AN Oxford University society that invited former Conservative Home Secretary Amber Rudd to speak last night cancelled the talk.
The event called 'In Conversation: Amber Rudd', was organised by UNWomen Oxford and was due to take place at 7.30pm as part of their UN Women’s 2020 Trailblazer Series.
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But after receiving heavy criticism for inviting her due to her links with the Windrush scandal, the society said in a statement at 6.30pm on its Facebook page that the talk was cancelled after a majority vote in committee.
Ms Rudd was supposed to be interviewed about her role as Minister for Women and Equalities and she was due to speak about encouraging women to get into politics.
The statement continued: “We are deeply sorry for all and any hurt caused to our members and other wom*n and non-binary people in Oxford over this event."
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Ms Rudd tweeted how she felt about the decision this morning saying students should 'stop hiding'.
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Badly judged & rude of some students last night at Oxford to decide to “no platform” me 30 mins before an event I had been invited to for #IWD2020 to encourage young women into politics. They should stop hiding and start engaging. #FreeSpeech
— Amber Rudd (@AmberRuddUK) March 6, 2020
Some people agree with her, saying students should give all visitors the opportunity to speak whether they support them or not.
Kirsten Sjovoll said on Twitter: "This no debate no platform thing is absurd. I don’t think you should give credibility or mainstream the views of extremists or hate speakers.
"I don’t think Amber Rudd is in that category. We do ourselves no favours by cancelling those we disagree with. It progresses nothing."
Diarmuid Kenny tweeed: "No-platforming really is unnecessary and counter productive. If you disagree with someone, engage with them. While I will never vote Tory, Amber Rudd deserves respect and the opportunity to talk."
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