Backed by Bentham

University College London has resurrected its spiritual father, the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, to campaign against the speed of its proposed merger with Imperial College, London.

Bentham, who died in 1832 and whose preserved body is on display at the university, has been made agony uncle for the Save UCL Campaign, run by students.

The UCL students plan to hold a vote on merger. Imperial students were 45 per cent in favour, 44 per cent against, when The Diary last looked, based on 1,014 votes. A further 4 per cent claimed never to have heard of UCL.

Meanwhile, The Diary has heard of another suggested name for any merged institution. A source at Imperial said that the new institution should use Imperial's first name and UCL's second name, producing "Imperial College".