Mick Hartley

Jo Grady, head of the University and College Union (UCU) speaks up on that Sheffield Hallam debacle:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the biggest threat to academic freedom in the UK is the marketisation of higher education.

The accusation here could not be more serious: that the university traded important research on human rights violations in China, for access to the Chinese student market.

Jon Pike responds:

One of the biggest threats to academic freedom in the UK is your leadership @DrJoGrady, of @UCU. You don’t defend the academic freedom of academics in the UK unless it suits your politics. You were, and are silent about, or dismissive of the attacks on Profs Stock, Freedman, Phoenix, Todd and Ben-Gad. Your supporters in the union tried to get me dismissed because they didn’t like my views on fairness in sport. Branches of UCU try to close down book launches, and complained of @Docstockk ‘weaponising employment law’ when she defended herself against bullying that your supporters cheered on. And your supporters lined up with the employers when @JoPhoenix1 was contructively dismissed from the OU.

No one should or will take you seriously on academic freedom. And this is not just a political shot at you. It is *dangerous* for academics in the UK not to be able to rely their union to defend them, unless they toe the line. In this respect, you have quite a lot in common with the CCP.

This talk about marketisation might figure in a good faith discussion of academic freedom. But you are not a good faith actor, because you don’t consistently support basic academic freedom rights for those you claim to represent.