Responding to government plans to ensure freedom of speech and
expression is upheld on university campuses, Marc Glendening, Head
of Cultural Affairs at free market think tank the Institute of
Economic Affairs, said:
"The news that the government intends to provide more support for
academics who lose their jobs because of political discrimination
is to be welcomed and is long overdue.
"However, existing legislation risks undermining the Education
Secretary's proposals. Unless the government is proposing to
amend the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 concerning
'harassment', it is difficult to envisage how freedom of speech
in the higher education context can be imposed or not subject to
judicial review.
"Parts 5 and 6 of the Act make higher education providers subject
to its harassment provisions. This is defined as the violating of
a 'person's dignity' and 'creating an intimidating, hostile,
degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person'.
These are dangerously vague terms.
"The track record of many student unions and university
authorities – combined with fear of retrospective legal action by
students claiming to have experienced 'degrading', 'humiliating'
and other supposedly harassing speech – suggests they can be
expected to exploit these provisions for illiberal purposes.
"The Secretary of State, , needs to
look at the Education Act 1986, section 43, that gives license to
colleges to ban speakers 'likely to express unlawful speech.'
"If free speech is to be re-established as part of our culture
and politics, there needs to be a hard division between speech
that is harmful and incites violence, and speech that is simply
offensive."
