The University of Leicester’s free student newspaper
www.the-ripple.co.uk ripple@le.ac.uk @uolripple www.facebook.com/therippleleicester Issue Ten
Semester Two
17th March - 30th March
The Sun Boycott Set To Dominate Union Council by Alex Thompkins
This week students on Union Council will debate an issue that has been growing on campus steadily since the start of the year: whether or not the university should boycott selling The Sun in its retail outlets. The proposal, brought forward by Ella Abraham, seeks to “boycott The Sun from all retail outlets in the union until Page 3 is removed from the paper” as well as “to ask the University to back the national campaign” but crucially it does not call for a campus wide referendum on the issue, which has been conducted in universities such as Exeter. The proposal has been seconded by 25 students from various societies and associations including LGBTQA, Sexpression & Activista. But there is a fierce opposition to the proposal which has been led by Council Member Katrina King, who last week started a petition against the boycott,
arguing “It’s not a boycott, it’s a ban. A boycott is something individuals can decide for themselves; a ban is a restriction of choice”. Speaking to The Ripple , Katrina went on to say “This shouldn’t be a choice by the few made for the many” and that “The Union shouldn’t bubble wrap students from the outside world”. The Ripple contacted both Rachel Holland and Ella Abraham but they were unavailable for comment. At the time of writing her petition has received 38 signatures whilst the No More Page 3 petition has received 737. The petitions have sparked a huge debate on social media. Council Member Catherine La Fontaine says “Whilst the Union council want to do so, I think the banning of The Sun would only serve to further alienate the majority of the student body”. The proposal will be debated on Tuesday 18th March at 6:30pm in Ken Edwards Lecture Theatre 3.
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