Win for Free Speech as Sussex University Fined £585,000 in Trans Policy Row – Guido Fawkes

Win for Free Speech as Sussex University Fined £585,000 in Trans Policy Row

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The woke brigade has been dealt a blow as Professor Kathleen Stock’s former university has been slapped with a hefty £585,000 fine for failing to uphold freedom of speech and academic freedom. The Office for Students (OfS) ruled that the University of Sussex’s transgender policy had a “chilling effect” on staff and students, leaving them feeling “self-censored” and unable to express “lawful views.”  The university faced a three-and-a-half-year investigation after Stock was effectively hounded out of her job in 2021 for her gender-critical beliefs…

Sussex University labelled the investigation as “political scapegoating” resulting in “egregious and concocted” findings, saying they would legally challenge the OfS’s decision. Toby Young of the Free Speech Union on the other hand hailed the ruling, telling Guido:

“This is fantastic news. It shows that Arif Ahmed, the Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom at the Office for Students, is willing to give universities more than a wrist slap if they fail to uphold free speech on campus. I imagine that many universities will be reviewing their equity, diversity and inclusion policies this morning to make sure they don’t run afoul of their free speech obligations.”

The OfS was allowed to issue fines back in January after Bridget Phillipson was forced to u-turn on scrapping the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act. Worth remembering that initially Labour referred to it as an “antisemite’s charter”. Go woke, go broke…

Read the OfS’s full damning report below: