Battle rages on over the boycott of The Sun

Students on both sides of the debate over the boycott of The Sun continue to fight their cause including a campaign to stop stopping the ban.

Though the controversial newspaper was banned last week, the two factions on either side of the debate continue to wage war against one another. They have set up separate petitions: Stop the Bans and Stop Stop the Bans.

Having moved on from the debate surrounding whether or not The Sun has a place on the shelves of ULSU shops, the opposing sides are now trying to tackle the issues surrounding the way the motion was passed.

The new petition launched by Stop The Ban has appeared in the wake of what was deemed by a large percentage of the student population to be an undemocratic decision. It asks whether any ban or boycott enforced by the SU should ‘be subject to a binding all student vote before it can take effect?’

Katrina King, one of the people behind the new petition, told The Tab: “We felt that students should have a say on such a political issue, rather than have it dictated to them by a council elected by less than 5% of the student body.

“We are not however pro sun. We just want bans to be done in a democratic form of a referendum to ensure student awareness and choice.”

The call for referenda to be held when a ban or boycott is being considered is not just a product of the recent decision over The Sun. It is a reaction to a series of other decisions that have previously led to other bans.

After just one day of campaigning, the group have announced via social media that the petition has already been signed by 300 people, each of which is a current Leicester student.

Signatures for the petition calling for the referendum are only valid if they are accompanied by either a student’s university email address or student number to ensure that each signature corresponds to a current student at the university. It can be signed here.

Despite winning the secret ballot and having the proposal passed through Union Council, those behind the boycott page 3 campaign have countered the new petition by calling on students to ‘Stop Stop the Bans’.

The sole aim of the group is, according to their social media site, to: “STOP PEOPLE STOPPING BANS”.

One supporter of the page, Harry Wells, said: “What I understand it to be is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek opposition to the Stop the Bans page.

“We disagree wholeheartedly with the idea that we should have to put decisions made by Union Council to referendum, particularly the trigger for this whole debate, the boycott of The Sun.”

“Union Council is the democratic, decision-making body of the Union: people vote for officers and they vote for policy. If people are unhappy with their officers, then where were they when they had the chance to run themselves, or vote in people they agreed with?”

“I think the admin of the page believes that it’s better to be a bit more lighthearted and try and keep this a fun and safe debate, where people feel they can air their opinions.”

The admin of the page was unavailable for comment.