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And Clause 20 doesn’t just apply to shops and hospitality. The implications for academia are especially alarming. Under the Equality Act as it stands, visiting speakers are treated as third parties, and universities are under no legal duty to protect its staff from being “harassed” by them. This legal “gap” has proved crucial, allowing groups like the Free Speech Union to mount successful challenges when institutions over-apply the Act and attempt to no-platform speakers, whether invited guests or other staff members, whose views may be controversial but are entirely lawful.
Freddie Attenborough, The Critic, 20th April 2025.
