The dear old Daily Express, one of the nation’s oldest rags, perhaps isn’t quite the newspaper it once was, focusing on an increasingly ageing, fearful and reactionary readership to stay afloat during these troubled times for print.
The Express is 'fed up'
But did it really deserve to be banned by the student Union of Aberystwyth University? It’s crime – to launch a campaign playing on the above-mentioned fears to keep Bulgarians and Romanians out of the UK. Is it nasty? Sure... but is that really worthy of a ban? You tell us in the poll below.
A notice in the student union shop read:
"The Daily Express contains a petition for the Prime Minister to defy the EU and keep in place labour market controls on people from Romania and Bulgaria indefinitely. This content has been reported as offensive, and as such we not currently stocking the Daily Express."
Writing to the Huffington Post UK, Andy Morwood, Membership Services Manager at the union, said in an email:
"As we have an internationally diverse membership, with clear polices of equality and preventing discrimination on the grounds of nationality, it was felt that by selling the Daily Express whilst it is running its current campaign against allowing Bulgarian and Romanian immigration, the Union would be indirectly violating its own policies."
A statement released by Aberystwyth student Union read:
On Thursday 7th November, staff in Aberystwyth University Students’ Union took an operational decision to remove copies of the Daily Express from sale in the shop. The Students’ Union operates under an Equal Opportunities Policy, which commits us to promote an equal opportunities environment, preventing any form of direct or indirect discrimination or victimisation for all. As we have an internationally diverse membership, with clear polices of equality and preventing discrimination on the grounds of nationality, it was felt that by selling the Daily Express whilst it was running its current campaign, the Union would be indirectly violating its own policies.
Since this decision, we have received further queries from our student membership regarding the sale of other news publications. As a membership organisation, we want to ensure that any decisions made are representative of the student body. As such, the process of how we deal with student complaints into the range of newspapers on sale will be brought to the next Student Assembly, which takes place on Thursday 14th November.
We want the debate at the Assembly to be as informed as possible, and we’d encourage students intending to partake in the debate to familiarise themselves with the content presented in press.
Therefore the current newspapers proving contentious will remain on sale until a decision is made by the student body.
So the newspaper is now back on sale pending the debate on the 14th. Hopefully, the editors at the Express will soon go back to printing front-page splashes about Diana’s ghost and house prices, allowing the paper's venerable old pages to once again be permanently stocked at Aberystwyth SU.