The National Union of Students has finally released a statement to students following last week’s conference debacle, when rapper Lowkey cancelled his performance at the event after his eyebrow-raising views on NATO, Russia and Ukraine started doing the rounds on social media. Initially, NUS president Larissa Kennedy refused to back down, even after the Union of Jewish Students complained, because she was “more concerned about who she might hurt if the event was cancelled…

Now the NUS have come up with a typically nuanced and fair-minded response in the wake of yet another unforced error. Apparently Lowkey has been the victim of “harassment and misinformation”:

“Since we promoted Lowkey as a speaker, there has been a strong response to some of his recent actions and associations. Like with most issues discussed on social media or the press, there is a mix of facts, opinions and misinformation in circulation. We are horrified to know that some students in our community, particularly Jewish students, may now be wondering if they will be fully comfortable at our upcoming events. We’re very sorry to any students who are hurt by some of the things they’ve read about NUS in the last few days.

“We invited Lowkey to speak at NUS Liberation Conference because we feel his contribution would have been invaluable to students’ discussions on decolonising education, class injustice, and divesting from companies that harm people and planet. Whilst we welcome genuine political debate, we’ve been sad to see the use of harassment and misinformation against Lowkey. We condemn these tactics used against anybody, but particularly towards activists and people of colour…”

In this case, ‘opinions and misinformation‘ seems to include reporting Lowkey’s statements verbatim, and then getting upset when those statements make you look bad. Disappointed conference-goers will be glad to hear Zarah is still scheduled to attend…

LBC’s Theo Usherwood has uncovered yet more lunacy from the socialists over at the NUS. The group are hosting their annual conference at the end of the month and have revealed the line-up set to appear at the event. The star of the show is rapper Lowkey, who’s performed barnstorming sets at Glastonbury, T in the Park, and Oxygen. He’s also spent the last week claiming “the mainstream media has weaponised the Jewish heritage of Zelenskyy” to “stave off” scrutiny of neo-nazi groups in Ukraine. He’ll be joined at the event by none other than Zarah Sultana… 

If making wild accusations about Ukraine isn’t enough, Lowkey’s also gone on the record recently to claim NATO is “aiming to essentially balkanise Russia“, and that the invasion makes “perfect sense” once you “understand that”. Alongside Chris Williamson… on Iranian Press TV.

So the narrative about Ukraine being full of Nazis has now moved on to NATO is full of Nazis.

Patron of the Stop the War Coalition Lowkey, together with Asa Winstanley, pull back the curtain on a mysterious world of NATO Nazis who are "aiming to essentially Balkanise Russia" pic.twitter.com/QP3IrU1HJz

— Harry's Place (@hurryupharry) March 16, 2022

He’s also found the time to defend David Miller, the disgraced former Bristol University lecturer. When the Union of Jewish Students complained to the NUS about their decision to host the rapper, the union insisted attendees could use an “existing safe space designated for students who are sensitive to loud noise during Lowkey’s performance”. After the students asked for Lowkey’s performance to be cancelled, NUS President Larissa Kennedy said she was “more concerned about who she might hurt if the event was cancelled”. Presumably Zarah will now take the opportunity to boycott the event…

UPDATE: The NUS have announced Lowkey is no longer attending the event: “Lowkey was due to speak at Liberation Conference on 30 March. He has pulled out of the event and will no longer be appearing.”