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PEERS hit out again yesterday at the government’s latest attempts to enforce a legal counter-terrorism duty on universities under its controversial Prevent strategy.
The government was previously forced to make amendments to the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill to allay fears that it would undermine free speech.
Under the Bill, the Prevent strategy for dealing with extremism would impose new duties on bodies such as local authorities and universities.
But peers argued that the legislation would prevent people who showed signs of “non-violent extremism” from speaking on campus, undermining their freedom of speech.
Labour peer and leading Queen’s Counsel Baroness Kennedy said she “greatly” regretted that the Labour front bench did not support removing the plans from the Bill.
“The complaints and anxieties of the academic world and the many academics who have expressed concern are not trivial,” she said.
“They are being expressed for a reason and it is one of the reasons why our institutions of higher education are respected.”
