Cambridge don ready to lead war on woke as PM's first free speech tsar

Rishi Sunak has chosen a Cambridge professor as the UK’s first free speech tsar to crack down on cancel culture at universities, the Telegraph understands.

Arif Ahmed, a philosophy professor who has given free speech lessons to Cambridge students, will be confirmed as the selected candidate this weekend, according to a government source.

The new champion will have the power to investigate universities and student unions in England and Wales that wrongly restrict debate. The director will also advise the sector regulator on imposing fines for free speech breaches.

Prof Ahmed has repeatedly warned that free speech is under threat and has also been involved in multiple rows on the topic at Cambridge University.

In December 2020, dons forced a vote on a new policy that would require them to “respect” other viewpoints. Prof Ahmed’s amendment, which replaced the word “respect” with “tolerate”, was voted through in what the rebels described as “a landslide”.

Last year, he was rebuked by his college’s master for inviting the writer and gender-critical feminist Helen Joyce to speak to students about cancel culture. Prof Ahmed described the intervention as “predictably chilling”, and said he had to smuggle students into the talk because they were scared that their peers would see them attending.

Champion to be in place before General Election

The free speech champion position is being created via the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, which is close to achieving Royal Assent in parliament.

The Prime Minister pledged to tackle “woke nonsense” during last summer’s leadership election campaign and said that “our laws must protect free speech”.

It is understood that senior Government figures are eager to get the champion in post as soon as possible so that they have time to have an impact before the next General Election.

The imminent appointment follows a string of controversies on university campuses. Last month, the University of Bristol was criticised by ministers for banning the public from a feminist society’s event that included a lawyer critical of the controversial charity Stonewall. Students were also asked to pay significant security costs in order for the event to go ahead. Meanwhile, academics at the University of Edinburgh have this month urged administrators to uphold their commitment to academic freedom after activists prevented the screening of a women’s rights documentary.

Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: “Arif is an excellent choice for the role. He has a proven track record as a fearless defender of free speech. I remember when he opposed a revision to Cambridge University’s free speech policy that would have forced academics to ‘respect’ each other’s opinions. That could easily have been misused to shut down discussion and debate. He was one of very few dons willing to stick his head above the parapet on that issue, but thanks to his moral courage the word ‘respect’ was replaced with ‘tolerate’, which was a huge improvement. He has a backbone of steel.”

The Department for Education declined to comment.