The British minister who oversees higher education used a speech this evening at the University of London’s Institute of Education to call on universities to uphold academic freedom while “ensuring that extremists can never stifle debate or impose their views.”
In the speech, which was sponsored by the left-of-center Fabian Society, Bill Rammell, Britain’s minister of state for lifelong learning, further and higher education, argued that “universities and academics have a responsibility to challenge those who advocate” extremism, and said that “universities can and must stand behind people who would challenge extremist views on campus. They must be ensured a platform.”
Mr. Rammell’s speech followed the controversy surrounding the appearance on Monday at the Oxford Union Debating Society of the historian David Irving, who has been convicted of denying the Holocaust, and Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right British Nationalist Party. Protesters outraged that the two men had been provided such a prominent forum converged on the city of Oxford and delayed the start of the event by over an hour.
Britain’s main student organization, the National Union of Students, has adopted a “no platform” policy that excludes fascists from debate. In his speech, Mr. Rammell said that he opposes boycotts and no-platform policies. “I wouldn’t want to legislate against Nick Griffin and David Irving speaking at a university,” he said. “I find the views of both speakers utterly nauseating, but that’s not the same as saying that, as a matter of principle, they should be banned from speaking.”
The student union responded angrily to Mr. Rammell’s remarks, saying in a statement that he had “strayed off-subject and criticized students’ unions for choosing to adopt no-platform policies.” The union’s president, Gemma Tumelty, said the union “strongly supports the right of individuals to free speech, but Bill Rammell’s comments about no-platform policies amount to a red herring. Believing that everybody has the right to express an opinion is very different from proactively providing a high-profile platform to racists and fascists at an esteemed institution.”
Students at the University of East Anglia have rejected the union’s policy, saying that free debate is the only way to tackle extremism, The Guardian reported. —Aisha Labi
