Channel 5 Vine fans furious as cancel culture clash erupts over Abaraonye Oxford Union row: 'Blindly wedded to her ideology!'

The motion against Mr Abaraonye had met the required two-thirds threshold to remove the student from his position, the society confirmed.

However, the decision to oust Mr Abaraonye from his position has sparked debates about cancel culture, with some arguing the student has fallen victim to it.

Jeremy Vine on his eponymous talk show put that subject to journalist Ms Alibhai-Brown and comic writer Mr Doyle, and it's safe to say the pair had rather contrasting views on the matter.

"It was pretty despicable," Mr Doyle began at the top of the debate. "This guy, George Abaraonye, who was the president-elect of the Oxford Union... The Oxford Union is predicated on being a bastion of free speech, the oldest, most famous debating society in the world, and this guy celebrates (the death of) someone he debated a few months ago.

"Whatever else you can say about this, I don't think it's a cancel culture issue. If you are going to be president of a free speech society, and you announce that you are perfectly happy to celebrate when you're political opponents are murdered, you have just disqualified yourself from the role.

"Really, he should have resigned straight away, if he had any integrity, he should've resigned," Mr Doyle added, to which Ms Alibhai-Brown protested: "He apologised. He did apologise."

Mr Vine then read aloud Mr Abaraonye's initial statements that appeared to celebrate Mr Kirk's death, as well as his subsequent apology and the claim that he "didn't know" the political activist had been shot dead.

Mr Doyle weighed back in: "If you're first reaction to someone being shot isn't, 'That's appalling,' then what kind of person are you? I'm sorry, I don't buy this idea of him apologising.

"He also said, 'Yes, but what I said isn't as bad as some of the things that Charlie Kirk said.' Why are you equivocating about a man being shot for exercising his free speech? On a university campus, by the way.

"And one of the things that Charlie Kirk used to do is go out and invite people who disagree with him to speak, and he would let them have the space, he wouldn't interrupt them... he was doing exactly what we don't have enough of."

Mr Vine then turned to Ms Alibhai-Brown after arguing it could be perceived as "harsh" for him to lose the role over his remarks.

Ms Alibhai-Brown took over the reins of the discussion: "One of the things I never do in my life is join in on the general wave of how one is expected to react... I don't do that.

"The Telegraph, where this story comes from, every minute of every day, it's attacking woke people, cancel culture - this is cancel culture. They've cancelled him!"

"You think the head of a free speech society should celebrate death?" Mr Doyle asked, to which an undeterred Ms Alibhai-Brown continued: "I'm going to say this live on television.

"When Enoch Powell died, I hated him so much that I wrote a column saying I drank a glass of wine. So, sometimes you have to say what you feel.

"Now, he was wrong in the immediate aftermath; nobody should be shot. I totally agree with you. But I think the way - they hated him getting that job, that group, they hated it."

Mr Doyle interjected to point out: "Nobody's saying he isn't entitled to the view, he's entitled to dance around and celebrate just because they disagreed with them. My point is that he's also running the Oxford Union, and with that comes a responsibility."

Ms Alibhai-Brown replied: "This is the problem, isn't it? It's too long a debate. It seems to me that the free speech debates are also about attacking those on the left, and never about the oppression and the cancel culture that the right pushes. That is absolutely unfair."

Clarifying his stance, Mr Doyle weighed back in: "I'm not saying he shouldn't be able to make a mistake. And young people are very hot-headed and say things, and he was probably trying to be edgy in front of his fellow students.

"But why not just say, 'Okay, I reacted in that way, why don't I resign from this post that I'm clearly not qualified for, get on with my career?'"

"No!" Ms Alibhai-Bornw cut in. "Why? They didn't want him there! A man with dreadlocks -"

"No, that's not what it was at all! A man with dreadlocks?" Mr Doyle questioned in disbelief. Ms Alibhai-Brown continued: "The establishment - I was at Oxford, I know what Oxford's like."

After Mr Doyle also pointed out he went to Oxford and remained puzzled by his fellow guest's suggestion, Mr Vine interrupted to show a snap of Mr Abaraonye debating Mr Kirk. The Channel 5 host pointed out that Mr Abaraonye was dressed in "offensively casual" attire in contrast to Mr Kirk's suit.

But Ms Alibhai-Brown disagreed: "Why should he wear a suit? It's just a student debating society. It's not a funeral or a wedding! This is what they don't like, the changing face of Oxford."

Mr Doyle dismissed Ms Alibhai-Brown's suggestion: "I couldn't care less what he wore. No one cares what he looks like, what his hair is like.

"A guy who runs a free speech society who celebrates murder - that would be like having a guy running an atheist society who is secretly worshipping the god Baal or something. It makes no sense!"

"'Equity' is treating people unequally in order to have to show identity-obsessed outcomes."@andrewdoyle_com breaks down the concept of 'DEI', explaining that it actually means the opposite of equality.@y_alibhai | @theJeremyVine | #JeremyVine pic.twitter.com/Cmjt5C3MV8

— Jeremy, Storm & Vanessa On 5 (@JeremyVineOn5) October 22, 2025

Following the debate and after clips of the clash circulated on social media, several Channel 5 viewers weighed in with their verdicts - and it's safe to say many weren't on board with Ms Alibhai-Brown's point of view.

Reacting to the debate, one X user fumed: "The left only considers something free speech if they agree with it, and what they call hate speech is really just speech that they hate. They're just trying to blur the lines in accordance with their feelings."

"Thank god for you on there today, Andrew," a second weighed in, followed by a prayer emoji, before a third similarly put: "Yasmin never fails to disappoint me every time I predict she'll descend into frenetic whataboutery."

A fourth also hit out: "That woman is so blindly wedded to her ideology that she ditches human decency.

"Andrew is right, you're not fit to run debates if you say what that bloke said. The very least he deserves is to be kicked out of the role, if not the university. Though Oxford is lost now..."

And a fifth argued: "Who is that woman? She didn't seem capable of making a single, relevant point. She seemed to live in a fantasy world of virtuous progressives and evil reactionaries. Fascinating...and illuminating."

"@andrewdoyle_com, calm and intelligent observations as ever," a sixth echoed before another weighed in: "Great to see Andrew Doyle on the show! Pity he had to debate Yasmin, but she just doesn’t come across well anyway, just by what she says herself, let alone what others say against her."

However, there were some who opposed Mr Doyle's stance, with one X user saying: "I’m confused, I’ve only ever seen the cancel culture emanate from the left. Since when did it become the right-wing thing to do?" (sic)