Anti-Semitism: University Campus Incidents

Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts

Thursday 21st January 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Palmer of Childs Hill (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, for initiating this very much-needed debate. Perhaps I speak for everybody in saying that it should have been a three-hour debate. I compliment the CST on the work it does; I should declare that I am on its advisory board.

In this minute I shall comment on some of the speeches. For the noble Baroness, Lady Tonge, there are no excuses for anti-Semitism. My noble friend Lady Ludford is right to ask the Minister about the lack of consistency in universities, and my noble friend Lord Greaves made an overriding comment about the evils in the world today. However, I must also comment, and I am shocked, that the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, says that she is against the IHRA definition. I trust that that is not the view of the body that she chairs.

In the seconds available to me, I will revert back to comments made by the noble Baroness, Lady Deech. Few Jews today attend SOAS University of London because they know they would face a hostile environment where anti-Zionism often tips over into anti-Semitism. It is shameful that anyone should experience this in a UK university.