Jesus Christ would be prevented from speaking at Britain’s universities, says Oxford academic

Comments made amid increasingly fiery debate over stifling of free speech at institutions, which has been described as 'an epidemic'

Jesus Christ, the 'non-violent extremist' (Harry Laub / imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock)

Jesus Christ would not be allowed to speak on the nation’s university campuses had he been alive today, a leading Oxford academic has said.

Professor Timothy Garton Ash, teacher of European studies at Oxford University, described how Home Office legislation now means even “non-violent extremists” are being prevented from airing their views, reports The Telegraph.

Speaking at the Hay Festival in Wales - an annual literary gathering - the professor emphasised his point by reflecting on similar figures from the past who would be blocked if they tried to speak on the nation’s campuses in 2016.

The site reports how he told an audience: “Non-violent extremists? That’s Karl Marx, Rousseau, Charles Darwin, Hegel - and most clearly Jesus Christ, who was definitely a non-violent extremist. The Home Office wouldn’t want him preaching on campus.”

The professor, who recently released Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World, a book which calls on bettering freedom of expression, also highlighted the key threats to free speech, including violent acts from those who take issue with figures who express their opinions.

His comments have come amid the increasingly fiery debate over the stifling of free speech on the UK’s university campuses, which has been described as “an epidemic” in spiked! magazine’s annual Free Speech University Rankings (FSUR).

FSUR, this year, found a staggering 90 per cent of institutions are now censoring speech, up from 80 per cent in 2015, with Aberystwyth University, Edinburgh, and Leeds paving the way for being the most restrictive.

Just last month, a BBC survey found 63 per cent of university students in the UK believed the National Union of Students (NUS) was right to have a no platform policy, while more than half added it should be actively enforced against people who could be deemed intimidating.

High-profile speakers to have been no platformed in recent months include feminist writer Germaine Greer and human rights activist Maryam Namazie. Peter Tatchell, one of Britain’s leading human rights campaigners, also accused a student leader of smearing him with false accusations as part of a “McCarthy-style” witch-hunt.

Speaking shortly after the BBC survey, Mr Tatchell said: “Just because a majority of students support a policy, does not make it right. Democracy does not include the right to vote away the free speech and human rights of others.”

Leading British journalist and feminist activist Julie Bindel also recently warned that censorship is quickly becoming “the new normal,” not only on university campuses, but in society as a whole.

She told viewers in a viral video clip for the Guardian: “Sorry, we can’t ban everything that offends you. Let us hear the arguments put forward by those with whom we disagree, so we can expand our language and show rational resistance.”