Contributions
1,478 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)rose —20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)rose —20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)I thank the Minister for giving way; she is being very generous. Can she explain why the OfS does not appear to have been reporting regularly in the last few years?20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Tenth sitting)My only comment, which has been made throughout the debate, is about how much responsibility goes to the OfS and how much should remain with the Office of the Independent…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)I understand that. My understanding of that student survey is that they complete it and assign a score, on different categories and measures, to how the university has met their…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that point of clarification, but even where good practice is identified, that is a qualitative judgment being made, in this case, by an…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)I thank my hon. Friend for that suggestion. What the amendment proposes is impractical. In evidence, we heard about the undefinable nature of the chilling effect. One of the…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)I wish to grab the amendment with some enthusiasm, but maybe in the wrong direction from what the right hon. Gentleman is hoping for. I do worry about bureaucracy, particularly…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)My hon. Friend is absolutely right: there is yet another body to stir into the mix. We have not heard from the Government about how that will play. It further underlines the…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The examples that are being cited by lobbyists—perhaps more on the Government side—of where there is perhaps an issue are centred around those…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)We have tabled amendments proposing how universities and student unions should find their way through that, and we will come to some of them later. To finish, I want to raise the…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)Indeed. It is important to repeat just how burdensome the measure will be for colleges. For decades, they have rarely had issues, but the burden is now being placed at their door.20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)Costly and burdensome, is what we were told on Thursday. Institutions and student unions would therefore become risk averse and avoid inviting speakers, for fear of financial…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)I thank my right hon. Friend for his point. I know that he is very well informed on that issue. There are bodies out there that would wish to do institutional harm on our…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)Yes, that is a good example of what can happen where individuals or organisations are so well funded. It can be really overwhelming and frightening to an individual or…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)I absolutely take on board the hon. Lady’s point. I can answer her question honestly, and say that I have been involved in litigation at least once. I agree that young people…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)I will come on to that. We have an amendment to that effect, which would ensure that this is not some kind of free-for-all and that we do not open the floodgates, as described by…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I will come on to a few examples of how that might play out, because I have given a lot of consideration to the extent of…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)Exactly. Where is the flow chart to help someone navigate through this? It is certainly not clear to any of the representative bodies—the student unions and so on—and it is going…20 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Ninth sitting)I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention, and she is absolutely right: this is not just something that already exists, but something that exists relatively cost-free. The cost…20 Sept 2021