Gavin Williamson MP: Brexit 'hit list' claim is rubbish
Claims that a Tory whip attempted to compile a 'hit list' of anti-Brexit university professors have been branded 'absolute rubbish' by his boss.
Eurosceptic Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris - a former student at the University of Wolverhampton - wrote to universities asking for the names of boffins teaching on Brexit courses and the content of their lectures.
Universities reacted furiously to the letter, accusing him of 'McCarthyism' and trying to police what goes on in the classroom.
But Government Chief Whip Gavin Williamson has hit out the claims, insisting that his colleague in the whips' office was a 'firm believer' in free speech at Britain's universities.
"He [Mr Heaton-Harris] is encouraging free speech and it is absolute rubbish to suggest otherwise," the South Staffordshire MP said.
The Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) has pushed for the Higher Education Minister Jo Johnson to condemn the letter.
Sally Hunt, UCU’s general secretary, said: "Our society will suffer if politicians seek to police what universities can and cannot teach.
"This attempt by Chris Heaton-Harris to compile a hit list of professors has the acrid whiff of McCarthyism about it and Jo Johnson must disown it in the strongest terms.
"Our universities and colleges must lead the way in defending academic freedom, where received wisdom can be challenged and controversial ideas debated."
Mr Johnson insisted Mr Heaton-Harris was simply doing research for a book, although he acknowledged the letter 'probably should not have been sent'.
“Chris has got a very longstanding interest in European affairs and the history of European thought,” Mr Johnson said.
“He – I’ve spoken to him – was pursuing inquiries of his own that may in time lead to a book on these questions.
"It was more of an academic inquiry rather than an attempt to constrain the freedom that academics rightly have."
The letter was sent to the vice chancellors of every UK university, including those at the University of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire University, Birmingham City University and the University of Birmingham.
Lord Patten, the chancellor of Oxford University, described Mr Heaton-Harris's letter as an 'extraordinary example of outrageous and foolish behaviour - offensive and idiotic Leninism'.
The pro-Remain peer said: "I couldn't believe that it had come from a Conservative MP.
"I think he must be an agent of Mr Corbyn intent on further increasing the number of young people who want to vote Labour."
