The 21 Group pursue policies consistent with freedom of speech and open justice.
From 1–28 June 2026, an Employment Tribunal will sit at Bury St Edmunds. The claimant is Professor Neil Wyn Evans. The respondents are the University of Cambridge (legally styled as the Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge) and certain named individuals.
The proceedings are brought under the Public Interest Disclosure Act [1998]. They concern allegations relating to events at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, and the subsequent handling of related matters by the University’s Human Resources department.
At this stage, the 21 Group requests that there be no public comment on the proceedings, and that individuals involved are not named or discussed until the relevant material enters the public domain.
Employment Tribunals are generally open to the public and the press. Members of the public and journalists may attend hearings in person, and in many circumstances remotely where permission is granted by the Tribunal. Reporting of what is heard in open court is permitted.
Documents within Tribunal proceedings, including witness statements and hearing bundles, are not automatically public. Material becomes reportable where it is referred to or deployed in open court, or where it is otherwise released into the public domain.
In some circumstances, access to case documents may be granted upon application, in accordance with the principles of open justice (as considered in Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd v Dring [2019] UK Supreme Court 38).
The 21 Group will report on and comment upon this case strictly in accordance with the principle of open justice and the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations [2013]. Once material is lawfully in the public domain, it may be discussed freely by anyone.
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46 Comments
TheResearcher · 4 May 2026 at 12:28
Ssssssssh, what happens in the School of Physical Sciences at Cambridge is confidential!
- · 4 May 2026 at 12:39
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act has made it illegal to restrict disclosure of bullying or harassment allegations anyway, though, and there’s no law against saying what is true. Have they been making threats?
TheResearcher · 4 May 2026 at 13:19
“there’s no law against saying what is true”
Yes, there is, it is called “Cambridge Law” and you are expelled if you breach it! 😉
Mel · 4 May 2026 at 14:20
This is a very long period for an Employment Tribunal, 4 weeks! There is a lot of stuff about this matter that is easily findable, just rummage around. Always remember, ChatGPT and Google are your friends
Anon · 4 May 2026 at 14:44
What is utterly perplexing is that they have not settled this case and allowed people to move on. God knows all the academic staff involved would like to (I should think not least of all those who have been shown to have behaved rather less than decently). The whole thing has run for years and years and surely there is nothing new at this point after so many grievances and prior court cases. All that has happened is that lawyers keep running up the tab at the university’s cost.
Spinoza · 5 May 2026 at 08:44
It’s caused by completely misguided lawyerly thought processes. They do it to cause maximum stress and damage for the complainants. They seem not to realise it does maximum stress and damage to everyone, respondents, neutrals, the department and in this case the University.
Glaucon · 5 May 2026 at 09:09
Seems like a case of low quality legal advice. Solicitors are supposed to always put the interest of the client first and that interest is almost always an early and amicable settlement. Hence what most solicitors try to negotiate first. Only the sharks spin things out to the end and then dump their client with the tab.
Raven · 5 May 2026 at 09:18
“completely misguided lawyerly thought processes”
Completely misguided, because they ignore the human element and make no allowance for empathy, for compassion, for the acknowledgement of error, for apology, mediation and forgiveness.
As such, and because they are so extreme, these misguided lawyerly thought processes give rise to even more misguided psychopathic thought processes.
@Anon · 4 May 2026 at 15:33
“surely there is nothing new at this point”
The only positive of not settling this until the point of this tribunal is that new information keeps appearing, having previously been withheld, redacted or otherwise suppressed.
It shows that the behaviour of some (not only academics) is not just “less than decent”; it is quite simply monstruous.
TheResearcher · 4 May 2026 at 16:40
One key question that will emerge at the end of this particular case is what will happen to the people involved that remained employees at Cambridge University throughout all these years and continued to damage the lives of other members, staff and students, namely from the same School. Will they be sacked? And how will that affect their participation in other cases? How will the subsequent “witness statements” from people who will be shown dishonest in this particular case be considered by UCam? I guess we will have to wait and see, but I have the gut feeling I know the answer judging from the behaviour of the current leaders of UCam…
DWH · 4 May 2026 at 18:35
It is one thing to submit false witness statements in a grievance internally – but if they sign false statements to court then that’s a criminal offence, and one that can land a pretty hefty prison sentence. The legal advisers won’t serve that sentence, they can claim ignorance. Only the person who signs the statement and can be proven to have known otherwise.
TheResearcher · 4 May 2026 at 19:43
People who submit false witness statements in a grievance internally do it externally as well; I know at least 10 people from UCam who in due course will do it when the issue arrives the tribunal. They will not have any other choice to cover up what they did internally. They will have to say the same thing. 10-to-1 should give them a pretty good advantage, but for some reason they want all that confidential…
Clink · 4 May 2026 at 20:35
May be, but if it can be proven to have been deliberately false that’s just 10 prison sentences rather than 1
TheResearcher · 4 May 2026 at 22:44
I think the 10 are assuming that the 1 will not go until the end in the tribunal because of his numeric disadvantage and will chicken out, but they are very wrong. There is no money that pays seeing those 10 lying in public in the tribunal.
James · 5 May 2026 at 09:36
Don’t think that logic worked out very well for the university at Bury St Edmunds last week
21percent.org · 5 May 2026 at 10:56
😉 🙂 Careful — no-one should ever know.
Apparently, if a dispute goes on for many years, Kamal Munir is genuinely surprised that anyone knows about it beyond the direct participants.
In fact, many hundreds (possibly thousands) of people know about it in the university and beyond.
can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder · 5 May 2026 at 12:18
10 on 1 and Kamal is surprised.
perhaps we should all take time out and watch entirely unrelated cat videos to relax. Like this one
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=buEJYUnNPr4
TheResearcher · 5 May 2026 at 12:55
Everyone now knows that Kamal Munir dismisses whistleblowing disclosures and safeguarding referrals, without any investigation… The situation became so pathetic that they even expelled the victim of that disclosure to protect a person who was involved in damaging the lives of many members of the same School because the victim refused to be silent. And yes, many many people know about this, including the University Council, General Board, Board of Scrutiny and Proctors, among others.
But shhhhhhhh, it is confidential otherwise the student gets in real troubles 😉
Eileen Nugent · 5 May 2026 at 17:33
Can’t control what others will do in a case, can only control whether you do everything in your power to show up in court should that become necessary & the accuracy of your own witness statement.
Whether it’s 10-to-1, 100-to-1, 1000-to-1 or 10,000-to-1, you can’t control it, whether the resultant situation induces fear in you, you can’t control it. Can only control your own response in the presence of any fear the resultant situation induces in you.
The 1-to-1 person-to-organisation you can control, whether you do everything in your power to comply with a legal obligation to an organisation, that you can control.
SPARTACUS · 4 May 2026 at 18:16
Monstrous behaviour from the UCam leadership will also be exposed when gigantic SCM/cancer research scandal reaches Tribunals and Courts! That case is cataclismic! You wait!
MUSKETEER · 4 May 2026 at 18:31
Prof Smallman must be worried! He knows what he presided over! Prof Teflon is untouchable, but… Prof ViciousWoman has now lost her scientific partner- she must realize everybody will now see she is worth nothing! And she started the whole scandal!
TheResearcher · 5 May 2026 at 09:19
“Cambridge fails to suspend students who threatened to kill classmate over Israel trip”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/03/cambridge-fails-punish-students-death-threats-over-israel/
UCam reached the pathetic level…
TheResearcher · 5 May 2026 at 09:24
And guess what, this happed at Homerton College, the College of Pro-Vice Chancellor for University Community and Engagement, Professor Kamal Munir!
“We are crystal clear that harassment and sexual misconduct are unacceptable. We have an obligation to prevent it, and everyone at the University has a role to play. That’s why it’s important that all our staff understand our policies and what is expected of them, including what to do if they receive a report.”
21percent.org · 5 May 2026 at 11:07
Serious actions — such as issuing death threats against a fellow student in WhatsApp chat — are unacceptable & should carry meaningful consequences
For example, this might include loss of the right to College accommodation on simple safeguarding grounds
Still, at least the student didn’t do something really very dangerous, like sending lots of emails. We know the punishment for that is expulsion
TheResearcher · 5 May 2026 at 11:13
I do not think they realized that they are just helping the student who was expelled for sending emails to publish his story in multiple newspapers… Ssssssssh, it is confidential!
Eileen Nugent · 5 May 2026 at 12:24
A person who talks about killing another person in same academic community is not interested in a reciprocal relationship with the other person & is only interested in an extremely non-reciprocal relationship with the other person which could cost the other person their life.
A person who talks about killing another person in same academic community has shown not only are they not willing to work with a community to safeguard the lives of all in that community but that they are also willing to put the life of another person in the same community at significant safeguarding risk.
For there to be a mutual behavioural agreement between two people there must be two people interested in having a reciprocal relationship with each other not one person interested in having an extremely non-reciprocal relationship with the other person which could cost the other person their life.
For there to be a mutual behavioural agreement between two people in an academic community there must be two people who – irrespective of the state of their relationship in normal circumstances – are willing to provide the same minimum level of safeguarding for each other in times of exceptional safeguarding need as each would for all in the same academic community.
What is necessary here is not a mutual behavioural agreement between two people within an academic community. It’s not a case where two people in the same academic community showed they were interested in having a reciprocal relationship with each other or a case where two people in the same academic community previously had a reciprocal relationship with each other & that reciprocal relationship is what has broken down & what now needs a mutual behavioural agreement to be put in place to maintain in a stable state.
What has broken down here is a mutual agreement between one person – person talking about killing another person in same academic community – & an academic community. Issuing death threats in an academic community is completely unacceptable. An academic community can take measures to isolate itself from any member of an academic community issuing death threats against another person in an academic community – measures could include anything from exclusion from college accommodation on safeguarding grounds up to expulsion.
Eileen Nugent · 5 May 2026 at 13:38
There can be a loss of dignity – fairness, justice, equal division of stress – in relations at any level: person to person, person to college, person to university, college to college, college to university.
It is not possible to limit a loss of dignity in relations at one level by taking actions that could result in further losses of dignity in relations at other levels.
A loss of dignity at one level can only be limited and then reversed to restore dignity in relations at that level if people actively work to prevent further losses of dignity in relations at all other levels.
Anon · 5 May 2026 at 12:47
The most shocking part of this story is that a student was subject to death threats, but after reporting the matter to Cambridge police, was told that Cambridge police did not consider death threats against students to be a matter of concern for them.
That is utterly outrageous. Remember, it was only last summer that a Saudi student was stabbed to death in Cambridge – not a death threat, but an actual death. And all of this is happening after two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green, again, not a threat but an actual attack.
There needs to be a full investigation in to this matter at the highest level.
TheResearcher · 5 May 2026 at 12:58
“There needs to be a full investigation in to this matter at the highest level.”
My gut feeling is that OSCCA will suggest Reveles and Ms Ele Wilson!
https://revelespd.co.uk/
n/c · 5 May 2026 at 17:19
Many college porters are former police officers, or have connections to the police. See here.
https://www.varsity.co.uk/features/30415
The same is true of some of the HR grievance investigators.
21percent.org · 5 May 2026 at 17:52
Another aspect — on which the 21 Group now has evidence — is use of the police to arrest staff who have fallen foul of College or University leadership on spurious or trumped up charges.
We understand that this sounds like a conspiracy theory, but there are a couple of major legal cases currently under way in which exactly this has happened.
TheResearcher · 5 May 2026 at 18:19
I guess I can say I was lucky then? Unless, of course, that is what my college is planning to do, as if it was not enough the ‘support’ I had from them…
I think the Master and Senior Tutor of Christ’s have been busy with what is happening with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as it is not every day that a nurse refuses to give health appointments to students following the advice of a “clinical supervisor” who does not exist. I can only say that it is unbelievable what people in Cambridge are willing to do to cover up misconduct!
Lawrence · 6 May 2026 at 10:27
Bradley Smart should begin by submitting a formal complaint to the police if he has not already done so. At a minimum it should go to PSD review, and then, if enough of a pattern emerges, IOPC.
The police allegedly stated they would not take action due to it being an ‘academic matter’. That is unacceptable, especially if as alleged there is evidence of regular yet uneven action against university members.
TheResearcher · 5 May 2026 at 13:31
The 21 Group has a recent interesting post in X/Tweeter that reads,
““If conflict has occurred, everyone must have contributed to it” is familiar response in Cambridge Uni Bullying & harassment is often reframed as mutual responsibility between harasser & victim It places unjust burden on those affected, often discouraging them from reporting”
This is incomplete, 21 Group! What I learned in the last 36 months is that this only applies to individuals of similar academic rank. However, if you report misconduct of senior members, they ignore what you said and come together to report on your behaviour, it only matters your behaviour. Their misconduct that led to your behaviour is completely erased!
Andreas · 5 May 2026 at 13:52
“Everyone must have contributed to it”
Oh yes that’s right
1. Women “provoke” sexual assault
2. Jews “provoke” antisemitic threats
3. Muslims “provoke” Islamophobic attacks
4. Victims “provoke” bullies
Great logic
TheResearcher · 5 May 2026 at 15:01
Do not forget one of my favourite,
Students bully and harass Academic Secretaries, Registraries, Pro-Vice Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors…
Eileen Nugent · 5 May 2026 at 14:23
If a person talks about killing another person in the same academic community, it’s not that the person is not interested in a relationship with that other member of an academic community, it’s that the person person is interested in an extremely non reciprocal relationship with that other member of an academic community that could result in that other member losing their life. There is a significant one-sided conflict between one member of an academic community & another member of an academic community. There is a breakdown in relations between one member of an academic community – contributing to a significant one-sided conflict – & an academic community.
TheResearcher · 5 May 2026 at 18:36
Meanwhile, Lord Chris Smith has other priorities, “Labour will be making a “fundamental mistake” if it goes ahead with plans to test migrants’ English language skills online, the chancellor of Cambridge University has said…” What are these people doing, seriously?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/01/migrant-language-test-changes-mistake-home-office-warned/
Odd · 5 May 2026 at 20:15
First glance, this is very odd. It is not even in the top 100 problems facing UK Higher Education
“However, one of the world’s leading test providers, whose members include Cambridge University Press and Assessment, has withdrawn from competing for the contract because it says the new system could be exploited by fraudsters and criminal gangs who could fake results with the help of impostors and AI.”
Now we see. Follow the money. It makes sense. CUPA makes a lot of money for the University. The deficit would be way worse without CUPA.
Just a standard small time gangster protecting his turf.
Eileen Nugent · 6 May 2026 at 13:28
If an organised group manages to set up a steady stream of income for itself by exploiting any system – e.g. by employing impostors & setting itself up to use AI to allow people interacting with it to bypass scrutiny of their language & communication skills – that group can become dependent on that steady stream of income to maintain a wanted lifestyle. If that organised group comes under cost-of-maintaining-a-wanted-lifestyle pressure it will have no qualms about exploiting others to keep its steady stream of income flowing.
That means a group can resort to luring people into positions where it can easily exploit people & force them through international transfers that are of no real benefit to a person going through them. The net impact of these international transfers can be to leave the person in a more vulnerable position – with lower autonomy in a society, with higher dependence on people who are less trustworthy with respect to the person & who do not care about the person – than the position the person was in before going through an opaque, closed & invalid international transfer.
These organised groups can then attract two groups of people (i) people who are also prepared to exploit the system for their own ends i.e. people who are not interested in building reciprocal relationships with others & with a society (ii) people who are vulnerable to exploitation by other people who are prepared to exploit both the system and others for their own ends. The second group of people even if interested in building reciprocal relationships with others and with a society can still end up caught in a web of other people who are not interested in building reciprocal relationships with others and with a society & can endure an endless – often inescapable – cycle of exploitation as a result.
The knee-jerk response when facing any difficult problem that needs to be solved is always to cut financial costs, the challenge when facing any difficult problem that needs to be solved is to calculate the real costs of cutting financial costs.
The real costs – both for a person & a society – are the difference between a person being in a position to set up a strong reciprocal relationship with a society versus a person not being in a position to set up a strong reciprocal relationship with a society.
The real costs are the difference between a person having high autonomy and low dependence on other more trusted members of a society and a person having extremely low autonomy and high dependence on other less trusted members of a society.
The real costs are the difference between a person being in a position to build reciprocal relationships with others in a society and being surrounded by people who the person can trust and who care about the person and a person not being in a position to do that.
The real costs are the difference between a person being able to be trusted by a society and of a person being able to trust a society i.e. of there being the foundation for strong durable reciprocal relationship between a person and a society and that not being the case.
It’s important to recognise a situation where it is necessary to pay higher financial costs now to build a system that will consistently deliver more accurate judgments going forward. This is what will minimise the real costs to society now and the financial costs to society well beyond the financial cost of that system itself in future.
Building a system to continuously make judgments which have a significant impact on peoples lives that is itself at increased risk of exploitation will leave people interacting with that system at increased risk of exploitation.
? · 6 May 2026 at 13:01
What does one do, as Head of Department, when a major Employment Tribunal is set to start on a particular day…
“Dear All,
We are delighted to invite you to the first IoA Annual Directors’ Garden Party, taking place from 3:30pm to 5:00pm on Monday 1 June 2026 in the Institute garden outside the Observatory Building.
This year’s Garden Party will be a particularly special occasion as we celebrate the launch of the new IoA Community Service Award, recognising colleagues and students whose contributions have made a real difference to our community…”
TheResearcher · 6 May 2026 at 14:04
UCam is a place where pretending is a key personal trait to survive. If you cannot or if you refuse to do it, you are ignored at best and potentially expelled if you continue to push the system. This HoD is doing what UCam managers do very well, all of them.
adc · 6 May 2026 at 19:03
These people are completely delusional. [REDACTED]
“This year’s Garden Party will be a particularly special occasion as we celebrate the launch of the new IoA Community Service Award, recognising colleagues and students whose contributions have made a real difference to our community”
The Harvey Weinstein Award for Safe and Supportive Work Environments is Awarded to the Senior Management of the Institute of Astronomy.
REDACTIONS by 21 GROUP
TheResearcher · 6 May 2026 at 19:31
They may be thinking that a good gaging order will prevent everyone from knowing what happened and that a garden party will lure new members who do not know what happened. Very good Cambridge, freedom of speech and transparency as usual!
I remind everyone that there are many countries in the world where UK gaging does not apply. Gaging this and related stories will be a complete waste of their money and will embarrass them even more if they try, but let’s see what happens. I am looking forward to seeing the cross-examination of some of the individuals involved and what will happen to them in Cambridge after that.
oldastro · 7 May 2026 at 07:15
Certainly, ‘Dancing on the Deck of the Titanic’ moment
TheResearcher · 6 May 2026 at 17:12
https://x.com/simonmontefiore/status/2051591848158785616
I like the question, “What does the Education Secretary and Chancellor of the University make of this?”
The Education Secretary? Who the one who raises complaints against students for openly challenging bullying and harassment at Cambridge and for refusing to be silent? I think Dr Glover is busy with issues other than death threats…