A historic tragedy like the war in Ukraine calls for historic measures of outreach and solidarity. There is an urgent demand for humanitarian aid and safe passage for the hundreds of thousands of refugees already created by the war. This includes thousands of students at Ukranian universities who have had to flee the conflict.

​Development aid: what is it good for? Well, according to much research the answer may well be absolutely nothing. In fact, it may well be worse than nothing. When judged against its aim of ‘instigating economic development and alleviating poverty’, its record is so dismal it looks as though aid actually hinders the achievement of its own stated goals. And the curious thing is this seems to be something of an open secret. Even to an untrained eye the big numbers pertaining to development aid don’t look right. Take Africa, for example. Over $1 trillion dollars has been pumped into the continent in the last 50 years, and how much has it benefited? How many African countries are actually in a better condition now than they were before receiving aid?

At the end of 2020, chaos in the transport industry ensued after many European countries, including France, decided to ban all travel from the UK. The reason was the rapid outbreak of a new COVID-19 strand. Ultimately, the industry was not ready for such a turn of events. It is incredibly difficult to prepare for what came to pass: in the morning everything started as usual, and then a few hours later, all change and a 180-degree turn.