Oxford Union and the BNP
I don't normally take a great interest in the activities of the Oxford Union debating society (being an embittered Oxbridge reject) but do think it's worth commenting on the idiotic decision of some of the nation's allegedly cleverest students to invite Nick Griffin of the BNP and David Irving to speak. There's now going to be a referendum on this issue on Friday of this week concurrent with elections to the Union's officerships.
If you are an Oxford graduate and took out life membership of the Union you are entitled to turn up on Friday and vote. Please do.
posted by Luke Akehurst at 8:06 am
6 Comments:
What's particularly curious is that they continue to say 'Oh we have to invite them so that we can beat them in debate' - but they've not invited them to talk about the BNP or the Holocaust, but in favour of free speech for extremists.
Now, notwithstanding that Irving is a proven enemy of free speech, this surely means that those inviting them will be trying to 'beat them in debate' while being, er, on the same side? Now it's a long time since I did any debating, but I'm pretty sure that's not how you win.
The police could do to be a bit more vocal as well, I can't see the town centre being a very safe place for the high number of visibly ethnic minority students when that pair's fan club turn up to the inevitable street party.
9:59 am, November 20, 2007
Candidates for the Oxford Union compete with each other to invite the most controversial speakers so they can be elected: a load of self-serving nonsense.
For the Union itself, no one ever hears of it unless they invite someone controversial and the studenty 'free speech vs censorship' argument is re-rehearsed publicly for the benefit of the chinless wonders who run the Union, or the Union itself.
I think I was foolist enough to spend some money on life membership in 1991, and I would vote if I could be sure that (a) it didn't garner more legitimacy to those who proposed the speakers and (b) the Oxford Union itself didn't get more undeserved publicity.
I'm sure the Oxford Union was great at some stage, but these days it only generates publicity when people like Irving are invited along. In variance to what jdc says above - a better format would be one like Ahmadinejad faced at Columbia, i.e. challenged by the President of the University. It seems our institutions are a little to twee for that.
11:03 am, November 20, 2007
Aww, but travelling to Oxford costs money and the Union is full of such annoying cunts!
8:28 pm, November 20, 2007
Rhiw ward by-election(Conwy,n.wales)Thursday 22nd november
Lib Democrats 635
Conservative 620
BNP 599
Ind 104
Green 47
Despite their few resources, they can get results like the one above.
10:09 am, November 23, 2007
The truth
Conwy CBC Rhiw ward by-election result:
LibDem 548 (44.26)
Con 513 (41.44)
Ind 80 (6.46)
BNP 61 (4.93)
Green 36 (2.91)
3:23 pm, November 23, 2007
The Oxford Union debate simply showed the protesters up as a bunch of hysterical, Marxist and quasi-Marxist rabble. It is always those who's position is weaker who are in favour of censorship.
If the BNP's views were so abhorrent these people should be confident in letting the public hear them and presumably reject them. That they have to resort to such hysteria simply shows their insecurities.
It's funny how most people would find the Trotskyist, Maoist and other groups that freely operate on universities highly abhorrent, but no-one bothers to protest about them because they know full well that if their little meeetings go ahead we're not going to wake up to a rerun of the Russian Revolution or have Red Guards attacking people in the streets. Yet if the BNP seak all hell breaks loose.
8:56 pm, March 25, 2008
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