Science secretary Michelle Donelan has sparked a free speech row after urging UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to disband an equality advisory body over “unacceptable” social media posts by its members on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
In a letter to UKRI’s chief executive, Dame Ottoline Leyser, published on 28 October, Ms Donelan says she wants to “express, in the most serious terms, my disgust and outrage at Research England’s appointment of individuals to an advisory group on equality, diversity and inclusion who, since the 7 October attack” by Hamas “have been sharing some extremist views on social media”.
The membership of Research England’s advisory group, which was designed to provide “strategic advice on the prioritisation of key EDI issues in building research capacity and opportunity as well as delivering research that is more inclusive and representative of the population”, was announced on 26 October.
Ms Donelan says she is “outraged” that one of the chosen members – Kate Sang, professor of gender and employment studies at Heriot-Watt University – had described, in a now-deleted tweet, the government’s plan to crack down on Hamas support in the UK as “disturbing”.
