With Lockdown number two rearing it’s ugly head, this November, many students and the British people in general are wondering how the Christmas holidays are going to go down.
For students who live three to five hours away from home Christmas had a large question mark over it. With Boris’ firm rules of travelling and the rule of six still standing strong, students weren’t sure whether they were even going to be able to see their families.
This was until Boris came out with an allotted time for students to travel home. He revealed that between the 3rd to 9th of December, students should go home from university. And although this seemed like a good idea at first, students are not happy with the treatment from the government.
At the University of Gloucestershire, lectures would normally be carrying on until the 20th of December, but with these new rules in place, classes have had to be cut short.
Students also seem to not be listening to these rules at all and simply ignoring the allotted time. A recent poll on my Instagram story reveals that an overwhelming figure of students simply are refusing to go home during the allotted time and are in fact going home later.
When talking to Performance student, Celeste Woods Ferrer who studies at Brighton, the motive for why students are not following the allotted time is revealed, money. ‘I’m not made of money’ says Celeste who revealed that she booked her tickets earlier to avoid paying a higher fee.
2020 has not been a good year for the relationship between students and the government. From Boris Johnson simply refusing to refund students for tuition fees to the government blaming students for the spread of the disease.
University of Gloucestershire students Saffron and Kara follow the same disbelief of the government.
Saffron told me how the government ‘demonises’ students and how ‘we’re not the reason’ the coronavirus is being spread. Kara agreed telling me how the government are ‘flipping from one belief to another’
Another student Eisha carries the same anger telling me how he’s ‘f**ked international and local students.
Her friend Daniel told me similarly that he didn’t understand why Boris is acting like Christmas will be allowed to happen when the government did not have the same energy with Eid.
Health Secretary, Matt Hancock strongly advised families to cease meeting up 24-hours before the Muslim Holiday of Eid. A lot of the Muslim community came out as being completely appalled and the hashtag Christmas eve began trending. This was due to the announcement being made the day before Eid and how Muslims compared Eid being cancelled to Christmas being cancelled.
Although an overwhelming of the majority seem to be against Boris Johnson there a few students who seem to stick by him even if the rest of students their age don’t.
George Rawlings, political student at the University of Bournemouth argues that the prime minister is doing the right thing. ‘I would say that I support our prime minister’ even though ‘he may not be perfect’.
What Boris Johnson has in store for Britain in the next few months is unknown, however let’s hope he has put thought aside for those who are students.
