During the Commons debate on human trafficking on 18 May 2011, Denis MacShane, MP for Rotherham, quoting from the list of essay titles for an academic political theory course at the London School of Economics, accused a distinguished professor, Anne Phillips FBA, of being unable to tell the difference between waged work and prostitution, and of filling the minds of students with "poisonous drivel". Fiona Mactaggart, MP for Slough, agreed, accusing Phillips of holding "nauseating views on that issue".
The ineptitude of this exchange - which is now for ever on the official Hansard record - is extraordinary. Students are asked why we should distinguish between the sale of one's labour and the sale or letting of one's body. That condones neither the latter nor the former. It encourages students to reflect on how to draw an important line between things appropriate and things inappropriate for market exchange. Asking such questions, far from being "nauseating", is central to public debate about policy and legislation. If MPs cannot tell the difference between an essay problem and an assertion of belief, how can we trust them to legislate effectively?
Parliamentary debate is a cornerstone of our constitution and political culture. However, using the privilege of a parliamentary platform ignorantly in order to traduce the reputation of a teacher of political theory is a dereliction of office.
Richard Bellamy, University College London; David Owen, University of Southampton; Michael Freeden, University of Oxford; Christopher Brooke, University of Cambridge; Marc Stears, University of Oxford; and 59 members and supporters of the Britain and Ireland Association for Political Thought:
Simon Caney, University of Oxford
Stuart White, University of Oxford
Aletta Norval, University of Essex
Iain Hampsher-Monk, University of Exeter
Thom Brooks, Newcastle University
Raia Prokhovnik, The Open University
Chris Brown, London School of Economics
Bonnie Honig, Northwestern University
Nicola Lacey, University of Oxford
Elizabeth Frazer, University of Oxford
Martin O'Neill, University of York
Tim Hayward, University of Edinburgh
Mark Philp, University of Oxford
Albert Weale, University College London
Kimberly Hutchings, London School of Economics
Kenneth Macdonald, University of Oxford
Chandran Kukathas, London School of Economics
Hillel Steiner, universities of Manchester and Salford
Christopher Bertram, University of Bristol
Paul Kelly, London School of Economics
Jules Townshend, Manchester Metropolitan University
Emily Jackson, London School of Economics
Gary Browning, Oxford Brookes University
Adrian Blau, University of Manchester
Russell Keat, University of Edinburgh
David Leopold, University of Oxford
Katrin Flikschuh, London School of Economics
Cecile Laborde, University College London
Engin Isin, The Open University
Dario Castiglione, University of Exeter
Clare Hemmings, London School of Economics
Christian List, London School of Economics
Evangelia Sembou, Political Studies Association
David Miller, University of Oxford
Wendy Stokes, London Metropolitan University
Ruth Kinna, Loughborough University
Joni Lovenduski, Birkbeck, University of London
Moya Lloyd, Loughborough University
Cecile Fabre, University of Oxford
Adam Swift, University of Oxford
Vincent Geoghegan, Queen's University Belfast
Jennifer Hornsby, Birkbeck, University of London
Lynn Dobson, University of Edinburgh
David Howarth, University of Essex
Reidar Maliks, University of Oxford
Nicholas Southwood, University of Oxford
Jeremy Jennings, Queen Mary, University of London
Miranda Fricker, Birkbeck, University of London
Reidar Maliks, University of Oxford
Nicholas Baigent, Graz University, Austria
Michael Otsuka, University College London
Susan Mendus, University of York
Robert Jubb, University College London
Duncan Kelly, University of Cambridge
Matthew Kramer, University of Cambridge
Jonathan Quong, University of Manchester
Annabel Lever, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Thomas Jacobi, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Veronique Munoz-Darde, University College London