Tory MP hounded off campus after describing women as ‘adult human females’
The Telegraph a Tory attendee was struck on the head by one of the mob.Prior to Mr Zahawi’s attendance, Warwick Pride issued a statement accusing him of playing a ‘significant role in institutional transphobia’.They said he was guilty of using a ‘transphobic dog-whistle’ by defining a woman as an ‘adult human female’.The group encouraged its supporters to buy up tickets to the talk and said it was ‘ludicrous’ to suggest he ‘does not incite hatred’.A statement issued before the protest also pointed to Mr Zahawi’s support for Kathleen Stock, an academic who resigned from the University of Sussex amid protests over her views on gender identification.Warwick Pride said its activists were attending with the ‘intention to ask Zahawi questions concerning the rights of trans people in the UK’, adding that it did not condone violence.But supporters turned up with placards and flags, with one chanting through a microphone.The government unveiled a new law which it says will protect freedom of speech in British universities, including provision to stop speakers being ‘no-platformed’.Ministers and some academics warn there is a ‘chilling effect’ of UK campuses dictated by a vocal minority of students, with the government pointing to a Policy Exchange survey which found a third of lecturers with centre-right politics feel they have to self-censor their views at work.Responding to the Warwick incident, an education department spokesperson said the incident ‘proves’ the need for the bill, calling it ‘more evidence against those who say there is no such thing as a chilling culture on campus’.A spokesperson for the University of Warwick Conservative Association told The Telegraph: ‘The anger and hatred aimed at us that evening only.
