EU referendum: University attacked for urging Shropshire students to vote stay

The move today attracted criticism from eurosceptics in the county, who said the university should not be taking sides in the forthcoming referendum.

Ukip Euro MP Jill Seymour and Telford councillor Thomas Hoof accused the university of "shamelessly manipulative" behaviour.

They said the university, which has a large campus in Telford, should be remaining non-partisan during the campaign.

In an official message to students, the university's vice-chancellor Geoff Layer wrote: "Our university community is made of up of students and staff representing more than 100 nations. The university has made a stand in the EU referendum and as a university we believe it is better for all of us to remain." Mr Layer said the EU had been very supportive of the university.

"In this century we have received nearly £70 million of project and initiative funding from Europe," he added.

But Mrs Seymour accused the university of scaremongering, saying there was no evidence that its cross-border research would be affected by Britain leaving the EU.

"This is yet another example of an organisation with a vested financial interest in Europe making a shamelessly manipulative attempt to sway the referendum," she said.

Councillor Hoof, chairman of Ukip's Young Independence branch in the West Midlands, added: "People don't want or expect their college or university to put pressure on students by taking a one-sided political stance.

"They expect them to deliver balanced arguments which represent both sides, and which leave students to make up their own minds. If they don't feel they are able to do that, they should just keep their mouths shut.

"The university points to the European money it has received – but there is no such thing as European money. It is our money."

Councillor Hoof said Britain gave the EU £350 million a week, which was about half the entire English schools budget.

""We only get a fraction of this back," he said.

"If we leave the EU, the university would be able to apply, like all other educational establishments, to our own government for funding, instead of having to go cap-in-hand to an unelected group in Brussels."

In its letter, the university tells students that leaving the EU would mean cutting UK universities off from unique support and established networks, undermining the UK's position as a global leader in science and innovation.

Mrs Seymour added: "The UK has long had a reputation as one of the best countries in the world to study, and there is no reason at all why we would not continue to welcome students from different nationalities and backgrounds when we were outside the European Union."

University communications manager Mags Winthrop said: "The email was sent to students encouraging as many of them to register for the referendum vote.

"This was supported by direct links to voter registration pages and the emphasis on getting students to register and vote, particularly important considering the low turnout levels of 18-24 year olds in the last General Election," she said.

"It is vital that young people take part in the democratic process and in no way was the message designed to influence how students vote – it was simply to inform them of the university's publicly stated position."

The university believed that membership of the European Union had enabled the university to bring an enormous range of benefits to the communities we serve as well as contributing to economic growth locally.