This Policy Exchange report explores the concern that strongly-held political attitudes are restricting the freedom of those who disagree to research and teach on contested subjects. The report sets out what might be done, in the form of legislation—specifically an Academic Freedom Bill—and other measures to ensure that a) universities support intellectual dissent, which drives progress and innovation and b) all lawful speech is protected on campus.
Britain’s universities are world-leading. Yet there is growing concern that academic freedom in these institutions is being undermined in a way that departs from the liberal traditions and democratic norms of British society.
The fundamental principle—that all lawful speech should be protected in our universities—is the position of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Office for Students, and is affirmed by the statutory duty concerning freedom of speech in universities.
The research contains mixed findings relating to academic freedom. It shows that the distribution of political preferences among UK-based academics has changed in recent decades, and is significantly more left-leaning today than before, with fewer than 20% voting for right-leaning parties, and about 75% voting for the Labour/Liberal Democrat/Green parties in 2017 and 2019.
There is little support among most academics for dismissal campaigns against colleagues. For any given potential campaign, those who are opposed to a dismissal are likely to outnumber those in favour by 8 to 1.