UK science secretary Michelle Donelan should resign after she paid damages to a professor whom she suggested had expressed sympathy for Hamas, a union said.
The payment was made to Kate Sang after Ms Donelan said in a social media post that she was “outraged” that the professor of gender and employment studies at Heriot-Watt University had – as she put it – described the government’s plan to crack down on Hamas support in the UK as “disturbing”. It is understood that the bill will be paid by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
But the University and College Union said that Ms Donelan’s retraction of her statement – the post has now been deleted – did not go far enough.
“Despite using taxpayers’ money to pay damages and settle a libel claim, Michelle Donelan has failed to actually apologise to the individuals she falsely accused and attacked, or for the damage she has done to the academic community. That she only retracted her allegations after a lengthy legal process makes matters worse,” said Jo Grady, the union’s general secretary.
