Campus Antisemitism in Britain: Community Security Trust Report

Debate between Lord Katz and Baroness Smith of Malvern

Wednesday 12th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right that there are some shocking examples of anti-Semitic abuse, some of which I was able to hear about yesterday during a session run by StandWithUs, at which students themselves movingly and distressingly talked about their experiences on campuses. The noble Baroness is right that higher education needs to focus on the recommendations of the report and, in thinking in advance of the implementation of the new OfS condition in August, on what action it can take. That is why my right honourable friend the Secretary of State will be bringing together vice-chancellors to make that message very clear.

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

My Lords, as the CST report lays bare, university campuses are indeed the front line of anti-Semitism, with some at risk of becoming all but no-go zones for Jewish students. Has my noble friend the Minister seen the briefing compiled by the Union of Jewish Students which catalogues a litany of Holocaust distortion and inversion that occurred on Holocaust Memorial Day this year in universities across the country? Does she agree with the UJS that HE institutions—including the Office for Students and student unions—and the police need to take immediate and decisive action to confront this troubling trend, ensuring that Holocaust distortion has no place on campus, and that Jewish students have the necessary support and protection to thrive at whatever university they choose to attend?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

I recognise the situation outlined by my noble friend. I have already talked about the action that this Government will be taking with respect to the Holocaust to ensure that young people understand its significance even before they go to university. The Holocaust is, quite rightly, the only historic event that is compulsory in the current national curriculum for history at key stage 3. It is why, as well as the support provided for Holocaust education in schools and colleges at the moment, an additional £2 million was committed in the Autumn Budget 2024 for Holocaust remembrance and education. That funding aims to ensure that all students have the opportunity to hear a recorded survivor testimony, with the department exploring ways to support schools in achieving that goal.