Debating chambers have ‘ become echo chambers’
UNIVERSITIES were accused yesterday of ‘turning debating chambers into echo chambers’ with new vetting rules for speakers.
Students at one elite institution are advised to have trigger warnings and safe spaces at events ‘likely to cause upset’.
A record 200 requests for events and speakers were rejected by universities and colleges in 2020-21, more than double the previous year. Under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill going through Parliament, universities will have a legal duty to promote free speech. They are already required to take reasonable steps to ensure it is maintained, but the Daily Mail has found some unions have updated their rules to allow students to vet external speakers.
The Cambridge Union, a debating society which prides itself as a bastion of free speech, lets members vote on whether to allow controversial speakers. Last year the society backtracked on plans to blacklist speakers after Monty Python star John Cleese pulled out of a talk, citing ‘woke rules’.
Lara Brown, President of the Cambridge Union, said the institution was ‘strongly committed’ to free speech. Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, said: ‘The people running these debating societies have lost sight of their original purpose, which was to expose students to a range of different views, including those they may find challenging and disagreeable, so they can develop their own ideas and opinions and learn how to defend them in the public square.
‘Safe spaces, trigger warnings and risk assessments have turned what were once debating chambers into echo chambers.’ The Durham student union requires university groups to conduct risk assessments considering ‘speaker content’ as a potential ‘hazard’ in causing ‘emotional distress’ to attendees. The union recommends ‘trigger warnings for any topics likely to cause upset’ and using ‘a safe space if required’.
Joe McGarry, the union’s president, said: ‘Students can and do consider the harm that things like hate and vitriol can cause, and our risk assessment example template provides guidance on this. Their events, debates and articles then go on in their hundreds each year.’
King’s College London says students must tell their university if guests have ‘attracted controversy in the past’ or are ‘likely to attract media interest’. If so, a risk assessment must be carried out and the speaker may be blocked. The student union at the London School of Economics can also block an invitation if there is ‘potential for the speaker’s presence on campus to cause fear or alarm’ to students, and can demand copies of speeches to be submitted in advance.
Minutes from the meetings of the Edinburgh debating society detail its committee’s desire to avoid ‘politically divisive’ topics. The society also shunned collaboration with the Pinsker Centre, a thinktank focused on the Middle East, because it was pro-Israel.
Minutes say members ‘probably do not want to get involved with that’. A spokesman said its intention was to foster an ‘enjoyment of competitive debating’ and did not want to be associated with a ‘strong political stance’.
The Mail has previously revealed that the Oxford Union considers the ‘impact’ of guests. Like others, the society now plans to ‘restructure’ the process to take into account effects on minorities.
‘They have lost sight of their purpose’