MPs and Peers accuse university of double standards over keffiyeh tea towel suspension

A university that suspended an undergraduate student for referring to a pro-Palestinian student’s keffiyeh as a “tea towel” is facing accusations of double standards and disproportionate punishment, following a letter signed by MPs and peers.

Former cabinet ministers are among a cross-party group of senior parliamentarians who have written to Royal Holloway, University of London, raising serious concerns about the treatment of Brodie Mitchell.

The incident occurred last September at the fresher’s fair, where Mitchell, a pro-Israel second-year student, was allegedly called a “wannabe Jew” by the President of the Friends of Palestine Society. The society president is also claimed to have asked him where his Jewish “hat” was.

It was in response to these remarks that Mitchell, who is not Jewish himself,  referred to the keffiyeh worn by the society president as a “tea towel”.

Despite apologising for his remarks, Mitchell was suspended by the university, placed under investigation, and banned from campus for seven weeks.

The 20-year-old was also reported to Surrey Police and accused of a hate crime. A file has since been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, meaning he could face criminal charges.

Mitchell is being supported by the Free Speech Union, an advocacy group which claims to defend the right of people to express themselves without fear of punishment or persecution.

“This response is not only completely disproportionate but is evidence of a failure to exercise common sense. Universities ought to be able to distinguish between serious misconduct and heated political interactions. Punishing students for engaging in robust exchanges about contentious issues will inevitably have a chilling effect on free speech”, say the parliamentarians including Claire Coutinho, the former energy secretary, Sir John Whittingdale, the former culture secretary and Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister.

Other signatories include former cabinet minister Esther McVey, former Labour MPs Baroness Hoey and Lord Austin, former Brexit Party MEP Baroness Fox, former pensions minister Baroness Altmann and former defence minister Andrew Murrison and theologian Lord Biggar.

The signatories expressed concern that the university had failed to “act consistently or even-handedly in its treatment of those involved.”

“The remarks made by the other student appear no less ‘offensive’, yet the University has not suspended or investigated her. Why the double standard?”, they asked.

The parliamentarians further noted: “That the university then threatened to spend more than £750,000 defending itself against a legal challenge, rather than acknowledge any wrongdoing, is equally troubling. At a time when students face rising costs and universities face significant financial constraints, this is an extraordinary sum.”