York SU hides behind corporate bureaucracy to ratify far-right group

The University of York’s Student Union has officially ratified the Restore Britain Society, despite mass protest from the students themselves. The board of trustees pushed the decision through after consultation with solicitors, claiming legal frameworks have forced their hand. But students are fucking furious.

Corporate bullshit vs student safety

In an official statement on Instagram, York SU claims it must consider every application, regardless of politics. The trust board argues that refusing lawful views exposes the charity to serious risk. Yet they’re willing to ratify a group, knowing that they were holding events like this on campus…

So, they’d rather put students at risk, rather than themselves? I mean, nothing says keeping students safe like ratifying a group that says “let’s get foreigners out” whilst advertising an event with handcuffs and a deportation ban on Instagram…

The SU are weaponizing the fact that the national Restore Britain party holds just one parliamentary seat under Rupert Lowe. Lowe, may I add, who was elected under the Reform party, not his own new fascist pet-project.

But the reality on the ground shreds this clinical, defensive administrative bullshit. This Instagram post alone should be enough to prove the Restore Britain fledglings are about anything but regular politics. They’re fucking fascist.

And at a time when swastikas are allegedly being graffitied on the campus, this is not the time to be encouraging it. Yes, the society deleted the posts, but that’s not the point. 28% of the students at York University are international students, so what kind of message does this give to them? It screams that the SU don’t give a shit about them, that they’re willing to allow a fascist group that hates them to exist in the space in which these students live and learn.

Infrastructure failure

York SU admits that the creation of the Restore Britain Society leaves students feeling unsafe, yet they only offer these young people standard welfare portals and report tools. They also declared that ratification is subject to mandatory equality, diversity and inclusion training. That made me laugh. The mere idea that a fucking PowerPoint presentation will curb blatant xenophobia is a joke.

On the ground, it shows a total failure of physical and mental safety for students. On Tuesday 21 April 2026, around 60 students peacefully protested outside of the SU. Agitators and wannabe auditors from the budding Restore Britain Society stood jeering and filming the crowd. Stewards had to physically block them from filming their fellow students, as they tried to run into the crowd several times.

They even went so far as to follow attendees of the protest after the event dispersed, only stopping when campus security finally asked them to. I say this because, during the actual event, when the harassment was clearly on display, York SU staff and security did sweet FA to intervene. I witnessed with my own eyes how these aforementioned staff members were laughing and joking with the Restore Britain members.

The union promises to call the police retroactively if hate speech occurs. They are completely abdicating their preventative role to protect vulnerable Black and Brown students.

Student media complicity

The York Student Action Network, who organised the protest, also called out the mainstream campus establishment. They allege student media outlet York Nouse provided a centrist view of the events, producing lukewarm perspectives on what effectively places students in harm’s way.

The network alleges that these outlets failed to report on the true extent of the harassment on the day, as well as the depth of the fascist rhetoric. And to make things worse, Nouse completely compromised student safety even further.

They failed to blur the faces of the students attending the protest, despite requests from the organisers. They requested that, if photos were taken, permission be sought from the students in them. Yet it seems the publication really doesn’t give a shit, and proceeded to post them anyway.

This leaves so many young people who stood up against this budding Restore Society at risk. They are left wide open to harassment from it’s members, who have made it very clear that they don’t give a shit about breaking boundaries and approaching people aggressively.

Setting a dangerous precedent

York SU claim they want to fight for the community. They claim they can keep the leash on a society that speaks about deporting all foreigners, on campus, over a fucking round of pub golf. Claiming their hands are legally tied because one bloody MP stands in parliament – who wasn’t even elected under the Restore Britain brand – is wild.

They are allowing the safety and mental wellbeing of 28% of their student body to be shattered, thanks to the jeering cries of a few very sad, very racist young people. The SU claims they’re going to keep students safe, whilst simultaneously validating a society using the “Detain and Deport” banner.

By outsourcing ethics to lawyers, the union invites harassment onto campus. Students will remember exactly who the York University institution is choosing to protect when things inevitably get worse.

Featured images via Instagram & author