Calls for public inquiry into Jason Arday ‘witch hunt’
30,000 Signatories Demand Public Inquiry After Jason Arday's Death
Ninoda.com – A letter addressed to the prime minister, backed by more than 30,000 signatories, is demanding an immediate public inquiry into press conduct following the death of former Cambridge professor Jason Arday. The petition, issued by Good Law Project — which had been representing Arday after he stepped down from his post amid a plagiarism dispute — asserts that his death came in the wake of "two weeks of relentless harassment."
The statement calls for an "immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press." Among those who signed are Labour MP Diane Abbott, actress Jameela Jamil, Green Party leader Zack Polanski, Labour MPs Bell Ribiero-Addy, Clive Lewis and Nadia Whittome, former England footballer Eni Aluko, National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede, and broadcaster Carol Vorderman.
The Final Days
Arday, aged 41, was discovered dead at a Battersea address in south London on Friday. Lord Woolley, principal of Homerton College at Cambridge, told BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House programme that he and several close friends had seen Arday just four days before his death.
"Diane said to him, she held his hand, and said we will help you get through this."
Woolley recalled that Abbott and social activist Misan Harriman were present to offer solidarity, having themselves endured what he described as "horrible media attention." He characterised the coverage Arday faced as relentless and compared it to a spectacle.
"But on that day, we saw a man half his body weight and desperate beyond belief."
Woolley went further, arguing that the intensity of scrutiny placed on Arday was disproportionate compared with other academics accused of plagiarism. He pointed to what he called "negatively differential treatment" and urged open discussion about racism in the episode.
"We have to ask this question, we have to talk about — which a lot of people don't want to talk about, is racism."
The Plagasm Row
The controversy first surfaced after Nathan Cofnas, a self-described "race realist" who had been dismissed from his own Cambridge position in 2024, claimed to have identified numerous instances of plagiarism in Arday's published work. Cofnas's departure followed backlash over his remark that under a genuine meritocracy black people would "disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment."
Arday had denied the allegations. Liverpool John Moores University, which granted him his doctorate in 2015, subsequently concluded that no plagiarism had taken place. He resigned as Cambridge's professor of sociology of education on 5 August.
Cambridge's Position
On 6 August the university announced an independent investigation into Arday's appointment. It is understood internally that Cambridge does not consider it appropriate to determine whether that inquiry should proceed. However, Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, a friend of the late professor, told Times Radio on Sunday that the investigation ought to continue regardless.
"This is the whole purpose of investigations."
A University of Cambridge spokesperson confirmed that Arday had received various forms of support for his physical and mental well-being during his tenure, including counselling and advice. The university stated that this support persisted through intense public scrutiny and continued after his resignation.
Tributes and Fundraising
Cambridge had publicly celebrated Arday's appointment as a young black professor — a distinction of particular weight given that only one per cent of professors in UK universities are black, making each such appointment highly visible.
Windrush campaigner Sir Patrick Vernon, also among the petition's signatories, launched a fundraiser for Arday's family. More than £90,000 has been raised to date. A vigil organised by Stand Up To Racism is scheduled for Monday evening in Trafalgar Square.
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