Antisemitism on University Campuses

Lord Bew Excerpts

Wednesday 7th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bew (CB)]

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Cryer, and agree with him in endorsing, as so many other noble Lords have done, the StandWithUs UK report and its important implications for the leadership of our universities.

Like many academics, I am uncomfortable with the Trump Government’s current conflict with Harvard. But Harvard is on a much firmer footing in this conflict with its president saying—in a way that our vice-chancellors are reluctant to do—that antisemitism is a serious problem on campus and acknowledging the depth of the problem.

The noble Lord, Lord Turnberg, mentioned Conor Cruise O’Brien and one of his many brilliant, insightful comments. In the period since 7 October, one moment stays very much in my mind. For over 10 years, I was chairman of the Anglo-Israel Association. We tried to bring some victims of 7 October and their families to Ireland. To a degree, we succeeded. There were some radio interviews and so on, but we were told that you cannot bring them on to university campuses. These were the victims of this horrendous assault, but we could not bring them on to university campuses.

We do not want to reach such a point in this country —that is the message of the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Turnberg, and of so many other speeches tonight.