Contributions
1,478 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Not the prices—the bodies, the members. Who are they? At the moment, perhaps I am the only person here who does not know much about the FSU, but we are about to take experienced…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q You say that this is a real game changer, this piece of legislation. According to the OfS, we have had fewer than five events cancelled in universities in the two years between…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Would you mind giving some examples of the range of membership you might have—being transparent about it? Dr Harris: The prices, do you mean?07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you for joining us today. I am not very familiar with the Free Speech Union—can you just explain to us where the FSU receives its funding? Dr Harris: From our members and…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q You cited the examples of the two academics at Cambridge to illustrate your position. Surely those particular cases needed to be dealt with by changes to employment law—and that…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q But I sense that you are quite hung up about the figure that 75% of staff or academics in our universities are left-leaning and that somehow this is really a distortion, when…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q You mentioned the figure of 75% being left leaning and you said that it was an international study. I think that in the report you talk about 75% of UK academics being left…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q This was an international study? Thomas Simpson: It was a study of academics based internationally, so it bears on, but not directly, the UK situation. The finding there is that…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q We have heard from various contributors, and there are obviously differing points of view, but it strikes me that in any organisation you have different points of view. I…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you, Mr Simpson, for joining us today. I understand that you are also a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. Thank you for your service. I just want to pick up on a few…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q All organisations have different mixes. I would be very interested to know what the poll would be for officers within the UK armed forces—the political balance between them. Is…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q To come back to my opening question about unintended consequences, what we have heard a lot from various people and prior to these sessions is about the uncertainty and the real…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q To pursue this a little further, you and others have been talking about getting into a compensation culture—we might have the equivalent of ambulance chasers going around…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you for joining us today, Ms Jamdar. One of the areas I want to explore with you is around the tort. There seem to be widespread concerns about what this will mean and the…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Under the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, I declare that my wife works at a university. I am not sure if it is necessary to declare that, but I want to put it on the…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Well, thank you for joining us in those circumstances. Professor Stock from Sussex University said she felt that perhaps the university did not promote her enough in terms of her…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q To make one final point in terms of what you were just describing: we heard from a couple of academics this morning, I do not know if you listened in— Professor Whittle: I have…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Moving on, I understand you faced many challenges over a long period of time, as you just articulated. How do you define academic freedom, and how do you perceive the…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q If I understand correctly, you are saying that it is possible within the institutions of universities to resolve this; that we need open debate; that this should be allowed;…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q 71 Thank you very much for joining us, Professor Whittle, and for your written submission. I want to start by making a few points. Looking through your submission, I was…07 Sept 2021