by Jacob Freedland, Telegraph
Reform MSP promises to ‘fight to get it cancelled’, while owner of accommodation says majority of next year’s residents are non-Muslim
A student hall has opened in Dundee permitting only halal food while imposing a ban on alcohol.
Rose House houses 20 rooms exclusively for male students at the city’s three universities and is the first accommodation of its kind in the UK. The 18th-century building will host a new cohort of students this autumn after its owner, ILM Student Halls, bought the building last year.
But the latest push for new residents has caused controversy, with one Reform MSP calling for it to be shut.
Mark Simpson, a Reform MSP for North East Scotland, wrote on X: “I am completely opposed to this & will fight to get it cancelled. Let me know when the debate is scheduled for & I’ll be there @reformparty_uk will try to stop this & ensure this never happens again.”
A Reform UK spokesman declined to confirm whether this position was shared by the party.
Catholic and Jewish student accommodation exists elsewhere in the UK. At one Jewish site in England, male and female students live in the same building but have to maintain a kosher communal kitchen. Occupants are also asked to respect religious practices in public areas by, for instance, not using electronic devices on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.