Feminist Kathleen Stock should be allowed to deliver a speech at Oxford University, the prime minister has said.
Rishi Sunak, whose intervention comes ahead of expected protests against Professor Stock’s address at an Oxford Union event, said that debate was a hallmark of a “tolerant society”.
The row has seen the Oxford University LGBTQ+ Society say it is standing up for its “right to protest and for trans rights” while the university’s vice-chancellor has defended Prof Stock’s appearance as a matter of “freedom of speech”.
“A free society requires free debate. We should all be encouraged to engage respectfully with the ideas of others,” Mr Sunak told The Telegraph.
“University should be an environment where debate is supported, not stifled. We mustn’t allow a small but vocal few to shut down discussion. Kathleen Stock’s invitation to the Oxford Union should stand.
