UKRI investigation clears diversity panel following science minister’s accusations of extremism

An investigation into posts on social media by two members of the Research England Expert Advisory Group on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) has found no evidence of failure to adhere to the Nolan principles that guide conduct in public life. This comes in response to an open letter published by the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, Michelle Donelan on 28 October 2023, objecting to ‘extremist views’ shared on X, formerly Twitter, relating to the Israel–Hamas war and other contested issues, by members of the EDI advisory group.

Although Donelan acknowledged at the time that academic freedom and free speech were ‘totally sacrosanct’, she said she was outraged by several posts that she characterised as expressing sympathy or support for Hamas. Her letter named two committee members – Kate Sang and Kamna Patel – and called for the EDI group to be discontinued as it added ‘burden and bureaucracy’ and showed little evidence of effectiveness.