UEA Vice Chancellor labels MPs letter: ‘clumsy and ill-considered’

Tory MP Chris Heaton-Harris has been met with criticism across academia


Chris Heaton-Harris, Tory MP for Daventry in Northamptonshire and Brexiteer, recently sent a letter to university vice chancellors across the UK demanding names and a copies of the syllabus and links to online lectures related to Europe and the EU.

Heaton-Harris has since been accussed of "McCarthyite" behaviour by lecturers across the UK. The Tab Norwich reached out to UEA's very own Vice-Chancellor, Prof David Richardson. He had this to say on the subject:

“The Prime Minister’s office has publicly rebuked Mr Heaton-Harris for his actions and stressed that he was acting as an individual MP and not in a government capacity. Mr Heaton-Harris’s letter has justifiably been condemned and I would endorse those criticisms.

The government have now distanced themselves from Heaton-Harris.

The letter was, at best, clumsy and ill-considered but, at worst, it was suggestive of an attempt to censor or challenge academic freedom. It’s vital that universities’ academic freedoms are protected and that we continue to remain free from, and unfettered by, government interference or censorship.”