Sky News and Liberty investigations have uncovered attempts by UK Universities to suppress student action. The Mancunion can confirm that there have been numerous cases of students disciplined related to pro-Palestine protests at the University of Manchester.
This comes as Cambridge University fails to block pro-Palestine protests for the next 5 years.
Updates at Cambridge University
Cambridge University had recently been called out by rights groups Liberty and the European Legal Support Center for their attempts to “impose draconian restrictions on freedom of assembly and protest”.
A United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association and Peaceful Assembly expressed “concern” about the University of Cambridge’s High Court injunction, arguing that the University’s focus on ‘Cambridge for Palestine’ or related Palestine-Israel conflict groups “violates the principle of non-discrimination”.
Whilst a High Court judge allowed an injunction on protest taking place around the Senate House and Yard on February 29, Cambridge University’s calls for restrictions on protest until February 2030 were denied.
The European Legal Support Centre celebrated the judge’s decision as a victory for freedom of protest on UK campuses and a rejection of “attempt[s] to criminalise protest”.
A statement from the University and College Union (UCU) described Cambridge University’s actions as “a shameful attack on basic democratic rights including freedom of speech and freedom of assembly” calling the decision “an important victory for our democratic rights”.
UK Universities difficulties in handling the situation
This is part of a wider trend of UK universities struggling to handle pro-Palestine student protests.
A report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), released in January 2025, outlined actions taken by Universities in “June and July 2024” in an attempt to “disband [pro-Palestine] encampments”.
Recently a Sky News and Liberty joint investigation found that several Universities had taken disciplinary action against students and staff who took part in pro-Palestine protest action.
Evidence also found that 36 universities “had direct communication with the police” relating to pro-Gaza demonstrations.
This combined report found that The University of Manchester “discussed protests at meetings with police” but due to Freedom of Information requests being ‘“Rejected, ignored, or incomplete” Sky News could not confirm if they had “communicated with police/private intelligence” or taken disciplinary action towards students.
The Mancunion can confirm that multiple students since November 2023 have faced disciplinary hearings due to their activism.
Threats of disciplinary action for engaging in encampments were given by Chief Operating Officer, Patrick Hackett, in April 2024. It’s unclear if this resulted in disciplinary action.
In a statement released in May 2024, the University of Manchester said:
“Where we identify evidence that students have been involved in an activity which contravenes those standards and requirements [Student Charter and student disciplinary regulations], formal disciplinary action will be taken.”
After a request for comment to Manchester Leftist Action (MLA), an activist group on campus, MLA provided The Mancunion with three examples of pro-Palestine related disciplinary action conducted by the University involving their members.
They mentioned the suspension of a student who recorded a meeting with previous Vice-Chancellor Nancy Rothwell. MLA believe that they were also suspended for “allegedly taking part in the occupation of the Simon Building”.
According to MLA “Despite forcing the student’s graduation to be delayed, the disciplinary panel found the student not guilty of making the recording and of any wrongdoing related to occupations”. They argue that “these interim suspensions have been shown repeatedly to be extremely disproportionate to the final findings of the disciplinary panel”.
Whilst unable to provide us with specific examples, they said they were “aware that at least 2 individuals were contacted (on spurious evidence) by the disciplinary team for allegedly being involved in the occupation of Walid Daqqa Hall (formerly Whitworth Hall)”.
“We are also aware of a case after students decided to expand the encampment to also occupy the park between the Main Library and Alan Gilbert Learning Commons, to disrupt the University’s crude bicentenary celebrations in protest of the University’s ongoing complicity in the Gaza genocide. The students who helped the occupiers were explicitly threatened with expulsion. The University leadership made this threat despite the university regulations making clear that they do not hold this power, as the disciplinary process is, in theory, carried out independently of university management”.
