FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE VIA FLICKR
Members of the Magdalen College Middle Common Room have voted to remove a printed portrait of The Queen from the common room. The Oxford students voted to remove it, on the basis of it being a symbol of “recent colonial history”. The move has both been praised and criticised in the following days.
According to a BBC article, the motion was tabled to make the common room a more welcoming place for all students and to recognise that “for some students, depictions of the monarch and the British monarchy represent recent colonial history”.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has called out the students for their decision. On Tuesday, 8 June, he posted on his Twitter criticising the move. He said “Oxford University students removing a picture of the Queen is simply absurd. She is the Head of State and a symbol of what is best about the UK. During her long reign she has worked tirelessly to promote British values of tolerance, incl