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Office for Students chair speaks at same CPAC event as denounced racist
Labour and the Liberal Democrats called on Conservative party leaders and ministers to take action after James Wharton, chair of the Office for Students (OfS), addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac) Hungary in Budapest on Friday.
On the same day that Lord Wharton, who ran Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign, gave his video message, Zsolt Bayer, a television talkshow host in Hungary who has been widely denounced for his racism, took to the stage. Bayer has called Jews “stinking excrement”, referred to Roma as “animals”, and used racial epithets to describe Black people.
...
In his speech, which has been posted on Twitter, Wharton endorsed the recent victory of the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, adding that he was present in Budapest during the recent elections to see that “we can win”. He also said Cpac was a “great chance to pick up new ideas”, to “reconnect with friends across the world” and to “fight for the values that we all hold dear”.
...
The appointment last year of Wharton, a former Conservative MP with no experience in higher education, to chair the OfS attracted widespread criticism from politicians and students, who said he lacked independence.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/23/office-for-students-chair-james-wharton-same-event-as-denounced-racist-zsolt-bayer
On the same day that Lord Wharton, who ran Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign, gave his video message, Zsolt Bayer, a television talkshow host in Hungary who has been widely denounced for his racism, took to the stage. Bayer has called Jews “stinking excrement”, referred to Roma as “animals”, and used racial epithets to describe Black people.
...
In his speech, which has been posted on Twitter, Wharton endorsed the recent victory of the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, adding that he was present in Budapest during the recent elections to see that “we can win”. He also said Cpac was a “great chance to pick up new ideas”, to “reconnect with friends across the world” and to “fight for the values that we all hold dear”.
...
The appointment last year of Wharton, a former Conservative MP with no experience in higher education, to chair the OfS attracted widespread criticism from politicians and students, who said he lacked independence.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/23/office-for-students-chair-james-wharton-same-event-as-denounced-racist-zsolt-bayer
That an Orban and CPAC supporter is the "independent" (sitting as a Conservative peer, so, no, not independent) chair of the overseer of higher education, with no relevant experience in higher education, is a disgrace. Appointed by Gavin Williamson, so no wonder it's a fucking disaster. The Tories just can't resist appointing far-right loons to the OfS.