Amber Rudd invitation cancelled last minute at Oxford student event

Former Home Secretary Amber Rudd was due to speak at the University of Oxford before the event was cancelled due to pressure from students.

UN Women Oxford invited Amber Rudd to speak at an event and cancelled it half an hour before it was going to take place.

The sudden cancellation was due to criticism from students raised from her stances on race, class and immigration.

Rudd condemned the students by tweeting: “Badly judged and 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.” 

UN Women Oxford organised an event called ‘In Conversation: Amber Rudd’ for 5 March Thursday evening as part of its UN Women’s 2020 Trailblazer Series before International Women’s Day on Sunday.

In the event, it was planned that she would talk about her achievements in British politics, including her contribution to tougher legal penalties for female genital mutilation, and encourage female involvement in politics. 

If you are trying to silence Amber Rudd, you really are being anti-democratic

– Tom Watson, Former Deputy Labour Leader

The society announced on Facebook that the talk was cancelled after a majority vote by the group’s committee to “show solidarity with the BAME community”. 

In a Facebook post on 2 March, Oxford student Nadia Awad wrote: “I don’t see the benefits of a women’s organisation hosting someone who’s contributed to policies which harm the same people you claim to support.” 

 She mentioned in particular to Ms Rudd’s reference to Labour’s Diane Abbott as a “coloured” woman during a radio interview and her involvement in the Windrush scandal. 

Before cancelling the event, the society attempted to alleviate concerns, explaining in a statement on Facebook “We invited Ms Rudd on the understanding that this would be an honest and frank conversation about how her policies have impacted women of all races, religions and classes. 

“We will not run away from mentioning any of Ms Rudd’s past comments or policies, and we ask you to attend this event to help us campaign for a truly frank feminism which is not afraid of taking such opportunities to discuss these issues with high-profile figures.” 

We will be making the university’s position and feelings very clear to the event organisers and taking necessary steps to ensure that this cannot be repeated

– Oxford University

Ms Rudd received cross-party support for her criticism against the no-platforming of the society, with a number of parties voicing out concerns regarding freedom of speech on university campuses. 

Tom Watson, former Labour deputy leader, tweeted: “If you’re trying to silence Amber Rudd you really are being anti-democratic.” 

The former Conservative and Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Wollaston also tweeted: “No platforming of @AmberRuddUK by Oxford is absurd & worrying.  Why are universities allowing ideological fringes to crush freedom of speech in our centres of excellence?”

This is the second prominent case of “no-platforming” in a week at the University after Selina Todd was no-platformed by the Oxford International Women’s Festival on Saturday.

The University expressed strong disapproval of the decision to disinvite Rudd, tweeting that it is “committed to freedom of speech and opposes no-platforming”.

“We will be making the university’s position and feelings very clear to the event organisers and taking necessary steps to ensure that this cannot be repeated,” the University said.