Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of the Community Security Trust’s (CST) report Campus Antisemitism in Britain 2020–2022, published on 19 January, which shows a 22 per cent increase in university-related antisemitic incidents over the two academic years 2020/21 and 2021/22, compared to the two previous academic years; and whether they have raised its findings with universities in England.

The recent Community Security Trust (CST) report showing an increase in antisemitic incidents on campus over the last two years is deeply concerning. Universities should be safe and welcoming places for Jewish students, and they should do all they can to root out antisemitism.

The department has encouraged higher education (HE) providers to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, to have absolute clarity of what constitutes antisemitic behaviour. So far, 245 providers in England have adopted the IHRA definition, including the vast majority of universities. We would urge those providers that have not yet adopted the definition to do so, and those that have, to ensure that they are fully complying with the definition.