Free speech is our touchstone of academic excellence

The free exchange of ideas is at the core of what universities are about. These are the places where knowledge is explored, discoveries made and issues debated. That process of debate is crucial: ideas and facts have to be tested and discussed if progress is ever to be made.

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It’s why freedom of thought and expression are so important, in society at large but especially in universities. And it’s why I have always advised students against “cancelling” or “deplatforming” speakers with whom they disagree. Protest peacefully, by all means, but go along and argue and express your disagreement - that’s the way in which truth emerges.

One of our older alumni wrote to me the other day to say he had gone along when he was a student in the 1930s to a meeting to hear Oswald Mosley speak. He said Mosley was eloquent and forceful, but also that the meeting opened his eyes to the true nature and danger of fascism.

It’s why I’m delighted that since she arrived at Cambridge as our vice-chancellor, Professor Deborah Prentice has placed such emphasis on the free interplay of speech and ideas. She has introduced a series of vice-chancellor’s dialogues as a forum for modelling constructive disagreement and encouraging engagement with different opinions.