I agree with the hon. Gentleman on that, but, having declared my interest that I am employed at the University of Bolton, I had better not make too forceful a point about it.
Many more academics we do not know of will have faced similar pressures, in untold everyday stories of students and academics that, whether through fear or otherwise, go unreported or unresolved. That is why it is so important to reject the Lords amendment that would abolish the new statutory tort proposed in the Bill as it was originally drafted. It is disappointing that the academic establishment in the other place made a case against that—disappointing, but unsurprising, because of course these people look after their own. I am very pleased that, as my hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Danny Kruger) said, the Minister has resisted those calls. She has shown determination, insight and, I must say, a degree of courage in doing so, because it is easy to roll over when the big beasts in the other place roar in defence of the academic establishment.
6.15 pm
The provision is unquestionably an essential method to give weight to the Bill and teeth to the principles that it embodies, and one that gives voice to those who currently feel voiceless. The legislation will remove the room for doubters and schemers to dilute what is intended, which, at worst, means cancelling events, prohibiting speakers, destroying the careers of academics, intimidation and all the kinds of measures that we typically associate with tyranny. The idea that that liberal tyranny should prevail in our universities is anathema, alien to what we believe universities are about. They are, in Cardinal Newman’s words, places of light, liberty and learning. But their learning is being stymied, their light is being extinguished and their liberty is at risk. At last, the Government are acting to do something about it all.
Any weakening of the Bill’s provisions will send a message to its critics that those who see it as their business to police what others think and say have won. The solution is the actionable tool at the core of the Bill—one that establishes a routine response for every David against all the Goliaths. It is a shield for those who are determined that their universities should remain places where ideas are discussed freely; a sword to be wielded against those who aim to snuff out the light of free speech, free study and free thought. They must know that the darkness that they seek to bring to our universities is going to come to an end, and that this Minister will carry that torch—that light—as the Bill becomes law.