Tory MPs demand U-turn on withdrawal of degree offer to Tony Sewell

Withdrawal of degree offer to race tsar Tony Sewell should be rescinded, Tory MPs say

  • Nottingham University withdrew an honorary degree from educational consultant Tony Sewell after he wrote the UK was not institutionally racist
  • Dr Sewell was appointed chairman of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities by Boris Johnson in 2020
  • 40 Tory MPs have written to the boss of the university to demand a U-turn
  • They said Nottingham had given honorary degrees to Chinese diplomats who denied Uighur genocide

More than 40 Tory MPs have written to the boss of a university to demand it rescinds a decision to withdraw the offer of an honorary degree to Tony Sewell.

The Daily Mail revealed last week that Nottingham University withdrew the offer after Dr Sewell wrote a controversial report for the Government which concluded there was no evidence that the UK was institutionally racist.

Now a group of parliamentarians has written to the university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Shearer West, to demand a U-turn.

They said the ‘extreme, hasty and regrettable’ decision was all the worse because Nottingham had given honorary degrees to Chinese diplomats who denied Uighur genocide.

Dr Tony Sewell was appointed chairman of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities by Boris Johnson in 2020

And they argued that giving Dr Sewell, who was appointed chairman of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities by Boris Johnson in 2020, the honour would help to ‘restore the good name’ of what was once a ‘well-regarded institution’.

The letter was signed by 43 MPs – including Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Tory Common Sense group, and Robert Halfon, chairman of the Commons education committee – and five lords.

It stated: ‘We are extremely alarmed at the decision of your university to withdraw Dr Sewell’s offer of an honorary degree, simply because he earned the ire of a few frustrated ideologues for his widely-welcomed work on the Government’s Race and Ethnic Disparities Report.’

The letter added: ‘He is a distinguished civic champion for the life chances of some of Britain’s least well-off children.’

The MPs said the university’s explanation that the award had been withdrawn because he had become the subject of political controversy was ‘plainly absurd’.

Other recipients of honorary degrees from the university include the former Chinese ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, who dismissed Uighur re-education internment camps as ‘fake news’, and Najib Razak, the ex-Malaysian PM who was jailed for 12 years for embezzlement.

Last week, Nottingham University said: ‘These awards predate the introduction of criteria to preclude the award of honorary degrees to figures who have been the subject of political controversy.’

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Gogglebox's Ellie's boyfriend 'critical but stable after accident'
Next post Michelle Zauner Doesn't Think Machine Gun Kelly 'Mainstream Sellout' Album Art Is Copying 'Jubilee'