Federation of Conservative Students
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The Federation of Conservative Students (FCS) was the student wing of the British Conservative Party.
In the 1980s it was noted for being more radical than the main party until it was disbanded by the then party chairman Norman Tebbit for publishing an article which accused former Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan of being complicit in the massacre of Serbian prisoners of War in the aftermath of World War II.
At various times during its history the FCS was the largest political student group in Britain, but the ruthlessness with which some of its factions pursued their aims brought the group notoriety.
£14, 000 of damage during the 1986 FCS conference at Loughborough, leading to press reports of a "riot". Some members were accused of glorifying death squads in Central America. The FCS received further embarassment when one of its campus chairmen, William Beggs, was caught and convicted of the sexual murder of an 18 year old man. [1] (http://www.scottishmediamonitor.com/features2.cfm?ID=25)
Many former leaders of the libertarian faction have gone on to hold senior office in the Conservative Party, including Mark MacGregor, a former FCS National Chairman, became Conservative Party Chief Executive under Iain Duncan Smith, and is now Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Thanet South.
Former leaders of the authoritarian faction, who do not share the all-round Americophilia of the libertarians and now tend to be highly sceptical of both American cultural influences on the UK and the policies of George W. Bush (especially the "war on terror" and occupation of Iraq), have tended to promote Euronationalist ideas in Right-wing groupings such as the Conservative Democratic Alliance and the UK Freedom Party. They are also highly influential on Right Now! magazine.