Zahawi defends MP’S son after trans protest
Right to free speech is key, says Education Secretary after being hounded away from university event
‘We will never deny biology but we must always show kindness, tolerance and love when discussing issues’
THE Education Secretary has defended the “right to free speech” of Yvette Cooper’s son after he interrupted a Conservative event to protest about transgender policy.
Joel Cooper, a second-year economics student at the University of Warwick, shouted over moderators to tell Nadhim Zahawi that the Government’s approach put teenagers at risk by “outing” them to their parents.
The shadow home secretary’s son, a member of the university’s Labour Society and an LGBTQ+ activist, accused the Government of being “negligent” and implied that its policy of involving parents in trans issues in schools could force LGBTQ+ children into homelessness.
It came amid an anti-tory protest by trans activists outside the event, which forced Mr Zahawi to be ushered away by security guards. However, yesterday on Twitter, the Cabinet minister said of Mr Cooper: “This student was very polite to me. He made a reasonable point about how schools can help children, which I was happy to debate. His right to free speech is vital too.
“We will never deny biology but we must always show kindness, tolerance and love when discussing these issues.”
Video footage from the event last Friday shows participants having to raise their voices to be heard over the protest outside the lecture theatre.
Mr Cooper stood up and shouted his objection to Mr Zahawi at the end of the Conservative Association-organised Q&A after none of the Labour members had been granted a question.
The University of Warwick said that it would review its approach to protests on campus after Mr Zahawi was hounded away after the talk amid placards and chanting.
The trans activists accused him of “inciting hatred” by defining women as “adult human females”.
In the talk Mr Zahawi had stressed the need for the Government’s new crackdown on campus cancel culture while protesters were chanting “trans rights” outside the venue’s doors and blasting out the Diana Ross song I’m Coming Out.
In video footage from the auditorium shared with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Zahawi told students: “We have a freedom of speech bill to make sure that all voices can be heard on campus. I think we’re in a strong place to bring in the legislation. We will bring it in as soon as possible because it’s only right that we have gatherings like this on a university campus where people should not be no-platformed or deterred from speaking in institutions as great as Warwick.”
A university spokesman said: “We were aware of plans for a protest at the meeting ... and our community safety team ensured that the event went ahead safely, despite it being noisy and disruptive outside the event.
“It’s important to recognise that students have the right to lawful protest.”
Warwick students’ union did not respond to requests for comment.