Justin Welby gives backing to trans students amid free speech rows

Archbishop of Canterbury says universities should face funding cuts if they allow people to be ‘abused, insulted and excluded’.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has backed transgender students amid a series of free speech rows at universities.

In his first intervention on the subject, the Most Rev Justin Welby said that vice-chancellors should face funding cuts if they allow minority students to be insulted.

His comments came months after students at the University of Oxford tried to block Prof Kathleen Stock, the gender critical scholar, from speaking at its debating society because of her belief that trans women are not women.

While the Archbishop said there was no right not to be offended on campus, he added that universities that allow students to be “abused, insulted and excluded” should face serious consequences.

He said institutions should be subject to a “carrot and stick” approach in protecting minorities such as trans and Jewish students, while those who are “courageous” should be rewarded.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, at the Bevis Marks Synagogue in London, the Archbishop reiterated his personal commitment to tackling anti-Semitism, as well as the duty of care that universities have to protect their students.

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