Labour is accused over its silence as the Professor Arday scandal exploded

By CHRISTIAN CALGIE, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE Published: 23:00, 6 August 2026 | Updated: 23:00, 6 August 2026 Lucy Powell was accused of failing her first test as Education Secretary last night over her silence on the Jason Arday controversy. Ms Powell and her department have not commented on the row despite growing criticism of the higher education sector. Two former education secretaries told the Daily Mail that Ms Powell's silence is 'not good enough', as they called on the Government to demand answers from the University of Cambridge. Tory Sir Gavin Williamson warned that, while the scandal was 'deeply humiliating' for Cambridge 'it is clear it was born of a wider rot that has touched all aspects of higher education in this country'.  'Britain's world-leading universities need a reality check, and a commitment to ending DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] culture that has led to the Jason Arday scandal. 'It is not good enough for the Education Secretary to sit back on this issue and allow the sector to police itself.  She should be demanding talks with university leaders, not least from Cambridge, to ascertain how exactly this came to pass and how it can be prevented from happening again.' Former Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi agreed, branding the Education Secretary's silence 'unconscionable'.  Former Cambridge University Professor Jason Arday, pictured, on ITV's This Morning show Education Secretary Lucy Powell, pictured, arriving at Downing Street on July 28 Mr Arday Carrying The Olympic Torch ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games getting underway 'The Jason Arday scandal is not just a Cambridge problem. It is symptomatic of a wider bigotry of low expectations that hurts talented non-white people by creating the impression that they only achieve as token diversity hires, by raising up frauds like this', he added. 'The Government must urgently call in senior leaders from the sector, in particular Cambridge, to demand answers and agree a way forward that will strip DEI initiatives from the system and guarantee this does not happen again.' Suella Braverman, the former Cabinet minister and Reform's education spokesman, said: 'Lucy Powell should be leading from the front, working with the Office for Students and calling for an investigation into this scandal. Instead, she is missing in action and has failed her first big test.' Sociology professor Arday, accused of plagiarism and fabricating parts of his CV, finally quit his job on Wednesday evening after the university launched an investigation into him.  The Mail can now reveal growing fury within Cambridge's faculty at the role the university played in facilitating his rise.  Douglas Hedley, a professor of the philosophy of religion and fellow at Clare College, told the Mail: 'Presumably when this man was appointed there must have been references for him. Given the paucity of his publications and a mediocre CV, why on earth was this possible? 'The only possible explanation is the whole DEI culture. DEI is a Trojan horse that will ultimately destroy the notion of the university... It's really dangerous.' Mr Hedley suggested that Cambridge's promise of an investigation was not good enough, instead demanding an 'independent investigation' into the processes and academics who facilitated Professor Arday's rise. Another Cambridge academic told The Times anonymously that the row has been 'disastrous for Cambridge, and it is disastrous for higher education'. The concern about Cambridge University prioritising woke diversity policies over academic rigour further fuelled calls for the government to step in. Ben Obese-Jecty, a black Conservative MP, added: 'Cambridge University's willingness to fete him, specifically, as their youngest black professor, is precisely the type of tick box diversity exercise that does a disservice to those whose credentials and successes aren't fictional.' Asked if the Department for Education, or any ministers, were planning to comment about the scandal, or had been in touch with the University of Cambridge, a spokesman told the Mail it had 'nothing further to add for now.'