Michelle Donelan leaves Downing Street.A cabinet minister has agreed to pay damages after wrongly accusing a senior academic of supporting Hamas.
Michelle Donelan, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, suggested on X that Professor Kate Sang had expressed sympathy for the militant group.
In fact, the top Tory had misinterpreted a post on the social media platform in which Professor Sang linking to a Guardian article on the aftermath in the UK to Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 last year.
The academic took out a libel action, which has now been settled - with the taxpayer picking up the bill.
Ms Donelan also wrote to the UK Research and Innovation government agency suggesting that Professor Sang and a second academic, Dr Kamna Patel, had shared extremist material.
The pair, who had both appointed to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion board, were then subjected to a months-long investigation by the UKRI.
In a post this afternoon on X, Donelan said she had withdrawn her allegations.
She said: “I have never thought or claimed that Professor Sang, or any member of the Board, committed a criminal offence.
“I fully accept that she is not an extremist, a supporter of Hamas or any other proscribed organisation and I note that an independent investigation has concluded that there is no evidence that she is. I have deleted my original post to my X account.”
My statement on recent correspondence relating to Research England’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expert Advisory Group. pic.twitter.com/Fn3xRdwjxX
— Michelle Donelan MP (@michelledonelan) March 5, 2024
Tamsin Allen, who represented Professor Sang in her libel complaint, said: “Michelle Donelan has now withdrawn her false allegations and agreed to pay damages and costs to Professor Sang.”
Professor Sang said: I am delighted that this matter has now concluded, but very disturbed by the way in which Michelle Donelan and UKRI behaved.
“Had they asked me at the start, I would have explained the true position. Instead, Michelle Donelan made a cheap political point at my expense and caused serious damage to my reputation. I propose to donate part of the damages she has paid to a charity.”
Shadow science, innovation and technology secretary Peter Kyle said: “The secretary of state must prove she still has the confidence of the research community after using her department to make false allegations against academics.
