Anglia Ruskin University under scrutiny after union alarm over personal tweets
Anglia Ruskin University says it has taken “appropriate action” after one of its senior management team was understood to have supported extreme far right views on social media.
Tweets and ‘likes’ in support of extremist views were posted from a personal account operated in 2024 by the Anglia Ruskin University’s director of marketing, Mark Garratt, including support for the views of far-right activist Tommy Robinson. The support for far-right agendas was included among other tweets broadcasting ARU events, including inclusivity and Pride events.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, is one of the UK's most prominent far-right activists. He is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court.
The matter was raised in an extraordinary briefing by the University and College Union (UCU), which claimed “serious failures of management and gross misconduct at the apex of our university”.
The allegations were deemed so serious that the UCU at the ARU said it “must now state publicly that we have no confidence in both the director of marketing and the chief operating officer”.
The UCU briefing, under a headline called ‘The Facts’, asserted that in mid-May to early June 2024, Mr Garratt, “operated a personal social media account on X (formerly Twitter) under the name @MarkGarratt4865” which “showed an association with and/or support for the activities and views of ‘Tommy Robinson’”.
The UCU reproduced tweets made in the now-deleted @MarkGarratt4865 account which promote ARU events, including support for a ‘Pride’ march and a ‘Clearing Calm’ wellbeing exercise, along with tweets the UCU says contradict ARU’s social media policy. Specifically, says the UCU, ARU states that to “create, download, share, or transmit any unlawful material or material that is extremist, indecent, defamatory, threatening, discriminatory, bullying or harassment” is to breach its social media policy.
The @MarkGarratt4865 tweets reveal support for Israel ‘finishing the job’ in Gaza, alongside encouragement of the ‘Great Replacement Theory’, a notorious right-wing conspiracy theory that ethnic white populations are being demographically and culturally replaced by non-white populations, especially from Muslim-majority countries, with the active participation or connivance of the state.
The UCU statement says that “despite raising our concerns on several occasions through university official channels, the persistent message received has been that the matter is closed, with the chief operating officer, in his capacity as chair of the joint consultation and negotiating group, going so far as to prevent consideration of UCU agenda items dealing with this most serious matter”.
ARU stated: “Anglia Ruskin University is dedicated to fostering an inclusive culture that promotes equality, values diversity, and maintains a supportive working, learning, and social environment for all students and staff.
“We take any breaches of our policies seriously, and any allegations are addressed promptly and in accordance with the relevant policies. This matter has been previously raised and investigated. Appropriate action was taken, and we consider the matter to be closed.”
A spokesperson confirmed that responded that Mark Garratt is still in post.
The ARU spokesperson added: “Any action we took regarding any individual is not something we wish to comment on. We will continue to talk to UCU as we always do.”
