Gavin Williamson criticised students for taking down a picture of the Queen and ended up schooled
Education secretary Gavin Williamson took time out from his busy schedule today to have his say on a group of Oxford University students who – you might want to sit down – took down a picture of the Queen.
Magdalen College Middle Common Room voted to take down the print, which they put up in 2013, because some students believed the picture represented “recent colonial history”.
TOMORROW: Outrage as students express their freedom of speech in a way that we don’t like. pic.twitter.com/2rq6aybrRf
— The DM Reporter (@DMReporter) June 8, 2021
It outraged all the usual suspects, as you might imagine, and then Williamson got involved. Of course he did.
Oxford University students removing a picture of the Queen is simply absurd. She is the Head of State and a symbol of what is best about the UK. During her long reign she has worked tirelessly to promote British values of tolerance, inclusivity & respect around the world
— Gavin Williamson (@GavinWilliamson) June 8, 2021
And if you think he was setting himself up for no end of mockery, you’d be right.
1.
Well said, champ. Now go & get the guys who lied to her & unlawfully prorogued Parliament. https://t.co/gIgoT4CeGl
— James O’Brien (@mrjamesob) June 9, 2021
2.
I didn’t know being Education Secretary meant “commenting on literally everything some students do.” Gavin’s going to be busy every Friday night. Fuck me. YOUR BOSS WAS IN THE BULLINGDON CLUB GAVIN THEY DID MORE THAN PUT A PICTURE IN A CUPBOARD. https://t.co/dUetWif1BK
— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) June 9, 2021
3.
You could argue that the Secretary of State for Education tweeting about a picture being removed from a student common room is absurd but here we are. https://t.co/wbWYOjQOX1
— Rosie Holt (@RosieisaHolt) June 9, 2021
4.
I’d say “do you not have anything better to do than police some students’ decor” but I’m worried you’d use the time to e.g. sue schools for wanting to slow the spread of a deadly disease
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) June 9, 2021
5.
STOP IT. This is silly. It’s not your job to pass comment on everything students do that you don’t like doing. Stop. https://t.co/HMQsAK9Qvz
— Dr Adam Rutherford (@AdamRutherford) June 8, 2021
6.
When a student, the house I lived in had a poster – mine – of Robert Smith of The Cure on the living room wall. Outrageously in the middle of one night it was ripped down and put in the toilet by a drunk housemate who thought doing that was funny. Sadly never got on the news. https://t.co/CxgPOV5qyO
— David Baddiel (@Baddiel) June 9, 2021
7.
Thank you Gavin! I’m glad the government is finally having a say on what portraits students can or cannot have on their walls.
— Adam Smith (@adamndsmith) June 8, 2021
8.
welcome to the UK, where a group of postgrads can’t vote to take down a portrait in their private common room without the secretary of state for education tweeting about it in outrage. https://t.co/EDGpv2Olvk
— ellie redpath 🍓🕊️ (@inelliegant) June 8, 2021
9.
The real absurdity: a minister taking time out to get cross about how some students are decorating their common room. Sowing division is the game. https://t.co/y9Fjey4b40
— Sathnam Sanghera (@Sathnam) June 9, 2021
It’s not as if it had been up there very long.
So the Oxford university print of the Queen was only put up… in 2013… by students. That's a year after Gangnam Style came out.
— Otto English (@Otto_English) June 9, 2021
And lots of people were doubtless also thinking this.
Loath as I am to comment on this confected nonsense, but I hazard a guess that the reaction of most people around the country will be “what kind of weird student Union has a picture of the Queen up in the first place?”
— . (@twlldun) June 9, 2021
To conclude, this.
Show your support for freedom of expression by complaining about pictures students choose to hang on the wall in a room you will never visit.
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) June 9, 2021
And also this.
The right are furious about:
Taking the knee
Removing statues of slavers
Not singing Rule Britannia
Questioning Britain’s colonial past
Anything done by Harry, Meghan or their new baby
Removing a picture of the QueenBut remember it’s liberals & the left who are the snowflakes.
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) June 9, 2021
And finally (readers of a sensitive disposition, look away now).
A true patriot 🇬🇪 pic.twitter.com/DLCXxpkENd
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) June 9, 2021
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