Dear Supporter,
Thank you so much to everyone who signed our Free Speech Universities petition. Yesterday, I was delighted to present the petition, signed by 15,124 supporters, to the Department of Education.
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The petition was referenced by Jim Shannon MP, during the debate the Government’s Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill. You can see his contribution in the video above.
We offer our thanks to Mr Shannon, as well as to Sir Edward Leigh MP, who also mentioned pro-life students in his contribution, and to Chris Green MP, who joined me outside Parliament to add his voice to the thousands of SPUC supporters’ voices demanding that Government protect the free speech of students, especially young pro-lifers.
Yesterday the Bill completed its Report stage and was given an unopposed Third Reading. This is great news, and we hope that the passage of this Bill will spell an end to the vicious campaign of abuse, intimidation and ‘cancellation’ is currently being waged against pro-life students at UK universities.
Pro-life students have experienced increasing hostility, and even death threats, at universities across the UK in recent years.
Last year, Exeter University pro-life students were subjected to horrific abuse and death threats. SPUC condemned the abuse and demanded that Exeter University take action to protect pro-life students.
In yet another attack on free speech, pro-abortion students destroyed a pro-life stall at Oxford University’s Freshers’ Fair last year; while that same year, the pro-life society at Queen’s University Belfast was investigated by its student union for sharing pro-life content on social media.
In 2021, an Alliance of Pro-life Students survey revealed that around a quarter of students reported being “threatened, abused, alarmed or distressed” for being pro-life at university.
This Bill is a very positive step forward, and thanks to you, the particular plight of pro-life students has been raised in Parliament.
Thank you again to all those who added their names to SPUC’s petition. Being part of a university means being exposed to different points of view and being the better for it.
SPUC will continue to defend pro-life students, whose dignity and bravery, in what is an increasingly hostile campus environment, is inspiring.
With best wishes,
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Alithea Williams
Public Policy Manager
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