Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the attempt by protesters to disrupt a talk by an Israeli speaker at University College London on 27 October, what steps they are taking to ensure freedom of speech.

Open and robust debate is how students should challenge those they disagree with. There is no place for students that use intimidation or violence to attempt to shut down the free and open exchange of ideas.

Universities have a legal duty to secure freedom of speech for their members, students, employees and visiting speakers, and must have clearly set out policies for how they will ensure that this can happen. Universities also have a clear responsibility to provide a safe and inclusive environment and no staff or student should ever feel threatened or intimidated. It is also essential that they have clear policies and procedures to ensure that all students and staff can live and work without discrimination, intimidation or harassment. We expect universities to demonstrate how they will act swiftly to investigate and address hate crime, including anti-Semitic related incidents, reported to them.

We have asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), in their role as regulator, to engage with University College London (UCL) to ensure that their policies and procedures for events with external speakers are fit for purpose and were implemented appropriately in this instance. UCL have issued a statement on 11 November 2016 regarding the incident, which sets out that they have launched an immediate investigation.

In September 2015 we asked Universities UK (UUK) to set up a Harassment Taskforce. The Taskforce has recently published a report which sets out that universities should adopt a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and hate crime. The report has been attached to this answer. We must now ensure that the work of the Taskforce goes on to make a real difference to students across the country. The Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation has asked UUK to survey progress in six months and make sure universities are doing all they can to protect the safety and security of their students. We hope that the new guidelines for universities issued alongside the UUK Taskforce report will help universities in effectively tackling incidents such as these.