Cambridge professor appeals to ministers over cancelled Home Office talk

An academic has asked the universities minister to defend her freedom of speech, after claiming a speaking invitation to civil servants at the Home Office was cancelled over her public criticism of home secretary Priti Patel.

Professor Priyamvada Gopal, a Professor of Postcolonial Studies and a Teaching Fellow at Churchill College Cambridge, said she was invited to address Home Office officials this week on the relationship between government policies and recent colonial history such as the Windrush scandal.

She said the invitation was rescinded over the weekend.

Politics blog Guido Fawkes highlighted their ‘exposé’ of a tweet critical of Mrs Patel, posted earlier this year.

The post read: “Priti Patel is also a reminder that many Asians in British Africa had ferociously anti-black attitudes and were used by colonial administrations to keep black populations in their place. An attitude she brings to government.”

Gopal said she had appealed to universities minister Michelle Donelan, to explain why the event was cancelled, highlighting her and the department for education’s vocal opposition to no-platforming.

She said in a Tweet this morning:

According to The Guardian a government spokesperson said: “Due diligence checks are always taken on any speakers and it is important to note speakers who come to these events are not always representative of the view of the government.”