Saturday 12 November 2022 11:11 PM Far-left Durham University students use legal ruse to try 'crush' Jeremy Vine's ... trends now
A left-wing student union was last night accused of attempting to 'crush' a university newspaper and torpedo press freedom.
Durham Students' Union was lambasted for attempting to secretly seize control of the legal rights to use the name Palatinate – the title of the university's award- winning student newspaper.
The move is an apparent bid to stop the 74-year-old paper from breaking free from the union's control and becoming independent.
Palatinate, which is handed out for free, was once edited by Fleet Street legend Sir Harold Evans, and was a training ground for BBC broadcasters Jeremy Vine and George Alagiah.
Durham Students' Union was lambasted for attempting to secretly seize control of the legal rights to use the name Palatinate – the title of the university's award- winning student newspaper. Pictured: Durham University
Former editor of the paper Jeremy Vine accused union of 'quite a dastardly move'. He added: 'We know why the student union doesn't like them – it's because once in a while the newspaper prints an article that is critical.'
Its future has, however, been threatened since 2020, when the students' union axed funding for the print edition of the newspaper.
Union chiefs blamed funding pressures and the Covid crisis, but many students believed the decision was politically motivated and claimed that freedom of speech was being stifled.