Contributions
1,746 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Sixth sitting)Or just because he is wrong.15 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q The previous witness said that no one who had not worked in a university could quite understand both the climate of fear and the culture of silence that prevails in many…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)As I did previously, I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests relating to my role at the University of Bolton.13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Even if that makes people feel very uncomfortable? Hillary Gyebi-Ababio: What I would say is that to focus on freedom of speech as just being about making people uncomfortable…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Further to the last point, speaking from a personal point of view and a NUS point of view, presumably you believe in freedom of speech in the sense that you believe in the…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Presumably, with lawful free speech on campus assumed to be a given, it is important that its defence is not in the hands of particular vice-chancellors or university management…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q The witness immediately before you suggested that lawful speech on campus might be mitigated, restrained or even prohibited, and said that that job would perhaps fall to the…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q Sorry to interrupt you, but I want to get to the bottom of this. The vice-chancellor in a particular university, or the university management, would determine what was…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q You do not work at a university and you are a journalist by background, are you not? Sunder Katwala: I have worked in think-tanks, journalism and so on.13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q So it is the Government who determine it, not the vice-chancellor. Sunder Katwala: It would depend. The Government will decide in the case of holocaust denial that it needs to…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Of course, you are right that freedom of speech is unqualified in the sense that both views need to be put and many opinions need to be shared. There should be no prohibition on…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Hang on, I want to be clear about this. I totally agree with you that there need to be plural opportunities for people to express their views. I may find those views entirely…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Very briefly, Chair—I know others want to speak—let me be clear. I am relieved and delighted by what you said about the NUS’s position. So, the NUS is against no-platforming, it…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Are these lawful organisations? Are you saying that you are in favour, then, of prohibiting lawful free speech in certain circumstances? Hillary Gyebi-Ababio: No. I am not…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q In common with my colleagues, I have to declare my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: I am an academic at Bolton University. The point you are making is that…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Third sitting)Q I just want a straightforward answer, really. You are right, of course, that many things are offensive, rude or unsavoury. Indeed, some things are alarming, shocking and…13 Sept 2021HANSARD Business of the HouseMuch of what we consume is delivered to us by heavy goods vehicles, yet the Leader of the House will know that hauliers are suffering a driver shortfall of 100,000. Robert Louis…09 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q I am interested to hear your view that, essentially, this is a Bill that is not addressing a problem, because the evidence we have received, both in writing and verbally earlier…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q The implication from earlier witnesses, Arif Ahmed, Nigel Biggar and others, is that there is what amounts to a culture of fear. You are setting out the very reason why the Bill…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Perhaps a way of resolving the difference of view between the right hon. Member for North Durham and the witness is for the witness to cite some of that evidence in writing as a…07 Sept 2021