The UCL Conservatives have outdone themselves by beating their record of getting suspended by the Union just two weeks after they returned to campus.
Nick Miao Co-Editor-in-Chief
The latest suspension came just days after the Tories held their first ‘Port and Policy’ event on 3 October, which involved getting drunk on University premises and debating whether it would be a good idea to ‘abolish speed limits’.
A spokesperson for Students’ Union UCL said, ‘We have suspended the Conservative Society pending investigation of a recent event.’
The UCL Tories were previously suspended by the Union in January for entertaining a boozy debate to ‘sink the boats’ and ‘invade Yemen’ in a joint event held with the much wealthier and, according to sources, much more extreme, King’s Conservative Association (CG 86).
The Strand Tories faced a similar fate in February when they were suspended by KCLSU, after a separate Port and Policy event ended with ‘the display of a fascist armband and far-right language’, according to Roar News.
The Cheese Grater understands that the UCL Tories were permitted to return to campus this September following a lengthy disciplinary process at the Union, which concluded with a series of measures on how the Conservative Society would be run going forward (CG 88).
These included Union authorisation for ‘any events held’, which can ‘only be open to UCL students’, a ‘robust procedure for motions at “Port and Policy” events’, which must be ‘shared with the Union for feedback before implementation’, and a ban on collaboration with ‘any external organisation until the end of the [2023/24] academic year’.
The Union has not revealed the nature of the Tories’ latest suspension but confirmed that it is ‘related to their event [last] week’. The event, jointly promoted on Instagram by the Conservative societies of UCL, KCL, LSE, Queen Mary, and City St George’s, did not mention any entry requirements for attendees but rather welcomed ‘Every contribution from Thatcherite screechs [sic] to Marxist drivels’.
The Cheese Grater reached out to the Conservative Society for a comment but did not receive a response by press time.
This article appeared in the Digestive – Issue 1
Update 21/10: The Cheese Grater understands from the President of the Conservative Society that whatever was the issue has now been ‘sorted’. We do not have further information at this time.
