Union Courts Controversy Once More

The Union has announced that two new speakers have been added to the Lent termcard. Marine Le Pen MEP, the controversial leader of the French Front National, and Alan Rusbridger, Editor of The Guardian, are due to speak later this month.

Le Pen, who won 6 million votes in the 2012 French presidential election, is set to visit on the 19^th February. A spokesperson for The Union said: “We welcome the opportunity to discuss, debate and challenge Mme. Le Pen who has had an unquestionable impact on French and European politics. Whether you agree with her politics or not, this event represents one of the very few opportunities a British audience has had to directly engage with Mme. Le Pen, who finished third in the last French presidential election, behind Hollande and Sarkozy, and currently sits in the European Parliament as a democratically elected representative.”

Alan Rusbridger, graduate of Magdalene College, is speaking on the 12^th March. In November 2011 he appeared in front of the Leveson Inquiry and advocated a stronger form of self-regulation for the press.

The Union spokesperson stated:“Alan Rusbridger edits one of the most influential papers in our country and offers a unique insight into the future of the press in the face of the Leveson Inquiry and the phone hacking scandal. He comes to speak at a time when the newspaper industry is facing an increasingly challenging future, with the rise of the internet and the blogosphere impacting on the circulation of newspapers.”