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933 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)Exactly. We know that a number of these non-affiliated societies already exist. There is a particularly large network of Chinese student unions or Chinese student societies that…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)I am terribly sorry. I did try to reconsider my language. It was a very rude thing to do. “Bloody” should be used only in the sense of the blood that runs through our veins, and…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)The Minister said in her useful intervention that if it is a university property, it will be regulated, but we are talking about private property that the university does not run…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)This is the nub of the contradiction. That is why some of us suggested that the Minister could, to be consistent, remove student societies from the regulation. If students come…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)My right hon. Friend reminds me that one of the first acts of the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) in 2010 when she became Home Secretary was to ban a march of the…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)I agree. I am sure that the Minister will point to clause 1 and proposed new section A2(2) of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, which provides that universities must…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)Amendment 75 allows for consultation on the uses of premises, and would ensure the issue was covered by the code. As he mentions, amendment 74 is about future amendments to the…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)A good man.16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)Neither are student unions. The Education Act 1994, which I am probably the only Member of Parliament to bang on about, because most MPs will talk about previous Education Acts,…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)That is quite right. One of the problems with the Bill, as my hon. Friend suggests, would be where there was an activity run by a student union, and someone felt that something…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)Is it not in fact troubling? The JCR system is operational at only a few universities, so a few universities will end up being exempt, or have student bodies that are exempt,…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)That may be, but the Minister said that JCRs do not have control of their own bookings, their own policies or their own finances, and that is not quite true, if we compare them…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)I will move away from the JCR, where we will maybe not seek agreement. I must admit I am not as au fait with the Oxford-Cambridge-Durham JCR system as maybe I should be, because I…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)The reason the new clause is important is that it would include all bodies that students might interact with in their role as students, to ensure that the promotion of freedom of…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)It might well be that the Minister can— [Interruption.] I am not sure that I am allowed to ask the Whip to speak, but he was muttering something under his breath that I did not…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)rose—16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)I am thinking not about invitations to external speakers but about students—students’ unions, where there are students of opposing views. The Bill says: “the use of any premises…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)I give way to John—my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington.16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)We had the equivalent discussion with regard to academics; we talked about what would happen with a visiting academic. Yes, they would be protected in their own institution, but…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)The point here is other student bodies. It is about when they are not directly a student union, which is what we are debating now. Our amendment would extend to all student…16 Sept 2021