The Labour Government has been accused of "not believing in free speech" after a historic debating societies from taking part in a campus event at a UK university.
Durham Union Society were barred from taking part in an events day for the university’s new students, following accusations from the union that they had "failed to show improved standards" following a string of "racism allegations".
The university’s 182-year-old debating society, which includes more than 3,000 current and former students was reportedly denied a space.
The student union said the debating society had failed to show it had improved standards following a string of racism allegations.
The Durham Student Union said in a statement that it "believes strongly in freedom of speech" and would "never take action to disadvantage one of its student groups" - however, Durham Union Society said the university has a "legal obligation" to "secure freedom of speech on campus", branding the move "hostile and capricious".
Discussing the incident on GB News, pollster and academic Matt Goodwin claimed there is a "systemic crisis" in Britain's universities, and that the Labour Government "doesn't believe in free speech".
Matt Goodwin claimed Labour does 'not believe in free speech' after a UK uni banned their debate society from freshers fair
GB News / PA
Goodwin fumed: "If you are Conservative or you're gender critical or you say actually, on balance, I think Britain's history is not just full of slavery and imperialism, we did some good things - what happens is you're intimidated, you're bullied, you're harassed, you're sacked, you're thrown out of these institutions.
"We need the Free Speech Act that passed Parliament and got royal assent. And now Bridget Phillipson, the Labour Education Secretary, is saying she's going to basically not going to see it through and she's going to repeal it. Labour doesn't believe in free speech."
Highlighting the decisions made by Sir Keir Starmer following this summer's riots, Goodwin also claimed that the Prime Minister is trying to "crack down on free speech" and "freedom of expression".
In agreement with Goodwin, former Member of European Parliament Sion Simon claimed that there is "certainly a growing intolerance" for free speech in Britain's universities.
Durham University barred one of their oldest debating unions from participating in an event for new students
Durham University
Simon told GB News: "There has been quite a growing culture of intolerance in universities. I'm a Labour guy and I'm on the left, but I come on here because I want to debate, and that's clearly what university should be about.
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"I don't want to see intolerance in universities. But there must come a point where you have to draw a line - I'm not sure that everybody should be allowed to say anything, there should be limits.
"There is legislation to protect free speech and there is legislation against kind of hate speech, so do we need separate legislation for universities?"
Recalling his years of experience at Durham University, Goodwin reaffirmed that universities are suffering a "free speech crisis" across the UK, and the rights to people's freedom of expression "needs to be protected".
Matt Goodwin and Sion Simon debated Labour's crackdown of free speech in Britain
GB News
Goodwin explained: "I've actually spoken at the Durham Union - the students, the organisers, they're really great people, and they're really welcoming.
"And what we're seeing in the universities, what we're seeing on campus. I've been in universities for 20 years, I helped bring forward the Higher Education Free Speech Act, which Labour is now doing everything it can to bin."
He added: "What we have is a free speech crisis on campus, and the evidence is overwhelming. It's not just the case of Kathleen Stock getting chased out of Sussex University by pro-trans activists.
"And it's not just Nigel Biggar, the philosopher and historian that got almost cancelled because he held different views on Britain's empire. We have a systemic crisis."
Durham Student Union said in a statement that it “believes strongly in freedom of speech and has never, and would never, take any action to disadvantage one of its student groups on the basis of lawful beliefs, opinions, policies, or ideas”.
It added: “There are no examples to the contrary. We work closely with Durham University, every day, to ensure that students find and share new thinking and experiences.“We support over 300 student groups, of astonishing cultural, philosophical, political, and religious diversity, who frequently disagree with each other, and with the students’ union
"We love it, and wouldn’t have it any other way....Durham Student Union doesn’t disagree with any of the lawful beliefs, opinions, policies, or ideas of Durham Union Society, which [despite the name] is not a student society at Durham University or Durham Student Union."
