UEA free speech vote

University of East Anglia students voted against the National Union of Students' "no platform" policy last week. The referendum was called after the university's students union decided to impose the policy - which seeks to deny racists extremists the opportunity to speak at an institution - in their council meeting. The campaign against the "no platform" side was led by Richard Reynolds, leader of the student wing of the Academics for Academic Freedom campaign. He said: "The cowardice of this NUS policy has gone on too long. Freedom of speech should never be compromised because of our fear of what people might say. If we as students want to take on fascists and racists, we can and will beat them."