Contributions
1,478 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Briefly, what sort of impact do you think this is going to have on student unions? Sunder Katwala: With student unions, it is there to push back against not inviting,…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Can you imagine situations in which one body might go to the OIA and another to the OfS, and how that might be reconciled? Nicola Dandridge: That is exactly the sort of thing…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Professor Goodwin, we have heard a lot about self-censoring. I am not an academic or a scholar of Freud, but he suggested that we all self-censor all the time, so what is the…13 Sept 2021HANSARD HS2Will my hon. Friend give way?13 Sept 2021HANSARD HS2Does my hon. Friend agree that, given the number of Members attending today and the scale of the project, this sort of debate is worthy of the main Chamber and having more time?13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Do you not think that we are all outliers in one way or another? Professor Goodwin: When you look at institutions that lean very heavily in one particular direction— 75%, 80%…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q You have talked of the fear of many left-wing academics of normalisation, whereby giving a platform to fascists and the like would normalise their views. Whether or not their…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Professor Kaufmann, I will put a question to you, if I may. In the Policy Exchange report that you co-authored, a very negligible number of academics were ready to support a…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)It does.07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)No, but we all tend to speak from personal experience because it is more direct and authentic. Do you not find, when institutions could improve, it is actually about some changes…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)Q To pick up on your point that universities could improve, or the University of Sussex— Professor Stock: I would rather not talk just about Sussex. It is a general problem.07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)Q Are you suggesting that the University of Sussex does not promote academic freedom of speech? Professor Stock: I am suggesting it could do better. It says it does, but that is…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)Q You are at the University of Sussex. Professor Stock: Yes.07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)Q You will have read the Bill. How do you envisage that the provisions in the Bill are going to protect the likes of yourself and others from these supposed threats to academic…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)Q Is that something you have witnessed yourself? Professor Stock: Yes, I have experienced it myself. I have submitted some written evidence, which I am sure you will see. Various…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)Q Thank you for joining us this morning, Professor Stock and Dr Ahmed. I have a couple of questions I wish to raise with you, Professor Stock. You suggested in a recent Guardian…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q I understand that you have commented elsewhere that you believe that the normative power of changes to the law can shift social values. Do you not recognise that the Bill could…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Let me move on. You have described the statutory tort, which we discussed at great length earlier, as a real game changer. Is it not merely a game changer for vexatious…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q I will bear that in mind. Dr Harris: You already have free speech—you are an MP. You are protected.07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q So you are funded from fees from those who can afford it, and from donations? Would that be right? Dr Harris: That is correct, yes. We also have a discount fee for students and…07 Sept 2021