Can the Oxford Union survive cancel culture?
telegraph.co.ukOxford Union Society, has come to propose the motion that ‘This House Has Had Enough of PPE’ (Oxford’s famous course of philosophy, politics and economics). ‘The PPE degree is too powerful and not good enough,’ she proclaims, turning to address an audience attired in black tie. ‘And you should have had enough.’Known popularly in Oxford as the degree course that runs Britain, PPE counts David Cameron, Rishi Sunak, Michael Heseltine and William Hague as alumni.
It is also, to the amusement of her opposition, Mantle’s own subject and, having temporarily suspended her studies to serve as president, next academic year she must return to face her tutors.The Oxford Union, now in its 200th year, was described by Harold Macmillan as ‘the last bastion of free speech in the western world’.
In the past, it has opened its doors to OJ Simpson, Gerry Adams and Marine Le Pen. The biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall might have been describing its ethos when, in 1906, she summed up Voltaire’s attitude in the words, ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’It owes its origins to a group of undergraduates who came together in 1823 with an ambition to debate ‘the historical, previous to the present century and the philosophical, exclusive of religion’. (Religion was considered too controversial a topic.) It quickly became known for its commitment to self-expression – but today, this is being put to the test with the rise of cancel culture.Last year, the Union made headlines for disinviting Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan, who has campaigned against aspects of the trans rights movement, such as men having the ability to ‘self-identify’ as women, and has been banned from Twitter.
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