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In the opinion piece ¡°Attitude is everything¡± (21?May), Diana Beech explains why she voted Conservative in the general election, citing the belligerence of the Left¡¯s intelligentsia¡±. She obviously has ruder colleagues and friends than I do, but the assumptions made are similar. I?guess it depends partly on the subject area and partly on the institution. Perhaps it would be equally unpleasant to be a political minority in an industry full of right-wing people. But I?agree with Beech that this aggression and narrow-mindedness is disappointing in a sector where liberals claim to be in favour of diverse, open, self-critical and civilised discourse. It¡¯s something one experiences outside of election campaigns, too, and is bizarrely justified as the academy being a last bulwark against the neoliberal hordes. Which only confirms how irrelevant academic leftism is becoming. Oh, and I voted Labour by the way.

Charlie Beckett
Via timeshighereducation.co.uk