Cambridge University has not banned poppies

Facebook posts claiming that Cambridge University banned or “rejected” poppy badges has been shared thousands of times on Facebook.

This is not true—the university told Full Fact that usual commemorations at each of their colleges would take place again this year. 

The misinformation appears to have origins in a 2018 story which claimed that Cambridge University Student Union (CUSU) had banned Remembrance Day celebrations.

The union denied this happened, claiming it was a misrepresentation of the events of a meeting, where a motion put forward to actively promote Remembrance Sunday was defeated.

CUSU said: “On the agenda was a motion put forward by two non-voting students, to ask Council to promote Remembrance Day actively across the whole student body, as a way of remembering British war veterans.

“An amended motion was also proposed which deleted various phrases of the original motion, as per standard practice, in order to include all those affected by war.

“In deciding which of the two motions to take forward for a final vote, the amended motion was selected.

“However, and contrary to many reports in the media, the amended motion was then defeated by a huge margin with only three votes in favour.

“There were other items on the agenda, but at the conclusion of the meeting, it was understood that in not passing either motion, CUSU would carry on as it always had in its Remembrance Day commemorations.

“This includes having the CUSU President lay a wreath as part of the Cambridge Remembrance Day commemorations and continuing to encourage individual students to commemorate Remembrance Day in any way they feel appropriate, which is consistent with Royal British Legion recommendations.”

An outline of the events held at Cambridge University to mark Remembrance Sunday 2018 can be found here.

Furthermore, Royal British Legion routinely state that there are no poppy bans throughout the country.