Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick not to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism following reports of antisemitic incidents at that University and the call by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for cuts to funding of those universities that fail to adopt the definition.

There is no place in our society - including within higher education – for hatred or any form of harassment, discrimination or racism, including antisemitism.

In October this year the Communities Secretary wrote to all universities to urge them to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. This followed a letter from the Universities Minister in May regarding antisemitism in higher education.

We expect all Higher Education Providers to discharge their responsibilities fully and to have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law, to investigate and swiftly address hate crime, including any antisemitic incidents that are reported. We will continue to work with universities to ensure we stamp out antisemitism in all its forms.

That is why we will be providing an additional £500,000 of government funding to allow 200 university students each year to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, to hear from the last Holocaust survivors and to help educate students on the importance of continuing to tackle antisemitism on campuses.