Cambridge University has reached out to Reform UK amid fears Nigel Farage could cut funding to elite institutions if he leads the next government.
Professor Deborah Prentice, the Vice Chancellor, fears the party is looking at a Trump-style crackdown on top universities.
In comments made last week, she said Russell Group universities had been ‘meeting with key people from Reform’ and that Cambridge has ‘had people’ doing the same.
And she said it is ‘very clear’ that Mr Farage is taking inspiration from President Trump’s administration, which has withheld federal funds from universities over political rows involving immigration and free speech.
Professor Prentice made the comments at a meeting of the university’s council, which is the main decision-making body.
She revealed that a Reform official recently told other vice chancellors the party would ‘get rid’ of the Office for Students (OfS), the universities’ watchdog.
The OfS polices universities on standards, but it has also been accused of pursuing a ‘woke’ agenda with equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives.
Professor Prentice joked of the OfS’s potential demise: ‘The crowd had to suppress some cheer — but what the US example reminds you is you have to worry about what’s coming next … there should be no cheer.’
Cambridge University has reached out to Reform UK amid fears Nigel Farage (pictured) could cut funding to elite institutions if he leads the next government
Professor Deborah Prentice (pictured), the Vice Chancellor, fears the party are looking at a Trump-style crackdown on top universities
In comments made last week, she said Russell Group universities had been ‘meeting with key people from Reform’ and that Cambridge (pictured) has ‘had people’ doing the same
Professor Prentice’s comments, first leaked in The Sunday Times, were in response to apparent concern from members of the council about a Trump-inspired backlash against universities.
She told the council: ‘A number of you … have wanted to be talking about the possible implications of a Reform government for the University of Cambridge, and that is something that the sector is now beginning to take up as an issue.
‘And so, people, for example, Russell Group vice-chancellors have been meeting with key people from Reform, and we’ve had people, in addition, who have been part of conversations with key members, key people from Reform.’
She said discussions were taking place now because ‘they’ve made it very, very clear that any consultations are happening now’.
She also suggested a dedicated session at the governing body’s March away day to consider ‘what we know, the information that we’re getting about what Reform, the pillars of a Reform government, would mean for higher education’.
Mr Farage has repeatedly accused universities of harbouring ‘huge left-wing bias’, saying in 2019 that ‘young people’s minds’ were ‘being poisoned against the idea of sensible border controls’.
During the last election, Mr Farage vowed to ‘cut funding to universities that undermine free speech’.
Many top US universities — such as Harvard, Brown, Columbia and Cornell — have entered into deals with President Trump or are in negotiations after he froze funds and research grants.
Baron Smith of Finsbury, who holds the ceremonial role of Chancellor at Cambridge, said before he took up his post: ‘I worry if Reform does get into a position of authority or power, we may see the same phenomenon happen here in the UK.’
The peer said he was concerned as ‘populism is always driven by a wish to kick the elite’.
Last night, a university spokesman said: ‘It’s entirely usual for large organisations to be discussing current affairs.’
