Rishi Sunak meets university bosses and Jewish students to 'de-escalate' campus protests

ITV News' Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker reports.

The prime minister has met with university vice-chancellors and a Jewish student union in a bid to de-escalate tensions on UK campuses, amid growing numbers of student protests in support of Gaza.

Student encampments have been set up in protest against the war in Gaza at more than a dozen universities across the UK, echoing similar action taking place in the US.

The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) has criticised encampment protests for creating a “hostile and toxic atmosphere” on campus for Jewish students and called on vice-chancellors to do more to protect them.

Protesters, however, argue their demonstrations are peaceful and not anti-semitic. They are calling on their universities to divest from Israel in response to its military operation in Gaza.

At a roundtable meeting conducted by Rishi Sunak in Downing Street this morning, the prime minister told vice-chancellors from 17 leading UK universities he expected them to take a zero-tolerance approach to anti-semitic incidents and to take responsibility for protecting Jewish students.

The PM's spokesman said: “He called on universities to remain bastions of tolerance where debate takes place with respect for others and where every student feels safe."

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Sunak condemned “extremists at the National Union of Students (NUS)” who he says opposed the Union of Jewish Students’ (UJS) support for “the principle of a Jewish state” in a written article in The Times.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, who was also in attendance, said vice-chancellors need to set an example and show leadership to "de-escalate" the situation to avoid violent scenes similar to those in the US, where more than 1,000 protesters were arrested in police crackdowns.

Mr Sunak, Ms Keegan and vice-chancellors discussed taking disciplinary action against students found guilty of anti-semitism or glorification of terrorism, or any form of intimidation or violence.

The PM's official spokesman said it was up to universities to deal with such investigations.

The education secretary told ITV News some protesters are making 'unreasonable demands'

It is understood some universities are also asking protesters to present their IDs as some encampments are being infiltrated by non-students.

Ms Keegan earlier hit out at the "unreasonable demands" of some pro-Palestinian protesters and said "we want to make it clear Jewish students and staff need to feel safe on campuses."

She said some protesters have been referred to the police, adding: "We want people to see it's not acceptable to harass other students or deny their access to other parts of the campus."

In 2023, 182 university-related anti-semitic incidents were recorded by the Jewish charity, the Community Security Trust (CST), compared with 60 incidents in 2022 – a rise of 203%. Representatives from the CST were also in attendance at the meeting.

Union of Jewish Students (UJS) President Edward Isaacs - who described the meeting as "constructive" - called for "red lines" to be drawn between free speech and inciting violence.

“We are seeing language emanating from these encampments and protest movements such as calls to globalise the intifada,” he said, adding: “These are not meaningless political statements, these are direct calls for violence.”

“I am confident that vice-chancellors have heard the message loud and clear today that anti-semitism has no place on campus, and I look forward to seeing their decisive action following this meeting,” he said.

Protesters behind the encampments are calling on their universities to divest from Israel in response to its military operation in Gaza, which would mean selling off stock in Israeli companies or otherwise severing current and future financial links with Israel.

It comes as more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the Cambridge Union on Wednesday evening to protest a talk by billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel, founder of company Palantir. Demonstrators accused him of being complicit in genocide due to his company's ties to Israel.

In the autumn statement in November, the chancellor announced that £7 million of extra support would be committed to tackle anti-semitism in schools and universities.

Of this, £500,000 will be dedicated to supporting the work of the University Jewish Chaplaincy, which helps students deal with incidents of anti-semitism.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Sunak warned of “students and academic staff being targeted, threatened, and assaulted simply for being Jewish” in an article in The Times, as he he hit out at “extremists at the National Union of Students".

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He wrote: “We will always protect freedom of speech and the right to protest — and our universities are a natural place for that expression, precisely because they are institutions of learning and exploration where challenging ideas are debated rigorously.

“But just as importantly, universities have a profound duty to remain bastions of tolerance, where such debate takes place with respect for others — and where every student feels safe and at home, whatever their faith or background.”

Mark Gardner, chief executive of the CST, said: “Everyone has the right to protest, but they do not have the right to disrupt other students’ learning, harass and threaten Jewish students, or spread hatred of Israel with calls for ‘resistance’ and other extremist language.

“University authorities need to set out clear boundaries for the timing, location and content of these protests and ensure there are consequences for anyone who breaks them.”

A spokesman for the UJS said: “Universities must act decisively to combat hate on campus. UJS stands ready to work with all stakeholders to tackle this urgent issue.”

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), said the meeting with ministers and the UJS had been “positive” and she welcomed the opportunity to have a discussion about how “to avoid an escalation of campus tensions”.

She said: “Universities have taken the rise in antisemitism on campuses since October 7 very seriously and will continue to work hard to ensure the safety of Jewish staff and students.

“The current conflict has raised tensions across many communities and we have been clear there is no place for intolerance on our campuses".

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