Bristol University must act on David Miller

It is clear from its behaviour that Bristol University either wishes to have no Jewish students or cares so little about their wellbeing that it is happy to stand by while they are subjected to intimidation by one of its senior staff.

The most salient fact in the entire David Miller saga is surely that he was hired by the university long after his conspiracist views were known. In that sense, nothing about the past few months should surprise anyone. Bristol hired an extremist activist and he has behaved like one.

But his repeated attacks on Jewish students and Jewish student bodies have made the environment close to intolerable for many of them, and responsibility for this lies directly with the university – and specifically with its Vice Chancellor, Prof Hugh Brady, who has treated his Jewish students with utter contempt throughout.

Prof Brady has repeatedly ignored all those who have expressed their concern for the wellbeing of the Jewish students, from MPs and ministers to rabbis, mental health experts and the Community Security Trust (CST). Indeed, astonishingly, in April Prof Miller was allowed to return to work. The message was clear: Prof Brady might as well have written to Jewish students telling them that he couldn’t give a damn.