Marine Le Pen, leader of the French far-right Front National party, was greeted by an anti-fascist protest as she addressed a Cambridge University debating group on Tuesday.
The daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, who took over the party leadership from her father in 2011, spoke to students on the Cambridge Union Society in the afternoon.
Her appearance led the gang Unite Against Fascism to organise an indication of about 200 people outside the venue. Officers from Cambridgeshire police attended.
Le Pen, 44, who have been an MEP since 2004, spoke in regards to the way forward for the european and French politics. A spokesman for the Union Society defended the call to ask her to chat.
“We welcome the chance to speak about, debate, and challenge somebody who has had an unquestionable impact on French and European politics,” he said. “Whether you settle together with her politics or not, this event represents among the only a few opportunities a British audience has needed to directly engage with Mrs Le Pen, who finished third within the last French presidential election, behind Hollande and Sarkozy, and who currently sits within the European parliament as a democratically elected representative.”
Student Rights, a collection supporting equality, democracy and freedom from extremism on university campuses, called for Cambridge University to enquire the verdict to ask Le Pen to speak.
In a press release, it added: “Universities do have an obligation to uphold freedom of speech, but they’re no place for the promotion of fascist views, and university authorities have an obligation of care to their students to guard them from people who would promote hatred.”
Previous controversial speakers on the Union Society have included Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Julian Assange.
