Universities face a growing free speech row after the Government was accused of silencing academics for “unacceptable” social media posts relating to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Michelle Donelan, the Science Secretary, expressed her “disgust” and “outrage” at two academics last week who shared posts on X, formerly Twitter, in which they appeared to support Hamas or criticise Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
The Cabinet Secretary wrote to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the national research funding body, urging it to take immediate action over two members of its advisory group on equality, diversity and inclusion.
Ms Donelan accused Professor Kate Sang, an academic at Heriot-Watt University, and Dr Kamna Patel, an associate professor at University College London (UCL), of sharing “extremist” views on social media.
She claimed Professor Sang had described Suella Braverman’s crackdown on Hamas support in the UK as “disturbing” and accused Dr Patel of retweeting a post likening Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip to a “genocide”.
Professor Sang, Dr Patel, Heriot-Watt Univeristy and UCL were approached for comment by i.
Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, the head of UKRI, replied on Tuesday confirming she had suspended the academics and the rest of its advisory board on equality, diversity and inclusion, which was formed less than a week ago.
Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, accused the UKRI of bowing to “ministerial diktat”, in a move that threatens to stoke tensions at British universities.
