UWE Student Union President legitimises MEND extremists

A recent report by The Henry Jackson Society entitled ‘MEND: Islamists Masquerading As Civil Libertarians’ highlights that MEND meets the government’s definition of extremism. Several senior officials in MEND have expressed sympathy for terrorism both in the UK and overseas, peddled anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and attacked liberal Muslim groups who challenge extremism. MEND has been […]

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‘Students Not Suspects’ tour with convicted CAGE speaker 

‘Students Not Suspects’ begin new tour with CAGE speaker convicted of terror offence As part of ‘Islamophobia Awareness Month’, the NUS have announced that a new ‘Students Not Suspects’ tour will visit campuses across the UK. It is being sponsored and co-hosted with the NUS Black Students’ Campaign, the NUS Women’s Campaign, and the Federation […]

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Student unions reveal hypocrisy and absurdity over speaker policies  

Recent news stories have shown that controversial yet mainstream speakers continue to be targeted by speaker policies on university campuses. In recent years, external speaker policies have been selectively applied at a number of campuses, targeting high profile progressive figures such as Germaine Greer, Maryam Nawazie and Peter Tatchell. In the past two weeks, other […]

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UCL due to host Hamas apologist Azzam Tamimi

A statement issued by the Union of Jewish Students said: “We are deeply disappointed that UCL Union and UCL have allowed an event hosting Miko Peled and Dr Azzam Tamimi to take place despite the valid concerns that we, UCL J-Soc and UCL Friends of Israel Society have raised. By providing a platform for these […]

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Government announces tough measures against university censorship

Jo Johnson, the Minister for Universities, has announced that the government is prepared to use fines and other sanctions against universities and student unions that refuse to uphold freedom of expression. ​The Office for Students (OfS), a new government regulator, will replace the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in April 2018. The OfS […]

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Extremist group ‘Sikh Youth UK’ targets students with anti-Muslim film

The extremist organisation Sikh Youth UK has showcased a film demonising Muslims as “predatory sex groomers”, and claims to have screened the film at a number of university campuses, including student societies at Coventry, Nottingham, Nottingham Trent, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Brunel, Birmingham City, Birmingham and Aston. The documentary, entitled ‘Misused Trust’, contains the fictional account […]

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SOAS plays host to anti-Israel activist Jackie Walker

On Wednesday 13 September, the Khalili Lecture Theatre at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) hosted a performance entitled ‘The Lynching’ with controversial anti-Israel activist Jackie Walker. The event was advertised as “a one-woman show” and was co-hosted by SOAS Palestine Society and a group calling itself ‘Free Speech on Israel’. This was […]

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‘Safeguarding Against Extremism in Higher Education’: Conference Review

Last week, Public Policy Exchange held a conference on extremism at the Strand Palace Hotel. The conference, entitled ‘Safeguarding Against Extremism in Higher Education: Preventing Hate and Protecting Freedoms’, featured distinguished speakers from a variety of fields, including law, academia, and the civil service. It gave an invaluable insight into the current legislation surrounding extremism […]

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UK Government distances itself from the British University in Egypt over antisemitism scandal

International partnerships undoubtedly bring many social and economic benefits to students and academics. They can also bring unwanted baggage. British universities that partner or set up satellite campuses across the world can run into serious issues related to unethical funding sources, links to extremism and other possible conflicts of interest. This has been very much […]

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