Contributions
1,478 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Thank you for joining us today, Ms Dandridge. Just looking through the legislation, I have a few points to make. It does not seem to be particularly clear about the future…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q You said you can imagine cases of hypothetically cancelled speakers claiming or pursuing hypothetically lost fees. Will you explain that further, and what amendments would you…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Could that include reputational damage? Sunder Katwala: Yes. Mr Irving has a very low reputation, because the High Court has said what it said about him, so him not being…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q I am interested in your view of how this will interface with the proposed online harms Bill. Do you have any thoughts on that? Sunder Katwala: The online harms Bill has the…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q You heard the previous session. There was a lot of talk from the previous two witnesses about self-censoring and so on. Do you share those concerns, or do you think, as I was…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q You mentioned the director for freedom of speech and academic freedom and the appointment process. I guess I have certain concerns about how the chair of the OfS was appointed.…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)My wife works at a higher education provider. Ordered, That further consideration be now adjourned. —( Michael Tomlinson.)13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Thank you. Danny, can you give us an overview of the current landscape of our universities and campuses? I am interested to hear specifically about the situation with regard to…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Do you have concerns about some of our smaller higher education institutes? It is very easy to think about the big names, because they are the ones that always come up in the…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q We just heard from Professor Grant of King’s College London, who said that we have a very good system in place to address speech issues at events on campus. Do you find that…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Student unions are feeding back to me that they are struggling financially. The past year and a half has been pretty tough. Incomes are right down, wherever they may be getting…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Finally, other legislation is quite clear in how it addresses and balances competing freedoms, but there is seemingly no such balance in this legislation. Can you expand on the…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Thank you both for coming along this evening, and for the evidence that you submitted in advance. May I ask a couple of questions of you, Hillary, first? Perhaps then I can turn…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Do you think that academic freedom needs stronger definition? Professor Layzell: I think the definition is fine. We have the concept of academic freedom of speech within the law…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Professor Layzell, many people have voiced concerns regarding the legislation as drafted. We heard from a witness last week, a lawyer, who really feared where it would take us…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q There is a lot of colourful language used such as “icebergs” and “extreme crisis”. How do you think the views of students compare with those of wider society when it comes to…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Do you think a tighter code of practice and guidelines from the OfS, maybe along the lines of the Chicago principles, could have achieved what you have just described, or do you…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q 257 Thank you, and welcome to the Committee. We really appreciate you joining us today, Professor Layzell and Professor Grant. Given all the pressures and issues that…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Have you had any conversations with the current chair or the DFE about what the scale of the department—it will not be just one individual; it will be the director of freedom of…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Do you have any thoughts on the skills that that person might need? Nicola Dandridge: They will need to believe in the importance of freedom of speech and academic freedom, as…13 Sept 2021