Row erupts over funder’s decision to suspend diversity panel following government pressure

A growing number of academics are resigning advisory roles with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) after it suspended its first equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) advisory group following pressure from a government minister. The University and College Union has said that if UKRI does not reverse its decision  by the weekend it will call on its members to resign from voluntary positions with the funding body. The row looks set to damage the sector’s confidence in the independence of UKRI’s decision-making processes and could have long-lasting repercussions.

Secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, Michelle Donelan, published an open letter on 28 October  objecting to ‘extremist views’ shared on X, formerly Twitter, relating to the Israel–Hamas war by members of Research England’s EDI advisory group. While acknowledging that academic freedom and free speech are ‘totally sacrosanct’, Donelan said she was outraged by several posts expressing sympathy or support for Hamas and demanded a response from UKRI by Monday. Her letter named two committee members and called for the EDI group to be discontinued as it added ‘burden and bureaucracy’ and shows little evidence of effectiveness.