Woke students have voted to impose vegan menus at one of Britain’s most prestigious universities. Just 12 members of the Southampton University Students’ Union backed a scheme to make plant-based food the default option across all bars, canteens and cafes it runs on campus with critics slamming the decision and demanding pupils have “freedom of choice”.

Victoria Atkins MP, Shadow Environment Secretary, said: “What has happened to freedom of choice? Why foist a vegan diet on 25,000 students because a few hundred of them signed a petition?” She added: “If the student union is so worried about the environmental impacts of food, presumably they will also ban avocados flown in from the other side of the world, grown in the smoke-blackened embers of rainforest deforestation.”

Ms Atkins said: “Students should have the choice to buy good, local meat and dairy products – produced in the UK, to the highest animal welfare standards in the world.” The changes, which come into effect next academic year, followed a vote by student union delegates that passed 12-3.

Just under 4% of students signed a petition backing the proposal.

Rural campaigners slammed the system as a “misleading and unfair demonisation of meat and dairy consumption”. The Countryside Alliance said a “tiny minority of students” had led to the decision which spokesman Johnnie Furse said excluded the “great many students who neither wanted nor consented to this”.

Speaking to the Daily Express, he called on people to support farmers and not “paint them as the enemy”, adding: “British livestock farmers produce meat and dairy to some of the highest welfare and sustainability standards in the world.” Mr Furse said vegan products are “often ultra-processed or imported from the other side of the world, and often come with a huge carbon footprint”.

He added: “The vast majority of the British public recognise all of this, something reflected by the fact that vegan products are being increasingly rejected, with their sales having consistently dropped over the past two years.”

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Southampton University, part of the elite Russell Group, now becomes one of 20 universities to have joined the Plant-Based Universities group backed by Greenpeace UK and Green Party Boss Zack Polanski. Eco-activists at the group claim on their website that universities “legitimise the industries of animal agriculture and fishing”, a sector worth billions which employs people across the country.

But Southampton academics lauded the move, with Dr Becks Spake, Associate Professor of Climate and Environmental Change, heralding the change as “excellent”. She said: “The University is acting on its responsibility to lead on climate action. This decision aligns with scientific evidence that shifting to plant-rich diets is essential for cutting emissions, protecting nature, and securing food for future generations.”

Matthew Rochford, a PhD student at the university, said he was “delighted” by the decision and said it “recognises the devastating impact of animal agriculture”, which he called one of the “biggest issues we face today”. However, Southampton University distanced itself from the Students’ Union vote. The Students’ Union is an independent organisation that runs its own catering outlets on campus.

A University of Southampton spokesperson said: “We’re aware of the vote held recently by our Students’ Union. While we have no current plans to change our catering offer at university-run outlets, feedback from students will help shape any future updates to our menus.”

They added: “We’re proud to have a diverse staff and student community and offer a varied menu in our campus kitchens to accommodate different tastes, faiths and dietary needs.”