I despair of students being led like sheep into the abandonment culture – what’s the point of debate if there’s only one side?

When I was growing up, people went to university to delve into new and unfamiliar ideas.

The purpose of higher education was to expand the minds of young people by challenging them to think critically.

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Unfortunately, something seems to have gone horribly wrong on that front.

Oxford students are stepping up their campaign to stop a lecture by visiting philosophy professor Kathleen Stock – because they disagree with her views.

Her complaint is that Stock is “transphobic and transexclusive” because she rejects gender self-identification and has the gall to say biological sex is real.

I agree stick. But even if I didn’t agree with them, I would be interested in their opinions and perhaps even open myself to the possibility of changing my own mind by doing so.

But hundreds of trans activists from the Oxford University LGBTQ+ Society can’t bear to hear an opinion that differs from theirs, so they’re protesting a planned debate at the Oxford Union on May 30 where Stock will speak.

Hopefully the students will understand and “allow” her to come and talk to the debating club.

But I despair of the state of what is supposedly the pinnacle of education, where the brightest minds should be free to learn and think.

Why would anyone want to be about £50,000 in debt to face a lot of groupthink?

Kathleen Stock doesn’t ask students to agree with her—if they don’t want to listen to her views, they don’t have to go and hear her speech.

Why are the views of these students more important than those who want to hear what Stock has to say?

And it’s not just Oxford that seems full of narrow-minded reactionaries.

Two years ago, Stock was fired from her job at the University of Sussex for daring to express gender-sensitive views.

So concerned are Oxford faculty about the problem that last week 44 of them – including evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins and theologian Professor Nigel Biggar – signed a letter warning that freedom of expression on their campus is under threat.

As they put it, “Professor Stock believes that human sex is real and socially significant – a view that until recently would have been so commonplace that it scarcely warranted assertion.”

Stock, a married lesbian with children, has expressed concern that “people who were born males have never had gender reassignment surgery,” “access to women’s locker rooms,” or “escape from domestic violence or women’s prisons.” have.

Given this week’s deeply disturbing story of Andrew Miller, who – disguised as a woman – kidnapped, held captive and sexually abused an elementary school-age girl, it’s easy to see why some people see the concept of self-identification as vulnerable to dangerous ones exploitation by men who want to harm women.

To think that doesn’t make someone transphobic.

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Stock himself wrote: “Discrimination against trans people is absolutely abhorrent. You need protection from abuse.

“But we also need to look at the implications of these demands, and in particular consider the costs that women and girls incur.”

When it comes to the transgender debate, I’m increasingly uncomfortable that the only people getting canceled seem to be women.

It will be a short career

I’ve said it before, but women are not the problem in this debate. Neither are trans women.

The problem – and it really is a huge problem – is men who want to harm women.

I also despair of the younger generation, who are being sheep-led into a mentality so permeated by the abort culture that when they come across a view they disagree with, they just cover their ears and say: “La la la, I can’t hear.” You.”

It’s fair and immature to fire someone because they don’t think quite like you.

What happens, among other things, when you enter the workplace and your boss has a different opinion than you?

will you cancel them Good luck with that – it’s going to be a short career.

Debate should be at the heart of every university. What’s the point of having a debating club if everyone says the same thing?

And what makes me shudder is the fact that these people are tomorrow’s leaders.

If they don’t tolerate anything other than their own views, God help us.

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SHE came in like a wrecking ball. . . but then I had to regret it.

Miley Cyrus has revealed her struggle with shame after overly sexualizing her image to shrug off her Disney child star past.

She certainly put her squeaky clean persona behind when she twerked in the 2013 video for “Wrecking Ball” and wriggled and stripped naked through the #1 song “We Can’t Stop.”

She said, “I carried around guilt and shame for years for causing so much controversy and excitement.”

The singer rightly says she was judged “hard”.

And she was only 20 then – an age when we all make mistakes – but it’s how we learn to be better adults.

Eur, my ace of cup heroes

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THE Europa Conference League semi-final win over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday could spell the end of a 47-year crisis for West Ham.

Pablo Fornals’ late winner in Holland capped a remarkable 3-1 victory for David Moyes’ Claret and Blues – and captain Declan Rice could become only the third hammer to lift a major trophy after Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds .

Unfortunately, our fans have been attacked by violent AZ supporters.

Such horrible behavior has no place in football.

But what a night will be the final on June 7th in Prague.

Demand for tickets to this match will be very high as the capacity in Prague is only 20,000 – as vice-chairman of the club I therefore expect a few calls from my barber dog’s third cousin who has been removed twice.

Set the I! Me! Me! in Megan

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MEGHAN MARKLE donned a gold dress last week and attended the Women Of Vision 2023 event in New York City where she accepted an award.

Her first public appearance since the king’s coronation was marred by a paparazzi ‘chase’ – but who was responsible and what really happened is unclear.

What struck me is that she appears to be aiming for a rebrand.

It’s starting to look like Meg and Harry are positioning themselves in show business rather than royal realm, and becoming very wealthy in the process.

Who can blame them for wanting a new image?

Their brand no longer has any value in the UK due to their decision to leave the royal family while at the same time holding on to their titles and mercilessly exploiting royal fame.

How that ties in with her alleged desire for privacy remains unclear, especially given her numerous TV shows and podcasts and, of course, Harry’s seminal tell-all book.

Harry’s endless lamentations may be a sign that he doesn’t have enough to do in his new life.

But whatever their motivation and plan, everything just seems like “me, me, me.” . . and so smug.

Rishi’s winner

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I really enjoyed Akshata Murty stepping into the spotlight with elegance and style.

She was at the G7 summit this week alongside husband Rishi Sunak, where she made a series of stunning fashion choices.

It’s the latest in a string of recent high-profile public appearances by the businesswoman, who hosted a coronation dinner at Downing Street earlier this month.

I have a feeling Akshata will be Rishi’s secret weapon in the upcoming elections.

SOCIETY is doing better now. This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield’s pedophile brother has been jailed for 12 years after being convicted of sexually abusing a vulnerable teenager.

Timothy Schofield, 54, was found guilty of 11 offenses between 2016 and 2019, including two for sexual activity with a child, and — clearly — jail is the best place for him.

That’s good news for us, but bad news for Phil, who could probably use some good publicity this week after leaving his show surrounded by ex-colleagues who appeared to be lining up to badmouth him .

waste of duty

We all know that women do most of the domestic drudgery – but Spain has an innovative plan for getting husbands to lend a hand.

The government there hopes to promote equality at home by developing an app that women can use to check their husbands’ share of housework.

The idea is that the app ensures that tasks are evenly distributed.

But in my experience, women don’t need an app to know if their husbands are contributing or not.

When there is a problem between couples, the solution is not to determine who is doing what.

Progress can be made if both parties decide to play their part and do their fair share.

In my experience, if you want your husband to take out the bins, all you have to do is say so.