Re the "free speech/woke wardens" thing, I have a story that feels very relevant to this.

I used to work for a local news and events website. We would promote local things like gigs, theatre productions, that sort of thing.

One week, in our regular newsletter, we mentioned an upcoming gig by a musician. We knew nothing about him except that he was a musician who was playing a concert in our local area in the next few days.

Soon after the newsletter went out, we got an email from someone saying "I was really surprised to see you promoting this musician - I'm guessing you didn't know he's a Holocaust denier?"

They sent links. He was, unequivocally, a Holocaust denier and a gross antisemite.

That's not the sort of thing we wanted to promote or give a platform to because we found it disgusting and harmful, so we took all references to his gig off our website, because fuck that guy profiting via us in any way.

If governments are going to bring in a rule that speakers can't be disinvited because of their opinions, a student union who booked a speaker, musician or comedian in good faith, and then found out they had abhorrent, genocidal views, could be fined for disinviting them.

Call me an oversensitive lefty snowflake all you like, but I don't think compulsory platforming of Holocaust deniers, or sexists, or racists, or homophobes, or people who want to "morally and legally mandate trans people out of existence", is an actual defence of free speech.

Free speech and academic freedom do not include, and have never included, compelled listening. If a university decides "actually, now we know more about you, we don't want to invite you to visit", your free speech has not been affected in any way.

Free speech means the government doesn't compel you to keep silent under threat of imprisonment or worse. It doesn't mean "I am entitled to give a guest lecture followed by some free room-temperature wine."

Academic freedom means a scholar can express ideas without official interference or professional disadvantage. It doesn't, however, mean "I have carte blanche to tell a marginalised group of my students that I think they're evil and no-one can say anything against it."

A speaking gig at a university isn't a basic human right, and if the students who go there don't want to host you, then you don't have the right to force them. You still have free speech. You can blog about it, if you like, and buy your own room-temperature wine.

Anyway, if this ridiculous government policy does get brought in, I hope every student union across the country invites no-one but trade unionists, communists and a whole host of marginalised speakers.