With Nigel Farage back in Cambridgeshire this week on the campaign trail, his past criticism of one of the city’s most iconic debating venues is making headlines once more.
It was a year ago that Farage revealed on GB News he had repeatedly refused invitations to speak at the Cambridge Union — once a sought-after stage for political voices from across the spectrum. According to Farage, he had been asked to appear every year for five consecutive years, but turned it down each time.
The turning point, he said, was the student-led protests that erupted during US tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s visit to the Union in 2024. “I’m right not to go,” Farage said at the time, calling the protests “madness” and claiming no one “in their right mind” would agree to speak there now.
Union Culture Under Fire
Thiel’s visit triggered significant pro-Palestine demonstrations, part of a wider wave of student activism seen across UK campuses. Farage seized on the moment to question the direction of British universities and their role in fostering open debate.
“Who in their right mind would ever now go to have a free speech open debate at the Cambridge Union?”
Nigel Farage
While Farage affirmed his belief in the right to protest, he criticised what he called the increasingly hostile and antisemitic tone of some demonstrations. He urged UK institutions to take a firmer line, similar to measures seen in the US where encampments and disruptions were curtailed.
Now, as he reconnects with voters in the region, his words from a year ago resonate against a backdrop of continued national conversations about campus culture, political discourse, and the limits of protest.
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