Luke Alsford

I am currently the Founding Editor of the interview section for Durham's student magazine The Bubble, and an aspiring journalist, with a focus on politics and interviewing

The Bubble •

Why Keir Starmer's tuition fees U-turn shows he wants to fight a cost-of-living election

If Keir Starmer has indeed developed one skill during his tenure as Labour leader that is necessary for life in Number 10, it is a knack for knowing when to drop bad news. In a week consisting of council elections followed by a coronation, Starmer will have hoped that his blink-and-you-miss-it U-turn on a previous promise to abolish university tuition fees would fly by undetected by voters. Not least because it did not go unnoticed by Labour’s political opponenets, who have already been lining u
The Bubble •

“Labour students are alienated by Starmer’s leadership”: DULC Chair Catherine Howells on distrust within the Labour Party

Catherine Howells talks to Luke Alsford about the importance of having Labour activism in Durham and discusses why students are getting rid of their Labour memberships.

Luke Alsford: Why do you think it’s important that Durham University and other universities have a Labour voice?

Catherine Howells: I think it’s very important that universities have a left-wing space within universities. There are other opportunities, such as Marxist society, but that can feel quite intense for a lot of people
The Bubble •

Tactical voting and the battle to save the union

Unionism in Scotland is at a crossroads and, alongside it, so are the Scottish Conservatives. This was no more apparent than in the muffled, cross-border dispute between Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader and MP, and his Westminster counterparts. In an eyebrow-raising comment, Ross suggested that unionist voters should “look beyond their own narrow party” and use tactical voting to endorse candidates most likely to defeat the SNP. After the Conservatives south of the border clapped back that
Micro-Europa Studio Tübingen •

Studierende aus dem Vereinigten Königreich (465)

Radio Micro-Europa: Sendung (465) „Studierende aus dem Vereinigten Königreich“ am Sonntag, den 19. März 2023 von 12 bis 13 Uhr im Freien Radio Wüste Welle 96,6 – Kabel: 97,45 Mhz, auch als Live Stream im Internet

Der Link zum Anhören im Internet:

https://www.wueste-welle.de/broadcasts/livestream

Der Link zu unserer Mediathek:

http://vergil.uni-tuebingen.de/microeuropa/

Der Link zu unserer Homepage:

https://micro-europa.de/

Heute führen wir eine Diskussion auf Englisch über die Herausfo
Palatinate •

The ‘B word’: Why Sunak and Starmer hope Brexit is finished business

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer can agree on something, and they want you to agree with them too: Brexit is now over.

Sunak is so confident of this fact that his own minister, Steve Baker, supposedly disbanded the hard-line Tory Eurosceptic European Research Group's WhatsApp group chat, as a declaration of Brexit's completion. The cause for celebration? The passing of the Windsor Framework into law. The EU-UK agreement, purporting to solve the once thorny issue of Northern Ireland's relationship w
The Writer Summit •

Emma Smith, 'This is Shakespeare'

This week's episode titled 'Emma Smith: This is Shakespeare's' features Oxford academic Emma Smith and her best selling book 'This is Shakespeare.' From pointing out the flaws in Shakespeare's works to addressing whether Shakespeare should be taught in school as much as it is, Emma provides a comprehensive insight into his writings. The interview also features a section on the renowned 'Macbeth' and a Q and A where we hear from you!

Are you ready for another episode for our Pen and Perception series?
The Bubble •

Boris Johnson's Partygate showdown: The future direction of British politics is at stake

Boris Johnson is coming up to the bat in the latest innings of the Partygate scandal. On Wednesday 22nd at 14:00, he is to make a live and televised appearance in front of the Commons Privileges Committee that is investigating one central question for the former Prime Minister’s political future: did he deliberately mislead Parliament over denials of covid-lockdown parties in Downing Street? Boris Johnson is not just at facing the prospect of a couple of hours of hostile questions; he risks bein
The Bubble •

“Rape culture is prevalent at Durham”: Intersectional Femsoc President Fleur de Bono on being a feminist at university

In a pertinent and striking interview, Fleur de Bono sat down with Luke Alsford and discussed the burning issues of rape culture, imposter syndrome, accommodation costs, and how students and the university are failing to address them.

Luke Alsford: Why did you want to be involved in Intersectional Feminism Society, and why did you go on to want to be President?

Fleur de Bono: I have a really long-standing interest in feminist issues. I actually set up the feminist society at my school, so it w
The Bubble •

“We want to help writers showcase their work”: Ariba Saeed on building a social enterprise while at university

Ariba Saeed talks with Luke Alsford about the experience of co-founding The Writer Summit while at Durham University and why she wants to promote the work of aspiring writers and journalists.

Luke Alsford: The Writer Summit is a new social enterprise that you have co-founded, what’s the goal? What’s the ambition for The Writer Summit?

Ariba Saeed: Our ambition is to become a social agency for writers, so we want to end up in a position where we can showcase the work of a writer on our platform
The Bubble •

"We need collective leadership": Durham's Climate Society President on solving climate change at university

Cosmo van Steenis talks with Luke Alsford about Durham University’s “moral and ethical responsibility” on climate change and how he hopes to inspire the UK’s future climate leaders.

Luke Alsford: The Climate Society was founded at the beginning of this academic year in September 2022 – why this academic year? why now?

Cosmo van Steenis: Well, so I’m a second year, so I arrived last year. There are a bunch of us who arrived and found that Durham has a lot of passionate students, in different ar
The Bubble •

"Students will be priced out of things": St. Aidan's JCR President Joe Eaton on the cost-of-living crisis

Luke Alsford interviewed Joe Eaton and discussed the influence of a JCR President, the dangers of the rising costs of college participation, and what makes Aidan’s the ‘Rainbow College’.

Luke Alsford: What is it about college life at St. Aidan’s that made you want to be involved for another year as JCR President?

Joe Eaton: That’s always one of those questions where it’s, “Oh, you are just putting off getting a real job”! When I agreed to do this interview, I told myself not to say anything co
The Bubble •

“I want the University to actually act on students’ interests” – an interview with DSU Welfare and Liberation Officer Laura Curran

One of Durham Students’ Union’s sabbatical officers, Laura Curran, talked with Luke Alsford about the causes and solutions of Durham’s housing crisis and discussed the influence of the SU.

Luke Alsford: You have studied both your Bachelors and Masters here at Durham. Why did you want to stay another year as a sabbatical officer for Welfare and Liberation?

Laura Curran: Having been in Durham for as long as I have, I’ve had the opportunity to engage in the wider student experience. In Collingwoo
The Bubble •

“It’s important to rebuild that bond with the community” – an interview with DUCK chair Tara Oakley

Tara Oakley, the chair of the Durham University Charities Kommittee, sat down with Interview Editor Luke Alsford and discussed fund-raising challenges in a post-Covid world and the importance of charity for Durham’s local community.

Luke Alsford: Almost everyone at Durham University has heard of DUCK [Durham University Charities Kommittee], but maybe they do not always know what DUCK does. How would you describe DUCK?

Tara Oakley: Yeah, I think that’s a very fair question. We are basically the
The Bubble •

“I want people to appreciate the diversity that we have in Durham”– an interview with International Students’ Association President Elena Meier

The Bubble sat down with Elena Meier and in a wide-ranging interview discussed the appeal of Durham University for international students and whether expectation meets reality when you arrive in Durham.

Luke Alsford: I’m really curious, as a background, why you wanted to come and study at Durham as an international student?

Elena Meier: I was studying law and I was quite interested in the common law system in the UK: the actual legal framework that you have here, because it’s a lot more analyt
The Bubble •

“Durham is not always a safe place for LGBT+ students” – an interview with Durham LGBT+ Association President Freddy Sperring

Freddy Sperring and I sat down and discussed the LGBT+ student experience at Durham and the importance of Durham’s LGBT+ Association.

Luke Alsford: Why did you get involved in the LGBT+ Association? What drew you towards it?

Freddy Sperring: I started in my first year, I took a job as a being the representative for non-binary people, because that was at the time what I identified as. I just wanted to take it because I was a little unsure of my identity and I had made some non-binary friends an
The Bubble •

“Everyone should be playing sport” – an interview with Team Durham President Alex Zimaras

In the first part of my interview with the President of Durham University’s sporting body, I asked about the allure of being an elite athlete and what makes Team Durham so successful.

Luke Alsford: I want to start by asking: why did you want to become President of Team Durham?

Alex Zimaras: I was Captain of football in my third year. And then doing that on a day-to-day basis, I was like, “Oh, I want to do something and get paid to do this.” I really liked what I was doing in the football club
The Bubble •

“I've never once regretted picking up the phone” – an interview with Durham Nightline Co-ordinator Ben Mensah

In the first part of my first interview for The Bubble, I sat down with one of the ‘public-facing’ volunteers of Durham’s student-run listening service to discuss the impact of Nightline’s work and the importance of their core principles.

Luke Alsford: You were at Durham’s Freshers’ Fair; how did you describe Nightline and what it offers?

Ben Mensah: I tend to describe it as a student mental health service that is run entirely by students, for students. So, we offer free mental health training