Education Secretary faces court over shelving free speech laws

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson leaving Downing Street
Free Speech Union has accused Bridget Phillipson of acting unlawfully by removing protections for ‘people of certain protected groups’ - Jordan Pettitt/PA

Bridget Phillipson will face legal action over her decision to pause new free speech laws designed to protect academics from cancel culture.

The Education Secretary shelved the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act just days before it was due to come into force in August and said she would consider repealing it.

The Telegraph has learned that the Free Speech Union has now been granted permission to appeal the move, with a judicial review hearing set to take place in the High Court on Jan 23.

The group has accused Ms Phillipson of acting unlawfully by removing protections for “people of certain protected groups”, such as “gender-critical persons or those who espouse minority political views”.

It also argues the Education Secretary was not entitled to pull the plug on the Act through a written ministerial statement alone, and that “any repeal of the legislation is a matter for Parliament not the executive”.

In a legal document confirming permission to appeal the move, a High Court judge said it was in the “public interest” for the issue to be resolved promptly.

The judge added that even if Ms Phillipson intended only to “pause” the Act while options were being considered, “it is arguable that it was insufficient for the purposes of s. 149 of the Equality Act 2010 to proceed on the basis that no significant impacts were foreseen”.

Backlash from academics

It comes as the Government faces backlash from academics over Ms Phillipson’s decision to shelve the free speech laws.

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act would have established a new complaints scheme allowing students, staff and visiting speakers to seek compensation if they were “cancelled” on campus.

The flagship Conservative policy would have also strengthened protections against foreign interference. This would have seen the Office for Students granted new powers to terminate universities’ overseas partnerships if they were found to have contravened free speech duties.

The Act was introduced after a series of rows over the so-called cancellation of academics and students because of their views. They include Kathleen Stock, a philosophy professor, who resigned from Sussex University in 2021 after what she described as a witch-hunt over her views on transgender issues.

Department for Education (DfE) officials have now met with 40 academics and representatives of minority groups to discuss their concerns over Ms Phillipson’s intervention.

Act painted as a ‘Tory hate charter’

Sources close to the discussions told The Telegraph they were furious the Act has been painted as a “Tory hate charter” designed to stoke the culture wars.

A debate on the future of the legislation at City, University of London on Wednesday descended into a heated exchange when one academic suggested it was part of a “far-Right agenda”.

Ewan McGaughey, a law professor at King’s College London, told the event that attempts to protect free speech should “not be distracted by what is essentially a far-Right agenda – far worse in America… but still present in Britain”.

Akua Reindorf, an Equality and Human Rights Commissioner and barrister who attended the debate in a personal capacity, said the suggestion was “depressing” and “pure guilt by association”.

Akua Reindorf
Akua Reindorf says people who are very senior in universities are being hounded out of their jobs or hounded around their campus

“I’m also so incredibly sick of being accused of being involved in a moral panic, as if we’re all sort of Mary Whitehouse clutching her pearls,” she said.

“We have some very, very serious incidents that we are all very familiar with – people who are very senior in universities being hounded out of their jobs or hounded around their campus.

“It’s a very serious issue. It affects people’s lives, their livelihoods, and also their fundamental human rights. Freedom of speech is the fundamental human right, it is the core right in the Human Rights Act, because without freedom of speech, we cannot advocate for our other human rights.”

Ms Reindorf was among dozens of lawyers and academics at the event to call for the Act to be reinstated immediately.

David Abulafia, a historian at Cambridge University, said the current situation was “intolerable”, adding: “What is a university if it is not a place where you can exchange ideas?”

Michelle Shipworth, an associate professor at University College London (UCL), also raised concerns that universities would continue to bow to commercial pressure from China without greater free speech protections.

Michelle Shipworth
Prof Shipworth has joined warnings that Chinese students face censorship from their peers if they speak out against Beijing on UK campuses - Jamie Lorriman

The Telegraph revealed earlier this year that Prof Shipworth was forced to drop an entire module on her energy and social sciences course at UCL after Chinese students complained about some of its content.

She has since joined warnings that Chinese students face censorship from their peers if they speak out against Beijing on UK campuses.

“I believe that without this Act, our Chinese students will continue to suffer in silence, and the very essence of a British education will be stifled,” Prof Shipworth told the event on Wednesday.

Baroness Jacqui Smith, the universities minister, confirmed last month that she believed there was a free speech problem at UK universities.

“I absolutely reiterate that I and the Government believe that there is an issue about freedom of speech and academic freedom on our campuses. It is of fundamental importance, which is why we need to get it right,” she said during a House of Lords debate on the subject.

But Ms Phillipson has insisted universities are being treated like a “political battlefield”, and that the legislation could “expose students to harm and appalling hate speech on campuses”.

A source close to discussions said they had been informed by DfE officials that a decision would be made on the Act’s future by “the autumn”.

It remains unclear whether the Free Speech Union’s judicial review will proceed if Ms Phillipson has already chosen to repeal the legislation by then.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We are absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom, but the Free Speech Act introduced last year risks imposing serious burdens on our world-class universities.

“We paused implementation of this legislation so that we can consider next steps and ensure that we protect everyone’s best interests. Ministers and officials have met a range of stakeholders to discuss their views on the future of the Act.”