Is free-speech under threat in UK universities?

Newly appointed university free-speech tsar Arif Ahmed certainly thinks so.

Conversations around free-speech, particularly in our education systems, can often feel like a minefield.

The growing concern around ‘culture wars’ and ‘cancel culture’ in recent years has only exacerbated this fact, with many expressing fears of academic freedom in UK universities.

Government figures have shared beliefs that many figures in higher education, whether students, teachers, or other members of staff, are being silenced on charged topics like Brexit, pronouns, colonialism, or abortion.

An increasingly polarised political landscape has only heightened this narrative.

Enter Arif Ahmed, a newly appointed university free speech tsar, who aims to tackle the issue head-on.

A former philosophy professor at Cambridge University, Ahmed hopes his new role will protect students’ rights to free speech within academic contexts, whilst — crucially —…