The Times has reported that seven British Nobel laureates are now backing a campaign urging the education secretary Bridget Phillipson to reinstate a law aimed at safeguarding free speech at the nation’s universities. Specifically, they have all signed an open letter, along with more than 600 other UK-based academics, appealing to the Labour government not to scrap the new legislation. With such prominent names joining the campaign, we are hopefully one step closer to Phillipson reconsidering the suspension of this law.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, or HEFOSA for short, which was passed last year and due to take effect on the 1st of August, places new requirements on universities to protect free speech on their campuses. Among other things, the bill provides an explicit definition of academic freedom, extends the range of people to whom the protections apply, and creates an enforcement mechanism that could see universities face sanctions if they fail to comply. Although none of these points should be controversial to anyone who appreciates the value of free academic debate, the new Labour government appears suspicious of the act.
As one of her first acts as education secretary, Bridget Phillipson decided to suspend the new law indefinitely. A range of reasons for the suspension have since been offered, including assertions that the act places unacceptably heavy burdens on universities, exposes students to “harm and appalling hate speech”, and potentially facilitates Holocaust denial. All of these concerns apparently necessitated that the act be temporarily shelved, while the new government decided what to do with it.
The news that HEFOSA could be substantially revised or even completely repealed did not go down well with many of the country’s leading academics. A number of free speech organisations, including the Committee for Academic Freedom, jointly wrote an open letter in defence of the act, and hundreds of academics signed it. Now, seven of the country’s most revered scientists and researchers have also voiced their opposition to the suspension of the law. Hopefully, Phillipson will listen.
The group of Nobel laureates includes Sir John Gurdon, Sir Gregory Winter, Sir Peter Radcliffe, Richard Henderson, Brian Josephson, Sir Tim Hunt, and Michael Levitt. Naturally, none of these people wish to expose students to harm or hate speech. Nor are they keen to facilitate Holocaust denial. They understand that the act does not change existing protections in any of these areas.
Instead, the act extends current protections to include job applicants, creates an enforcement mechanism for the existing rules around academic freedom, and compels universities to take “reasonably practicable” steps to protect freedom of speech “within the law.” This hardly implies a safe haven for hate speech. Moreover, the act bans non-disclosure agreements related to sexual misconduct or harassment within the university. Surely, this is something a Labour government should be able to support.
That seven Nobel laureates have now joined the campaign to save the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act is an important development. Their support, along with that of the hundreds of other academics who have signed the open letter, demonstrates that this is not a fringe issue. It is not about support for the previous government, nor a dubious desire to express hateful opinions. Rather, preserving the act is necessary to safeguard freedom of speech on UK campuses. This should never become a partisan issue.