SIR Jacob Rees-Mogg has attacked Labour’s decision to abandon the law protecting free speech in universities after the Durham Union Society was banned from attending the Freshers’ Fayre.
Speaking on GB News, he said: “One of the first decisions the Labour Party made upon entering office was to attack free speech. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson abandoned the Tories’ law protecting free speech in universities, claiming it was unnecessary. But we are now seeing why it was necessary to protect freedom from cancel culture.
“The Durham Union Society, the university’s 182 year old debating society, has been excluded from the University’s Freshers’ Fayre by the Students’ Union. Now the Students’ Union has tried to claim that this is because of historic allegations of racism made against the Durham Union Society.
“But GB News understands that this is much more than a mere spat between warring student factions. A few years ago, the Students’ Union accused the debating society of being a safe haven for Colonial apologists.
“Since then, the debating society has tried to be pragmatic so it can have a presence on campus, but the students’ union has insisted on an equality, diversity and inclusion agenda to be rolled out if it wanted to be included.
“So you’ve got to be inclusive to be included otherwise you’re excluded for not being inclusive.
“In other words, it engaged in ideological blackmail, and the debating site has tried to oblige, but apparently its ideological purity has not met the litmus test for the EDI fanatics in the union.
“This is Labour’s responsibility because, of course, it subscribes to the EDI extremism. The Conservatives’ legislation that was halted five to midnight would have required the university authorities to defend free speech, so ought to have stopped the Student Union from blacklisting an ancient bastion of debate.
“It would have imposed duties on the Students’ Union to ensure free speech was being upheld, and provided a mechanism through which the debating society would have appealed at the way it was being treated.
“As I have said before, over time, socialists changed their flags, their slogans and their badges, but fundamentally are against freedom of speech, because truth is always the biggest enemy of socialism.
“I’m afraid the latest iteration of socialism in the form of the Reverend Keir Starmer is no different.”
