Yes again that is how many feminists were described, many of them lesbians of course. The word transphobia has no impact on me or many people these days. In fact I have seen Wes Streeting in particular being described as transphobic because of his statements.
Bless them though for thinking those 'slurs' work anymore.
Bangor didn't 'ban" Reform. Neither has Bangor debating society ever said it only wants to invite speakers to their debates ( the clue is in the name) who "agree with them". The university debating society merely politely declined Reform's approach to request that Sarah Pochin and Jack Anderton (Reform's replica of Charlie Kirk) come to speak. The debating society members weren't sufficiently interested in those 2 speakers, politely declined and gave its reason- "zero tolerance for racism, transphobia or homophobia".
Currently in the UK it is entirely acceptable and common for an organisation in the UK to state it has zero tolerance of racism, transphobia and homophobia. Such a statement aligns with legal requirements to provide an inclusive environment and prevent discrimination- Equality Act 2010. Most organisations, e.g. NHS, schools, universities etc have policies in place clearly defining what constitutes unacceptable behaviour, including "offensive language, verbal abuse, unwanted or abusive remarks and stereotypical comments" of which both Sarah Pochin and James Pochin have a track record.
It was open to Reform to provide assurance that neither SP or JA would in fact be racist, transphobic or homophobic- but then pigs might fly I guess as Reform/Farage are openly dismissive about such matters under the excuse banner of "free speech". Instead Reform's head of policy took to X to threaten loss of funding to universities if elected if universities don't agree/accommodate/comply with Reform's request.
Reform however not accept that universities also are entitled to "freedom of speech" and would strip funding of organisations deemed to be none compliant with Reform's requests and expectations.
Debating means listening and commenting on different points of view. So Bangor just wants to debate to people who agree with them?
Farage/Trump, cut from the same cloth unfortunately.
GB news has banned Ben Habib from Advance Uk from speaking on its channel. Quite ironic considering the influence Reform has on GB news.
Well if I remember my Alma Mater well enough, Reform might be a bit out of their depth with Cymdeithas yr Iaith. (Welsh Language Society).
With Cymdeithas and the Maoists protesting, it was very lively in 1968!
People will vote Reform to get rid of Labour.
Will they regret it?
Probably, but then they will swing to whatever is offered next.
We live in an Age of distrust in Politics.
Perhaps Amazon or AI will take over the world?
Yes some universities didn't want feminists who wanted single spaces to be allowed to debate on their campus. My son is currently at university thankfully he is at one that permits all sorts of discussion and debate.
I read in a yougov poll that large numbers of Reform voters have lower education attainments and tend to be mostly manual workers.
Maybe they are hard working and struggling to make ends meet and have little time to read or think about politics and just believe what Farage says. Want to believe what he says.
Having said that I do know people who have high levels of education and will vote for Reform.
Restictions to the right to freedom of expression..
I bet quite a few Jewish students at our Universities had hoped Article 10 would be enforced....
Isn't that what Trump does?
Destroy institutions who disagree with him.
Is that what voters want here?
Trump style dictatorship?
I remember reading in their manifesto, later modified, I believe, that they would tell universities what they may, or may not teach. Refusal to adhere to their guidelines would result in withdrawal of funding.
I found the idea of Lee Anderson instructing the staff at Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, and LSE, in curriculum matters rather amusing.
Strange isn’t it that Reform is always banging on about the ECHR and HRA while few of its senior mmebers seem to have read the articles or be familiar with what they say:
Article 10 Freedom of Expression
Restrictions to the right to freedom of expression
Although you have freedom of expression, you also have a duty to behave responsibly and to respect other people’s rights.
An authority may be allowed to restrict your freedom of expression if, for example, you express views that encourage racial or religious hatred.
Plain enough, isn't it?
Reform UK asked students at Bangor University would they like to enjoy a question-and-answer session with Sarah Pochin – the Reform UK MP famous for saying it “drives me mad” to see TV adverts full of black people – and Jack Anderton, the 25-year-old influencer who helped send Nigel Farage’s TikTok account viral among teenagers? No, the university’s debating society decided, it would not as nt “in line with our values” declining Reform’s offer, expressing “zero tolerance for any form of racism, transphobia or homophobia”.
Reform’s Zia Yusuf thundered on X that Bangor got £30m from taxpayers and he was “sure they won’t mind losing every penny of (their) state funding under a Reform government”.
So Reform threatens to put universities out of business – with all that would mean for students halfway through their degrees, or towns reliant on a major employer – if they don’t fawningly accommodate any regime-backed Reform political nonentity who asks is the stuff of autocracy, not democracy. And the lesson from Donald Trump’s America, where pro-free speech Republicans have proved remarkably intolerant of people speaking against them, is that the pressure rarely stops there.
What would stop the financial intimidation of a BBC reliant on the licence fee? What about charities and cultural or civic institutions receiving public grants, or newspapers with owners anxious to protect their other business interests, or schools? Though a Reform spokesperson later insisted Yusuf’s comments were “not party policy”, Yusef's literal job title is head of policy, and Reform has previously advocated removing at least some funding from universities that don’t protect "free speech".
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