New evidence shows how UK student protests about Gaza were handled by police and universities
Camping, chaos, and confrontation.
A wave of pro-Palestinian student protest engulfed UK universities last year when thousands protested against the war in Gaza. Most started out peacefully on encampments with students pitching tents on university greens.
Now new evidence, uncovered by Sky News and Liberty Investigates, has shed some light on how some of those protests were policed.
We’ve seen instances of universities reporting protesters to police, starting dozens of disciplinaries, and in some instances we found universities collaborating with private surveillance firms.
What data tells us about handling of protests
Through Freedom of Information requests to more than 150 UK universities by Liberty Investigates, shared with Sky News, we found that at least 40 universities discussed Gaza protest activity with police forces or private intelligence organisations. Thirty-six universities had direct communication with the police.
Thirteen universities also discussed protests at meetings with police, including the University of London, Cambridge, and Manchester. Twenty-eight universities launched investigations against as many as 113 students, and staff were investigated for possible disciplinary breaches linked to their pro-Palestinian activism.
More than 20 universities also disclosed emails with a professional body for campus security, and correspondence appears to show collaboration between campus security departments and police to monitor student protesters, some even using intelligence from private security firms.
Though this is currently the clearest public picture of the scale of protest activity during that time, 47 universities did not provide the information requested. Most universities refused to specify the reasons and outcomes of the disciplinary investigations against students and staff, citing confidentiality issues.
Antisemitism on campus
The Community Security Trust, a charity that protects British Jews from terrorism and antisemitism, says it would be concerned if the number of student disciplinaries had not risen alongside the uptick of student protests and that otherwise, it would worry universities weren’t responding properly to anti-Jewish hatred.
Suffian, head of the Leeds University Palestinian Society
Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust, said it has seen a rise in the number of antisemitic incidents on student campuses since the 7 October Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in 2023. The Community Security Trust says these incidents have gone up fivefold compared to the previous academic year.
David-Lior Banoun Rappaz, an undergraduate student at LSE, says: “There have definitely been a lot of antisemitic incidents on campus. It’s about being in the minority and having the other group being extremely loud about it.”
The rise in antisemitism has also concerned Dov Forman, author, activist and an undergraduate at a London university.
“University is a place where you should develop your opinions, where there should be freedom of speech, but that has to be within the confines of the law, and that can’t be at the expense of Jewish students like myself, who at times feel like we’re being dehumanised and even criticised on campus.”
Dov Forman, an undergraduate at a London university
Universities UK acts as the collective voice of 141 universities in the UK and insists it is always trying to balance the tension between freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
The body also defends the right to police protests and says it is legitimate for universities to liaise with the police, adding that this happens only “occasionally” and where action is taken it has to be proportionate.
Universities UK vice president Malcolm Press
Students feel unsafe after Newcastle incident
For some pro-Palestinian student activists at Newcastle, one incident stands out to them, they say, for police using “heavy-handed tactics” to break up a protest.
On 29 May last year, a rally that was described as non-violent by academics at the university quickly descended into chaos with officers intercepting protesters with batons.
From footage obtained for our investigation from protesters who were there, more than 40 officers including dog handlers are seen attending a building being occupied by students. Dozens of officers were earlier seen pushing and struggling with crowds of agitated protesters outside the entrance, before drawing their batons as the police line collapsed and skirmishes broke out.
Footage taken outside a different entrance to the university’s Armstrong building shows police carrying and dragging limp protesters out of a building by their limbs. You can make out one student collapsing – who we found out was later taken to hospital by paramedics after having a fit.
One student, Ivy*, has photos of bruising on her arm – which she says were caused by being grabbed by an officer.
She says “it was really, really overwhelming” and “it took a long time to feel okay afterwards”.
Another, Hana*, a medical student volunteering to provide first aid at the protest, shared a medical letter describing her knee injury after she was trampled by the crowd. She says “as a visibly Muslim woman, being on campus at the time, even being in Newcastle, was just terrifying”.
The student protesters we spoke to all said they no longer feel safe on campus.
Anonymous Newcastle student
Since the summer, academics have been calling for the university’s leadership to explain the handling of the incident.
The university maintains there were “legitimate concerns for public safety” and explained that is why they contacted the police.
Anonymous Newcastle academic
Newcastle University said: “Where protest activity goes beyond the bounds of lawful protest, we reserve the right to seek assistance from the police to ensure the safety of everyone in our community. All complaints to the University regarding staff and students have been investigated in line with our relevant policies.”
In a statement, a Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “Police attended the scene to engage with all parties involved, with the safety of everyone in attendance including the protesters, members of the public and officers paramount.
“While the activity mainly passed without incident, a number of protesters outside the building refused to comply with police instruction and seemed intent on gaining entry. The right to a lawful protest is a key part of any democracy, which the police uphold. However, we will not accept people using them as a means to commit crime.”
‘We have a right to speak out’
Suffian, a Leeds University student who is head of the Palestinian Society, feels that free speech on this issue is being restricted.
He was under a two-month investigation for “engaging in unauthorised protests and being a member of the encampment”.
Suffian says he has a right to speak out
The 21-year-old said he felt the university was using its disciplinary process to prevent students from taking part in protests.
He says: “There is no right way to protest… no protest should be authorised.
“We have a right as people to speak out about it. No child should be a child of war.”
As part of the disciplinary, he says he attended a meeting where he was shown footage of himself entering a building and leading chants.
He was then issued a “formal warning”.
Since filming with him his investigation has concluded and the university says it will not be taking any further action.
A protest at the University of Leeds last year
A spokesperson for the University of Leeds said: “The right to lawful protest must be carefully balanced between the rights of protesters to assert their views on the one hand and the rights of others to go about their business safely, unimpeded, and free from intimidation and harassment.
“The university has a clearly communicated student code and guidance on protests. Where students engage in misconduct, as outlined in our regulations, they may become subject to disciplinary action.”
* Not their actual names
UK
Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released
Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.
Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.
The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace
Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.
So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?
In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.
The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.
Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.
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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?
Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.
But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.
Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.
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He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…
“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.
Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.
He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.
He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.
“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”
We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.
With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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