Phil Rosenberg, chairman of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said that while “well-intentioned”, the law “risked allowing anti-Semitic extremists access to university campuses by seriously undermining the ability of universities to block their presence”.
Whitehall sources have also suggested that free speech laws may have unintentionally created protections against alleged hate speech on campuses. They say the legislation could have created a platform for people like Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League; David Irving, a prominent Holocaust denier; and Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch far-right Freedom Party, who was sworn into government earlier this month.
Professor Ahmed, who has consistently maintained that the bill would only protect freedom of expression under the law, is likely to object to these claims. A number of existing UK laws already prohibit hate speech, including speech that incites “racial and religious hatred”, “hatred on grounds of sexual orientation” and speech that “encourages terrorism”.
However, the Free Speech Union, led by former journalist Toby Young, has vowed to take legal action against the government.
“There is a crisis of free speech in our universities, as has been widely recognised, and this legislation, which has enjoyed cross-party support, was designed to address it,” he said in a statement.
“The government’s attack on the Freedom of Speech Act is shocking. If Labour refuses to implement the law passed in the last parliament, the Free Speech Union will launch judicial review proceedings.”
A spokesman for 10 Downing Street said the decision to suspend the legislation was taken “in response to concerns raised within the academic sector”.
Asked about criticism that the measure poses a threat to free speech on campus, she said: “I don’t agree with that characterization. It’s right to listen to the concerns and take stock.”
