Blow for free speech as trans row university’s £585,000 fine quashed
SUSSEX University has won its appeal against a £585,000 fine imposed after a gender-critical professor was hounded out of her job by trans activists.
The High Court ruled yesterday
that the Office for Students (OFS) watchdog had no power to impose the record penalty. It also said the regulator was ‘biased’ and had misunderstood the meaning of ‘freedom of speech within the law’.
Professor Kathleen Stock resigned from Sussex in 2021 following harassment from trans activists, saying she felt pressure to ‘self-censor’ her work. The philosophy lecturer, who believes single-sex spaces are necessary in the likes of prisons and public toilets, had been accused by students of making trans people feel ‘unsafe’.
Last night campaigners said the judgment may have far-reaching consequences for free speech at universities.
Claire Coutinho, Tory equalities spokesman, said: ‘This is a huge setback for academic freedom. Kathleen Stock was hounded out of her job by a small group of radical activists who did not like her academic views. I hope the OFS appeals.’
The OFS had focused on the university’s transgender policy, which said all courses ‘must positively represent trans people’ and ‘transphobic propaganda... will not be tolerated’. It said the statements had a ‘chilling’ effect on free speech on campus, and breached the university’s registration conditions.
Sussex said the OFS did not have the power to impose sanctions based on this policy because it did not constitute a ‘governing document’.
‘She was hounded out’