He’s not happy one bit.
In many ways, university life is a microcosm of society as a whole. It is an amalgam of all facets of life, distilled and magnified by the passion and vigour of youth. Anyone who tells you that the millennial generation are just a bunch of apathetic slackers are sadly mistaken. When it comes to making a stand for what they believe in, the kids are alright.
Each year, various student causes, agendas and interests come together in one place during Freshers’ week, when a plethora of societies and clubs convene to try and recruit the latest batch of first-year students. The atmosphere is generally good-natured and vibrant, as college-fresh kids embark on a fresh new adventure of discovery and growth.
That said, there’s nothing quite like good old-fashioned undergraduate mither.
At the Manchester’s Welcome Fair, things quite literally came to a head when ‘Manchester Conservative Future’ decided to adorn their stall with a life-size cutout of Margaret Thatcher. As you can imagine, it was something of a polarising move…
The Mancunion report that a number of freshers were happy to pose with the soulless figure, no doubt for ironic selfies and Whatsapp snaps. But others were far less enamoured with a 2D representation of what they perceive to be evil incarnate. In fact a couple of left-wing renegades decided to take matters into their own hands.
Lauren McCourt and Freya Blake, who proudly describe themselves as ‘revolutionary socialists’, did what many would love to do and beheaded the cardboard Maggie in an act of political sabotage. Perhaps they were inspired by Mancunian icon Morrissey’s 1998 song ‘Margaret on the Guillotine’:
“The kind people
Have a wonderful dream
Margaret on the guillotine…”
In a statement, printed in The Mancunion, the pair explained:
“We thought it was an ethical choice. We grabbed her and ran. This Tory grabbed me really hard and screamed in my face, “What the fuck are you doing”. I turned around and screamed, “Get the fuck off me you Tory scum”. Then Lauren ripped off the head of Thatcher, we stamped on it and ran…”
In all resulted in a rather sorry sight – a thoroughly peeved off young Conservative standing beside a headless Thatcher. It wasn’t long before the tragicomic photograph was being shared around the internet…
https://twitter.com/MattTurner4L/status/778913654091681792
https://twitter.com/ShineJob/status/778922616727875585
THATCHER GOT BEHEADED AT OUR UNI! 🙂
— ChampionSloth (@Q_Sloth3) September 21, 2016
Someone beheaded the University of Manchester Conservative Society's Margaret Thatcher cut-out at Freshers Fair. pic.twitter.com/thpFglEErl
— Nozza_ (@Nozza_) September 21, 2016
. @Nozza_ . pic.twitter.com/dwAJZIVhGX
— DänielNöthing (@DanielNothing) September 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/clairefp_/status/778723680327049216
https://twitter.com/littlebrowndawg/status/778921812189151232
Amidst such lack of sympathy, Luke Dyks, Chair of Manchester Conservative Future, responded:
“As a group we are really dismayed that people would damage our property like this, not just for its monetary value but [we believe] that we have a right to free speech around campus. There was no need for this theft.”
We’ll leave you to decide whether it’s a case of mindless vandalism, or just necessary cuts.
