(Warwick and Leamington)
(Lab):...Freedom of speech is not a trump card. Students also
have a right not to be harassed, a right not to be subjected to
hate speech and, perhaps most importantly, a right to protest.
The right for students to feel safe on campus sometimes requires
greater protection than that afforded to them under the Equality
Act, especially in instances of reprehensible but lawful speech,
such as holocaust denial. Professor Stephen Whittle from
Manchester Metropolitan University acknowledged as much in the
Bill Committee, recognising that the Equality Act would afford
protection only if the speech were directly addressed to the
complainant. That is important because front groups such as Hizb
ut-Tahrir, which is not a proscribed organisation but which often
espouses antisemitic views, could come on to campus under the
guise of freedom of speech. That point was not lost on the
director of the Antisemitism Policy Trust,
Danny Stone, who views it as a “real concern”. In such cases, the
right of students—in this example, Jewish students—to feel safe
on campus clearly must be considered. The Minister’s approach to
the sensitive issues reported in the press overlooks those
competing freedoms. It is perhaps a symptom of the Government’s
singular desire to
“create political and cultural dividing lines mainly for”—
their—
“advantage”.
Those are not my words but those of the right hon. Member for
Hereford and South Herefordshire ()...
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