Sir (Northampton North) (Con): At
Cambridge University, a barbaric vandal wearing a £1,000 Mulberry
backpack was so full of hate for Jews that she felt Lord
Balfour’s letter of 1917 gave her the moral superiority to
destroy a valuable and historic painting of him. This shines a
light on the pernicious atmosphere faced by Jewish students at
universities across the country, with calls for “Zionists off our
campus” now shamefully normalised, and “Zionists” really meaning
Jews. What steps does my right hon. Friend propose to take to
convey to university heads that they have a legal and a moral
obligation to stamp out antisemitism?
The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education
(): I thank my right hon. and
learned Friend for his question. Arthur Balfour was a great man
and identified the need for a homeland for British Jews. That is
why antisemites do not like him and are slashing his picture. I
and the Secretary of State are spending a lot of time with Jewish
student groups. I have been to Leeds University to spend time
with Jewish students, because the chaplain there was attacked,
and we are working with Universities UK. We have announced a £7
million package to give to Jewish student groups, including the
University Jewish Chaplaincy, to try to stop antisemitism on
campus. We are also developing a quality seal that we will ask
universities to adopt, so that they deal properly with
antisemitic incidents. Last week, I and the Secretary of State
had a meeting with the Office for Students, to make clear to the
regulator that antisemitism across our universities is not
acceptable.
