Member testimonial: Professor Michael Rainsborough on holding King's College London to account

Max Thompson

22 July 2026

In the latest instalment of the FSU Member Testimonial series, we hear from an old friend of the Free Speech Union, Professor Michael Rainsborough.

Michael's long-held belief is that the purpose of scholarship is not to reinforce orthodoxies but to test them. He is the former Head of the Department of War Studies at King's College London (KCL), and in 2018 he established the Endangered Speeches series to debate the culture wars.

When the FSU's founder and General Secretary, Lord Young of Acton, began thinking about establishing the Free Speech Union, Michael was part of those early conversations. He now serves on the FSU's Advisory Council and is a proud FSU member.

A change at King's

By the end of the 2010s, Michael says he could sense something changing at KCL. His belief that universities exist to encourage robust disagreement began to be challenged as some ideas became less welcome than others.

After launching the Endangered Speeches series and co-authoring an article suggesting that trends in British politics were pushing the country closer to civil strife, Michael says his work was treated as thoughtcrime. He was denounced by colleagues and felt compelled to step down early from his role in the department. Eventually, he left KCL and returned to Australia.

But he never accepted what had happened to him, or the direction in which he believed the university was heading. He was determined to hold KCL accountable. King's had, in his mind, abandoned the importance of challenging accepted orthodoxies and respecting reason and evidence.

How the FSU stepped in

The Free Speech Union advised Michael on submitting a Subject Access Request (SAR) and encouraged him to appeal when the initial disclosure proved inadequate. The FSU later helped him pursue a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

What those disclosures revealed was not only confirmation of his own experience, but evidence of a much wider problem. They exposed an institution where academic freedom had become increasingly marginalised — what Michael describes as an embedded fear of free speech within the university.

One of the most striking revelations from his FOI request was that, over several years, KCL spent nearly £800,000 on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, compared with just £4,500 on promoting freedom of expression. As Michael says, the figures speak for themselves.

KCL's own disclosures made his case more impactfully than anyone else could.

"The Free Speech Union gave me expert advice, practical support and, above all, the means to hold a powerful institution publicly accountable. It helped me to fight the battle. It helped ensure that the evidence could speak for itself."

As Michael rightly says, institutions can lose their way — and we are increasingly seeing this across some of our country's most prestigious universities. They must never be beyond scrutiny.

The Free Speech Union is proud to have supported Michael in his case, and for his friendship over many years. The free speech crisis on campus is a national scandal. Institutions must be held accountable and adhere to their statutory duty to protect and promote freedom of speech.

Watch Michael's FSU Member Testimonial here, and join the Free Speech Union.