UKRI has asked Research England to suspend the operations of its diversity advisory group after the tech secretary accused it of a “serious failure” of impartiality following social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war by some of its members.
Dame Ottoline Leyser, chief executive of UKRI, said she has launched an investigation and will use the findings to “come to a conclusion about the ultimate future” of the Research England Equality Diversity and Inclusion advisory group.
It comes after Michelle Donelan, the secretary of state for science and tech, wrote to Leyser on 28 October to express her “disgust and outrage” at posts on X, formerly Twitter, by members of the advisory group.
Donelan wrote: “I am outraged by the post on X by Professor Kate Sang, who stated that the UK’s crackdown on Hamas support in the UK was ‘disturbing’. Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation.”
Donelan added that she was “shocked to see multiple tweets by other members of the group, including amplification by Dr Kamna Patel, University College London, of a post on X that condemns violence on both sides but makes reference to Israel’s ‘genocide and apartheid’”.
UKTN has contacted Sang and Patel for comment but did not receive a reply at the time of publication.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the national funding agency for science and research, is a public body that is paid for by taxpayers.
Donelan said there has “clearly been a serious failure to be mindful of the need for both real and perceived impartiality” and said her “strong preference” would be that UKRI “immediately close” the group and investigate.
Leyser, in a letter sent to Donelan on 30 October, said: “I am deeply concerned about the issues you raise in your letter and I am taking swift and robust action accordingly. This action is guided by the principles you articulate, including the Nolan Principles and freedom of speech within the law, and will follow the procedures set out in the advisory group conditions of appointment.”
Leyser added that she has asked Professor Dame Jessica Corner, executive chair of Research England – a sub-group of UKRI that funds higher education providers – to suspend the equality, diversity and inclusion advisory group with “immediate effect”.
On 7 October Hamas launched a terrorist attack against Israel, resulting in the deaths of over 1,400 Israelis and foreigners, most of whom were civilians, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office.
Israel has retaliated with airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, which have to date killed over 8,500 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
The bloodiest conflict since the Yom Kippur War has rocked the UK’s Israeli tech community, with several high-profile tech firms founded in Israel now headquartered in London.
Earlier this month Donelan met with social media bosses demanding that they remove violent content of Hamas’ attack on Israel from their platforms.