University postpones free speech event, over free speech concerns

Yes, universities can be too "woke" and "politically correct" for their own good, but at the same time the innocuous-sounding Free Speech Union is in many respects an actor in the culture wars of a kind now besetting American campuses. US congressional hearings have cleverly skewered high-status university names with resignations and daft decisions (such as bringing in the police) that only raise the temperature. Yes, there is a real debate to be had here, but let us not fool ourselves about the potential political agenda here - which is to set the campuses alight and embarrass the presumed "liberal elite". We are not close to the excesses of the US, but I think the Vice Chancellor at Victoria University Wellington was right to tread cautiously here.