Hind Essoussi is North-West Area Chairman of London Conservative Future and a student at the LSE.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s presentation to the London School of Economics on the future for Media Policy last night was interrupted by around one hundred student protesters, heckling him about the proposed takeover of BSKYB.
Chanting “Minister for Culture, Jeremy Vulture” and “Tory Scum”, the protesters heckled Hunt for over ten minutes, questioning in particular his impartiality in light of his supposed links to the Murdoch family.
Remaining silent for the majority of the interruption, he responded to the charge of impartiality with a reaffirmation of his impartiality as arbiter. Prior to their entrance, Hunt had stressed the importance of adhering to due process in reaching a decision on the issue and vowed to comply with legally robust tests, especially as a judicial review of the decision was likely.
The protesters distributed literature that called for Hunt to "pass the proposed takeover of BSKYB to the competition commission. Failure to do so will highlight a government more concerned with the interests of big business than the people it claims to represent”.
Incidentally, in the course of the event Hunt’s emphasised his great passion for local TV and empowering the regions. He also contrasted the press freedoms that exist in the UK with China, the nation of his wife.
After the protesters had been escorted out, Hunt stated that, despite the disruption it had caused, he would nevertheless “much rather live in a country where demonstrators are able to engage in free speech”.
Below is one of several videos of the protest which have been uploaded to YouTube.
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