Suella Braverman told student protesters to “get a life” after her talk at the Cambridge University Conservative Association (CUCA) today (07/11).

Over 50 protesters gathered outside the Babbage Lecture Theatre to disrupt her speech, with the noise from their chants and drums being heard from inside the building.

Braverman praised the attendees for “going ahead in defiance of the mob, in defiance of cancel culture, as conservatives on campus”.

“Don’t be bowed down. Don’t be cowed by the mob and the leftists and the extremists out there,” she continued.

Outside the lecture theatre, protesters held signs reading “Compassion is a ‘lifestyle choice’ you should try it,” shouted “Free Palestine”, and banged drums in an attempt to disrupt her speech.

The protesters chanted “Cruella, Cruella you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide”. They also called her “a shame to your heritage,” saying that the UK should “take in every refugee”.

Speaking to Varsity, Braverman said: “I support the right to protest. Everybody’s got a right to express themselves peacefully, but once protest slips into intimidation, harassment and cancelling the legitimate right of other students to discuss politics, to discuss the country, to discuss their beliefs, then it’s unacceptable.”

During the protest, an altered clip from GB News coverage of Braverman’s visit to the pro-Palestine encampment on King’s Parade was projected on the side of the venue. Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound of Silence’ played over the video, with changed lyrics saying: “Pathetically you walked alone […] Your voice is just hot air. No one cares.”

Braverman visited Cambridge in May with GB news to interview students who had set up encampments outside King’s College calling on the University to divest from companies associated with Israel. During the visit Braverman told Varsity that she believed the pro-Palestine protests on UK campuses to be “antisemitic” and that these movements had left Jewish students “very intimidated and harassed on campus”.

She echoed these sentiments during her speech, saying that “one of the low points” during her time as Home Secretary was seeing the police “stand by” during pro-Palestinian protests last year, claiming that “we’ve got to the point where the police were more interested in community relations dancing […] rather than actually enforcing the law without fear or favour”.

Braverman later called the police force “weak,” detailing her “growing frustration” that no one was making a stand against the pro-Palestinian marches following the October 7 attacks last year. She told attendees that she “had to say something” and that she “would do it again,” despite knowing the implications of losing her job as Home Secretary.

Police officers were present outside the building, with sirens being heard at one point during the protest. University security staff were also patrolling the area.

During her speech, Braverman expressed her support for president-elect Donald Trump, stating that he addresses “the real challenges that American families are really facing”.

The Organisation for Radical Cambridge Activists, said: “The counter protest this evening is one of many ways that we can stand against the hatred that Suella Braverman spews.”

“She will call us thugs, but she has enacted immensely violent policies and we will continue to build a community which resists that,” they continued.

All relevant parties were contacted for comment.