Science secretary pays libel damages and costs after falsely accusing academic of breaching Nolan principles

A UK cabinet minister has apologised and agreed to pay libel damages and costs to a member of Research England’s equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) advisory group after falsely accusing her of backing Hamas.Science secretary Michelle Donelan withdrew the allegation, made in a letter last October to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) urging an investigation into Kate Sang, professor of gender and employment studies at Herriot-Watt University. The letter was published on Donelan’s widely read X account. The undisclosed damages and costs are understood to come from public funds.Sang had posted a Guardian article on X (formerly Twitter), headlined “Suella Braverman urges police to crack down on Hamas support in UK,” commenting, “This is disturbing.” In the letter to UKRI Donelan expressed “disgust and outrage,” arguing that the tweet had broken the Nolan principles, the rules for serving in public office.But after an investigation, UKRI said it had found no…
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