Quote of the day 24th August 2024

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the reason universities lobbied the Government to quash the Freedom of Speech Act is because they’re worried it will jeopardise their cosy relationship with various authoritarian regimes, particularly the People’s Republic of China. Bridget Phillipson should have told them to put principle before profit, not done their bidding.”

(Toby Young, directoir of the Free Speech Union)

“There was clearly a fear that this Act would undermine China-related income streams for universities.

“This was not mentioned when the announcements were made about the scheme being paused. It’s clear that there was a decision not to communicate these concerns about China-related income. It is not unreasonable to infer this has been covered up.”

(Sam Dunning, director of the UK China Transparency think-tank)