OUSU Pres Rutland accuses over 600 students of supporting racism

In a 900 word essay uploaded to Facebook last week, OUSU President Tom Rutland has accused UKIP of “racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism”, following a controversial NUS motion to condemn the party for representing “the worst of UK society.”

Rutland’s comments have sparked a debate over how appropriate it is for our student union president to be wading into party politics.

According to a Tab Survey published this month, 3% of Oxford students at British universities intend to vote UKIP in the general election, which would potentially represent over 650 students at Oxford.

At Rutland’s victorious OUSU election, fewer than 10% of Oxford students voted for him.

This is the face Rutland made when he discovered he was ~50% more legitimate than UKIP

1300 students is also more people than have been to OUSU council in the entirety of Rutland’s presidency since the beginning of Michaelmas Term 2013.

In its founding documents, one of OUSU’s objectives is to “promote the… welfare of Students and representing… Students.’

Whether an exception is to be made for those students subscribing to political parties Tom Rutland disagrees with is currently unknown.

“To support students – all 22,000 of you”… unless you support UKIP

A third year Maths student at New College commented: “I didn’t know that OUSU could pick and choose the students it represented, although given that they haven’t quite yet managed to convince one in five students to care enough to vote in their elections, I suppose they haven’t actually had any practice at representing people in the first place.”

Unfortunately, Tom couldn’t quite get back to us with a comment, presumably because he was too busy doing important things such as boasting about how much he increased his own budget or throwing darts at a poster of Margaret Thatcher, so we instead decided to find some quotes that he had given in the past and write them down:

“We must hold to account the politicians” – 18/04/14

“If you have any problems during your time in Oxford, get in touch – I’ve been elected to serve you.” – 13/10/2013

“Students should be able to express their opinions.” – 09/11/12

Oxford UKIP Press Officer and Pembroke student Stuart O’Reilly commented on the NUS motion: “The NUS should be about education, but it has become a nursery for future Labour Party politicians. By voting to oppose UKIP the NUS have alienated not just the thousands of students who are UKIP members and supporters in universities but also those who do not hold the left-wing views of many NUS delegates.

“Students are perfectly capable of choosing which political party they wish to vote for, the NUS is not the place for that. UKIP do not have a monopoly on problematic members, indeed our councillors are far better behaved (though far more widely reported) than other parties’. I know which way I’ll be voting in the upcoming university-wide referendum.”