The way we live now: a world of “safe spaces” and “consent workshops”

An Edinburgh University student was threatened with expulsion from a student union meeting in March for raising her arms. Imogen Wilson’s gesture, in response to an accusation from a fellow student during a debate, fell foul of the student union’s “safe space” policy, which bans head-shaking and “hand gestures which denote disagreement”.

Cambridge students cancelled an Around the World in 80 Days- themedmed party this spring on the grounds that it could encourage “cultural appropriation”. Pembroke College’s Junior Parlour CommitteeCo said guests would be likely to dress up in costumesco belonging to other cultures,cu and that this might causeca offence.

A Canadian academic has co condemned the canoe as asa symbol of genocide. Dr Misao Dean argued that alt although the boats may co come across as “morally un untouchable” ” and “n “natural”, they ey actually repre represent Canada’s historic crimes towards its indigenous population – and are today mainly only used by privileged white people.

Attempts to reduce sexual assaults on university campuses by asking freshers to attend “consent workshops” appeared this year to be causing growing discontent. At York University, where every first year is expected to attend a session, some students staged a walkout in protest; and wh when a session was held at Cla Clare College, Cambridge, not one person turned up. The college’s women’s offic officer posted a picture of an em empty hall, and described the lack of interest as a “huge step backwa backwards”.

London drivers spent an average of 101 hours (or 12 working days) stuck in traffic in 2015, up 40% from 72 hours in 2012. The Sunday Times

One in four British athletes competing at the Rio Olympics was educated at private school, compared with 7% of the general population. The Times

By the time the average child is five, its parents have posted 1,500 images of him or her on social media. The Daily Telegraph

HS2 has cost more than £2bn of public money so far – before the legislation to build it has even been passed by Parliament. The Sunday Times

The average Briton drinks 11.6 litres of alcohol a year – 65% more than in the 1960s. Daily Mail

The teenage pregnancy rate in England and Wales has fallen by 45% since 2007 (the year social media took off). The Daily Telegraph

At least 1,782 public lavatories have closed in the past decade. There are now none in all of Newcastle, and only one in Manchester. Daily MAIL/BBC

Britons collectively spent £900m charging smartphones and tablets in 2015 – using enough

energy to power Birmingham and Bradford for a year. The Times

Private school fees have almost doubled in the past 13 years, from an average of £7,308 per year to £13,341. Daily Mail

British fathers do 24 minutes of childcare, on average, for every hour done by mothers – the lowest ratio in any developed country. The Sunday Times