Top universities a ‘breeding ground’ for Tories, warn Islamic groups
June 7, 2011
Written by Spacey
Islamic groups have accused top Universities of complacency in tackling the number of people on campus expressing the sort of views normally associated with members of the Conservative party.
Aadil Jabbour from Nottingham University’s Islamic Society said, “I think for too long there’s been complacency around these top universities. I don’t think they have been sufficiently willing to recognise the number of Tories preaching hysteria on their campuses.”
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies has identified 40 English universities where there could be a “particular risk” of people being recruited to the youth wing of the UK Conservative Party.
National Union of Students president Aaron Porter echoed the concerns raised by Islamic groups.
“The problem of conservatism at universities has been apparent for some time, I think we’ve seen a steady increase in incidents on campus,”
He said there had been numerous cases of “people wearing barbour jackets”, as well as “hate incidents directed towards the unemployed, the sick and foxes”.
Universities a ‘front’ for Tory recruitment
However, Nicola Dandridge, the chief executive of the Vice-Chancellors body Universities UK, said there was “no evidence” that universities were “complacent” about the number of conservatives walking openly around student university bars.
“Universities are engaging with student unions to try to deal with anyone who is actively engaging in making up statistics to back up their views on reform to the NHS or the benefit system,” she insisted.
“Views that do not break the law need to be expressed, even if we find those views repulsive and offensive."
