InTuition

Megan Tomlinson - Writer Just eight minutes before the historic judgment of the Supreme Court on 24th September 2019, a prominent and engaging EU lawyer addressed a room of aspiring lawyers in their Postgraduate induction week. In a fashion not dissimilar from a ‘hype man’, he drummed into each of us the significance of the judgment that could be delivered that morning. The following talk happened to be scheduled with the Junior Counsel for Gina Miller on his research into the ‘Wives of ISIS’. Yet, as Dr Tom Hickman QC rushed into the room straight out of the Supreme Court, and the news articles on the decision popped up on every smartphone in the room, a cheer erupted from the next generation of lawyers: a success for the Constitution and for Parliamentary Sovereignty! It was safe to say that the topic of ‘Wives of ISIS’ was postponed for another time. The second Supreme Court Miller judgment elicited a range of reactions in the political sphere, with Jacob Rees-Mogg MP alleged...

Claudia Silva - Guest Writer “I am going home with a very expensive piece of paper.” This profound sentiment felt by many foreign graduates was said by Shreya Swamy, a Master’s student in the University for the Creative Arts in the UK, in an interview with the BBC. She had moved from India to the UK to pursue her higher education and has highlighted to the BBC the reality of the situation that international students face after completing their education. With Theresa May’s restrictive immigration policy, international students have been left with 4 months after their graduation to find a job in the UK. Although the Home Office’s latest immigration white paper extended the 4-month “job-hunt” period to a 6-month period with its Tier 4 (Pilot) Visa Scheme (and those with doctorates were extended to a full year to find work in the UK), the hoops that international students were forced to jump through were far too many and far too onerous. With unrealistically high salary thresholds,...

Sophie Bond - Writer It is no secret that the topic of mental health is prevalent in our social media lives. It’s like social media is being used as a diary for the expression of people’s feelings; providing an alternative public outlet to speaking about their problems with other people in person. With the amount of people with mental health issues on the rise (according to Young Minds), is this potential platform for problems helping those suffering or is it making matters worse? It is important to realise that there are many benefits of people expressing the way they feel online because there are many supportive voices and organisations out there who can give you advice or just to listen. Not only that but it can also be a way to spread awareness of different conditions like anxiety, depression and eating disorders, so someone struggling in silence may possibly find the courage to open up themselves and get the help they need. Mittal et al (2007) explain that social media is a...

KF - Writer In a world where fossil fuels are finally revealing their ugly hands, green alternatives have risen like a Biblical prophet. Full of truth and light and generic good things, the likes of hydroelectric, wind and solar are a rope thrown as the boat goes over the waterfall. We have taken to them slowly and in recent years enthusiasm is gathering momentum. Political movements advocating greener deals now place heavy importance on renewable power generation and a sharp steer away from coal and oil. Now, Hydroelectric power (HEP) plays a major part in global electricity generation, already] contributing 20% of the world’s electricity. It has dominated electricity supply in developed countries such as Switzerland, Canada, Norway and the Pacific Northwest regions of the US, living very much in the public eye and heralded as the mark of forward thinking, responsible nations. HEP has taken less of a public spotlight in developing countries, however that’s not to say it isn’t p...

Daniel Priestley - Editor & Writer Devolution - which is the transfer of delegation of power to a lower level usually from central government to a regional administration - has evolved dramatically in the last 20 years, taking powers from Westminster and giving them to the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Government. Multiple referendums have presented a somewhat weak, but present democratic mandate for Wales having more control over its own destiny and this has been reflected in this movement of power. Since the passing of the Government of Wales Act in 2006, these devolved bodies have had the power to change law and policy in 20 areas including culture, education, housing and tourism. On March 3rd the Welsh people voted to “affirm the role of the National Assembly for Wales as a primary lawmaker” giving the Welsh legislative agenda a clear democratic mandate. The Wales Act 2017 has now given the assembly powers over more areas and have moved the welsh government to a r...

Elizabeth White - Writer To cancel or not to cancel, that is the question. In a world where everything you have ever thought can be broadcasted to the world, people rarely stop to think whether the world needs to hear what they think. Social media has allowed us as a society to open up express how we feel and share our thoughts and experiences, both negative and positive. Now, as much as this can be a good thing, it is not always the case. Every thought, every judgement and opinion could be seen as problematic. In today’s political and social climate, not everyone shares the same views and ideals. Putting those strong opinions and thoughts out there can lead to confrontation. Confrontation and mistakes can lead to being cancelled. Social media has created a culture of cancelling, where people’s past comments are dredged up and shown the light. If those comments prove problematic they are “cancelled”; excluded, ostracised, them and their endeavours no longer supported by society. Th...

Edward Baker - Writer The illegality of euthanasia is an area of contention with legal, moral and ethical issues all to be considered. The ultimate decision to end an individual's life can be seen as a welcomed end to suffering for one person, but a palpable wrong undermining the value of human life to another. It is an area that receives radical views at both ends of the spectrum and, at a glance, a minute chance of any possible compromisation. The invention of a modern suicide machine by Dr Philip Nitschke has surfaced these concerns with visible change to suicide methods and represents a possible threat to the law. In most countries suicide is not illegal due to the nature of the act, how can you enforce the law when the perpetrator is dead? However the act of assisting suicide or euthanaisa is often found to be illegal. The machine promoted by Dr Nitschke allows users to kill themselves without assistance using nitrogen gas, an arguably preferable alternative than conventio...

Niamh Brook - Writer It’s no question. Audiences love a biopic. We are able to learn with minimal effort in a concise amount of hours. A history lesson for the lazy. A formula is beginning to form in Hollywood (Hollywood making using a formula to make money? I know. What a shock.) A current well known actor playing rock stars or actors who thrived in the past 30 years. Throw in a feel good soundtrack and you’ve got yourself a hit. However, we are not only plagued with the glam rock of the 80’s, period pieces are key in the biopic armada. We’ve seen our fair share in the past year (and a bit) such as, Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, Tolkien, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Each of these films were received from both critics and audiences in a manner of different ways. Tolkein, for example, grossed $7,776,413 worldwide out of an estimated $20,000,000. Where as Bohemian Rhapsody grossed $903,655,259 with a $52,000,000 budget and also nabbed four oscar whilst it was at it. T...

Sophie Bond -   Writer People have personal preferences about almost everything, whether it be a favourite colour or a favourite flavour ice cream; it is down to what the individual prefers. This is no different when it comes to accents - some people cannot stand a Welsh, Geordie, Scouse, Irish accent, but other people love them. I’m sure you have heard someone say something along the lines of ‘she’s lovely, but I just cannot stand her accent’, I’ve heard this about Cheryl Cole and her thick Geordie accent.  The accent which tends to take most of the hate and hostility seems to be the Birmingham accent, for some reason, hardly anyone has a liking towards it. This accent is shown through the series Peaky Blinders. In case you are not familiar with this T.V series, it is set in Birmingham so the majority of the characters have the accent, but as stated by Lauren O’Neill not all of the accents are spot-on; she says some accents are more representative of the Liverpudlian ac...

Eleanor Parsons - Writer From a young age, we are often asked which superpower we would like to have. Most say flying, super-speed or mind-reading. Some say invisibility. However, for those with invisible disabilities, this wish can soon become a nightmare. Through this article, I intend to give an insight into living with invisible illnesses as a young adult, through my own experience and from others around me. Invisible (or hidden) disabilities are often a taboo subject - one of those areas which many people fear discussing, for fear that they too might ‘catch it'. Invisible disabilities can cover a wide range of areas, from mobility conditions and mental health conditions through to epilepsy and many others. There are 13.3 million people registered with a disability in the UK, accounting for nearly 1 in 5 of the population. Far more people will suffer from a hidden disability than one which is physically apparent, but yet those who do are largely ignored within society. ...

Daniel Priestley - Writer and Editor In this series of articles I will aim to pick apart and suggest relatively simple alternatives to current democratic tools used in the UK's democracy. The aim is to show how it is not just our politicians that are broken, but the systems that they operate in. Today's topic is compulsory voting. Democratic legitimacy is the concept that a large amount of people in a country should support a person and their ideas in order for them to be entitled to lead. Arguably UK governments struggle to obtain democratic legitimacy for two reasons: the way that we vote and who votes. I have already discussed the way that we vote in the first part in this series (linked here) so we must now turn to who votes in elections, but choose not to. For a government to be legitimate, it needs the full support of the people which rests on the premise that people will exercise their democratic right. In UK elections we have a clear problem of low voter turnout. Fo...

Eleanor Parsons - Writer Emergent technologies are any technologies, software or hardware developed since the introduction of the Internet. These technologies have sped up globalisation, creating worldwide reaching communication channels which operate in real time. In recent years, the misuse of these technologies has contributed to issues such as increased radicalisation into terrorist organisations through the use of social media, or major international crisis as seen during the Wannacry virus attack in 2017. As such, retrospective legal or political responses to crime no longer meet the risks that misuse of these technologies pose. These responses must now change in order to address the growing contemporary threat. However, where we move to a society of suspicion and monitoring rather than retrospective investigation, we put the whole population at risk of having their civil liberties eroded, and the protective rule of law weakened. The question is, where should the line be draw...