Laughable Brexit debate now includes 'doom' for British universities - TruePublica
Laughable Brexit debate now includes ‘doom’ for British universities
The referendum is not about anyone’s lab. It’s about democracy By Democratic Audit UK:
The decision by Universities UK to campaign for Remain has had a
chilling effect on academic freedom in Britain’s universities, argue
Christopher Bickerton and Lee Jones. Pro-EU sentiment has stifled debate
about the real impact leaving the EU would have on academic work.
Scientists, in particular, have warned that leaving would doom their
research. In fact, a Brexit might correct serious inequities in hiring
academic talent and the EU’s contribution to UK research funding is
only just over 6%. Remain campaigners are misrepresenting statistics in
order to defend a cultural and political preference.
So far, the debate on ‘Brexit’ has been utterly
laughable, reflecting both the narrowness and short-sightedness of
contemporary politics, and the fact that the debate is being ‘led’ on
both sides by conservatives. The debate essentially boils down to
whether your weekly groceries will be £4.32 more costly or £3.16 cheaper
inside or outside of the EU, or whether Brexit will make it more or
less likely that you’ll be murdered in your sleep by a criminal
immigrant. ‘Project Fear’ looms large on both sides. Saddest of all,
this is even true where reasoned debate should have been strongest – in
Britain’s universities.
There are certainly some academics doing good work around Brexit. KCL’s UK in a Changing Europe programme
is formally neutral, provides evidence to allow people to judge the
issues for themselves, and hosts both pro- and anti-Brexit opinion.
But this work is the exception. The norm is vociferous pro-EU
boosterism, combined with heavy doses of ‘Project Fear’, warning that
British universities will be severely harmed by Brexit.
The chief offender here is Universities UK, the sector’s chief lobby group, which launched a ‘Universities for Europe’
campaign in July 2015. Their entirely utilitarian case against Brexit
is as follows: over 125,000 EU students currently study at UK
universities, generating £2.27bn for the UK economy and 19,000 jobs;
15,000 academic staff in the UK are from other EU states; and over
200,000 UK students have benefited from the Erasmus programme. Some
vague statements are made about EU research funding, plus transparently
weak efforts to link the total economic activity generated by
universities to ‘EU support’.
UUK committed British universities to ‘promote powerful evidence and
highlight compelling stories about the benefits of EU membership’
without any internal debate, nor any consideration of academic freedom. A
managerial elite should not be able to commit a university –
which is a community of scholars – to any position without the consent
of that community. This position has arguably created a chilling effect
where pro-Brexit academics avoid speaking out for fear of being branded
traitors to the sector’s basic interests.
Moreover, UUK’s case against Brexit is fundamentally weak. The
Erasmus statistics can be discounted as participation in the Erasmus
Programme is not tied to EU membership. It currently has 927 partner
institutions in 37 countries – including but not limited to the EU’s 28
member-states.
