A debate on the Israel-Palestinian conflict at York University has been cancelled due to security fears.

The session, scheduled for Tuesday, would have featured a speech and questions and answers with former Labour councillor Luke Akehurst, who is also director of the campaign group We Believe in Israel.

However, the University of York Labour Club (UYLC) cancelled at late notice because it could not organise adequate security measures for the event in time.

Mr Akehurst, who is also seeking selection for Parliament in May’s general election, said: “It’s disappointing. This is the first time in 25 years I’ve ever not been able to go somewhere and deliver a speech."

The former Hackney Council representative said he would be glad to speak at the university at the first opportunity, adding: “I would like to think that campuses in the UK are a space where you can have a debate about important international issues without having to go into lockdown and deal with serious security implications. I think it's a very disturbing trend.”

George Norman, chair of UCYL, told the university’s newspaper Nouse: “Despite a real willingness to engage from all parties involved, I didn’t feel it was getting anywhere particularly quickly, and [negotiations were] taking a lot of my personal time and club resources.”