After Peter Hitchens’ event was delayed at Portsmouth University, it’s time to set the record straight on no platforming
The IndependentThe best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The latest threat to free speech is apparently the fact that the Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens has had his event delayed at the University of Portsmouth Students’ Union. According to the students’ union, their members expressed concerns about inviting Hitchens during LGBT History Month, given his stated views on LGBT+ rights. Given Jewish students in the West Midlands are menaced by the neo-Nazi group National Action to the extent that some need armed escorts, it’s sensible that that we recognise that hate speech isn’t free speech. There’s very much a sense of “we want students to challenge ideas, but not those ideas.” Isn’t that exactly what figures like Hitchens fear so much?
History of this topic
Government set to reintroduce controversial university free speech law
The Independent
Widespread concern many in higher education being silenced – free speech chief
The Independent
Kathleen Stock: ‘No matter what I say, to trans people I’ll always be a villain’
The Telegraph
Oxford students to be offered ‘welfare resources’ during Kathleen Stock talk
The Independent
Universities adopt stricter vetting rules for speakers and suggest trigger warnings and safe spaces
Daily Mail
Free speech ‘stifled’ as universities cancel record number of speakers
The Telegraph
Don’t pick fights with students on free speech, Labour warns Government
The Independent
Only one in six in favour of no-platforming controversial speakers
The Telegraph
The government’s obsession with provoking culture wars is embarrassing – and I say that as a Tory student
The Independent
As a Conservative student, I know that there's no free speech crisis in our universities – it's a dangerous myth
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