OfS chair: free speech ‘a salient issue’ amid current global climate

James Wharton says universities must take steps to protect Jewish students

Current national and international events make freedom of speech on campus “an increasingly salient issue”, the chair of the Office for Students has said as England’s regulator publishes its annual report.

James Wharton, who is also a Conservative member of the House of Lords, said in the 2023 OfS annual review that higher education providers “should take steps to uphold free speech within the law for everyone”—and added that this “does not, and cannot, include discrimination against, or harassment of, Jewish students”.