Read Online
Rhifyn 1200 Issue 1200
13 May 2024
13 Mai 2024
gair rhydd Cardiff University’s Student Paper | Established 1972
Welcome to our Bumper Final Edition of the Year! Croeso i Rifyn Terfynol Bumper y Flwyddyn! Source: Jay Huang (Via Flickr)
Interview with Mark Drakeford Thomas Wilson Politics Editor
H
ow do you feel your time studying Latin at Kent influenced your politics? Kent in those days was at the tail end of the 60s student militancy; much of my first year was spent with people sitting in etc. Debates in the student union were between the broad left, which certainly didn’t include the labour party, and the International Marxist Group as to whether the working classes of Canterbury were about to rise. I used to sit there suggest we ought to go out and ask all five of them! Student politics didn’t interest me at all given its remoteness and the reality of what was happening in the world. How has Cardiff changed since 1979? The city was still in recovery from the post war austerity and I think it has changed in so many ways. When I worked in Ely in 1979, it was very multicultural and had the largest council estate in Europe at the time. Men worked in the paper mill and women worked in the hospital. Those two employers dominated the working experience for people. People left school at 15 , with schools having very little ambition, with the expectation being that these people would work in the same occupation as their parents. The city is more buyout and multicultural and attractive city. For the size of it, it has a thriving cultural, arts and sports. All the things people enjoy out of work are available in Cardiff which is quite the contrast from 1979. Are you concerned about the clampdowns on university freedoms? It is an ambiguously politically driven set of arrangements by a conservative government appealing to people on its own right wing. They are keen on freedom of speech so long as it’s the freedom to express the things they believe in. These are people who want to control what you read, control what you see, control what you get up to in
your bedroom think de-platforming people is something you should do in very rare circumstances. I can vividly remember going to hear Mary Whitehouse speak at Kent and she was howled down and unable to speak. All this resulted in was an enormous public relations triumph for her with all the coverage not focusing on critiques but the idea of her being victim to an unruly mob. What do you feel the key issues are with the NHS? My view is that its money. Up until 2010 we spent the same proportion of national income as say Germany and France which saw unprecedented public satisfaction. Ever since then, the gap between what we spend domestically compared to nations abroad has widened and is wider than it has been in this whole century. The NHS has been running on empty because the government will not invest in it and that lack of investment means we have exhausted staff who are being asked to double their efforts to deal with the backlog from the pandemic. The number of the people on the waiting list fell last month and the total number of people on the waiting list had risen by 0.4% last year compared to 5.9% in England. We need capital investment to offer people the service they need, modern buildings and , modern equipment. How would you say cooperation was between Number 10 and the devolved governments? I would describe it as frustratingly variable. There were points when cooperation was good such as when COBRA meetings were regularly held but then there would be acres of time with no contact at all. Why the UK government was never prepared to institutionalise a bedrock of regular contact is very hard to understand; although in the inquiry we are starting to see some clues.
T
o read the rest of Thomas' interview, turn to page 11
Celebrating in Style: The Gair Rhydd team at the Student Media Awards
An Interview with Tomáš Hanus
Belle Lee
Head of Spotlight
C
an you provide an overview of your role as an opera music director?
This is a complicated answer! Being a music director is essential an artistic job, but it includes interaction with people. First of all, the most important thing within every artistic institution
Oedd Elvis yn Gymro?
H
ow do you approach the selection of repertoire for each opera production?
In an ideal world, I would choose the repertoire that is the best for the company, the audience, and the circumstances we live in. However, we do not live in the ideal world. the artistic vision of the institution.
T
o read the rest of Belle's piece, turn to page 6
The Kendrick Lamar and Drake Drama
Budget cuts threaten
Jack Thomas
Tamsin Fraser
Adam Dunstan
Y
A
I
Golygydd Taf-od
dych chi byth wedi gwrando ar ganeuon Elvis Presley? Ganwyd yr eicon cerddorol yn Mississippi yn 1935, a thrwy gydol ei oes gwerthodd dros biliwn o recordiau ledled y Byd, yn trawsnewid cerddoriaeth am byth. Awgrymodd yr academydd Terry Breverton bod gwreiddiau Elvis yn ardal y Preseli yng ngorllewin Cymru.
15
6
National Museum Cardiff
Head of Review
I ddarllen gweddill erthygl Jack, trowch i dudalen 15
11
is the outcome, what we offer to the public. One of the main things about being a music director is to prepare the orchestra, is to prepare the singers and then conduct them well during the performance! This means to inspire and create an exceptional evening every time!
Politics Editor
t the time of writing, we are currently in the midst of a ceasefire between Canadian megastar Drake and Compton-born rap legend Kendrick Lamar. The collaborators-turned-enemies sent their hatred for each other into the mainstream after over a decade of simmering animosity, with a slew of diss tracks released by the pair over the past week. To read Tamsin's comments, go to page 24 24
n recent weeks, a row has broken out between the Welsh Government and Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales), as new First Minister Vaughan Gething announced budget cuts to the organisation. In response Gething defended the cuts in a speech on 15th April, as National Museum Cardiff ’s chief executive, Jane Richardson, said the budget cuts could result in 90 job losses and even the closure of the branch. To read Adam's article, turn to page 17
17