Students were bombarded with online hate over Covid spike, caller tells LBC

28 October 2020, 16:21 | Updated: 28 October 2020, 16:26

This is the moment a caller told LBC's Shelagh Fogarty that university students were "bombarded with hate" last month for "causing another [Covid] spike".

Caitlin, who is a student in York, made the comments in the context of a discussion concerning how exactly Covid restrictions will impact Christmas.

The Environment Secretary George Eustice has told LBC that it is "too early to say" which coronavirus restrictions could be in place at Christmas and refused to rule out a second national lockdown.

Caitlin said: "You've got the question of what happens when we go back to university [after Christmas]. Are we going to be placed where we were in September where students are getting bombarded with all this hate for causing another spike again.

Shelagh then asked: "Did you feel bombarded with hate?"

Caitlin responded: "Me and my friends particularly, not necessarily in person but definitely online, felt bombarded with just this 'it's all the students. It's all their fault' [message]."

She added: "Condemn the students that were out partying and give them the fines and things that they need. But for me and friends and so many other students, we felt absolutely generalised and it was horrible."

Caitlin, whose brother is a student but based in Brighton, also spoke about how they both had "no idea" if they could return to their Cambridge home for Christmas.

"We're just in the dark about everything," she told Shelagh.