous circumstances. The hostel I was booked into had recently been burgled and the country at the time was experiencing violent shootings and robberies.

Although some degree of apprehension had been instilled in me before I went out – South Africa being renowned as one of the world’s most dangerous countries, I was used to the ‘be careful’ lecture that was attached to any discussion of my travels – I was confident that I would be looked after and not put in danger. Unfortunately this did not happen.

Other students have lost money after being forced to pull out of their project (with most companies having a no refund policy) or, embarrassingly, had to declare why they no longer want to take part in their internship, and agree to donate to charity instead.

While, undeniably, some volunteer projects do more good than I could describe, it is becoming more frequent for companies to exploit the needs of students.

The government’s estimate based on Chartered Institute of Personnel figures is that there are between 50,000 and 70,000 internships a year.

With over 222,000 people graduating every year, internships are becoming few and far between, and students are forced to take the opportunities that are there.

Although I agree with the people who are calling for more work experience opportunities, I also understand that there are only so many companies in the country and, therefore, the number of students they can take will always be limited.

However, legislation needs to be brought in forcing organisations that make money from students looking for internships to stop being able to exploit us; in my eyes, these companies should be non-profit organisations that operate for the good of the individual, not the business.

The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

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COMMENT// 13

First domino to fall?

Vincent Manancourt examines how the Scottish independence debate is influencing other separatist regions throughout Europe Vincent Manancourt Staff writer

Reaction: newspaper editors hit back at Max Crema’s Journal op-ed Nina Seale & Alistair Grant Editors-in-chief, The Student

We are writing to express our dis-

THE JOURNAL COMPILES SOME THOUGHT-PROVOKING STATEMENTS TO FRAME THE RECENT EUSA RUMBLINGS...

“If the result of all this is that EUSA’s energies are put into punishing the person bringing attention to concerns about harrassment rather than investigating those concerns, that would be a great injustice indeed.

— Tim Gee EUSA VPS (2006-2007)

“I heard that you were talking shit and you didn’t think that I would hear it. People hear you talking like that, getting everybody fired up.”

— Gwen Stefani ‘Hollaback Girl’ (2004)

“Frankly, this whole thing is outrageous: trying to sack a sabb for caring about sexual harrasment is an embarrasement (sic).”

— Adam Ramsay EUSA president (2006-2007)

“We don’t need to analyse this shit. We don’t need to intellectualise. We need to get serious. We need to organise.

We need to pick up some guns.”

— Bobby Seale chairman of the Black Panther Party (1968)

For advertising information

‘NO CONFIDENCE’ IN QUOTATIONS

Call our sales department on 0131 560 2830 or email ads@journal-online.co.uk

pleasure over the article written by Max Crema, published in the 20 February edition of The Journal.

Due to the legal action taken against us by EUSA, we are unfortunately unable to fully respond to the article in question and the accusations made within it. However, we can take issue with several aspects of it.

In essence, Max has presented his side of the story knowing full well that we would be unable to respond to it adequately. This might have been fair enough (after all, we have directed enough criticism towards Crema, McAsh and EUSA for censoring us) was it not for the fact that the article seems to suggest it is telling the full truth. We assume that Max made a choice to write this article and present his side of the debate, but the issue here is that he has framed it in such a way as to suggest that he is telling the full story when he is not.

He could easily have made this clear by stating that he was legally unable to talk about certain things within our original article; he chose not to.

Furthermore, we believe that Max’s article, whether deliberately or otherwise, completely misrepresents the contents of our censored news piece. Max insinuates that he is telling the full story throughout the article; this is not the case. At one point he states: “I hope that

my being open here about my actions will mean that we can focus on holding me to account, and leave our staff out of it.” He then goes on to explain his suspension and the anonymous guest post he published on his official EUSA blog, despite neither of these issues being the focus of our censored article. This is misrepresenting what we originally wrote.

Before the statement quoted above, Max makes the claim that, “The article the Student wished to publish was an attack on the rights of our staff to improve their working conditions.”

We categorically deny this. Besides the fact that the censored article was a news piece and had no such agenda, the working conditions of EUSA’s staff was, once again, not the central subject of our censored article.

In the last paragraph of his piece, Max writes, “I hope that by going public with this, we can begin to put it behind us.” This again implies that Max has fully addressed the issue. He has not.

Nowhere in Max’s piece have the main contents of our article been addressed, despite him implying otherwise.

This is not a refusal to listen to opposing voices on our part. There are valid criticisms to lie at our door, despite our continued belief that the overall contents of our censored article were in the public interest.

Mr. Crema’s contribution to the debate, however, was misleading and unproductive.

Crucial to Berlusconi’s shocking resurgence at the recent polls is a party with one eye firmly on Scotland and the independence debate: the rightwing Lega Nord (The Northern League).

Despite seeing its vote halve since the last election, the party secured Lombardy and came second only to Berlusconi’s Popolo della Liberta (People of the Liberty) in the centre-right coalition.

Furthermore, Lombardy is no economic backwater; its gross domestic product accounts for a staggering 20 per cent of Italy’s total.

Since its inception in 1991, the Lega Nord has been vocal about its desire for the richer north to secede from the poorer south, which it sees as a burden to northern prosperity. Scotland, with its devolved government and intention to hold a referendum on independence, has long been idolized by the party as a pioneer in the quest for independence.

In his rhetoric, party leader Maroni portrays the SNP as an ally attempting to ‘change Europe’. Similarly, on hearing news of the referendum, party members were quoted toasting the SNP’s and Salmond’s success, with their newspaper La Padania calling it a victory in the ‘spirit of the Scottish national hero William

‘Braveheart’ Wallace’. In another bout of solidarity the Lega sent some of its youth wing to the September rally in Edinburgh as part of ‘the struggle for freedom’.

For the SNP, this supposed alliance should be worrying; the Lega is islamophobic and eurosceptic. Massimo Bitonci, the mayor of Citadella and a member of the Lega, banned the sale of kebabs because he did not ‘like the smell’.

Furthermore, the party includes Alex Salmond in their xenophobic propaganda, hailing his success in 2007 as a victory against the ‘Islamification’ and ‘Turkification’ of Europe.

Though the SNP is not to blame for the appeal it has to right-wing nationalists such as Italy’s Lega Nord, it should be aware that the implications of its actions are not confined to these shores.

The prospect of Scottish independence causing a domino effect, not just in Italy but also more realistically in Catalonia and Flanders, remains possible, if remote.

Speaking to The Journal, Dr Daniel Kenealy, a lecturer in European Union studies at The University of Edinburgh, argued that it would be naive to think that Scottish independence would not affect other European separatist movements, stating that “if Scotland were to become independent, then it would be a rallying point, it would be very symbolic.” He was careful to stress, however,

that Scottish independence would probably not prove a ‘game changer’ for those movements, suggesting that ‘issues specific to the context’ would be more relevant. David Martí, currently undertaking a PhD in territorial politics in Scotland and Catalonia reiterated that position.

In a statement for The Journal, Martí said that “the prospect of Scottish independence may boost the spirits of independence supporters in Catalonia, Flanders and elsewhere. However, important differences remain between all these cases and general statements should be avoided.”

While the various independence movements share the motivation to secede for financial reasons, there is one key difference: Scotland is not as crucial to the rest of the UK as these other regions are to their respective states.

Thus, while suggesting that Scottish independence would directly cause other so-called ‘stateless nations’ to secede is, according to Kenealy, ‘overselling it’, but the SNP should be aware of the symbolic effect that independence would have on these movements. An independent Scotland would provide pro-secessionist groups with a clear process to achieve independence and answers to questions about the place of newly independent states in the EU. Whatever the outcome, Europe’s eyes will be fixed on Scotland for a while to come.

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SUMMERHALL From Gaga to Gormley Transformations & Revalations

Throughout Summerhall, thirty-three large specially designed vitrines showcase the fascinating work of British Theatre designers on their creation of famous productions.Es Devlin’s stage and set designs for Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball World Tour are here, as are Antony Gormley’s more sparse settings for the Sadler’s Wells ballet, Sutra.

Joanna Scotcher’s reworking of the much loved Christmas classic film, The Railway Children, for Waterloo Station Theatre reminds one of a heroic and simpler past while Connor Murphy’s minimalist opera design for The Magic Flute, which bewildered South Korean audiences, can be mused over. Warhorse and Billy Budd are also shown here with original models, drawings and video clips from the shows.

www.summerhall.co.uk @summerhallery

www.facebook.com/summerhalledinburgh

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The Anatomy of Autonomy IN THIS WEEK’S Anatomy of Autonomy we will explore the issue of social policy and welfare state in Scotland, as part of the independence debate.

The NHS, council housing and pensions are often taken for granted but the reality is that most of these features of the welfare state are indeed very recent history.

Past topics that we have considered such as defence and international legal implications are equally important but the issue of social policy and the welfare state has immediate implications on the lives of ordinary Scots.

Richard Perry from the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh examines the future of the welfare state in Scotland, especially focusing on the difficult choice that Scottish voters will have to make between the ‘UK comfort blanket’ and the chance to build a distinctly Scottish welfare state from scratch.

Furthermore, to contextualise the debate we have provided a short history of the welfare state in Scotland since its inception in the mid-1940s until the establishment of the Scottish parliament. 50 years of political and social history can not be distilled in a few paragraphs but we have attempted to give a very brief outline of the milestones of social policy in Scotland particularily focuing on the NHS and state housing.

Feel free to join our debate on our website in the Comment & Features section and on twitter using the hashtag #indyjournal.

Dr Richard Parry University of Edinburgh If you were given the chance to take

over the £15bn a year that the UK Government spends on pensions and benefits for Scotland, would you want it?

Would you be happy to make the choice about whether to pitch benefits at the same level as the rest of the UK, reduce them to save money, or increase them at the expense of other programmes?

That is the backdrop to the social policy dimension of the independence referendum. Scotland has lived comfortably with the requirement since 1999 to make its own decisions on health, education, social care and housing provision. These are services in kind, generally delivered by professionals. Scotland

PART IV: SOCIAL POLICY

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Energy and climate change

IS THE SAFETY NET SAFE?

Richard Parry explores the future of the welfare state if Scots were to vote yes

is proud of its independent tradition and its current role as a defender of an oldstyle welfare state.

But the devolution settlement allowed Scotland to opt out of most decisions about taxes and benefits. You can see this as a deprivation that should be corrected in the ‘devolution max’ position that might well win a majority vote should it be on offer. But you might also suspect that it is of great convenience to politicians and budget-makers. No need to trade off health and education against benefits. No need to cope with constituents’ correspondence. Job Centres, tax collection and pension payments run from across the border. In short, no need to think through what you would do with new powers if you had them.

Some of the money is huge – the £500m spent in Scotland on Attendance Allowance, a non-taxable, noncontributory, non-means tested benefit for those needing regular supervision at home, is more than the spending on free

university tuition and student support.

But would you tamper with it when the result might be to force more people into expensive institutional care?

In 2011 the Scottish Parliament agreed to manage the consequences for devolved services of the UK Welfare Reform Act directly, rather than let Scottish ministers use order-making power conferred on them at the UK level. There is now a Welfare Reform Committee of the Scottish Parliament, and a lively debate among advocacy groups about the issues — including the new Universal Credit, rolling up nearly all working-age benefits including Housing Benefit, which may strike a better balance between in-work and out-of-work benefits but will be hard to implement.

The SNP is now beginning to articulate its own vision of a simplified and effective benefit system. It has appointed an Expert Working Group on Welfare to assess the costs and delivery of benefits

in an independent Scotland. What the SNP can’t do is get back to its promises of the 1970s that an oil-rich independent Scotland would boost welfare payments.

The money is no longer there, and polls show the mood of the times is against this kind of generosity to those outside the workforce.

Researchers into comparative social policy — a centre of expertise in Edinburgh University’s School of Social and Political Science — know that prosperous modern economies have a wide range of policy choices. Norms built up at UK level under successive governments are not the only ones.

Defining a Scottish way to social policy delivered in cash as well as in kind would be a fascinating experiment. But many politically potent questions will be asked: Who pays my pension after an independence vote? Will work tests on benefits be stronger or weaker? Independence means that the UK comfort blanket gets torn away, leaving an unfa-

vourable equation between new money and new responsibilities. Scotland’s demographics and health record make it inevitable that on the same policies, let alone more generous ones, Scotland’s welfare bill per head will be higher than England’s.

Social policy takes us to the heart of the independence decision. Do you stay within an evolving devolved system in which the centre of power is continuing to move from London to Edinburgh — knowing that the fullest powers are not on offer? Or do you make the leap to independence — knowing that you would then need to build back policy making and fiscal capacity in fields where Scotland has hitherto left decisions to the UK? It is a fascinating, and by no means straightforward, choice — and we are lucky to have the chance to make it.

Dr Richard Parry is a reader in social policy at the University of Edinburgh.

Trying to build a New Jerusalem The Journal considers the National Health Service and council housing prior to the advent of devolution in Scotland Jon Vrushi Comment editor

On 23 January The Journal argued

that the project of building a modern welfare state appealed to Scotland; not only did the Scottish people benefit massively from public housing, NHS, state benefits and so on, but they were also proud to be part of shaping this formidable social doctrine. Just like the British Empire and fighting for a free and democratic world order in the first half of the 20th century, the welfare state represented just another project that Scotland

was proud to undertake jointly with the rest of the UK. The NHS Scotland Act was established on the same principles as the national model. The Secretary of State for Scotland had overall responsibility for the process, and since the office moved to St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh there was a certain extent of devolution involved in NHS policies and a chance to give the service a Scottish dimension.

Even the Tory ministry of 1979-1997 presided over an increase of the healthcare budget in Scotland from £1bn to £5bn. Rising expenditure notwithstand-

ing, the NHS has failed to keep mortality rates in Scotland lower than in the rest of the UK. In 1989, males suffered 205 deaths per 100,000 above the national average while females suffered 199 deaths above it.

Council hosing has been one of the pillars of the welfare state in Scotland since 1945. A survey taken in 1935 showed that one house in four was overcrowded in Scotland, compared to one in 20 in England. The first couple of decades after 1945 proved a watershed as problems of overcrowding were being resolved through slum clearances and

the construction of council housing.

According to historian Bill Knox, by the early 1970s 63 per cent of housing in Glasgow, 57 per cent of housing in Dundee and 48 per cent in Aberdeen were in the public sector. However, the conservative government, which came in power in 1979, reversed this trend to a certain extent. The public sector housing budget fell by 30 per cent in Scotland between 1980 and 1984.

Although this cut was smaller in Scotland than in England and Wales, its ramifications were more severe. Homelessness reached one per cent of Scottish

families in 1986. Since then, however, we have witnessed a growing disenchantment with council estates which attests to the evolving nature of the housing issue.

The devolution of power pertaining to social policy has been less comprehensive than other areas of policy-mainly because the Secretary of State for Scotland already had control over large constituents of the welfare state. The failures of certain areas of social policy in Scotland need to be traced in the UK administration as much as the Scottish executive branch before and after devolution.

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CULTURE&LIFESTYLE

ARTS&ENTS ARTS Scots designers storm London Fashion Week London sees a Scottish takeover as design wunderkind Christopher Kane is pitted against Pringle and other new emerging talent

fashion Oliver Giles Fashion editor

Only a few years ago, London Fashion Week (LFW) was the unloved middle child, squeezed between the commercial giant of New York and the European elegance of Milan and Paris.

With less than 10 hours between the last show finishing in New York and the first show kicking off in London, perhaps it is not surprising that American editors used to fly straight to Milan. However, this February, LFW proved once and for all that it is an unmissable event on the fashion calendar.

The participation of large houses such as Burberry and Tom Ford proves that LFW has regained its international cachet. However, fashion insiders do not necessarily come to London to see what has been tried and tested at established brands; instead, they come to discover the next big thing among the new generation of industry-leading British designers.

Interestingly, it was Scottish designers who leading the next generation of design talent this season.

This February, while Jonathan Saunders and Holly Fulton both debuted acclaimed collections, it was Motherwell-born Christopher Kane who morphed from British talent to international powerhouse.

Held on the eighth floor of Cannon Place — an office block in the heart of the City — Kane’s show attracted a huge crowd of press, buyers and celebrities. Proving his ambition and talent, Kane’s enormous 60-look collection was divided into five clear sections.

The first models sashayed down the runway in oversized coats trimmed with fox fur, which were worn over camouflage kilts; the first of many nods to Kane’s Scottish roots.

Camouflage and fur soon gave way to delicate velvet and lace dresses, before they were replaced by a group of

higher-hemmed, minimalistic cocktail dresses with striking feather detailing.

British supermodel Jourdan Dunn showcased the first of the next string of looks: flower-like rosettes of feathers adorned her barely there sheer skirt and soft woollen jumper, naturally made in Scotland by Johnstons of Elgin.

However, it was the final looks that stole the show. Kane later explained that the whole collection was inspired by the image of an MRI scan of a healthy brain, but it was a surprise that only Kane could pull off when the scan of the brain itself appeared embroidered on to a jumper and printed on a cocktail dress.

It was fitting that a collection bursting with so many ideas should end with such a creative representation of the brain itself. Within minutes of the finale, the show was being described as one of the best of the season.

The individual who made Kane’s luxurious collection possible was seated proudly in the front row: François-Henri Pinault, the CEO of luxury conglomerate PPR. Earlier this year, Kane sold 51 per cent of his label to PPR and added his name to the enviable list of fashion houses owned by the company, which also includes Gucci and Alexander McQueen. Sandwiched between his wife Salma Hayek and American Vogue’s Anna Wintour, Pinault was understandably proud of the scope and success of Kane’s first collection released under PPR’s ownership.

Despite the buzz he generated, Christopher Kane was not the only Scottish designer showing on Monday; after Kane’s show, many guests darted across Millennium Bridge to catch the Pringle of Scotland presentation.

Held in the Bankside Gallery, the contrast between Kane’s show in the vast office space and Pringle’s intimately staged presentation could not have been greater.

Although presentations lack the spectacle of catwalk shows, the smaller venue was a smart choice for

Pringle’s minimalist Christopher Kane collection. The

delicate knitwear would have been lost on a catwalk, and there is no doubt that Pringle’s pieces are designed to be touched; fortunately, the presentation format allows guests to do just that.

By using techniques on wool that are normally reserved for other materials, Pringle once again managed to do something new with knitwear.

However, the surgically clean silhouettes, muted colour palette and 60s style twinsets all made the collection feel underwhelming. While the skills used throughout are impressive

diverse talent that is now emerg-

— and you would be hard-pressed to find clothes of a higher quality — this did not feel like the sort of classically elegant collection Pringle normally delivers.

To end the day for Scottish designers, three up-and-coming design stars hosted a drinks reception at their joint showroom in the Hardy Tree Gallery.

The combination of Belinda Robertson’s luxurious cashmere, Bebaroque’s extravagant hosiery and Iona Crawford’s unique mix of silks, wools and leather is a perfect cross-section of the

ing from Scotland.

The fact that these designers can successfully exhibit their collections on the same day as internationally renowned brands like Pringle and design wunderkinds such as Kane illustrates exactly what is exciting about LFW: although backed by heritage, the event is driven by emerging talent. Reenergised by this new wave of British designers, LFW is no longer the ignored middle child: it is now the sparky young upstart that no one can afford to ignore.

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Derek Roberts: Northern Lights

LOVE DANCE

A collection of astract paintings create a kaleidoscopic world at Inverleith House

ART&DESIGN Krystin Arneson

Back after a 15-year hiatus from exhibiting, Scottish painter and Edinburgh College of Art alumnus Derek Roberts presents his refreshed ‘thoughts on painting’ in the intimate surroundings of Inverleith House in the centre of the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Roberts’ renewed thoughts seem to revolve around a notion of abstracted continuity in both space and time.

Organic, aboriginal patterns fill the first canvases and are blocked into uneven rectangles both linked and dissolved by the pale blue curves of a river.

As the exhibit progresses through the gallery’s small rooms, a conversation between the paintings emerges.

Elements from previous works appear again, reconfigured and rearranged.

Whether these are combinations or permutations is unclear —one would assume the latter — but the canvases form a kaleidoscopic world, endlessly abstracted and reshaped with each turn of the corner.

But the abstraction is not only spatial: temporality proves an interesting patchwork. The works are hung without plaques — no dates are given, and though the paintings considered alone could be from any decade after about 1960, a century of influences can be recognised.

Abstracted Art Nouveau forms linger in corners; the canvases’ rectangular divisions are Mondrianic; organic blue forms call to mind Picasso’s mid-century nudes; a set of black blooms on pop-art orange are unmistakably Warholian.

But acoss all of these time-travelling canvases remain the initial, primitive motifs from the first paintings to bring

things full circle. And in this showing dedicated to a dead friend, the most telling painting of this theme of continuity, appropriately located in the heart of the exhibition, is a canvas featuring a figure of eight.

Despite Roberts’ technique of naming his pieces after their colours, the emphasis in his work seems to be on form, pattern and repetition, creating a

rhythm not only in the singular works but carried throughout the exhibition.

Intriguing but ultimately repetitive, this show is worth a stop if you’re in the area or fancy a sunny stroll across town.

VENUE: INVERLEITH HOUSE DATES: UNTIL 14 APRIL 2013 PRICE: ADMISSION FREE

Thu 21 to Sat 23 March 2013

LABYRINTH OF LOVE TOUR

Tue 9 & Wed 10 April 2013

Shell

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Beneath a cold exterior is a memorable, haunting tale of isolation

FILM Nathanael Smith Film editor

Two people living in a remote

wilderness, with only each other and the incessant howling wind for company; their lives given only temporary interest by passing cars that stop for petrol or repairs.

Safe to say that Scott Graham’s debut film Shell is hardly a laugha-minute, nor is it an action packed blockbuster like Skyfall, despite the shared Highlands setting.

The only explosions to be found here are between the characters, but this father and daughter are so

Tue 19 March 2013

introverted and emotionally reticent that even these are a slowly burning ember, rather than a big bang.

Yet, in spite of an excruciatingly plodding pace, there is something unforgettably haunting about this quiet film.

Perhaps it’s the cinematography by Yoliswa Gärtig, which makes the most of staying in one location by shooting the highlands as an unearthly landscape, the grassy moors becoming almost alien under Gärtig’s camera. It’s bleak, but undeniably beautiful.

It could also be the mesmerising performance by newcomer Chloe Pirrie. The Scot has since appeared in Channel 4’s Black Mirror but this — her first feature film — marks her clearly as a talent to watch.

Navigating complex emotions

with the smallest amounts of dialogue, director Scott Graham relies entirely on her face to tell the story, and Pirrie handles the task with aplomb.

She is a shell herself, a mollusc clinging on to a harsh, barren landscape, but hiding life beneath a hard exterior.

Shell makes you work for its emotional payoff, and the detached approach to narrative and dialogue leaves it feeling as cold as its Scottish setting.

The measured, slow approach to storytelling will not be to everyone’s taste, but for those prepared to accept it, Shell will get under your skin and is not an experience you will forget in a hurry.

Shell is released on 15 March

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Bridging borders at the Scottish Poetry Library The Journal attends a teleconferenced poetry reading with poets Kathleen Jamie and Jen Hadfield Ella Bavalia

The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

Poetry Faber New Poets Vol. 5: Joe Dunthorne Alex Howard (Faber)

Joe Dunthorne’s pamphlet is

a derivation of the vibrant language and subtle depictions of place that have secured him not just shelf space at Faber, but two award-winning novels and an acclaimed film.

From helter skelter accounts of speed dating, to a pig’s take on racism, his poems crush relatable topics up against the downright fantastical.

However, it’s somewhere between these extremes that his most capti-

vating descriptions lie: two poems resurrect individuals whose marginalisation has long since buried their stories deep away from any bard’s pen. Good on ya, Dunthorne, for this alone.

But his similes… Oh, his similes!

They’ll lasso a moment from your childhood, and fling it in your face with a sore thwack of nostalgia. A “mother’s skirt riffle[s] past like a spotted eagle ray”. It so does.

“My luck is going to run out…”

Dunthorne once said, reflecting on his success. It won’t, Joe, because you’re damn marvellous.

Carol Ann Duffy: Rapture Rapture is about love and its omnipresence across time and space. From Emily Bronte’s ghostly touches at Haworth, to the ‘significant words’ of a text message, Duffy’s images are brief and crisp. So efficiently rendered are the images, in fact, that Rapture can sometimes feel like a diorama of fluorescent, neo-imagist meditations.

But it’s beautiful. Incredibly beautiful. That the narrator’s character is bleached out by the glare of sex and romance is neither here nor there; the subject is rapture, and Duffy shows us love at its most biting and pristine.

Alex Howard (Picador, £9.99)

attend to their surroundings, observing the fine details of nature and everyday life. Hadfield exemplifies this with a poetic depiction of lichen: “Who listens like lichen listens?”, she asks, echoing the attentiveness of nature and the poet’s ability to capture it in art.

All of the poems read were steeped in nature imagery, highlighting both poets’ connection with the Scottish countryside. Particularly memorable was Jamie’s ‘The Stags’, which meshes the natural with the modern: “Their weighty antique polished antlers / rising above the vegetation / like masts in a harbour or city spires.”

Technology proved to be a faulty friend, however, as many of the lines broadcasted from Shetland were lost in Skype’s limited sound quality, making listening to half of the event quite difficult.

Importantly, however, the event contributed to the ever-important dialogue between technology and art and helped to highlight poetry’s place in an increasingly digital world.

Poetry Jennifer Taylor

In an experiment with technology,

poetry and nature, the Scottish Poetry Library hosted poets Kathleen Jamie and Jen Hadfield for a special teleconferenced reading on Friday 1 March.

With Jamie in Edinburgh and Hadfield in Shetland, the performers were connected via Skype for the live readings, allowing audiences in both locations to listen to two of Scotland’s greatest contemporary voices.

The event posed important questions about the relationships between technology, nature and art. Throughout the evening, the selected poetry seemed to conclude that the answer lies in listening.

Kathleen Jamie suggests that poetry is: “Not about the voice, it’s about listening and the art of listening, listening with attention.”

It’s the poet’s duty, she argues, to

Books agenda

‘I generally don’t like poetry, but I like this’ were the words of a friend on finishing Rapture.

It’s difficult to think of higher praise for a poet than to have her work’s quality certified by a T. S. Eliot award, yet retain within it accessibility for those to whom poetry seems stilted.

Ron Butlin: The Magicians of Edinburgh Alex Howard (Polygon, £9.99)

Edinburgh as a subject poses a

challenge for poets. Like Venice, it’s alltoo-easy to resort to superlatives and depict a city that slops around in its own mawkishness.

It’s an irony to which Magicians of Edinburgh commonly falls foul. From Greyfriar’s Bobby to the bypass, we twist through this patchwork quilt

of one man’s life in Edinburgh. But it’s hard to remain aboard the Butlin Train: “All Edinburgh is ours . . !” he cries in his title poem. As a poet I should feel the same, but clumsy meter and overstretched syntax make me want to give half the sentences a literary pruning.

Despite the occasional departure from Reekie, or the odd hard-hitting account of its less fortunate (‘EH1 2AB’ in particular), we quickly get over Middle Meadow Walk being frequently referenced and feel a city is being spoken for which could better speak for itself.

by John Hewitt Jones

The Journal takes a look at David McKnight’s new examination of the Murdoch project MURDOCH’S POLITICS: HOW ONE MAN’S THIRST FOR WEALTH AND POWER SHAPES OUR WORLD David McKnight (Pluto Press, £12.99)

In November 1989 The Sun ran a

two-page news story: “STRAIGHT SEX CANNOT GIVE YOU AIDS – OFFICIAL”. It was the beginning of a concerted campaign to discredit the discovery of the HIV-AIDS link; an attempt to propagate the subliminal message that ‘normal people don’t get it’. As the news-

paper’s columnist Garry Bushell wrote at the time: “The single most important message we should be teaching our kids… is that sodomy kills.”

The Sun, however, wasn’t unique in its decision to challenge orthodox scientific views. Through its editorial pages, The Times challenged the amount of funding going to AIDS research, and its sister paper The Sunday Times published a serialisation of the book The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS. Across the Atlantic, at another of Murdoch’s newspapers, New York Post reporter Joe Nicholson was instructed

to write a story on the likelihood that AIDS was spread by kissing.

At the time, these ideas were central to the American neo-conservative movement. The key tenet of McKnight’s book is that the tentacles of Murdoch’s news operation are conjoined by more than a desire to maximise profit. At the heart of the organisation lies the heady combination of a tycoon’s compulsion to exert political influence and a deeply held rightwing ideology. News International is an organisation that chooses to set an agenda rather than react to events

going on around it, argues the author.

Part biography, part analysis of an empire that has encompassed over a third of the British newspaper industry, the narrative follows a pacy, nominally chronological sequence. All this is achieved while being written in an an academic style that is diligently referenced. From the young Murdoch’s days as a lefty Oxford undergraduate, to holidays with prime ministers on multi-million pound yachts, McKnight presents a provocative portrait of a media baron whose influence remains unparalleled.

The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

A&E / 19

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

Kirsty Bairn

One-pan Spanish Style Lamb Sam Stern

INGREDIENTS

Sam Stern This lamb dish is beautifully

simple. Cooking everything in the same pan allows the flavours to mingle and makes for incredible eating, while the marinade is subtle but effective.

1. Prep the meat overnight, or at least 45 minutes ahead of cooking time. For cutlets in a rack, separate by slicing between the bones with a sharp knife. For ready-separated cutlets, neatly trim any excess fat. Lay cutlets in a single layer in a dish. Add the crushed garlic, oregano, paprika (if desired), oil and a little pepper and rub into the meat. If marinating overnight, leave in the fridge, or out in the kitchen if using within the next hour or so.

2. Prep and cook the potatoes and onions 40 minutes before you want to eat. Peel and slice the potatoes widthways into 5/6mm rounds. Set aside.

Peel and slice the onion thinly across.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy based frying pan (22cm base diameter or close) on medium heat. Add the onion. Stir. Reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or so until they are soft and translucent.

6-8 small neat lamb cutlets (in a rack or sold separately, trimmed) 1 clove garlic A pinch of dried or fresh oregano ½ teaspoon sweet paprika 1 tablespoon olive oil Black pepper Sea salt 1 large onion 1 fat clove garlic 1 bay leaf 2-4 tablespoons olive oil 600g Charlotte potatoes or other waxy variety A bit of flat leaf parsley ½ a lemon for squeezing Cheat’s Aioli 4 tablespoons Hellmann’s or homemade mayonnaise 1-2 cloves garlic Squeeze of lemon juice Sprinkle of paprika

4. Add a little more oil and increase heat for 30 seconds. Reduce heat to low. Add potatoes.

5. Turn onions and potatoes together to distribute evenly. Tuck the bay leaf in and season lightly.

6. Cook for 10 minutes, turning sometimes, until the potatoes assume a bit of colour (and flavour) and start to soften. Add chicken stock, cover the pan with a lid or some foil, and simmer

on low for 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft & stock mostly absorbed. Be careful not to let it dry out, adding more stock and adjusting the heat as necessary.

7. Brush a griddle pan (or large frying pan) lightly with oil and heat to high. Place the cutlets down to sear/ cook for about 3 minutes per side (less for very thin cutlets) or until browned on the outside and still pink inside — or to taste.

8. Sit the cutlets in a warm place to rest for a few minutes. Mix the cheat’s aioli. Make up a salad. Arrange the lamb on top of the pan of soft vegetables. Sprinkle with sea salt. Serve at the table with bread for scooping up the delicious caramelised pan juices.

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ECFS Insider Behind the scenes at this year’s biggest student photo shoot Alex Bunting

The concept behind our photo shoot this year was to bring JM Barrie’s Neverland into the 21st century, reimagining his classic characters as modern day archetypes. Considering our audience is a student body, we envisaged Neverland as an apt concept to explore, as a large proportion of us are reluctant to grow up and occupy a mindset disassociated with the ‘real world’.

As our theme this year is duality, Martha, our only female model, acted as both Wendy and Tinkerbell, who we interpreted as binary opposites. Wendy exemplifies the caring mother, whereas Tinkerbell is the fantastical seductress.

Martha’s outfits outline this vision: the first is an ethereal, full-length silk dress; the second a more sexualised, all-black ensemble that explores textures including lace, velvet and leather.

Our four male models are the lost boys, who we imagined as neo-dandies.

The neo-dandy alludes to the Victorian clothing of Barrie’s heyday, but remains relevant today. With this in mind, we lined up some beautiful three-piece suits from Walker Slater.

On Sunday morning, everyone arrived bright and early at a Meadowsside flat to prepare for the shoot. With hair and make-up completed by 10am, we were ready to brave Arthur’s Seat.

After half an hour of contending with blocked entrances, we finally parked around Pollock Halls. First, we ventured

to the lake and took copious pictures of the boys among the trees, arguably the setting most loyal to the book.

After that, we started our ascent to the church ruins. The climb took far longer than expected due to the undesirable mix of mud and snow. However, we finally made it and Martha was photographed looking every bit the Wendy that we were trying to portray.

By 1pm, everyone was ready for some food, so we returned to the flat for a much-needed rest and a look over our work so far. There is a fine line to tread mid-photo shoot when deciding which elements to continue using and which to disregard.

We styled the lost boys the same, just as they remain in the novel. Meanwhile, Martha was styled seductively with slicked back hair, smoky eyes and a strong lip and brow, dressed all in black.

She was transformed, ready for round two.

Our second trip was up Salisbury Crags, as we wanted to maintain continuity with the setting; however, the Crags environment is far more imposing, just as Tinkerbell is supposed to be.

Due to the looming darkness and our ever-increasing tiredness, this part of the shoot was cut short. However, we had tried several photographic techniques — at one point a lot of talcum powder was thrown around and not a lot accomplished.

All in all, everyone had an enjoyable, albeit stressful, time and we are very excited to see the finished pictures.

20 / SPORT

The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

@EdJournalSport / journal-online.co.uk

Manager merry-go-round moves at dizzying pace The owners of British clubs have long since lost sight of the fact that patience is a virtue Ruth Jeffery Sport editor

This week whilst recording The Journal’s weekly football podcast, the issue of managers came up.

The casual dismissal of coaches in this new football age was discussed, as was the movement of managers between clubs, searching for better money and healthier prospects.

Something which is a definite hallmark of football - especially the English game - in the 21st century is the musical chair-style switching of managers.

There are a few reasons for the merry-go-round circuit, but perhaps the most worrying is the lack of patience from owners. Roman Abramovich,

Chelsea owner, is a key example. He took over the club in 2003 and has gone through ten managers during his tenure.

José Mourinho was perhaps the most successful between 2004-2007, but could not deliver the Champions League title that the Russian owner so badly craved.

The Portuguese manager was succeded by a string of short-term fixes over the next two seasons, namely Grant, Scolari, Wilkins and Hiddink.

After Hiddink won the 2009 FA Cup with Chelsea, he was ousted in favour of Ancelotti, who lasted two years and was replaced by Spurs’ current frontman Villas Boas.

Next up, Di Matteo, interim manager, won Abramovich the European title he

Ronnie set to reignite flame for the Crucible’s crowds

sought, but had a short-lived spell at the helm and was replaced in November this year by Rafael Benitez.

And the former Liverpool manager’s position is already looking shaky.

Recent comments in a press conference about the board of directors and the ‘interim’ title they imposed on him have raised eyebrows and point to a decidedly unhappy Stamford Bridge.

But fans’ concerns, in the opinion of this writer, should lie not with their disgruntled manager, but with the owners and board who appointed him. Changing a coach more frequently than one’s socks is never a good sign and can only create an unstable atmosphere. Why would a player bust his gut game after game to impress a manager he thinks may not be

OCEAN DWELLER

picking the team for longer than a few months? Di Matteo would have perhaps provided the kind of stability and inspiration needed for the team as a coach at the club, someone who already knew the players.

Maybe Benitez is not the man for Chelsea. But then, who is? Abramovich needs to pick one manager and stick with them. Let the team drop some points and Premier League places as they adjust. And then watch the players reap the benefits of consistent coaching.

Ferguson is the prime example of a manager who has combined passion and stability to create a dynasty. Of course talent is a factor, and the Scot no doubt has it in bagfuls. The start of the manager’s tenure at the club was not a fairy-

tale; however, had he been on Abramovich’s books today he would have never got a chance to create what he did with Manchester United.

In his first season in charge (198687) the team finished 11th in the Premier League. The following year they finished 2nd and the season after that only just escaped relegation. 26 years later, and with 48 trophies (though not all of them with the Manchester club), Sir Alex is the most successful British manager in history.

Not every story will pan out in the same vein and it is of course no crime to admit when something isn’t working.

But behind every story is a moral, this one being that patience is a virtue.

FORTUNE TELLER

Snooker great O’Sullivan will defend World crown

Paul the Octopus will make you a few squid

Ruth Jeffery Staff Writer

Matthew Dunne-Miles Octopus whisperer

The snooker world received some joyous news last Tuesday when Ronnie ‘the Rocket’ O’Sullivan announced that he will defend his World Championship title in April.

The four-time champion will once again chalk up in the Crucible after a sabbatical taken for ‘personal reasons’. Living with depression throughout his career but always astounding fans with his natural talent, last year he beat Ali Carter in the World Championships final in fine style.

O’Sullivan has only played one competitive match since then however, when he was beaten by Simon Bedford in a PTC Championship event in September. He toured Britain with snooker legend Jimmy White to play six exhibition matches in the autumn, finishing up in Liverpool in October. He has always remained tightlipped about plans to return to the sport, but his passion and flair for entertaining will be welcomed in Sheffield.

At a press conference last week O’Sullivan said: “I got a bit bored. I needed to a rest and I thought it was time to get back to what I have done for a lot of my life. I had to get back to playing, winning or losing, and it shows how big a part of my life snooker is. I certainly feel refreshed. I was never out of juice. I don’t find snooker hard mentally or physically.”

Asked whether his time off will affect his play, O’Sullivan said: “I’ve potted lots of balls but I’m match rusty. I’ve not played matches in tense situations and it’s going to be a tough course with no practice.”

‘Rocket Ronnie’ has been provisionally sitting at number 24 in the world rankings due to his lack of play, but as defending champion will automatically be top

Jamie J Gray

seed for the Crucible tournament and is expected to begin proceedings on 20 April.

O’Sullivan has always been a performer and an entertaining player and his presence will add a sheen of glamour to the competition. Fans may well remember the stunning 147 in 1997 which at five minutes 20 seconds earned Ronnie his speedy nickname aged just 21.

His announcement to return to the table has provoked questions from media and snooker players alike about whether the Essex lad can equal or beat Stephen Hendry’s seven world titles. Hendry retired after a lacklustre competition last year, and if Ronnie is serious about committing to the cue long-term, his natural talent could see him pick up many more trophies.

The world of football management; it really isn’t what it used to be. Some of us remember when the gaffer of a club would be in it for the long-run, with a five year plan and future ambitions.

Now most teams chop and change their head of staff quicker than fans can write their ‘manager out’ banners for the next fixture.

If Sir Alex had got the results he did when joining Man United in the modern era, the best job he could be hoping for would be pot-washing for Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor at Wolverhampton Wanderers. It’s a brutal business.

I was approached by Rangers a few seasons ago to take the reigns at Ibrox, the problem was I had already predicted future events and had promised the board I would definitely get them promoted from Division 3. It didn’t sound so impressive at the time.

DI CANIO STORMS VATICAN *If Paolo Di Canio wasn’t infuriated enough after being told to sling his hook

by Swindon Town, I sense that there is more rage to come. The fiery Italian manager will leave empty-handed from his trip to Rome after being told that he can’t stake claim to the recent Papal job opening based on an apparent ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ with ex-Pope Benedict XVI. Paolo will claim that they shook hands on a job-swap when the Pontifex visited the UK in 2010 and now feels that the pointy hat and keys to the Popemobile are rightfully his. After the Catholic Church explain to Di Canio that he can’t just claim the Pope job, the hot-

headed Paulo will respond “Yes I vatican claim that job! A deal is a deal and I’m the man to get the Catholic Church into the Champions League!” Using my octo-senses, I see that Benedict XVI’s interest in the Swindon town position actually looks a more likely deal.

RAFA’S WEE BEARD

*Through the mist of the crystal

ball I can see further issues at Stamford Bridge. As Benitez’s grip on the managerial position at Chelsea grows ever weaker, there seems to be further turmoil behind the scenes when a story is leaked to the press by a mysterious source known only as ‘Lank Frampard’ that the interim manager’s goatee isn’t actually real, but the product of some handiwork with a crayon and a can of hairspray.

A press conference will be called for another ‘Rafa rant’ where he will declare that “in 26 years in management, never thesportreview

before has my facial hair come into question”. The Blues boss will further deny the rumours saying that the Benitez beard is passed down from father to son in his family.

KENNY SHIELS TO BAYERN

*I sense shocking announcements

from the Bundesliga, where heavyweights Bayern Munich will state that although Barca boffin Pep Guardiola may have been pencilled in for the future job opening, that they are willing to scratch that out if Kilmarnock Manager Kenny Shiels became available.

Shiels’ response will be less surprised than the majority of the footballing world, with Kenny telling the press from Rugby Park that the Scottish Premier League has always been “the home of the passing game…we invented that.” I foresee Killie pies becoming a staple of the Bayern team’s diet in the new year. Watch this space.

The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

@EdJournalSport / journal-online.co.uk

SPORT// 21

TRACK CYCLING

Britain gets great cycling medal haul

sum_of_marc

Success at UCI Track World Championships as young riders shine Orla O’Muiri Staff writer

Great Britain are looking more than

comfy in their form for the start of this seasons Track Cycling events, convincingly topping the table on the medal count in Belarus.

Performance director Dave Brailsford can take credit again for this one as he continues churning out the champions. The man behind the scenes is quietly transforming Great Britain from an island defined by football and the Premiership into a cycling powerhouse. First Team Sky, then the Olympic cycling performances, followed by Tiernan-Locke and his Tour of Britain win. Last week, Brailsford revealed a shiny new crew of Track cyclists that took home nine medals and five world titles from the UCI Track World Championships in Minsk, Belarus.

SQUASH

The event is the first on the long road to the Olympics in Rio in 2016 but an encouraging start for Team Great Britain and its main rivals Australia and Germany who also performed. Leading the procession for the UK was 21 year old Rebecca James, a newly crowned double world champion (keirin and individual sprint) and owner of two bronze medals from the 500 metre time trial and team sprint.

The young British squad of men and women racked up the results over the five day track competition. Victoria Williamson won bronze with teammate Becky James in the team sprint, Elinor Barker, Dani King and Laura Trott took gold in the team pursuit and Trott also secured a silver in the omnium.

In the men’s competition, Jason Kenny won gold in keirin, Simon Yates triumphed in the points race world championship while Burke, Clancy, Harrison

and Tennant together won silver in the team pursuit. The competition revealed just how strong Great Britain is looking and hints at the possibilities for Rio 2016.

The stunning female performances that saw each of the five British women at the Worlds bring back a medal will reinforce the struggle to increase support and sponsorship on their side of the sport.

It seems Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton will not be missed as much as it was first thought as the next generation of young track riders step up to take their place. Neighbours Ireland won a gold and silver at the event, making rider Martin Irvine the first Irishman to win a World Track Championship gold in 117 years.

Next year’s World Championship will be held in Colombia, Cali, where the world can see if Britain can retain their titles as the countdown continues towards the next Olympics.

FOOTBALL

Nick Roberts

Fall and rise: Bradford City The story behind the League Two club cheered on by a whole nation Jonathan McIntosh Staff writer

Bradford

Edinburgh out of BUCS Semi-final dream killed by world-class UWE Nick Roberts

Edinburgh

University

men’s

squash team were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the BUCS Championship, losing 4-1 to a world class side from the University of West England (UWE).

This is the sixth consecutive year Edinburgh has made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament; however they knew it would be tough to break their hoodoo and reach the semi-finals as UWE were fielding three players ranked in the top 100 in the world.

On court first was Edinburgh first seed, Iain Tennant, against world number 6, Mohamed El Shorbagy. Shorbagy was runner-up in the world championships at the end of 2012, so Tennant was clear underdog. Nevertheless, he went out all guns blazing and stunned the crowd to take the first game 11-8. The impossible seemed to be on the cards, however Shorbagy took the next two games and the world number 6 oozed class in closing out the final game with a spectacular winner after some punishingly long rallies.

On the next court, playing second string, Zahan Dastur was up against world number 35, and younger brother to Mohamed, Marwan El Shorbagy. Dastur was determined to prove he could hit the ball harder than a professional squash player and got his just deserts taking

a very tight second game 12-10. Again, Shorbagy’s skill proved too much in the final two games, twisting and turning Dastur all over the place leaving him exhausted but thoroughly chuffed to have taken a game off such a quality opponent.

On third was fifth string, Matthew Stout. His opponent didn’t have a world ranking but is in the Polish national squad.

Stout fetched everything his opponent threw at him but still found himself 2-0 down. In the third game, Stout stepped up the court, taking more volleys in short, forcing his opponent into errors and deservedly winning the game. Stout could not manage a comeback though, losing 3-1 and handing the victory to UWE. Dan Ward, fourth string, was determined to salvage something for the travelling team and let his Geordie passion flare dominating his opponent from start to finish to win comfortably 3-0 and get a point on the board for Edinburgh.

Finally, third string, Nick Roberts went on against world number 98, Lucas Serme. Roberts started slow, losing the first game quickly, but then dug-in to make his opponent work hard for the next two games, 11-8 and 11-7, and the eventual 3-0 win.

UWE won 4-1 and will now go through to the semi-finals and will probably defend last year’s title. Maybe next year it will be our turn.

City’s

incredible

journey in the Capital One Cup finally came to an end as they lost the final 5-0 to Swansea. Despite the League Two club being outplayed by their more illustrious opponents, Bradford City have gained far more from the cup run than any Premier League winners ever could.

Since being relegated from the Premier League in 2001, Bradford City has been through the wringer time and time again.

Former chairman Geoff Richmond spent large sums of money on players such as Benito Carbone and Dan Petrescu during their stay in the Premier League, but they failed. This plunged the club into debt and nearly resulted in liquidation.

Administration followed in 2002, and again two years later following their relegation to League One. Their fall from grace was compounded in 2007 when they dropped down to the lowest tier of the Football League. Since then, they have never reached the League Two playoffs.

Bradford City would have played at Wembley eventually, in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final or the Playoff final, but no fan would ever have expected it to be in a major cup final. Instead they knocked out three Premier League clubs and won over fans from across the footballing landscape.

For a while, it seemed Bradford City were everybody’s second team. The last time a fourth tier team had reached a major cup final was in 1962, and Bradford’s last major trophy win was in 1911.

Financially, the cup run brought a level of income to the club that should help them push into the playoff places in a bid to be promoted to League One. Despite recent speculation that Bradford has earned £2.4 million from the cup run, co-chairman Julian Rhodes recently confirmed a figure of £1.1 million. After player bonuses, that figure falls to £700,000.

Although that is not as high as first thought, it is still significant. In League Two, a very good player can usually be signed for £150,000, rather than millions, and over the course of a season, Bradford City would have needed 1,700 more people

through the turnstiles each home game to make up an extra £700,000. That would be unlikely even if they were promoted.

Manager Phil Parkinson is now considered a hero at Bradford City. He signed for the club in August 2011 and, as well as leading the club to Wembley, he has improved their league position from relegation battlers to playoff hopefuls. With his contract expiring in the summer, Parkinson should now be aching to complete the job and get Bradford into League One. The one downfall of the cup run for Bradford City has been that their league form has continued to slip. Before they met Arsenal, Bradford were 3rd in League Two, an automatic promotion place. Now, they have not won a league game in 2013 and have slipped to 12th. If they win their two games in hand, they could be right back in contention for a playoff place. They will be hoping for another trip to Wembley in May, but this time round that may be beyond Bradford.

Whether they get promoted this season or not, Bradford City is a club on the up once again.

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TENNIS ATHLETICS

FOOTBALL

Napier’s 3s secure promotion Scottish Conference Men’s 6A

GLASGOW C. 2nd

1

NAPIER 3rd

4

Kierran Allardice

Edinburgh Napier University

men’s 3rds football club beat Glasgow Caledonian University men’s 2nds 4-1 at Petershill Park.

This win clinched the BUCS Scottish 6A league for Napier 3s meaning they have achieved back to back promotions.

The 4-1 scoreline flattered Napier somewhat as they weren’t as dominant as the win suggests. It was a close game overall but a couple of defensive lapses

from GCU proved costly.

The game’s first goal came when GCU’s Ciaran Stark found space on the right wing before playing a low ball into the box. Napier only managed to clear the ball to the edge of the box where Daniel Friel pounced to hit the ball into the bottom corner to give Caley the lead.

Their lead lasted all of five minutes when Napier’s Ryan Raeburn skipped past two defenders before being brought down in the box. Brire Hay stepped up to take the penalty and sent the keeper the wrong way.

Napier started the second half much like they finished the first, piling on the pressure. Their pressure paid off in the 51st minute when they were awarded a free-kick 20 yards out. Set-piece taker Hay took the free-kick, firing it past the wall and into the corner of the goal.

Caley then had a number of chances

TENNIS

of their own but failed to convert any of them. Edinburgh Napier capitalised on Caley’s poor composure in front of goal when Hay played the ball to Jonathan Fraser who tapped into an empty net as GCU’s defence were all at sea as they appealed for offside.

Napier’s fourth and final goal was similar to their third as Caley’s defence once again halted as they appealed for offside, Hay free in the box to receive a pass from Fraser before sliding the ball past the goalkeeper to complete his hat-trick.

The referee blew the final whistle leaving Edinburgh Napier to celebrate their capture of the league title.

Glasgow Caledonian men’s 2nds will look to avoid relegation by beating Aberdeen University men’s 3rd on 20th March while Napier have no further games to play.

BUCS Indoor Athletics Championships EIS, Sheffield

by Ruth Jeffery

Five PBs and one gold medal for UoE athletes Edinburgh University Athletics Club came 15th with eight points in the BUCS Gatorade Nationals Athletics Indoor Championships last weekend in Sheffield.

Loughborough won the tournament with 93 points, Birmingham came 2nd with 36 and Cardiff Met came 3rd with 33.

There was good news for the Scottish University however as high jumper Ray Bobrownicki successfully defended his title for the third year in

a row with a jump of 2.17m. He is also the BUCS Record Holder with a jump of 2.22m set in 2011. He said: “It was a fun weekend in Sheffield with no fewer than five personal best performances from Edinburgh athletes.

“Although I fell just short of achieving a personal best myself, I’m glad that I still was able to find a way to contribute and score some points for the club.”

The society will next compete at the Scottish Universities outdoor championships at Grangemouth in April and then an outdoor one in Bedford in May. Additional reporting by Tom Bateson

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

Tennis club serves up fresh balls for members New format set up to attract newcomers Ruth Jeffery Sport editor

Edinburgh University Tennis

Club last week launched a new programme of ‘touch tennis’ to complement their current six-team campaign.

The new sessions, played on a badminton court, will use mini rackets and sponge balls and cater to all abilities. The initiative is part of the club’s mission to offer its members as many opportunities to develop skills and gain experience in the sport. These sessions will be backed up by an intra-mural touch tennis programme which started on 3 March at the CSE. Club sessions begin on 8 March.

The club also plans to start a tennis leader course and a UKCC level 1 coaching qualification, to give students the option to progress to the coaching side of tennis.

Currently with three men’s teams competing in BUCS Scottish 1A, 2A and 4A and three women’s teams who play in the BUCS Scottish 1A and 2A, the club has a firm basis on which to expand.

University Tennis Coordinator David Steers told The Journal about the club’s year so far: “We feel we have had

an excellent season in terms of BUCS matches. We have competed at a consistently high level and are hoping to carry this on into the next academic year.”

Receiving support from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has boosted the club’s abilities to expand its outreach.

Steers said: “In December 2012, we were awarded a development grant from the LTA. We have used some of this money to buy our own touch tennis equipment to enable us to hold regular sessions. We want to offer tennis to as many students as possible by introducing a new exciting format of the game.”

The club’s current sessions are divided into ‘beginner’ and ‘intermediate’ groups, but the new touch tennis is accessible to people of all abilities.

This, combined with the new teaching schemes, peomises a fruitful spring.

Steers described the touch tennis as “fun, fast and exciting” and said of the teaching programmes: “We are looking into the possibility of holding a UKCC level 1 coaching qualification after Easter to allow students to gain a valuable qualification should they choose to go down the route of sports coaching.”

Men’s Scottish Conference

6

Glasgow TIGERS

36

Battle-weary Knights end winless year Napier wrestle injury crisis and fixture pile-up Ruth Jeffery, Pete Laird

Edinburgh Napier Knights are struggling at the bottom the BUCS table having achieved no wins yet this season.

They were defeated 36-6 by Glasgow Tigers last week, and on 24 February succumbed to UWS Pyros by the smaller margin of 36-30.

The Stirling Clansmen sit top of the table with seven wins from seven, the Tigers second with six from seven.

Edinburgh Predators are third, with UWS Pyros in fourth.

The Knights officially forfeited their re-arranged away fixture at Stirling scheduled for 3pm on Wednesday 20 February.

In a team statement a Knights offi-

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cial announced that “the proposed afternoon kickoff, the unavailability of some players and most of the coaches, the net result of which would mean playing four games in ten days has meant a decision has been made in the best interest of the team’s long term development.”

The Knights put in a valiant effort against the playoff bound Glasgow Tigers last week but came away with another loss.

A scoreless first quarter gave way to a brace of scores in the second when Glasgow began to flex its powerful running game, including one for quarterback Euan Beasley, finishing the half 14-0 to Glasgow.

The Knights offence did show more life than it has done all season and some impressive drives were capped off with a long scoring strike to the returning team Captain Dominik Wiest in the third quarter.

Lewis King for Glasgow added another short score to the Tiger’s tally in the fourth quarter, effectively ending the match as with the score at 36-6, Napier trailed by too large a margin.

Napier’s defence seemed tired after so many injuries and games on the trot.

The Knights will be disappointed with a season without a win and Coach Pete Laird will surely need a fresh game plan for the next.

ONLINE // PITCHSIDE POD The Journal ‘s football podcast

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The Journal Friday 8 March 2013

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SPORT// 23

FOOTBALL

Season of anguish for the R’s The Journal looks at the story of the team languishing at the foot of the English Premier League table Josh Greatorex Staff writer

It seems almost certain that at least

one space on the Premier League table has already been decided.

QPR are comfortably residing at the foot of the table and seem unlikely to move upwards. It is highly improbable that they will escape the clutches of the Championship.

Last season saw QPR survive relegation to their old home the Championship by one point in 17th on the final day of the league season. This was two places lower than when Neil Warnock was sacked and Mark

Hughes was brought in. The transfer window opened and Hughes brought in who he felt he needed to make the team consistent winners. Some of the biggest arrivals included Park Ji Sung, Jose Bosingwa and Stephane Mbia.

A new season, a new start, new players and a new-ish manager all brought an air of hope to a disappointed fan base.

The 2012/13 season kicked off against a Swansea side who had just failed to finish in the top ten in their previous campaign, and this was classed as a game that the London side could potentially win. They were

shut down by a class Swansea 5-0 and the fans were brought right back to reality.

Fast forward another 11 games to November and as QPR sat at the foot of the table with no wins and a mere four points, the feeling was that something must be done. A change of manager seemed to be the only option, and we saw Mark Hughes leave, Harry Redknapp brought in, and fans’ frustration changing to hope once again with such a highstatus manager arriving.

The January transfer window arrived and media sponge Redknapp brought several players, including

Loic Remy, Chris Samba and Jermaine Jenas, in to the team; all were hopeful of bringing a much-needed potency to the squad.

Switch to the present day, three wins, 11 draws and 14 losses see the Londoners still propping up the bottom of the table but a definite improvement can be noticed. The results sheet does make for dire reading for QPR fans, but the odd glimmer of good fortune stands out, like their 0-1 victory over Chelsea in January.

The Londoners did win against Southampton 1-2 on Saturday but lost 0-2 to Manchester United and 4-1 to

Swansea before that. However, that crucial victory away at Southampton last weekend could be a sign of more positive things to come for the Rs. So what does the future hold for the hoops? Only time will tell — with the Premier League being such a formidably inconsistent league, a couple of wins and draws may see them through.

However, the recent varying form of drawing and losing games will see them moving back to the Championship. They have games coming up against Sunderland, Aston Villa and Fulham and are in desperate need of points.

FOOTBALL

Scottish Premier League

Scottish Premier League

Christopher Rubey

HEARTS

1

HIBERNIAN

2

MOTHERWELL

2

KILMARNOCK

2

Adam Gordon

Matthew Dunne-Miles

There was no beginners luck for caretaker manager Gary Locke as Motherwell overcame Hearts on Saturday 2-1.

The Jambos struggled to make an impact in an abject first half showing, but looked revitalised in the second half. Locke said: “I was really disappointed with the start we had, we were two goals down early in the game. It was two poor goals from our point of view, especially the wee run we are going through at the minute and the situation we are in.”

Griffiths got a hat-trick and Done got one in Hibernian’s comprehensive victory over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup on Sunday.

Hibs drew 2-2 with Killie during the week, but managed to find the extra edge to knock their opponents out of the cup.

The Leithens looked like SPL title contenders in the autumn, but recent games drawn and lost have seen them slide down the table.

They have leaked too many goals and have too often relied on prolific frontman Griffiths for points.

LEAGUE TABLES

FOOTBALL

HOCKEY

FOOTBALL

BUCS Scottish Conference Women’s 1A P W D L F

BUCS Scottish Conference Men’s 1A

A GD Pts

P W D L

Edinburgh 1st

7 7 0 0 28 5

23

21

Stirling 2nd

6 4 1

Edinburgh 2nd

8 3 2 3 18 19

-1

11

Heriot-Watt 1st

7 3

F

A GD Pts 9

13

1 3 10 14 -4

1 14 5

10

Aberdeen 1st

7 3 0 4 18 23 -5

9

Edinburgh 1st

7 2 3 2 14 13

1

9

Glasgow 1st

7 2

1 4 12 20 -8

7

Aberdeen 1st

6 2 2 2 10 11

-1

8

St Andrews 1st

7

1 5 19 28 -9

4

Glasgow 1st

8 2

1 5 13 18 -5

7

1

ONLINE // journal-online.co.uk Hearts and Hibs: match reports and analysis

Adam Gordon and Matthew Dunne-Miles cover all the action in Edinburgh

Not-so-new faces grace SPL Gary Paul Staff writer

A couple of familiar faces have

reappeared in the SPL in the past week with all-time SPL top scorer Kris Boyd returning to Kilmarnock and Scotland’s once talismanic James McFadden signing until the end of the season at Motherwell.

Both players started their careers at the clubs they have returned to and there is a mutual benefit to both club and player in each move.

Boyd’s career has stalled since leaving the SPL for Middlesbrough, and subsequent moves to Nottingham Forest, Eskisehirspor in Turkey and Portland Timbers in the MLS have all failed similarly with managers being sacked and Boyd falling out of contention time after time.

With the SPL as tight as it is this season there is very little between the teams in terms of quality; a player like Boyd could make the very slight difference between a top-six and a bottomsix finish, or European qualification, or even a Scottish cup win.

Any fan who would begrudge Boyd

a few seasons in the lower leagues with Rangers after firing them to such heights would surely be cutting their nose to spite their face, fickle as football fans may be. Regardless, there is no guarantee that Boyd would simply walk back into the Kilmarnock team with Paul Heffernan in a rich vein of form and manager Kenny Shiels keen to show off talented young players at his disposal.

In the case of McFadden at Motherwell it is a very welcome piece of business among all fans, but one that has perhaps come sooner than most expected.

When a young McFadden burst through the youth set-up at Fir Park the club were in dire straits both on and off the park, and his obvious talent provided moments of amazement amid difficult times.

At the same time he began to impress internationally, scoring a famous goal against the Netherlands at Hampden; with his stock rising he left for Everton at the age of 19.

Motherwell fans watched on proudly as he held his own in the Premiership at Everton and then at Birmingham under Alex McLeish, while also

establishing himself as Scotland’s star player; his sensational goal against France at the Parc des Princes the highlight of an international career that has unfortunately faltered lately.

Following cruciate ligament damage in 2010, McFadden has struggled for any consistent playing time or form both domestically and internationally. Short term spells at Everton and Sunderland provided very little game time and so ‘Faddy’ has returned to Lanarkshire aged just 29 to reestablish himself as the player that showed so much promise ten years ago. Again, he states he is driven only by a desire to play football again and the Motherwell fans are all too happy to have their hero back in claret and amber.

His first start was in a 2-1 win over Celtic and even against the champions his class was evident; he was involved in Motherwell’s opening goal, and in orchestrating several attacking opportunities. Match fitness is still some way off but should he prove instrumental in helping Motherwell to an impressive second place finish, a return to the dark blue of Scotland might not be out of the question.

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