Cambridge lecturer in nude Brexit protest at faculty meeting

A Cambridge University academic staged a protest against Britain's vote for Brexit by marching into a faculty meeting in the nude.

Victoria Bateman is an economics fellow at Gonville and Caius College. Picture: Contributed

Victoria Bateman, a lecturer who has researched the development of the European economy, walked into the Faculty of Economics meeting on Wednesday with “Brexit leaves Britain naked” written across her breasts and stomach.

According to those present at the meeting, Ms Bateman sat through the two-hour long meeting without anyone daring to mention her lack of attire, with Nigel Knight, director of studies at Churchill College and the chair of the meeting, reportedly glancing at her and saying to his secretary: “I think we need some cups for the coffee”.

Apparently, the rest of the meeting’s attendees simply stared ahead and went on as normal as they discussed teaching material, courses and marketing.

Ms Bateman’s nakedness is not unfamiliar to faculty at Cambridge University, having already sat for a nude portrait by Anthony Connolly last year.

She was an outspoken opposer of Brexit, having written an article published by the Bloomberg View earlier last month in which she wrote: “The impact would be sizable.”

The economics fellow at Gonville and Caius College continued: “Even if the welfare budget were to bear only a quarter of the fiscal adjustment needed, it would still amount to a loss of some £1,146 a year for a single working parent with one child.”

This is one of the more inventive methods of protest against the outcome of Britain’s EU referendum last week.

A petition calling for the vote to be held again already bears four million signatures, and tens of thousands of people flocked to Trafalgar Square to attend a London Stays rally on June 28.