Students were reportedly told that former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher shared a similar leadership style to Adolf Hitler during a lecture at Leicester University.
The claims were allegedly made in a business management class on Monday, where slides also described Donald Trump as a ‘terrorist leader’ type of business chief.
According to the lecture material, the Iron Lady was compared to both the Nazi dictator and Russian President Vladimir Putin for having ‘dictated policies and procedures’ while demanding obedience from others.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, was reportedly grouped with figures such as Osama Bin Laden – the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks – and Elliot Rodger, the London-born killer who murdered six people before taking his own life in California in 2014.
The Sun reports one student said: ‘No one understands why they are going out of their way to make these comparisons.’
Leicester University later defended the lecture, saying it was intended to explore ‘how theoretical frameworks relate to a range of well-known people’.
Students were reportedly left shocked after being told that former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (pictured) shared a similar leadership style to Adolf Hitler during a lecture at Leicester University
According to the lecture material, the ‘Iron Lady’ was compared to both the Nazi dictator and Russian President Vladimir Putin for having ‘dictated policies and procedures’ while demanding obedience from others
Responding to the lecture, former Conservative Education Secretary Sir Gavin Williamson told GB News: ‘It is completely out of order and a shocking comparison.
‘Margaret Thatcher has been one of our greatest leaders and it is shocking that this lecturer has said this and should immediately withdraw the remarks and apologise.’
This isn’t the only time universities have face controversy over so-called ‘woke’ decisions recently.
Earlier this year, a university told students not to use colloquial phrases such as ‘kill two birds with one stone’ or ‘a piece of cake’ because they are ‘very British-English’ and won’t be understood by other cultures.
Undergraduates at Cardiff University were also warned to avoid using the word ‘crazy’ as it is a ‘derogatory’ term for mental health, as well as ‘sexist’ idioms such as ‘man up’ or ‘like a girl’.
The guidance was issued in an EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) awareness module, which is mandatory for all first-year students.
Students are asked a series of questions on how privileged they are which is then converted into a ‘privilege rating’.
They are further told that it is a ‘microaggression’ – defined as statements that reveal bias or stereotyping – to make comments such as ‘everyone can succeed if you just work hard enough’.
Free speech campaigners criticised the university for attempting to ‘police’ everyday language.
The controversy over the course comes amid a growing backlash at EDI programmes, with a rising number of companies and institutions jettisoning them.
Presentation slides from the Cardiff EDI module, shared with The Mail on Sunday, reveal that one of the key areas students are tutored on is the use of ‘inclusive language’.
