York angers union with military invite

York University has angered its student union by allowing the campus air squadron to recruit during freshers week.

In a motion passed last year, the union stated: "Allowing the armed forces on to campus suggests to York students that this union supports the government's policy, which bans homosexuals and bisexuals I and that it condones discrimination against women."

Union president Helen Woolnough said: "We have tried to dissuade the university from allowing them on to campus but they said it was our policy not theirs."

Sue Hardman, the university's academic registrar, said: "The military requested access and we gave it because we are aware of our responsibilities as an open community."

She added that the university could not deny access on grounds connected with beliefs: "It is a matter of allowing freedom of speech, unless there is a threat to public order or the law."