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Universities could be required to fund security for controversial speakers to protect free speech, warns minister

Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said free speech on campus was one of the Government's top priorities -  Will Wintercross/TELEGRAPH
Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said free speech on campus was one of the Government's top priorities - Will Wintercross/TELEGRAPH

Universities could be legally obliged to fund security for controversial speakers on campus in order to protect freedom of speech on campus, the universities minister has said.

Michelle Donelan said the Government had not ruled out “legislative change” to prevent no-platforming through the back door by placing security costs for speaking events onto student societies.

The Jewish Society at Lancaster University was asked to pay £1500 in November last year to cover the cost of security and room booking for an event with Mark Regev, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, in anticipation of protests from other students.

The event was eventually cancelled when the society could not afford to pay the fees.

Speaking to the Education Select Committee on Wednesday, Ms Donelan said universities are already required by law to protect freedom of speech on campus but the Government would not hesitate to legislate further if rules are not followed.

“There is a legal obligation for all institutions to ensure that freedom of speech and expression is there,” she said.   "We have sent out a very clear message that unless universities are making sure they adhere by those laws, we will have to intervene to go further.

Asked about the incident at Lancaster, the minister said: "We’re not excluding legislative change in order to achieve that, because this is one of our top priorities.”

"We can only have academic rigour and academic freedom if we can have freedom of speech.”

The Conservative Party promised in its 2019 manifesto to “strengthen academic freedom and free speech in universities” following cancelled events and “no-platforming” on UK campuses.

The minister said the Government “would not let certain religious groups be silenced” by attempts to shut down controversial speakers.

Robert Halfon, the Tory chair of the Education Select Committee, said it was “disgraceful” the event at Lancaster was not able to go ahead.

“When can a student society afford £1500?,” he said.

“Universities should not be allowing Jewish groups to be boycotted. This was a disgraceful decision by the university.

“What other group is asked to provide its own security apart from a Jewish group? What they were trying to do in effect was shut down that society.

“If there is a security issue, they should bear the cost of it.

“The minister was very strong in her response to it, saying it shouldn’t be happening.”

Separately, the results of the National Student Survey, released on Wednesday, showed that two-thirds of full-time final-year students in England think their course is "running smoothly", down from 70 per cent last year.

Seventy-four per cent of final-year students across the UK are satisfied with the management and organisation of their course, while 83 per cent are satisfied with their overall experience.