Donelan ‘must resign’ after professor libel payout, says union

UK science secretary Michelle Donelan should resign after she paid damages to a professor whom she suggested had expressed sympathy for Hamas, a union said.

The payment was made to Kate Sang after Ms Donelan said in a social media post that she was “outraged” that the professor of gender and employment studies at Heriot-Watt University had – as she put it – described the government’s plan to crack down on Hamas support in the UK as “disturbing”. It is understood that the bill will be paid by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

But the University and College Union said that Ms Donelan’s retraction of her statement – the post has now been deleted – did not go far enough.

“Despite using taxpayers’ money to pay damages and settle a libel claim, Michelle Donelan has failed to actually apologise to the individuals she falsely accused and attacked, or for the damage she has done to the academic community. That she only retracted her allegations after a lengthy legal process makes matters worse,” said Jo Grady, the union’s general secretary.

“These are not the actions of someone who is engaging with our sector in good faith. As the union representing academics, we are forced to conclude that Ms Donelan’s position is untenable.

“She does not retain the confidence of the academic community, nor is she upholding good standards of professional conduct. She must resign.”

The row centres on a letter sent by Ms Donelan to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and shared on X, in the wake of the 7 October attack by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent retaliation in Gaza.

Ms Donelan claimed that members of Research England’s expert advisory group on equality, diversity and inclusion had shared “extremist” and “unacceptable” views, also condemning the “amplification” of a tweet by the advisory body’s chair, Kamna Patel, a development studies academic at UCL, which “condemns violence on both sides but makes reference to Israel’s ‘genocide and apartheid’”.

In a statement posted on X on 5 March, Ms Donelan said that Professor Sang had clarified that her tweet related to the entirety of an article in The Guardian and not just the headline quoted in her tweet; and, on that basis, she had withdrawn her concerns about the tweet.

Bindmans, the law firm that brought a libel complaint against the minister on behalf of Professor Sang, said that Ms Donelan had based the false allegation on a report by the thinktank Policy Exchange.

Ms Donelan said that she “fully accept[ed]” that Professor Sang was “not an extremist, a supporter of Hamas or any other proscribed organisation” and that she had deleted her original post.

Ms Donelan’s intervention led to UKRI suspending the equality group, leading to a debate around freedom of speech, with several academics resigning from UKRI appointments as a result.

Following an independent investigation, UKRI’s board found no evidence of a breach of the advisory group’s terms of reference, and no failure to uphold the Nolan principles on public life.

A DSIT spokeswoman said that Ms Donelan “received the appropriate advice from relevant officials at all times”.

“There is an established precedent under multiple administrations that ministers are provided with legal support and representation where matters relate to their conduct and responsibilities as a minister, as was the case here,” she said.

“A sum of £15,000 was paid without admitting any liability. This approach is intended to reduce the overall costs to the taxpayer that could result from protracted legal action, no matter what the result would have been.”

Speaking after the case was settled, Professor Sang said that she was “very disturbed by the way in which Michelle Donelan and UKRI behaved”.

“Had they asked me at the start, I would have explained the true position. Instead, Michelle Donelan made a cheap political point at my expense and caused serious damage to my reputation,” Professor Sang said.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com