This evening I spoke in the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill: Second Reading. This Bill is not a battle in a culture war or an ideological effort, but simply an attempt to defend what is already legal in this country. I believe we should go further than insisting that all “reasonably practicable” steps are taken to promote free speech. We should insist that all necessary steps are taken. I think that we should broaden the protections for academics beyond their field of expertise - not so much freedom of speech as the freedom to teach, and the question of who decides what academics should be teaching. We also need some protection for dissent in the system.
