Enough is enough. We must clamp down on universities now

As the Young Adolf of Oxford proves, the radicalism has gone dangerously far.

The Young Adolf of Oxford chants for the deaths of Jews

In the wake of the arrest of Samuel “Young Adolf” Williams, the unhinged Oxford University student who was filmed leading bloodthirsty chants in the street, we should all think long and hard about what has been going wrong with our universities, and what we can do about it.

I’ll come to what has been going wrong in a moment. But first, let’s focus on what must be done. As shocking as his behaviour was, Williams is not unusual. The radicalisation of our universities accelerated during the mass hysteria over Black Lives Matter in 2020 and has multiplied manyfold over the two years since October 7.

It has now reached epidemic proportions. These days, it is impossible to find a British university that isn’t blighted by Palestine fanaticism, and which doesn’t have a correspondingly shameful story to tell about the bullying of its Jewish students.

Graduation ceremonies are disrupted; Gaza encampments disrupt university life; noisy rallies swarm through university towns; even makeshift checkpoints have been set up outside libraries. Jews have been taunted, ostracised, mocked and marginalised.

This is not just about the Jews. It is about the integrity and respectability of our academic institutions, which are descending into hotbeds of radical activism that bode ill for the future health of society. Enough is enough.