An LSE letter
`EDUCATION'
On I May- Walter Adams, Director of the London School of Economics, wrote to the two lecturers who had been dismissed for their part in the LSE gates affair, informing them of the setting up of an independent tribunal which would hear any appeal thew might care to make. The dismissals had been widely criticised, not merely by the militant students. but also by a large number of 'moderates.' In order to help readers of the SPECTATOR to form their own conclusions on this and similar episodes at other universities we print below the full text, hitherto unpublished, of the two dismissed lecturers' reply to Dr Adams's letter.
Dear Adams, - 6 May 1969
We 'are in receipt of your insolent letter of 1 May. We knew the contents of it before we received it because you had seen fit to release it to the press before you took the trouble to send it to us.
This reveals very clearly the insincerity and dishonesty of your promised 'independent tri- bunal to hear an appeal.' If you were sincerely concerned that justice should be done, you would have consulted with us before announc- ing plans for an appeal board. As you know very well, the contract between the LSE and ourselves which you have arbitrarily revoked makes no provision for an appeal in the event of dismissal. Therefore, for the LSE authorities unilaterally to prepare for an appeal board is as arbitrary and authoritarian as their decision to ignore Article 28 of.the Articles of Associa- tion of the School, which guarantees staff members freedom to express their opinions.
It is obvious to everyone why you have made this new move. Your own job and that of Lord Robbins, indeed the position of the entire clique of self-appointed capitalist manipulators on the LSE court of governors, is in grave danger. The students have beep enraged at the attempt to victimise some of the individuals who supported the Union decision to remove the gates that you so arbitrarily erected. You hoped to cow them into submission. In fact they have shown great courage and fortitude in standing by their principles, perhaps-at the ex- pense of future comfortable careers. Staff mem- bers also have taken a stand against the dis- missals, recognising that if Article 28 can be abandoned once it may be abandoned again. From all over the country trade unionists and students have been condemning the vic- timisations.
In a desperate attempt to stem this tide of public opposition you have now begun schem- ing fiir an 'independent board' whose function in fact will be to ratify the decisions the authorities have already made. In this way you hope to place a veneer of 'legality' and 'im- partiality' upon what was too open a hatchet lob done by your own little kangaroo court. You hope also, by delaying a decision for three months, to carry out your victimisations during the summer vacation when there will be no students around to protest.
Indeed it is now public knowledge that the whole idea of the 'independent review' was hastily concocted a few hours before the last -meeting of the Academic Board in order to forestall the vote of censure which it would otherwise have passed. In clear violation of the motion passed at that meeting the School
authorities have refused to discuss the setting up of the reviewing body, either with our repre- sentatives or with the representatives of students, staff and workers. at the school.
Let us make it very clear to you that we have seen through your tricks and that we will have nothing to do with the tribunal which you appear to envisage--namely, one unilaterally and arbitrarily established by the standing com- mittee without any consultation with either our- selves or the Lse students and staff. If you want LSE to return to normal and if you want to hold your own position as Director, we strongly advise you to revoke the dismissals and to call off all the other disciplinary actions in connec- tion with the gates.
Yours sincerely, Nicholas Bateson Robin Blackburn
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