The new director for freedom of speech and academic freedom at the Office for Students (OfS), Arif Ahmed, has expressed concern over the stifling of free speech in English universities. Ahmed has vowed to protect all views and opinions, following his appointment earlier this year. He highlighted the falling rank of the UK on an international index for academic freedom over the past decade.
Ahmed’s role was established in response to a number of “no-platforming” cases, where controversial speakers were barred from events. One such case involved a protest against gender-critical academic, Kathleen Stock, outside the Oxford Union in May. Ahmed has stressed his support for peaceful protests but emphasized the difference between peaceful and disruptive demonstrations.
He has declared that the OfS, which regulates the higher education system in England, is “completely politically neutral” when safeguarding free speech. Ahmed has acknowledged that there are areas of serious concern surrounding freedom of speech, ranging from the classroom to research, and is keen to emphasise that this extends across the political spectrum.
Ahmed has cited the falling rank of the UK on the Academic Freedom Index as evidence of declining academic freedom, but expressed confidence in the new law passed earlier this year. Universities now have a duty to “secure” and “promote the importance of” freedom of speech and academic expression, and higher education providers and student unions which fail to comply with the new law may face fines and other sanctions. The new complaints scheme Ahmed will oversee for students, staff, and visiting speakers allows them to seek compensation if they suffer a breach of a university’s free speech obligations.
Ahmed gave a speech at King’s College London in which he pledged to protect people expressing their views on a range of topics, including Brexit, statues, pronouns, colonialism, abortion, animal rights and Ulez. Freedom of speech, Ahmed stressed, is fundamental to a high-quality higher education, allowing for different points of view to be considered. However, speech that amounts to harassment or incites violence is not protected by the law or by freedom of speech
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