British Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights said that the government s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is fundamentally incompatible with the UK s human rights safeguards and jeopardizes UK s international reputation.
Judy, Veronica and Ann are among the 250,000 British women who were separated from their babies after they were born out of wedlock. Between the 1950s and 1980s, women were forced to abandon their children under intense societal pressure, disrupting their lives and their children s lives. They are now demanding an apology from their country.
Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson returns to Downing Street from a weekly cabinet meeting held at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), in London, England, 3 November 2020, David Cliff/NurPhoto via Getty Images The extent to which there is a growing trend of intolerance to speech at universities is unclear. On campuses, freedom of expression issues are best dealt with by existing legislation and by the universities and Student Unions themselves.
This statement was originally published on article19.org on 11 May 2021.
The Queen’s Speech on 11 May set out the United Kingdom Government’s plans for the next parliament, which included changes in voting practices, increased powers for police, and a bill focusing on academic freedom.
Index shares its concerns about the Academic Freedom Bill
In response to today s Queen s speech, Index, English PEN and Article 19 have written to the Education Secretary
11 May 2021
Department for Education
Dear Secretary of State,
As organisations specialising in freedom of expression, we are writing to you to voice our significant concerns regarding the announcement of the Academic Freedom Bill in today’s Queen’s Speech.
There is an important discussion to be had around the state of freedom of expression in the UK’s universities. Hostile powers have felt increasingly emboldened to investigate and even sanction critical academics. Academics are having to both change their curricula and their method of teaching due to external pressures. Universities that fail to comply with government orders have had their sources of funding threatened.