Justin Welby gives backing to trans students amid free speech rows

The Archbishop of Canterbury has backed transgender students amid a series of free speech rows at universities.

In his first intervention on the subject, the Most Rev Justin Welby said that vice-chancellors should face funding cuts if they allow minority students to be insulted.

His comments came months after students at the University of Oxford tried to block Prof Kathleen Stock, the gender critical scholar, from speaking at its debating society because of her belief that trans women are not women.

While the Archbishop said there was no right not to be offended on campus, he added that universities that allow students to be “abused, insulted and excluded” should face serious consequences.

He said institutions should be subject to a “carrot and stick” approach in protecting minorities such as trans and Jewish students, while those who are “courageous” should be rewarded. 

Speaking at an event hosted by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, at the Bevis Marks Synagogue in London, the Archbishop reiterated his personal commitment to tackling anti-Semitism, as well as the duty of care that universities have to protect their students.

Universities’ funding threatened

Asked by Simon Sebag Montefiore, the historian, what more could be done to protect Jewish students targeted with anti-Semitic abuse on campus, he said: “You can’t stop things happening once or twice. You can stop them becoming a habit.

“Universities that allow it to be tolerated if there is systemic, ‘anti’ any category, whether it’s Jewish people, Jewish societies, whether it’s trans people – whatever it is, whether you agree with them or not – should have really quite serious consequences in terms of the recognition of their authority, their position. And their funding, in particular, I think that is really important.”

Free speech powers to protect controversial speakers from being cancelled by universities are set to become law in the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, meaning that academics and students can sue institutions for breaching their free speech rights.

Prof Stock, a former philosophy scholar, resigned from her post at the University of Sussex in 2021 after a campaign of intimidation by trans rights activists.

In May, she was interviewed at an Oxford Union event where police had to remove a protester who had glued their hand to the floor.

At the University of Edinburgh, screenings of Adult Human Female, the controversial documentary which challenges transgender ideology and examines opposition to it in the UK, has been cancelled twice because of opposition from pro-trans campaigners.

The Archbishop said that universities had to be a place where “no one is entitled not to be offended”. However, he added that “they have every right not to be abused, insulted and excluded – whoever they are”.

He said: “And the carrot has to be that when universities are courageous in dealing with these issues properly that they do get some benefit. It’s no use just having the stick. You’ve got to have the carrot as well.”

The Archbishop is known for commenting on political and social issues, including the Government’s plan to deport migrants to Rwanda, which he described as “morally unacceptable”.

His comments at Wednesday’s event were welcomed by charities supporting trans people.

Dr Jane Hamlin, the president emeritus of the Beaumont Society, a charity which supports trans people, said she was delighted that in an important speech “emphasising the right of Jewish people to be treated with respect, he reminded his audience that trans people are also entitled to not being abused, insulted or excluded by universities”.

She said: “I came out as trans while teaching at a university where I enjoyed tremendous warmth and respect from colleagues and students alike. I agree with the Archbishop that universities that demonstrate true equality and diversity in all they do should be rewarded for that.”

Maya Forstater, the founder of the Sex Matters campaign group, said: “The Archbishop’s comments are concerning. The students who protested against Kathleen Stock at Sussex, Oxford and Cambridge, and against other gender-critical speakers at Edinburgh, Essex and UCL, thought they were being courageous and standing up for trans students.

“It’s critical that universities stand up for freedom of speech and, in protecting any group from harassment, don’t create ‘anti-blasphemy’ rules.”

Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, praised the Archbishop for standing with the Jewish community “at a very dark hour” during Labour’s anti-Semitism crisis.

She also commended him for his support when a number of high-profile universities refused to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, which stated: “Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” 

“We will never forget it,” she said.

Sharp rise in anti-Semitic abuse

According to research published by the Community Security Trust, there was a 22 per cent increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus in two years – up from 123 incidents recorded in 2018-20 to 95 incidents in 2020-21 and 55 incidents in 2021-22. 

This included three instances of assault – one case involved a Jewish student being hit with a rubber bat while returning home after being accosted by a group shouting “f-----g Jews” – and incidents involving swastikas being sprayed onto the walls of student halls.

According to Home Office data, in 2020-21, 2,630 hate crimes against trans people were recorded by the police, an increase of 16 per cent from the previous year. 

A report from YouGov, commissioned by Stonewall, in 2018 also found that 14 per cent of trans students considered dropping out of higher education because of harassment and discrimination from staff and students.  

A Department for Education spokesman said: “Our newly passed Freedom of Speech Act will make sure that universities promote free speech and that those who have their free speech rights unlawfully restricted on campus can seek redress.

“There is nothing in this legislation which gives anyone the right to harass, intimidate or spread hate speech.”