Oxford should not accept money that is tainted by fascism

Dons and students at Oxford have in recent years been deeply exercised about Cecil Rhodes, who died 120 years ago. Some politically sensitive students removed a portrait of the Queen in the Magdalen graduate common room, and others even persuaded the geography department to remove a portrait of Theresa May. Yet they seem strangely silent on the implications of taking money tainted by fascism.

This month it was announced that the university had been given £6 million from the Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust for a chair in biophysics. Two colleges have also taken money from the Trust — St Peter’s College received £5 million for a new block of student accommodation and a Fellow in Engineering; and Lady Margaret Hall received £260,000 to fund a foundation year.

Alexander Mosley, after whom the Trust has been named, was a grandson of Oswald, and a graduate of St. Peter’s. By all accounts, Alexander was a fine mathematician and without political affiliations.