Bangor’s debating society blocks a Reform MP
Bangor University’s debating and politics society has banned the Reform MP Sarah Pochin from speaking at an event, prompting her response that so much for free speech in universities. It is the fourth campus dispute of this kind in six weeks, and the legal position has changed since the last comparable row: a student society or union that blocks a lawful speaker can now be the subject of a complaint to the regulator.
A £4,000 rise for the vice-chancellor, in a year of job cuts
Warwick’s vice-chancellor has received a £4,000 pay rise while the university runs a scheme encouraging staff to resign as a cost-saving measure. Senior pay is set by a remuneration committee and published in the accounts; the figure is small next to the £90,000 rise reported elsewhere this year, and the objection is about the signal rather than the sum.
A free community kitchen feeds 650 students in one afternoon
Cardiff University’s Sikh society ran a langar at the students’ union, serving free meals to more than 650 students. Langar is open to anyone regardless of faith, and it has quietly become one of the more reliable free meals on several campuses at the point in term when money runs short. Eating well on a student budget covers the rest.