Caught ‘port’ handed: UCL Tory soc violate their suspension

The Council Room, The King's Building, Strand Campus.
Photo Courtesy: KCL Diversity Digest Blog (September 1, 2021)

The UCL Conservative society was suspended on 26th January after their proposed Port and Policy debate was deemed “potentially harmful” by the Students’ Union. A recent Instagram post released by the KCL Conservative Society, however, reveals that the UCL Tories are still participating in events despite their suspension.

The KCL post, published on 7th February, advertised another Port and Policy event “in collaboration with @ucltories” for the following day, Thursday 8th February. The post stated that the “port was being supplied by the association and our co-hosts from UCL.”

While the “two chosen motions” were not specified before the event, KCL’s Roar News reported that attendees, including those from UCL, discussed the motions: ‘This house believes that marriage has been made an irrelevant institution’ and ‘This house would pursue Iranian regime change.’

Roar also reported that an armband from the British Union of Fascists, a former political party banned in 1940 due to its ties with the German Nazi party, was brandished at the event, with one attendee attempting to bestow it upon the chair of the debate.

Co-hosting an event is a clear violation of UCL Tory soc’s suspension. The consequences of this violation, however, remain unclear. 

Suspension means that the society should cease its day-to-day activities, including collaborations with other societies, whilst the SU conducts an investigation into their potentially harmful behavior. A timeline for the investigation is yet to be announced, but a spokesperson for the SU previously explained that they “hope to reach a conclusion to the disciplinary process in the coming weeks.”

Although KCL’s Tory soc was also caught up in the “potentially harmful” debate motions proposed by UCL Tories that led to their suspension, the KCL Tory soc was let off scot free and has not faced suspension by their Students’ Union.

We have approached both the UCL Students’ Union and the Conservative society for comment about the society’s recent violation of their suspension. We await their response.