Universities could have their funding cut if they refuse to adopt the internationally recognised International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has warned today.
The Education Secretary has said in a letter that he will take action against higher education institutions if they do not adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism before Christmas.
In a letter to vice-chancellors today, he asserted there were still “too many disturbing incidents of antisemitism on campus and a lack of willingness by too many universities to confront this”.
He said the number of universities which have adopted the definition “remains shamefully low”, adding he was surprised that institutions have chosen not to demonstrate that they “do not tolerate antisemitism”.
He added: “These providers are letting down all their staff and students, and, shamefully, their Jewish students in particular”.
On Monday, in a Westminster Hall debate led by Conservative MP Christian Wakeford, Conservative parliamentarians urged UK universities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, after reports emerged that 80 institutions had not yet done so.
Last week, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick expressed that he was “extremely disappointed” that almost 80% had failed to adopt the definition.
Last year, Mr Jenrick wrote to all universities and local councils calling on them to adopt the definition, which includes examples of holding Jewish people responsible for the actions of the State of Israel and comparing Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) recently submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to 133 Higher Education institutions regarding the status of their adoption of the definition. Of those universities that responded to the FOI request, 80 said they had no plans to adopt the definition. 17 institutions said they were planning to discuss adoption and 7 did not respond. Only 29 have formally adopted the definition.
