A university hustings event which has been called off because it presents “too high a security risk”.
The University of the West of England (UWE) Debating Society had arranged for a European election hustings at the Frenchay campus on Friday (May 17).
Six of the parties standing in the South West had put forward a candidate to speak at the event.
European elections 2019: List of candidates for the South West
But on Tuesday (May 14) the university said the event could not take place on campus because of security concerns.
The announcement came after the Green Party candidate, Carla Denyer, said she would boycott the event unless the organisers withdrew the invitation to controversial Ukip candidate Carl Benjamin.
Mr Benjamin caused a furore recently when he tweeted that he 'wouldn't even rape' Labour MP Jess Phillips, and then posted a video online suggesting that "with enough pressure I might cave".
Police are currently investigating the incident.
In a letter to the university organisers Ms Denyer said: “Please remove Carl Benjamin from the billing or I will not be able to take part. I hope the same will be true of many of my fellow candidates from across the political spectrum.”
And just hours after Ms Denyer’s concerns were made public UWE announced that it had declined the Debating Society permission to host the event on campus.
In a statement a spokesperson for the university said: “As a university, we are wholly committed to the principle of freedom of speech and we have a long history of regularly welcoming a diversity of speakers onto our campuses to spark discussion and debate with our students, staff and visitors.
“However, we also have a duty of care to everyone on our campus and to ensure that they are secure and safe.
Former Tory MEP backs the Liberal Democrats in the upcoming European elections
“As part of the University’s process in deciding whether to allow an event to take place, particularly one that has high profile speakers, UWE’s security team liaise with Avon and Somerset Constabulary. We, with them, consider the risk to staff, students and visitors before taking a final decision.
“In respect of this particular proposed event, both Avon and Somerset Constabulary and our Security team consider this to be a high risk event that requires significant security measures to be put in place.
“Based on our risk assessment of the event as it currently stands, and the ongoing changes we are aware of to the event format and panel participants, we believe it presents too high a security risk for us to hold the event on this campus.”
But the Debating Society has said it still hopes that Friday’s hustings can go ahead.
Police searching property in Portishead following earlier explosion near Weston-super-Mare
In a statement to Bristol Live it said: “UWE Debating Society were informed earlier today that the University has withdrawn support for our EU elections Hustings.
“We are still in communication with the University and the Students' Union to allay any concerns they have and are continuing to prepare for Friday's event.”
The university’s Student Union has also shared its disappointment at the event being called off.
Freddie Gough, VP Societies and Communication, said: “We are disappointed that the EU elections hustings event has had to be cancelled.”
“We are extremely proud of our societies, who organise challenging events that inform the wider student body about events and issues affecting them.
“The Debating Society have put in an enormous amount of effort to organise this event and secure high-level speakers, which would have provided an informative and lively discussion.
“We will continue to support our societies to exercise their right to freedom of speech and remain committed to enabling students to organise a range of events that promote debate.”
Ukip has been contacted for comment.
