A British student union is under fire after reports it wanted to ban audiences from clapping and cheering, in favour of waves of silent “jazz hands”.

Student representatives at the University of Manchester drew immediate outrage in Britain after voting two-one in favour of replacing clapping at debates, talks and other events with the silent British Sign Language equivalent last week.

Traditional clapping could cause issues for students with autism, sensory issues or deafness, said union liberation and access executive officer Sara Khan – who proposed the idea.

“I think a lot of the time, even in Parliamentary debates, I’ve seen that clapping, whooping, talking over each other, loud noises, encourages an atmosphere that is not as respectful as it could be,” she told the BBC.

But the policy change drew widespread criticism – including a series of Twitter attacks from Good Morning Britain co-host Piers Morgan.

Britain’s losing its mind. pic.twitter.com/JVkPvr9bhW

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 2, 2018

This week the student union backed away from its controversial policy.

“The SU have since clarified in a new official statement that they ‘are not banning audible clapping’ and that the policy resolves to ‘encourage British Sign Language clapping during our democratic events only’,” the Mancunion, the official student newspaper reported.

In its statement the union also said: “We also received many positive responses from disabled students … who were delighted to feel more included in our democratic process.”

In its defence, the student union said silent clapping dated back to ancient Greece, when people had waved handkerchiefs.

“This way of silent clapping has been used over the years at many events, from Beethoven’s concerts to a variety of sports games,” it said.

“It is rarer to see people carrying handkerchiefs in their pockets since the 19th century.”

BSL clapping was first seen at the French Deaf People’s National Convention in 1985, and had been used in Britain at many events since then, the student union said.

“Our aim is to be as inclusive as possible … If you have any innovative ideas to make our democratic events even more inclusive,” it finished.

-with agencies