Education Secretary Faces Court Over Shelving Free Speech Laws

Bridget Phillipson is set to face legal action for her controversial pause on new free speech laws aimed at shielding academics from cancel culture. The Telegraph has more.

The Education Secretary shelved the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act just days before it was due to come into force in August and said she would consider repealing it.

The Telegraph has learned that the Free Speech Union has now been granted permission to appeal the move, with a judicial review hearing set to take place in the High Court on January 23rd.

The group has accused Ms. Phillipson of acting unlawfully by removing protections for “people of certain protected groups”, such as “gender-critical persons or those who espouse minority political views”.

It also argues the Education Secretary was not entitled to pull the plug on the Act through a written ministerial statement alone, and that “any repeal of the legislation is a matter for Parliament not the executive”.

In a legal document confirming permission to appeal the move, a High Court judge said it was in the “public interest” for the issue to be resolved promptly.

The judge added that even if Ms. Phillipson intended only to “pause” the Act while options were being considered, “it is arguable that it was insufficient for the purposes of s.149 of the Equality Act 2010 to proceed on the basis that no significant impacts were foreseen”.

It comes as the Government faces backlash from academics over Ms. Phillipson’s decision to shelve the free speech laws.

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act would have established a new complaints scheme allowing students, staff and visiting speakers to seek compensation if they were “cancelled” on campus.

The flagship Conservative policy would have also strengthened protections against foreign interference. This would have seen the Office for Students granted new powers to terminate universities’ overseas partnerships if they were found to have contravened free speech duties. …

But Ms. Phillipson has insisted universities are being treated like a “political battlefield”, and that the legislation could “expose students to harm and appalling hate speech on campuses”.

A source close to discussions said they had been informed by DfE officials that a decision would be made on the Act’s future by “the autumn”.

It remains unclear whether the Free Speech Union’s judicial review will proceed if Ms. Phillipson has already chosen to repeal the legislation by then.

Worth reading in full.