Kirk Slammed as Rage Spreads

The fury surrounding the “Kirk Sneade for Women’s Officer” campaign has spread across the nation following a statement from current women’s officer Beth Sutton.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Sutton described Sneade’s manifesto as “abhorrent”, and attacked the “highly offensive” material on his Facebook campaign page, which has since been removed.

Sutton also refused to accept a statement issued by Sneade earlier that day in which his campaign apologised “to the feminist, gay and trans communities for any offence caused”. She stated that the apology was “insincere”, adding that the campaign “clearly shows…[the campaign’s] contempt for women’s liberation.”

Her statement follows on from an angry twitter exchange with @TheLDNStudent regarding Snead’s candidacy. It includes a call for him withdraw his candidacy and undertake sensitivity and equality training, and has been signed by dozens of UCL students and scores from other universities across the country.

The chair of the University of Kent Student’s Union, the National Chair of Labour Students, a number of Young Labour National Committee members and women’s officers from half a dozen other universities are among those who have signed, adding to a growing list.

Although much of the controversial material on the campaign page has been removed one of the comments which has enraged opponents remains.

Beside a photo of a section of Sutton’s manifesto Sneade writes that “every time I hear Chris Brown I feel the need to punch the nearest woman in the face.”

It isn’t all doom and gloom for Kirk, though. A number of messages of support can be found on his campaign page alongside more negative comments.

One calls him a “courageous candidate” whilst another wishes him luck, to which he replies that he is sorry that the campaign’s “fucking about” has “jeopardised our position as viable candidates”.

Sneade’s continued presence on the ballot has come under renewed pressure in the aftermath of a scandal involving University of Birmingham sabbatical officer candidate Josh Llewellyn. Having been accused of “promoting rape culture” and intimidating a fellow candidate he announced today that he is “stopping campaigning” although there is still confusion as to whether or not he will remain on the ballot.

Sneade, on the other hand, has made no indications of any further changes to his campaign, although his revised manifesto has yet to materialise.