Contributions
1,563 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q You foresee the director making decisions in alignment with what a court would decide, not within a court, so they make legal decisions, but not within a court. Is that correct?…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)It is hugely expensive. Professor Kaufmann: I would much rather be proactive. Also, you need it to be proactive in order to give academics assurance. If they have to sue— […13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)You are talking about how this director of freedom will have some knowledge of the law but will not be a lawyer, and will make law-based decisions but not in a court. How should…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q I agree, but how would you foresee them obtaining this? Who is going to appoint them? How are they going to reach this position? As we know, this position is the first time that…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Thank you for your evidence, which has been extremely interesting. I am going to ask similar questions to those I asked earlier about the director of freedom of speech. In the…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q I agree on complexity. In your evidence, you highlight where legislation must be taken into account: the public sector equality duty, the Equality Act 2010, the…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q In the Bill as it stands, there is no right to appeal the decision made by the director for freedom of speech. We have already heard that it could be a political appointment, as…13 Sept 2021HANSARDSupport for Older JobseekersDisabled people face huge challenges when changing careers, partly due to the fact that they often wait for three months to be approved for access to work, even before they…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q I am going to ask the witnesses to be as brief as possible, because there are hundreds of things that I would like to ask, but I will try to limit them to just a couple.…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q I will. I would just ask you to be as precise as possible. Professor Kaufmann: Of course.13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q I know that the Office for Students has received two letters recently from the Secretary of State, directing you to reduce the regulatory burden on higher education providers.…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q So you would expect them to be surrounded by lawyers who could give them legal advice in their role? Professor Kaufmann: They could take legal advice, certainly.13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Would you expect the Government of the day to be involved in appointing the director of free speech? Professor Kaufmann: Yes, I would. I think it is important that they are…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Welcome—it is great to see you here. Coming back to the point that you made about the regulatory overlap between the OfS and the OIA, you said that we would need to have some…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q But they would have to make decisions on where freedom of speech falls between the Equality Act 2010, this piece of legislation and of course the Counter-terrorism and Security…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q This is not just about free speech within the law. Conservative Members may not recall that the Minister wrote to universities asking them to adopt the definition of…13 Sept 2021HANSARDCovid Vaccine PassportsThe Minister cannot underestimate how much freedom has been limited for those with medical exemptions. I have heard from some of my constituents that they feared even leaving the…08 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q I am interested in hearing your opinions on a couple of things. Earlier, when you were answering questions from John, you were talking about tort and how the process works. I…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Absolutely. You could have someone who has lost an election and is put in a position of power by the Government of the day making the final decision on what is or is not freedom…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q I wonder what you would suggest as a solution to the OfS director—as is stated at the moment—giving both the guidance and being the judge. Do you think there should be a…07 Sept 2021