Free speech tsar faces calls to resign over 'biased' university inquiry

Alice Tomlinson
Fri, 01 May 2026 10:05:45 +0000

A free speech tsar has faced calls to resign over what has been described as a "biased" Sussex University inquiry that overturned a £585,000 fine.

Arif Ahmed, director of freedom of speech at the Office for Students in Autumn 2023, worked on the investigation against the University of Sussex, looking into breaches of free speech.

However, emails between Mr Ahmed and Professor Kathleen Stock before his appointment, whose departure from Sussex University had triggered the investigation in the first place.

Prof Stock was hounded out of her philosophy post at the university by trans activists and Mr Ahmed had expressed what the court described as "unequivocal support" for her prior to taking up his role.

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The judgment also cancelled a £585,000 fine the Office for Students had imposed on the University of Sussex, which it had claimed failed to uphold free speech.

Mrs Justice Lieven sided mainly with the university, finding that the regulator had been biased, approached the decision with a closed mind and had unlawfully predetermined the outcome.

The judge noted that the Office for Students had initially decided Mr Ahmed should not be involved in the investigation due to a potential conflict of interest, making it "somewhat surprising" that he was later appointed to effectively lead the investigation team.

Now Sasha Roseneil, the vice-chancellor of Sussex University, has suggested the free speech tsar's position is no longer tenable, reports the Times.

She said: "It is hard to see how the director of free speech role can continue with him in it."

She added that the result of the investigation appeared to have been determined from the very beginning and that Mr Ahmed had arrived part-way through a process.

The emails Mr Ahmed exchanged with Prof Stock before his appointment revealed his support for her.

In one message from October 2020, he wrote to her: "Pleased to see that Sussex has 'zero tolerance' for all forms of harassment and bullying, unless of course it is of people like you."

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In a later message, he invited the philosopher to speak at Cambridge University on trans issues, warning that students were "especially ill-equipped to resist peer pressure to have the right thoughts on these matters" and that, without a counterweight, they would end up in the "Khmer Rouge themselves".

However, the judge stopped short of saying Ahmed's involvement had fatally undermined the decision.

She noted that he had joined the process after the provisional decision had already been issued and that his role in the final outcome was not sufficiently central.

Despite the judgment, the Office for Students has stood by Mr Ahmed, with interim chief executive Josh Fleming saying he retained the "full confidence" of the regulator as he continued his work promoting freedom of speech at English universities.

The regulator has not yet decided whether to appeal the verdict.

Edward Peck, chair of the Office for Students, described the ruling as "disappointing" but acknowledged mistakes had been made, including a failure to hold in-person meetings with Sussex University and weaknesses in how some evidence was recorded and presented to the court.

He denied the ruling posed an existential threat to the regulator and called for a reset relationship with southern higher education establishment and the wider sector.

Ms Roseneil, meanwhile, described the judgment as "excoriating" and a "devastating indictment" of the regulator's conduct.

The Office for Students, which was set up eight years ago, has seen significant leadership turbulence during that time, having been through three chairs and three chief executives including an interim.

Its most recent permanent chief executive Susan Lapworth departed at Easter despite her term being due to end in August.

A letter she wrote to the Education Secretary, cited in the judgment, said the regulator had "robustly defended academic freedom and freedom of speech".

However, the judgment found that her stance from the outset had been to use Sussex University as a tool to drive behaviour across the wider sector and that her "fixed intent" had been to find the establishment in breach of its conditions.