Brendan O’Neill came to Bristol to give a speech and feast on Nandos

Spiked magazine editor Brendan O’Neill visited Bristol to give a lecture on free speech on the 3^rd of March.

Spiked has recently ranked Bristol University with a red traffic light in its University Free Speech rankings which is the worst possible score.

After a zealous, hour long talk titled “No More Safe Spaces: The Case for Free Speech on Campus” for the University of Bristol Journalism Society, the controversial journalist proceeded to join some students in Nandos and Wetherspoons.

Although most of the audience seemed to support Brendan’s ideas, the content of his speech proved to be too much for some individuals, who refused to clap in the frequent outbreaks of applause.

Some of Brendan’s most impassioned quotes were:

“Go into a safe space and fuck it up.”

“My freedom of speech is more important than your feelings.”

“These intellectually damaging safe spaces are turning students into dumb ideologues.”

“Safe spaces exist to prevent students from being made uncomfortable.”

O’Neill claimed it to be both patronising and paternalistic that the student union “have decided on your behalf and often without consulting you what you can and can’t be exposed to.”

He argued that the policies make student unions treat their minority groups as second class citizens who have to be looked after. The approach was likened to Victorian times when women were dissuaded from attending to university because it was seen to be “too rough for them.”

Brendan with University of Bristol Journalism Society’s president Ben Kew

However, Brendan’s fierce and fiery words must have singed his tongue, for he surrendered to a choice of Lemon and Herb marinade at Nandos straight after his speech.

As Brendan and his admirers sunk their teeth into some delicious chicken after a hard day of thinking, the conversation turned to Brexit and politics in general.

Soon afterwards the group found themselves in a pub where the intellectual banter flowed like cheap beer.

Following on from the ideals in his speech, a student-led ‘Bristol Against Censorship’ Facebook group has appeared.