The University of Sussex has been fined £585,000 by the higher education regulator for failing to uphold freedom of speech. 

The Office for Students (OfS) criticised the university’s policy statement on transgender and non-binary equality, saying that it could lead staff and students to “self-censor”.

The policy has a requirement to “positively represent trans people” and asserts that “transphobic propaganda [would] not be tolerated”.

The university said it will legally challenge the OfS’s decision and accused the regulator of pursuing a “politically motivated” inquiry against it that resulted in “egregious and concocted” findings.

The OfS launched its investigation after campus protests calling for the dismissal of Professor Kathleen Stock.

She left the university in 2021 after being accused of transphobia when she published a book questioning whether gender identity was more “socially significant” than biological sex.

The OfS said the University of Sussex’s policy had a “chilling effect” on Prof Stock’s views.

“Professor Stock said that she became more cautious in her expression of gender critical views as a result of the policy,” the OfS said in a statement.

“There were some views she did not feel able to express, and therefore teach, despite those views being lawful.”

Professor Sasha Roseneil, the vice chancellor at the university, said the OfS findings mean “it is now virtually impossible for universities to prevent abuse, harassment, or bullying on our campuses”.

“Under this ruling, we believe that universities would not be permitted to expect their staff and students to treat each other with civility and respect,” she said.

“The OfS is effectively decreeing libertarian free speech absolutism as the fundamental principle for UK universities. In our view, the OfS is perpetuating the culture wars.”

Prof Roseneil has claimed that the OfS did not interview anyone from the university in its three-and-a-half-year investigation and that the fine is “wholly disproportionate”.

“The behaviour of the OfS sets a dangerous precedent and constitutes serious regulatory overreach in service of a politically motivated inquiry,” she said.

She added that the investigation findings “leave universities unable to have policies to prevent abusive, bullying and harassing speech and that will perpetuate the culture wars”.

The OfS was given the power in January to issue fines where freedom of speech was not upheld at a university.

The fine issued to the University of Sussex is the largest-ever issued by the regulator, with the institution saying it’s 15 times larger than any other sanction imposed.

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Arif Ahmed, the director for freedom of speech and academic freedom at the OfS, said that the regulator’s probe “also found deficiencies in the University of Sussex’s decision-making process, with decisions about important free speech and equality matters taken by people without the authority to do so”.

“Those decisions may not have been in the best interests of students and staff,” he said.

“Substantial monetary penalties are appropriate for the scale of wrongdoing we have found.”

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said that “free speech and academic freedom are non-negotiables in our universities”.

“If you go to university you must be prepared to have your views challenged, hear contrary opinions and be exposed to uncomfortable truths,” she said.

“We are giving the OfS stronger powers on freedom of speech so students and academics are not muzzled by the chilling effect demonstrated in this case.”

Prince Harry has said he is devastated and “in shock” to have to quit as patron of a charity he set up in honour of his mother.

Sentebale was established in 2006 to help children and young people in southern Africa, particularly those with HIV and Aids.

But the Duke of Sussex said he had been forced to step down amid a battle in the organisation between the chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka and the board of trustees.

He released a statement with his co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, saying they had established the charity “in honour of our mothers”.

“With heavy hearts, we have resigned from our roles as patrons of the organisation until further notice, in support of and solidarity with the board of trustees who have had to do the same,” they said.

“It is devastating that the relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation.”

Details of the row in the charity are unclear but it is reportedly over a decision to focus fundraising in Africa.

“What’s transpired is unthinkable,” the princes’ statement added.

“We are in shock that we have to do this, but we have a continued responsibility to Sentebale’s beneficiaries, so we will be sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about.”

In her own statement, Dr Chandauka said she would not be intimidated, adding: “For me, this is not a vanity project from which I can resign when I am called to account.”

She said she had reported the trustees to the Charity Commission and that a UK court had issued an injunction to stop them removing her.

“There are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct,” Dr Chandauka said.

She added that this was a “story of a woman who dared to blow the whistle about issues of poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir – and the cover-up that ensued”.

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A Charity Commission spokesperson said it is “aware of concerns about the governance of Sentebale”.

“We are assessing the issues to determine the appropriate regulatory steps,” a spokesperson for the commission said in a statement.

Prince Harry was inspired to start the charity after spending two months in Lesotho when he was on a gap year in 2004.

He was in the small African country – which has one of the world’s highest rates of HIV and Aids – as recently as last October.

The prince talked to young people around a campfire about the “massive difference” Sentebale was making. Last April, he was also pictured with Dr Chandauka at a charity polo match in Florida.

Five former trustees also released a statement that said resigning was “devastating” but the “result of our loss in trust and confidence in the chair of the board”.

They said they were forced to quit as they could not allow Sentebale to take on the “legal and financial burden” of a lawsuit brought by the chairwoman “to block us from voting her out after our request for her resignation was rejected”.

They added that the decision to resign was “not a choice willingly made, but rather something we felt forced into in order to look after the charity”.

The UK’s biggest ever lottery jackpot could be won in Friday’s EuroMillions draw, organisers have said.

The jackpot is an estimated £202m and would be the largest ever prize, National Lottery operator Allwyn said.

Nobody won the £182m EuroMillions jackpot on Tuesday, meaning the top prize rolls over into Friday’s draw.

The potential winner would top the ranks of the biggest EuroMillions wins by UK players, including the anonymous UK ticket-holder who scooped the existing record jackpot of £195m in July 2022.

Just two months earlier, Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester, won a then record-breaking £184m with a Lucky Dip ticket for the draw.

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Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at Allwyn, said if one ticketholder takes home Friday’s prize, they “would be crowned The National Lottery’s biggest winner of all time”.

“This colossal amount of money would make any lucky ticket-holder richer than some of the UK’s biggest and richest names, such as Harry Styles, Adele and Harry Kane,” he added.

It would be the third UK EuroMillions jackpot this year, after one ticket-holder came forward for their £83m prize in January, and another scooped a £65m jackpot last month.