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.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/cambridge-don-ready-to-lead-war-on-woke-as-pms-first-free-speech-tsar/ar-AA1aXnYJ

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