A BRITISH government minister “insisted” on intervening in a row over a Scottish university rector’s conduct after she accused Israel of “genocidal attacks”, the National can reveal.
Stella Maris, the rector of the St Andrews University, was criticised after making a statement condemning Israel in November 2023 and ultimately removed from her role on the university court – the institution's top decision-making body.
The National has obtained the minutes of a December 2023 special meeting, called by the university court of St Andrews in direct response to Maris’s statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, denouncing Hamas war crimes, and calling Israeli attacks in Gaza “genocidal”.
According to the minutes, the principal of St Andrews, Dame Sally Mapstone, said that the “level of external scrutiny” of the university due to Maris’s public criticism of Israel was “unprecedented”.
The National can reveal that the UK government, its independent “antisemitism tsar”, the media, and “concerned” funders – particularly the Wolfson Foundation, a major donor with links to Israel – all became involved with Maris’s case.
Mapstone told the university court that Robert Halfon, a former Tory MP who at the time was the UK skills minister, had “pronounced concern in relation to the rector’s conduct and a strong interest into how it [was] being handled by the University”.
Mapstone said that she had met with Halfon in her capacity as president of the industry body Universities UK.
However, she added: “But he [Halfon] insisted on using 10 minutes of it to discuss the situation in St Andrews in relation to the rector and our Jewish community.”
Mapstone also said that the St Andrews University chancellor, LibDem peer Menzies Campbell, had been kept informed throughout.
The university principal went on to describe the extent of pressure from the Wolfson Foundation, saying she had written a “12-page letter” to reassure them “extensively and personally” after members of the Wolfson family questioned whether a £2 million grant “could be supported”.
St Andrews University was later told by the charity that the grant had been successful, “but ‘by a whisker’”, Mapstone said.
However, when Mapstone had addressed the university court the previous month, she made clear that the grant was successful “not because of the quality of our application, which got some of the best peer reviews, but because of the concerns in the Trustee body about the situation at St Andrews”.
“It was felt that the reassurance provided by me as principal was important and sufficient to take the bid through,” she added.
A St Andrews University spokesperson said: “At no point was any influence brought to bear upon the university either by Wolfson, its trustees, or the UK Government.
“This is made explicitly clear in the publicly available minutes of the special court meeting of 15 December.
“Wolfson was one of several groups and individuals to raise concerns about reports of antisemitic incidents at St Andrews, and the effect of the rector’s statement on the fear experienced by Jewish students in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks on Israel.
“Those concerns were fully addressed and dealt with prior to the court meeting in December 2023.
Maris told the National that the university “were engaging more with outside voices than considering the impact within the student community”.
“I think that the rector’s statement may have hurt some Jewish students’ feelings, but it did not cause them any harm,” he said. “Jewish students who support this war were offended. Jewish students who oppose the war welcomed her statement.
“Regardless of one’s political views, no one should be silenced for expressing their opinions, especially an elected representative. I hope the rector will continue to use her voice to speak out for peace and against all racism, sexism and inequality."
St Andrews Palestinian Solidarity Society said news of government intervention was “not surprising”.
“It has become clear that [the university’s] concern has never truly been with student safety, but with safeguarding the university’s reputation,” the group said.
“Rector Stella Maris stood against genocide, and for the basic principles of justice and compassion which obligate us to oppose it.
“The fact that this has been made into a conversation about anything else is a sign of the moral cowardice of the administrators, the principal, the ministers, the funders – all those who put their personal standing over the duty to oppose injustice. They should be ashamed.”
The St Andrews Jewish Society said in response: “Considering the university receives funding from the government and is a public university, conversations regarding serious issues, such as student safety, can be addressed by government representatives.
“With raised concerns about Jewish student life on campus it makes sense that government officials would be involved. Jewish students continue to feel saddened and frustrated by the lack of ability demonstrated to understand these complexities around this issue.”
Following the December 2023 special meeting, the university court decided to launch an independent investigation into whether Maris’ statement and her actions surrounding it breached the rector’s role as president of court and charity trustee.
In July 2024, the investigator, Lady Morag Ross KC, concluded that it was not “sufficiently clear [...] to show that there is a breach of the relevant obligations” and did not advise dismissal.
Nonetheless, the University dismissed Maris from her role as president of the court, saying it was “for her actions and activities after she issued her statement, and because she repeatedly refused to accept that as a member of court, she was by law bound by the same responsibilities and rules as all trustees”.
Maris appealed this decision to the Chancellor of the University, Lord Campbell, who ruled in her favour.
She has recently been reinstated to her full role as president of court and charity trustee.
