OfS a vehicle for government 'authoritarianism'

The union was responding to new OfS guidance on freedom of speech.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'Freedom of speech and academic freedom are vital, not only for our universities to thrive, but for democracy itself. That's why attacks on these freedoms by government, from the Prevent duty to Michelle Donelan's smearing of researchers as extremists, are so dangerous. 

'It's deeply unfortunate the OfS continues to harm higher education by serving as a vehicle for this authoritarianism. We will scrutinise these proposals in detail, but the redundancy of the sector's supposed regulator has never been clearer. It should be abolished as soon as this government is voted out of office.'