Scottish universities warned over gagging clauses

Scottish universities have been warned not to prevent student leaders from criticising their institutions, reports the Herald Scotland.

The call from National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland came after Edinburgh University told student leaders they had to give management 48 hours' notice of any "detrimental statements". After a public backlash, the university this week scrapped the controversial measure, but Gordon Maloney, president of NUS Scotland, said no other institution should consider the idea.

"We welcome the news Edinburgh University has recognised its mistake and acted quickly to remove a clause that could have significantly damaged the relationship between the institution and the elected representatives of the students," he said. "The lesson of this entire incident is that institutions such as Edinburgh fail their students when they fail to encourage critical voices that aim to hold the powerful to account."
Full report on the Herald Scotland site