I sent this to Joe Rennison, this year's London Student editor, this morning. Thought it was worth throwing open for opinions.
Dear Joe,
I’m writing to you not with a view to being published but because I strongly feel that something must be done about the reprehensible behaviour of ULU President Clare Solomon.
I am a graduand of Heythrop College UL and former President of its Student Union. Since I was lucky enough to find full-time employment after finishing my studies in June, I was unfortunately not able to attend yesterday’s protest but followed events closely through both news channels and social networking sites. In common with, I am sure, the vast majority of those who supported the aims of the peaceful protest, I was horrified when a tiny proportion of those attending the march ignored its aims and perverted its message by committing illegal acts of vandalism and assault. NUS President Aaron Porter was entirely correct in condemning the violent agitators and disassociating the protest from their actions.
I was disgusted but entirely unsurprised to hear that Ms Solomon, who has a history of extreme radicalism and was recently expelled from her chosen political party for secret factionalising, had entered the Millbank Tower along with a few hundred vandals and hooligans. What did surprise me was her happiness to admit this on the BBC’s Newsnight yesterday evening, along with her persistent refusal to answer legitimate questions posed by the presenter and her glib assertion that the invasion and criminality with which she was involved was a true and proportionate reflection of the feelings of students. Having spoken to many friends and former classmates who attended the march in a spirit of solidarity and optimism, I am confident that Ms Solomon speaks only for the sort of extremist minority with which she has long allied herself.
All of this, however, pales in comparison to Ms Solomon’s final comments on the programme, in which she explicitly stated that a failure by the Government to heed the wishes of students would result in direct action comparable to that seen in Paris and Athens in recent months. This is nothing less than a direct threat of violence and death, and should be treated as such.
I do not believe that Ms Solomon’s radical politics or her confrontational attitude are consistent with the office which it is her privilege to embody. Furthermore, I contend that her endorsement of of violent, anarchic and otherwise illegal behaviour, combined with her transparent attempts to turn ULU into a vehicle for her own extremist views, render her future in the post of ULU President untenable. Were I still a member of ULU Senate I would certainly propose a vote of no confidence in Ms Solomon, and I urge current Senators to consider this option.
From next month, I will be a graduate of the University of London; it is an accolade of which I am less proud today than I was two days ago. My only hope is that the shame of being associated with Ms Solomon’s comments dogs her CV longer than it does mine.
Yours sincerely,
John M Underwood
