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Universities have become “ideological monocultures” that do not tolerate different opinions, a British academic has said.

Professor Matthew Goodwin, professor of politics and international relations at the University of Kent, claimed that debates surrounding issues of sex, gender and race as well as the controversial histories and politics of colonialism and Brexit have rendered campuses devoid of “serious intellectual diversity”.

He said this is leading to people with views that differ from the “Left-wing” status quo “being either harassed or having to self-censor on campus”.

The academic has faced criticism and controversy on social media following his recently published book Values, Voice and Virtue. In it, he argues that British politics has been shaped by a “new elite” and describes this as a university educated minority that is progressive, pro-migration, focused on diversity and, he claims, out of touch with the values of much of Britain.

However, speaking on this week’s episode of The Telegraph podcast Planet Normal, which you can listen to on the audio player at the top of this article, Prof Goodwin specifically criticised campus culture, saying: “There is no serious intellectual diversity any more in the universities,” adding that “those who claim to be the most liberal and open of all are actually the first to try and shut down those who challenge this new consensus”.

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