Contributions
1,746 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)That is sensible. One reason why I tabled the amendment was to ensure a degree of consistency across universities. because everyone has to produce the report, and all universities…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)I will take that as a helpful remark in support of my amendment, for reasons that I will explain in a second. I have spent a great deal of time with the right hon. Gentleman in…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)I beg to move amendment 72, in clause 1, page 2, line 36, at end insert— “(11) The governing body of a registered Higher Education Provider must present to the OfS, at least once…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)I am going to be careful what I say, because I have other responsibilities in the House on a different Committee, but the hon. Gentleman makes an important point about external…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)Obviously, I sympathise with the hon. Lady’s sentiment because there is a need for privacy in different circumstances—she talked about churches and mosques and so on. However, the…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)Of course, in the amendment I do not specify the character of the report. I assume it will not be a thesis. I am not expecting disproportionate resource to be allocated to the…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)Yes, I did not emphasise that point in my opening remarks, or just now, so it is important to say how serious we are about this, and to send that signal to universities; my hon.…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)He is shaking his head. He thinks that is a bridge too far.16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)This has been a useful discussion. We have to be clear about what the director for freedom of speech and academic freedom within the Office for Students will do. Will he be driven…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)I had always assumed that the right hon. Gentleman was fonder of five-year plans than me.16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)With respect to the hon. Lady, the amendment is very simple, as she will see detailed in the papers before us. It simply adds to clause 1, line 36, a requirement that the…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Eighth sitting)I heard what the hon. Gentleman said about trade union. Like many in the Committee, I imagine, I served as an officer of the students union when I was at Nottingham. My son was…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)The right hon. Gentleman is making a case about events. Public events, of course, include speakers, meetings, and so on. I presume that he is not extending that to the area of…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)Yes, that is a fair point. Obligations necessitate some kind of sanction when people fail to meet them, do they not? That will also need to emerge in the course of our…16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Seventh sitting)rose—16 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Sixth sitting)The hon. Lady now really is opening a hornet’s nest with the issue of money, how universities are motivated, and how far that is skewed. I have struggled against the narrow…15 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fifth sitting)I beg to move amendment 71, in clause 1, page 2, line 2, at end insert— “(3A) Any conduct that would otherwise constitute conduct having the effect of harassment in accordance…15 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Sixth sitting)I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I take his point about the technical difficulties with what is proposed. He is right about the different status and,…15 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Sixth sitting)I beg to move amendment 80, in clause 1, page 2, leave out lines 9 to 14 and insert— “(6) In this Part, ‘academic freedom’, in relation to academic staff at a registered higher…15 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Sixth sitting)I am pretty certain that the hon. Member for Brighton, Kemptown is going to make a similar point, but I will let him do so when I give way to him. Of course, the hon. Member for…15 Sept 2021