Antisemitism on University Campuses

Private Notice Question

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of anti-Semitism on university campuses.

My Lords, there is no place for antisemitism on university campuses, and it is essential that Jewish students feel safe along with everyone else, regardless of race or religion. That is why we have strengthened the Office for Students’ monitoring and universities’ Prevent duties, and updated guidance on managing external speakers and events. We are working with students to codesign a campus cohesion charter setting clearer expectations around conduct and shared values.

I am grateful to my noble friend for the Answer, but this PNQ arises from Time for Change, a report produced by the Union of Jewish Students. It is crammed with disturbing figures, including the fact that one in four students has witnessed antisemitic behaviour. However, the report’s central finding is that antisemitism is being normalised on campus after campus, very often at the behest of wayward academics. Can my noble friend say what further action the Government will take to ensure that universities confront the normalisation of antisemitism and protect Jewish students?

I thank my noble friend. If anyone was listening to the “Today” programme, they would have heard first-hand the experience of many Jewish students. It was pretty outrageous. It is not only about verbal abuse; there are stories of people being kicked out of their accommodation, and so on and so forth. I reassure my noble friend the Government are investing £7 million to tackle antisemitism in education programmes, train university staff and support Jewish students. Last week, we announced plans to simplify the higher education complaint system, strengthen whistleblowing routes and increase oversight of Prevent compliance with the new OfS guidance from 2027. Additional non-statutory guidance on external speakers will be issued in the spring and the department is working with the Union of Jewish Students on new good practice training for universities. My noble friend Lady Smith will host a round table on 24 March to address these issues.

My Lords, many noble Lords had the opportunity in the last few weeks to hear directly from students. This report confirms all the things that they said. Does the Minister regard it as significant that the report found that both the college authorities and the police were slow and reluctant to take this on? What concrete action will the Government take to remind authorities and the police that it is their job and duty to make Jewish students feel safe?

I made that clear in my initial response. There is absolutely no place for antisemitic abuse or incitement to violence. I heard the debate on the radio this morning and I read the foreword to the report by the noble Lord, Lord Finkelstein. There is a legitimate debate to be had; personally, I find some of it quite insensitive and not acceptable, but people have a legitimate right to express views about Zionism and the State of Israel. They also have a right to express concerns about the Government of Israel and some of their policies and plans. However, we are absolutely clear that they do not have a right to any abuse that attacks the individual or to incitement to physical violence. We are protecting the rights that we have fought so hard for, including the right to be educated in our universities.

My Lords, the Minister has accepted that every individual, regardless of when or how they pray, has a right to be educated and feel safe while that is going on. Can he go a little further and tell us what process the Government will introduce to ensure that those groups feel safe while they are being educated?

I hope I have indicated the range of actions we are taking in my responses so far. Of course the Government condemn all racial and religious hatred in the strongest possible terms, and we strongly encourage universities to take steps to foster the cohesion on campuses that I mentioned earlier. However, we make no apology for acting decisively to tackle the unprecedented rise in antisemitic abuse in universities, particularly since October 2023.

My Lords, I hope the Minister will not make the mistake—I ask him not to—of linking what is happening to Gaza and the events in the Middle East. What is happening is that antisemitism is being used as an excuse. It has always been there—I was talking about this 15 or 20 years ago—and it reveals a certain rot in the culture of our universities. Will the Minister agree that there is a gap in the Lords’ scrutiny? We do not have a Select Committee on education. We should, because that will be a way of bringing the lax vice-chancellors here to answer for their lack of action. I hope the Minister agrees.

A Select Committee is not a matter for the Government, of course. The noble Baroness may also be putting me in a different position because I am a member of the Liaison Committee, so I would not want to take a position that may inhibit my ability to make a view on that committee. I totally accept what she says: as we debated on the Holocaust Memorial Bill, antisemitism has been around for a long time and events globally are often an excuse to exploit it. I accept that completely.

However, that does not mitigate the fact that people have genuine concerns about what is going on in the Middle East and the actions of the Israeli Government. They have a right to express those concerns and differences, but the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, is absolutely right about what they do not have a right to be. I have seen antisemitic abuse being addressed in tube stations; I have seen it when I go home. It is based on what people perceive others to look like and it is terrible. We need to address it very strongly.

My Lords, I declare an interest as vice-chair of the advisory board of the Union of Jewish Students, and I wrote the other foreword in the shocking Time for Change report, which is out today. Polling for the report of 2,000 students in this country found that one in five—20%—said that they

“would be reluctant to, or would never, houseshare with a Jewish student”.

There are terrifying case studies in the report, including the experience of Jewish students in Birmingham who were followed home, and whose pursuers lingered outside for several nights and told passersby to

“remember this address as Jews live here”.

I have listened very closely to my noble friend the Minister. We have had a number of debates in this place, but the situation is unfortunately getting worse, not better. In the wake of today’s report, what urgent action can be taken to reverse these horrific findings?

I reassure my noble friend that I read her foreword too; I did not just focus on that of the noble Lord, Lord Finkelstein. She is absolutely right to draw attention to this, and I urge people to use BBC Sounds to listen to the debate and discussions on the radio. The Government are not at all complacent; I have already indicated the specific actions we will take, which included my noble friend Lady Smith hosting a round table to bring together Ministers from the Home Office and MHCLG with Jewish community stakeholders, including Jewish students. We are trying to bring people together to ensure that specific action is taken.

I also reassure my noble friend Lady Berger that condition of registration E6, introduced by the Office for Students on 1 August last year, requires English universities to publish and implement comprehensive policies to prevent, investigate and tackle incidents of harassment against students. It is vital this work continues, but my noble friend is right that we have to draw attention to the rise of antisemitism.

My Lords, this has been a significant issue in Manchester for all my time as Bishop and I am glad we are having this chance to consider it. What assessment is being made of the extent to which external actors—we have heard about university lecturers, but maybe even foreign Governments—are fuelling this? To what extent can the multifaith chaplaincy teams that many of our universities have be part of the means of addressing it?

The right reverend Prelate raises a really important point. After the outrageous events in Manchester, my right honourable friend Bridget Phillipson wrote to all universities, drawing attention to their responsibility to address this issue. Our universities have a world-class reputation, which makes them a prime target for foreign states and hostile actors that seek to erode their reputation by shaping or censoring what universities can offer, as we are seeing at this moment. We are tackling that threat by investing £3 million to bolster existing support and access to expert advice on national security risk management, including a new academic interference reporting route and new guidance.

My Lords, we are in a dark place. The Union of Jewish Students has been around for over 100 years to look after the welfare of the Jewish students on campus, but the fact is that Louis Danker, the chair of UJS, had to write this report, Time for Change, when he should be looking after the welfare—and the fun—of Jewish students on campus. In this report, 82% of students regard calls to “globalise the intifada” as antisemitic—I am unsure what the other 18% are thinking. Jewish students and the Jewish community hear that phrase as a call for violence against the Jewish community. Does the Minister accept that allowing such rhetoric on campus and on our streets undermines the safety of Jews throughout this country? Like others have asked, what practical steps can HMG take to rid us of this despicable intimidation?

I agree with the noble Lord that people’s political views about the Middle East are often used in a very abusive way that I personally find very offensive, but this does not actually stop individuals saying that they do not agree with Zionism, or with the State of Israel, et cetera. It is not illegal to express those opinions. What is very much illegal is to incite the hatred that we have seen evidenced in this report. That is where we need to take clear action.

I am sorry to keep quoting the noble Lord, Lord Finkelstein—I am trying to prompt him to get up—but he pointed out in one of his articles that his own father, or grandfather, was very much an anti-Zionist and that Zionism was not a tradition in the family. But the experience of Jewish communities throughout the world after the Second World War and the horrendous Holocaust has meant that the State of Israel represents something else: it represents that security and that place they can go to when facing the horrendous antisemitism that we are seeing on the rise. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Polak, but we have to be very clear about free speech and balancing it with addressing the horrible things that antisemitism can give rise to.

My Lords—