UKIP leader Nigel Farage has condemned UK universities for trying to “ram down people’s throats” the case for staying in the European Union (EU).

UKIP leader Farage speaks to members of the public on Lincoln High Street. Photo: Jarrad Johnson

Mr Farage believes universities should not be biased, but instead promote debate among its students ahead of the referendum on June 23.

He disagreed with the often stated argument that research and development funding would be stopped should a ‘Brexit’ happen, citing the case of Isaac Newton who was able to discover gravity more than 300 hundred years before the EU’s formation.

Mr Farage also spoke out against the National Union of Students (NUS) who hit the headlines when their newly-elected president Malia Bouattia was accused of anti-semitism over past comments.

Some NUS delegates also argued against the commemoration of the Holocaust at a conference in April.

The UKIP leader was in Lincoln on Wednesday and when asked for his thoughts on recent controversy surrounding the NUS, Mr Farage said: “The NUS now appears to be a hard-left activist group that’s not actually representing the broad range of views within the student community.”

Mr Farage said he supported the University of Lincoln Students’ Union’s decision to put a referendum to students to decide on its continued affiliation with the NUS.

Voting in that referendum closes on Friday and you can vote here.

And you can watch the interview here:

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