Founded last summer, the ‘Students Not Suspects‘ campaign has now spent an academic year working to undermine Prevent, the government’s counter-radicalisation strategy, on university campuses. While students should of course be free to oppose and challenge policy, Student Rights has repeatedly criticised the campaign, which is led by high profile National Union of Students (NUS) […]
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Kingston VC’s comments on Prevent ignore the evidence
Professor Julius Weinberg, vice chancellor of Kingston University, has said university heads are “under a lot of pressure” not to criticise the government’s counter-radicalisation measures, collectively known as the Prevent strategy. Speaking at the University and College Union (UCU) congress in Liverpool last week, Mr Weinberg expressed his concerns Prevent might inhibit free speech and […]
Continue readingStudent campaign continues to undermine Prevent
Over the past academic year, Student Rights has frequently criticised the ‘Students Not Suspects’ campaign which has toured campuses calling on students to undermine the government’s counter-radicalisation strategy, Prevent. Led by officials at the National Union of Students (NUS), the campaign has repeatedly spread misinformation and false claims about Prevent, some of which risk scaring […]
Continue readingNUS disaffiliation campaigns gaining momentum
Yesterday, students at the University of Newcastle overwhelmingly voted to leave the National Union of Students (NUS). This news comes only days after the University of Lincoln Students’ Union announced it was leaving the NUS, after students voted 881 to 804 to leave. These results are a damming indictment of NUS President-elect, Malia Bouattia, whose […]
Continue readingNeo-Nazi group threatens university campuses
National Action, a neo-Nazi group whose activity Student Rights has documented on numerous occasions, has issued more threats against UK universities and their students. The group has a long history of campus activity, and Student Rights has previously logged evidence of the group at Coventry University and the University of Warwick, as well as appearances […]
Continue readingStudent Rights at the University of Nottingham
Last week, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Gray Sergeant, visited universities across the Midlands, meeting up with students from the University of Nottingham, the University of Leicester and the University of Warwick. On Wednesday evening, Gray spoke at the University of Nottingham Agnostic, Secularist and Humanist (UNASH) about extremism and free speech on campus. Students at […]
Continue readingStudents plan NUS disaffiliation over presidential vote (Update: Students at more universities raise
Update 22/04/2016: Individual members from student societies across the political spectrum at the University of York (UoY), including the “Labour Club, the York Tories, the UoY Lib Dems, York UKIP, York Greens, PalSoc, York Liberty and York Union”, have announced that they will be working together to write a motion demanding York University Student Union […]
Continue readingNUS candidate faces further scrutiny ahead of hustings
The National Union of Students’ (NUS) conference kicks off in Brighton today, with the accompanying electoral processes dogged by antisemitism allegations against Malia Bouattia, who is running for NUS President. On Thursday, Student Rights detailed how a number of student Jewish Society members had raised questions about Bouattia’s ability to represent them, as well as […]
Continue readingMalia Bouattia faces questions over NUS leadership bid
Over 50 representatives from university Jewish Societies have raised serious questions about Malia Bouattia’s candidacy for National Union of Students (NUS) President. In an open letter, these students have called on Bouattia to explain past anti-Zionist statements and questioned her links to the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK), currently no-platformed by the NUS. Bouattia’s […]
Continue readingWarwick student Palestine activist in antisemitism row
Over the weekend, Aysegul Gurbuz, a student at the University of Warwick and Labour councillor in Luton, was in the spotlight after a series of antisemitic tweets she had made were exposed. These revelations, which have seen Gurbuz resign, follow a series of scandals involving students and antisemitism, including allegations made against Oxford University Labour […]
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