Keegan fears ‘contagion’ of antisemitism at universities

There is a fear that university campuses in the UK will become unsafe spaces for students and staff, the Education Secretary has said.

Gillian Keegan said vice chancellors need to show leadership in response to protests against the war in Gaza. Student encampments have been set up at more than a dozen UK universities including Cambridge and Oxford.

Tensions have continued to mount in stand-offs with pro-Palestinian protesters at US university campuses and thousands of demonstrators have been arrested since the protests began in America last month.

The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, conducted a meeting in No 10 yesterday with vice chancellors from leading UK universities to discuss antisemitism on campuses.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Ms Keegan (inset) told Sky News: “What we don’t want is our campuses becoming unsafe environments for students or staff and going down the route that you see in other places like the US.” When asked whether there is a fear that events in the US will be replicated in the UK, Ms Keegan said: “There’s always a fear of that.

“There is always a contagion fear and obviously there are some groups that are encouraging this as well.”

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the Cambridge Union on Wednesday evening to protest against a talk by Peter Thiel, founder of the Palantir tech firm, which has links to Israel’s military.