Education Secretary pledges to relaunch blocked uni free speech law

The Education Secretary has announced that the Government will implement “key” aspects of a suspended free speech law.

The previous Government’s Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, which was shelved just before it was due to come into force in August, would have established a complaints scheme for students, staff and speakers, enabling them to seek compensation if they were “cancelled” on campus.

But following a review, Bridget Phillipson MP has confirmed that the Government will proceed with a “workable, robust complaints system” that does not expose universities to “disproportionate” costs.

‘Horizons’

Speaking in the House of Commons, the Education Secretary stated: “University is a place for ideas to be exposed and debated, to be tried and tested. For young people, it is a space for horizons to be broadened, perspectives to be challenged and ideas to be examined.

“It is not a place for students to shut down any view with which they disagree.”

She added: “If we want a culture of debate that is robust yet respectful, challenging yet considerate, and strong yet civil, we must all do our part to nurture it. The Freedom of Speech Act provides a legal framework, but it is up to all of us every day to build a culture of truly free speech.”

Academics

Last year, over 500 academics from across Britain urged Phillipson to implement the Act.

In an open letter, the signatories said that free speech duties “on universities have long been neglected, despite being enshrined in law”, and that hundreds of academics and students “have been hounded, censured, silenced or even sacked over the last 20 years for the expression of legal opinions”.

The Act, they argued, would serve to protect the freedoms of vulnerable groups and save universities “money on court costs, by providing a speedy and efficient way of resolving what would otherwise be protracted legal disputes”.