The worst SU in the country: the students have spoken and now it s time to listen – Palatinate palatinate.org.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from palatinate.org.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Durham Students’ Union has accused the UK government of “empowering Holocaust deniers and flat-earthers” through its new Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, which legally obliges students’ unions to take steps to protect free speech.
The Bill, which may still be amended before it becomes law, would legally require universities to defend free speech and “help stamp out unlawful ‘silencing ”. This legal duty would also apply to students’ unions which “will have to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure lawful freedom of speech”.
The government claims it “has been clear throughout that it is important to distinguish between lawful, if offensive, views on one hand and unacceptable acts of abuse, intimidation, and violence on the other”. But Anna Marshall, Durham SU’s Opportunities Officer, told
All students that are registered to vote are presented with four ballots in today’s elections: Durham County Council, Durham Parish Council, County Durham Police and Crime Commissioner and a referendum on neighbourhood planning in Durham City.
Students can vote even if they have already sent a postal ballot to vote at a different home address.
Vote at your local
polling station –
including St. Nicholas Church Hall on Market Square, St. Oswald’s Church, The Hub (near South and John Snow College), and for those in the Viaduct area, The Spiritualist Church Hall on John Street.
Local election polls have now opened, as hundreds of candidates contest 126 county councillor positions across County Durham. In a bumper year due to Covid-19 postponements, such roles as parish councillors and the county’s Police, Crime and Victims’ commissioner are also up for grabs.