article_snippet: Critics had branded the expenditure a waste of money from an institution which has spent much of the 11 years since the expenditure became a university near the foot of national league tables.
article_snippet: Mr Markey was also accused of making malicious statements about colleagues and bringing the university into disrepute for highlighting concerns about a shortage of equipment following an £800,000 flagship project, the union said.
article_snippet: Mr Markey, who is said to have had an unblemished disciplinary record, was secretary of the local branch of the University and College Union (UCU) and led a walkout in 2013 in protest at a planned 1 per cent pay rise.
article_snippet: Mrs Markey is a member of Unison whose regional secretary Kevan Nelson said: ‘We are alarmed that the university has taken this arbitrary and vindictive decision.
article_snippet: We will challenge this by all available means.