An Open Letter from BLAC Lib Dems

The tragic story surrounding Professor Jason Arday has left many of us deeply troubled. Let us be clear: plagiarism is unacceptable. Academic standards matter, and allegations of academic misconduct must be investigated properly and fairly.

But we also need to ask a bigger question about the culture in which this controversy has unfolded.

There is a growing anti-inclusion movement in Britain — one that has imported much of the American culture war and increasingly portrays diversity, equality, and inclusion as threats to standards rather than essential parts of a healthy society.

At its heart is an ugly assumption: Black people who attain prominent positions must somehow have got there because standards were lowered, because of preferential treatment, or because their background mattered more than their ability.

We have seen versions of this narrative repeatedly. In sport, figures such as Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford have been targeted. In media and culture, Ed Enninful and Misan Harriman have faced attempts to diminish their achievements and attribute their prominence primarily to diversity initiatives.

This is not an argument against scrutiny. Public figures should be scrutinised, universities should uphold rigorous standards, and institutions should be accountable.

But scrutiny is not the same as suspicion.

If there were legitimate concerns about Professor Arday’s academic work or his readiness for a senior role, those concerns should have been identified and addressed through proper processes. If Cambridge failed in that responsibility, it should acknowledge it.

What we should not do is turn one Black academic’s difficulties into evidence for a wider ideological argument against diversity.

We are particularly concerned by the way some critics have celebrated what they regard as the exposure of a supposedly corrupt diversity agenda. Nathan Cofnas, described by the BBC as a “self-defined race realist” and who left Cambridge in 2024, has publicly claimed credit for exposing Arday. Whatever one’s views of Cofnas, his reaction illustrates the wider ideological context in which this controversy has been seized upon.

We should be wary of allowing American racial politics and culture-war narratives to become normalised in Britain.

There is another uncomfortable truth.

We failed Professor Arday too.

When the allegations emerged, some of us were shocked. We knew plagiarism was serious, but we also understood that the story could become part of a much broader narrative, questioning whether Black academics belong in positions of prominence.

Four of us discussed the situation online. We talked about what we should do, but we never reached a firm decision to act.

One person repeatedly suggested that we should reach out to Professor Arday himself.

We became caught in the web of inaction.

If we believe in diversity, equality, and inclusion, we can not simply celebrate representation when everything is going well and disappear when a Black person becomes the subject of controversy.

Diversity can not mean tokenism. Nor should it mean lowering standards.

The positive case for diversity is stronger than that. We should want institutions where talented people from every background can compete, succeed, and lead — and where their achievements are recognised on their merits.

We should be able to hold two truths at once:

Plagiarism is wrong.

Racism and racial bias are wrong, too.

One does not cancel out the other.

The answer is not to abandon standards or inclusion. It is to make standards rigorous, transparent, and consistently applied while confronting the biases that can determine whose competence is questioned, whose mistakes are magnified, and whose achievements are dismissed.

The attack on DEI in the United States should be a warning to Britain, not a blueprint. We should not import a politics that turns every attempt to create greater equality into evidence of declining standards.

As Liberal Democrats and as members of the Black and Liberal Democrat community, we believe equality and excellence should reinforce one another.

We should have acted when Professor Arday’s story broke. We should have reached out. We should have asked questions.

And we should have made the positive case for diversity rather than allowing others to define the debate.

Not because Professor Arday is beyond criticism or because academic standards do not matter.

But because Black people should not have to be perfect to be treated as though they belong.

And because the answer to imperfect institutions is not less diversity.

It is better institutions, fairer standards, and a society confident enough to embrace both excellence and inclusion.

Yours sincerely

Leadership Team on behalf of Black Lives Committee (BLAC)
Email : [email protected]

* Liberal Democrats Black Lives Action Committee (BLAC) aims to support the Liberal Democrat Party to be representative of modern Britain.