A student organization at the University of Liverpool is in a
bit of hot water over a tweet it made on January 29th (since
deleted). The University of Liverpool Labour Students
seemed to advocate in the tweet that Queen Elizabeth II be
beheaded:
bit of hot water over a tweet it made on January 29th (since
deleted). The University of Liverpool Labour Students
seemed to advocate in the tweet that Queen Elizabeth II be
beheaded:
They have since apologized and stated the tweet was 'tongue-
in-cheek'. Now, this is not the first time in recent memory that
an organization/person connected to the Labour Party has
said some stupid thing and then justified it by claiming it was
all a joke.
But let us take them at their word that this was a joke rather
than a serious proposal. What kind of people joke about the
execution of another person, let alone their head of state?
Especially, when actual beheadings are becoming much more
common with the rise of ISIS. But civility is declining
everywheres it seems. The president of the Philippines has
joked about rape multiple times and in one notable
instance about eating someone.
It is concerning when these 'jokes' are made because it shines
a light on what the person thinks are acceptable norms in
society. On the flip side it makes light of a terrible period in
English history. Had there been no outcry that tweet would
still be up and they would be fine with it.
To the credit of many Labour Party members on campus they
quickly distanced themselves from the comments made by
their student leadership. For my part I sent a quick email to
the Vice-Chancellor expressing my concerns about this
incident. This is important as the actions of a few students
reflects poorly on the University of Liverpool as a whole.
UPDATE: The Vice-Chancellor has replied to my email. The
full text of this reply is at the bottom of this post.
Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour
in-cheek'. Now, this is not the first time in recent memory that
an organization/person connected to the Labour Party has
said some stupid thing and then justified it by claiming it was
all a joke.
But let us take them at their word that this was a joke rather
than a serious proposal. What kind of people joke about the
execution of another person, let alone their head of state?
Especially, when actual beheadings are becoming much more
common with the rise of ISIS. But civility is declining
everywheres it seems. The president of the Philippines has
joked about rape multiple times and in one notable
instance about eating someone.
It is concerning when these 'jokes' are made because it shines
a light on what the person thinks are acceptable norms in
society. On the flip side it makes light of a terrible period in
English history. Had there been no outcry that tweet would
still be up and they would be fine with it.
To the credit of many Labour Party members on campus they
quickly distanced themselves from the comments made by
their student leadership. For my part I sent a quick email to
the Vice-Chancellor expressing my concerns about this
incident. This is important as the actions of a few students
reflects poorly on the University of Liverpool as a whole.
UPDATE: The Vice-Chancellor has replied to my email. The
full text of this reply is at the bottom of this post.
Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour
Dear [Name Redacted]
The Vice-Chancellor thanks you for your email.
Colleagues from the Liverpool Guild of Students have spoken to the society about
this inappropriate post and, as you will have seen, this was taken down and an
apology posted. We are now working with the Guild of Students to speak to student
societies about their use of social media.
Regards
Lindsey
Executive PA to the Vice-Chancellor
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