Labour MPs accuse government of ‘ridiculous’ double standards and warn of two-tier university system
Oxbridge student groups are to be exempt from the legal restrictions imposed by the government’s new free speech legislation, leading to accusations of “ridiculous” double standards by ministers from opposition MPs.
Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, told MPs in a debate on the higher education (freedom of speech) bill that imposing the duties on Oxford and Cambridge student common rooms would be “unnecessary and overly bureaucratic”. Labour MPs protested that special treatment for Oxbridge was unjustified and created a two-tier system across universities.