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Original poster

To think this is chilling?

349 replies

Gorgeouslilgirl · 09/06/2021 10:28

Students in an Oxford college did what students do - questioned the status quo and decided to replace a picture that is political, ie a head of state. A measured and inclusive message accompanied this.

And the education secretary has waded in to criticise a student body for actions within their own space? And DM is publishing the student’s photo and family home and much his dad earns! Wtf?!

It reminds me of the Middle East or North Korea or perhaps Thailand where people have a photo of their beloved unelected leader as a sign of patriotism or else they are viewed unfavourably.

I mean, really?!!!

OP posts:
RJnomore1 · 09/06/2021 12:00

Tell you what annoys me

This is a pissing contest among the elite and doesn’t deserve the light of day publicity wise. Who cares...

moynomore · 09/06/2021 12:00

I agree OP. The government has no place commenting on this situation.

IrmaFayLear · 09/06/2021 12:00

I think the person want8 g the portrait removed is a part.

Likewise the American woman who as president of the Southampton students union demanded that a mural of WWI soldiers was painted over…. not realising that the mural depicted those young men who had lost their lives and were unable to graduate.

Just ignorant people seeking attention.

jay55 · 09/06/2021 12:00

It's a ridiculous storm in a teacup.
And yes the education secretary wading in was a ridiculous over reaction and they shouldn't have the time to comment on what students choose to display on their common room wall.

ddl1 · 09/06/2021 12:01

no i dont find it chilling , if this kid actually spent more time devoting his time to studying which is what is presumed hes there to bloody do then meddling about with his woke agenda because he doesnt like the queens picture because of this colonial bullshit then he wouldnt be having his picture , name and all the rest of it plastered all over the daily mail would he ?

So you think that the tabloids have the right to invade people's privacy if they don't do things that way YOU think they should be doing?

Even if a student was lazy (and there's no evidence that he was), they don't deserve that!

I am not particularly 'chilled' about it, because it's nothing new: the tabloids have always had a vile tendency to invade people's privacy (not just students or left-wingers; probably most of all the Royal Family in fact!) But it's still disgusting.

IrmaFayLear · 09/06/2021 12:01

An “idiot” that was meant to say.

moynomore · 09/06/2021 12:02

@ViceLikeBlip

Lots of people are focusing on the wrong details here. Its not about how old this man was, or his nationality. It's about the government wading into situations where they have absolutely no jurisdiction.

I do find it chilling when Gavin Williamson thinks he gets to decide that anyone SHOULD display a portrait of the queen. (Fwiw I love the queen! It makes me sad that I'm not sure our monarchy will last another generation. But even I don't have a portrait up in my front room!)

Exactly. That is the issue.
SparrowNest · 09/06/2021 12:02

Everyone who thinks there’s any justification for front page newspaper coverage of a student common room voting to take down a photo of the Queen, never mind a government minister getting involved, has lost their mind.

Genuinely, you have completely lost the plot.

cindarellasbelly · 09/06/2021 12:03

The way this was reported on initially was very distorting - it sounded like students had lobbied to get an old portrait taken down from the college.

I actually do agree there are some issues with that, things to be discussed around cancel culture, etc. But - it was a print in the MCR common room! When I attended a different common room, there was a vote passed to rename the common room after an ageing pop star. Most grad students were international. I think I would have found a picture of the queen a bit weird: a lot of Oxford students seem to really buy into a lot of tradition, including quite questionable ones.

Some random 25 year old passed a motion, a few years after another random 25 year old presumably went to Argos and put a picture up. I do think pillorying them in the press is ridiculous and government intervention even more so. If it was an official college decision fair enough, but really this is a vote equivalent to: can we buy fancier chocolate for second desserts. The public clamp. down is ridiculous, as is the 'ungrateful' language - they'll be paying a huge amount in fees and will have been encouraged to come to the UK.

OchonAgusOchonOh · 09/06/2021 12:05

@chaosrabbitland

no i dont find it chilling , if this kid actually spent more time devoting his time to studying which is what is presumed hes there to bloody do then meddling about with his woke agenda because he doesnt like the queens picture because of this colonial bullshit then he wouldnt be having his picture , name and all the rest of it plastered all over the daily mail would he ?
Again, he put forward the motion in his role as president, as he would do for all motions. There is nothing to suggest that he was the original proposer of the motion.

But hey, no point in letting facts get in the way of a bit of xenophobia.

TheKeatingFive · 09/06/2021 12:06

Williamson is a fucking idiot. That’s my main takeout here.

chaosrabbitland · 09/06/2021 12:06

@ddl1

no i dont find it chilling , if this kid actually spent more time devoting his time to studying which is what is presumed hes there to bloody do then meddling about with his woke agenda because he doesnt like the queens picture because of this colonial bullshit then he wouldnt be having his picture , name and all the rest of it plastered all over the daily mail would he ?

So you think that the tabloids have the right to invade people's privacy if they don't do things that way YOU think they should be doing?

Even if a student was lazy (and there's no evidence that he was), they don't deserve that!

I am not particularly 'chilled' about it, because it's nothing new: the tabloids have always had a vile tendency to invade people's privacy (not just students or left-wingers; probably most of all the Royal Family in fact!) But it's still disgusting.

look its news . its not about if i think hes doing things the way i think it should be done , he did something that is newsworthy and the paper has duly reported on it including details , same as they did the lady whos dog off the lead killed the seal in london , same as if hed put someone in hospital by riding his bike at 20 mph along a pavement . , dont want to be in the news with your shit plastered everywhere , try harder staying out of it then if possible . its really quite simple .
Celandines · 09/06/2021 12:06

"A few years ago, in about 2013, they bought a print of a photo of the Queen to decorate their common room
"They recently voted to take it down. Both of these decisions are their own to take, not the college's."
What the hell has that got to do with a government minister and the Daily Mail?

ddl1 · 09/06/2021 12:06

if this kid actually spent more time devoting his time to studying which is what is presumed hes there to bloody do then meddling about with his woke agenda

And if the Education Secretary spent more time devoting his time to helping schoolchildren and college and university students recover educationally from the pandemic, which is what it's presumed he's there to bloody do, rather than meddling about with the supposedly 'woke' agendas of private individuals and organizations, he might get more success and more respect! At least you can't call him woke - he's permanently asleep on the job!

Roonerspismed · 09/06/2021 12:07

I’m more chilled by the cancel culture to be honest.

irregularegular · 09/06/2021 12:07

Not sure about "chilling", but definitely completely inappropriate for him to intervene and comment on a non-event that had nothing to do with him. And the press behaviour is just ridiculous.

In conjunction with some of the inappropriate government interventions into the Arts lately it is very depressing certainly; www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/may/01/charles-dunstone-quits-as-museum-group-chair-amid-culture-war

TheKeatingFive · 09/06/2021 12:08

This isn’t cancel culture though.

They have a right to decide what’s hung on the wall in their own common room. They aren’t ‘cancelling’ the Queen.

ThursdayWeld · 09/06/2021 12:09

@Gorgeouslilgirl

Is the DF even legally allowed to do this? Can they publish photos and identifying information about anyone without their consent even if they have done nothing unlawful and their activities are within a private space?
Of course they can. They're a newspaper.

It would be more chilling if only convicted criminals were officially allowed to be written about Hmm

Letsallscreamatthesistene · 09/06/2021 12:09

I didnt say id be ok with it, I just dont think its chilling

fromdownwest · 09/06/2021 12:09

I lived in Thailand for many years, every other wall / billboard had a picture of the Royalty on it.

I did not feel threatended / excluded / scared. I accepted it was the local culture, and carried on with my job.

To be fair, this was in the Naughties where we were a little more, how do you say...thick skinned!

everybodysang · 09/06/2021 12:10

@chaosrabbitland

no i dont find it chilling , if this kid actually spent more time devoting his time to studying which is what is presumed hes there to bloody do then meddling about with his woke agenda because he doesnt like the queens picture because of this colonial bullshit then he wouldnt be having his picture , name and all the rest of it plastered all over the daily mail would he ?
this is one of the funniest comments I've read on here for ages.
Celandines · 09/06/2021 12:11

Yes if only GW put more effort into his job instead of meddling in what photos students choose to decorator their common room with.

everybodysang · 09/06/2021 12:11

@Roonerspismed

I’m more chilled by the cancel culture to be honest.
what do you think was being cancelled? It's just a picture in a common room. What's been cancelled?
ddl1 · 09/06/2021 12:11

he did something that is newsworthy

He did absolutely nothing newsworthy (and he didn't make the decision on his own anyway)

and the paper has duly reported on it including details , same as they did the lady whos dog off the lead killed the seal in london , same as if hed put someone in hospital by riding his bike at 20 mph along a pavement

Taking down (or putting up) a picture of the Queen doesn't kill or endanger anyone, and doesn't put them in hospital, and isn't against the law. So your examples are irrelevant.

. , dont want to be in the news with your shit plastered everywhere , try harder staying out of it then if possible . its really quite simple

Ok, get your point. You don't believe in freedom of speech. You want cancel culture, so long as it's cancelling views that YOU don't like.

chaosrabbitland · 09/06/2021 12:12

@SparrowNest

Everyone who thinks there’s any justification for front page newspaper coverage of a student common room voting to take down a photo of the Queen, never mind a government minister getting involved, has lost their mind.

Genuinely, you have completely lost the plot.

nah im ok thanks , just havent got time for the woke crap that permates our society and no im not xenophobic or a keen royalist either , its front page coverage because that is what the papers are putting on there for today , they obviously feel its what people want to read or they would have picked a different headline , cant understand why thats a big deal for a lot of people on this thread