More than 500 academics, including Sir Niall Fergusson, have written to the Education Secretary to demand she implement the Freedom of Speech Act, which she torpedoed last month. The Times has more.
Ministers have been accused by some of Britain’s most eminent academics of giving in to so-called cancel culture after reversing plans to enshrine freedom of speech in universities.
Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, said last month she was suspending legislation that would have forced universities to defend free speech on campus. She claimed the act, which was due to come into force this month, was “not fit for purpose” and could “expose students to harm and appalling hate speech on campuses”.
But in a letter to Phillipson, more than 500 academics have called on her to rethink the decision, warning that a failure to act would allow staff and students to be “hounded, censured and silenced” for holding legitimate, legal views.
Among those who have signed the letter include the renowned biologist Richard Dawkins, who was attacked for his views on religion following the publication of his book The God Delusion. It was also backed by the philosopher Kathleen Stock, whose gender-critical views have led to protests when she has spoken at universities, and the historian Niall Ferguson.
More than 50 academics at Oxford University and 30 who represent Cambridge have signed the letter. These include the historian David Abulafia, who criticised Britain’s membership of the European Union, and Robert Tombs, who has campaigned against the censorship of historical texts in universities.
In the letter they warn Phillipson that suspending the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act risks putting academics at risk and suppressing learning.
“The decision to halt (the act) appears to reflect the view, widespread among opponents, that there is no ‘free speech problem’ in UK universities. Nothing could be more false,” they wrote.
“Hundreds of academics and students have been hounded, censured, silenced or even sacked over the last 20 years for the expression of legal opinions.
“This state of affairs has serious consequences for all of us. The suppression of university research into the effects of puberty blockers facilitated one of the great medical scandals of our age, as the Cass Review makes clear.”
They added that a report published earlier this year by the Academic Freedom Index placed the UK 66th in the global league table of academic freedom, lower than Peru, Burkina Faso and Georgia.
Worth reading in full.
You can read the letter – and if you’re an academic add your name to it – here.
The Free Speech Union is applying for a judicial review of Bridget Phillipson’s decision to quash the Act, which is the first major legal challenge the Labour Government has faced. You can read the FSU’s pre-action protocol letter here and contribute to the its Legal Fighting Fund here.
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