KCL student had baked beans threatened to be thrown on her after starting free speech society

A King’s College London (KCL) student says she had baked beans threatened to be thrown on her after starting a freedom of speech society at the university.

Lottie Tredgett, a philosophy master’s student at King’s, co-founded the university’s Free Speech Society last year with the aim of providing a neutral space for students across the political spectrum to share their ideas.

According to Lottie, the society was almost immediately met with hostility and social media accounts flooded with threats such as accusations of Nazism.

A coordinated campaign to mass-report the society for hate speech was also allegedly organised, despite Lottie saying that no hate speech was promoted.

The situation escalated when in December, the society invited gender-critical activist Helen Joyce, and KCL academic John Armstrong, a critic of diversity, equity and inclusion policies, to speak on campus.

Posters appeared around the university warning that “too many lives have been taken by your discrimination.”

A plan to throw baked beans at the speakers was only avoided, Lottie claims, by a last-minute venue change and a significant security presence.

She also claims that since starting her course, she has seen how students have been reduced to tears in seminars for exploring ideas such as the defence of single-sex spaces or capitalism.

In what she calls a “dichotomised student world,” those deemed to belong to the “oppressing class” are, she says, permanently branded as problematic.

Most Read

Revealed: The awful screenshot ‘receipts’ of texts Bec sent about other MAFS brides

Horrific details emerge as ‘headless body’ of mob boss son is found following kidnapping

Here’s when I’m A Celeb South Africa 2026 was filmed and the reason it’s not live

She points to the case of Usama Ghanem, a KCL student whose visa sponsorship was revoked by the university after his involvement in pro-Palestine protests, which prompted an open letter signed by 380 people condemning it as a “serious violation of freedom of speech.”

Lottie says her society publicised the case and hosted seminars on the censorship of pro-Palestine activism, though she acknowledges that most left-wing student activists still refused to engage with them.

Her central argument is that free speech is not a right-wing cause. At this year’s Freshers’ Fair, she recounts being asked by a student whether her society was racist, on the basis that “only racists care about free speech.”

After a conversation about the proscription of Palestine Action, the same student ended up commending the society. It is this kind of exchange, she says, that has made the society’s seminars “diverse, lively, and full of genuinely productive conversation.”

A spokesperson for King’s College London said: “We are committed to upholding the right of freedom of expression within the law for everyone across our diverse community of people with different beliefs, views and experiences. We take seriously any claims of intimidation, harm, or harassment that infringe on the rights of others to freedom of expression, and we encourage students or staff to submit a complaint through Report and Support so that we can investigate these in line with our robust policies and procedures, and offer support through our Wellbeing and Welfare service.”

KCLSU, and KCL Palestine Action were contacted for comment.

For more of the latest news, guides, gossip, and memes, follow The King’s Tab on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. 

Featured image via @kclfreespeechsociety on Instagram/Unsplash