Gonville & Caius College Fellow Dr Arif Ahmed has given evidence to Parliament and, separately, has received an award for his work on free speech.

Dr Ahmed, who in June was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to education, was invited to give evidence to Parliament on 7 September, appearing before the Public Bill Committee for the Higher Education (Free Speech) Bill. The session can be viewed online: https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/612d23d9-07d6-47a2-b78b-f00abc02d7af

Five days later, on 12 September, Dr Ahmed was awarded the Index on Censorship Trustees' Award 2021, in recognition of his work to protect free speech.

Our Trustee Award, sponsored by @Facebook, goes to Dr Arif Ahmed, a #FreeSpeech activist & professor at @Cambridge_Uni.



He works to protect & promote universities as places of innovation and invention, with the right to freely & safely question received wisdom. #IndexAwards pic.twitter.com/biWyy0Witz

— Index on Censorship (@IndexCensorship) September 12, 2021

Dr Ahmed, a University Reader in the Faculty of Philosophy, successfully led an amendment to the University of Cambridge’s free speech policy in December 2020, saying guidelines requiring opinions to be “respectful” of differing views should instead emphasise “tolerance”.