MP Michelle Donelan faces calls to resign for using taxpayer cash in libel case

Michelle Donelan is facing calls to resign after i revealed the taxpayer has been forced to pay for a libel case against her.

The Science Secretary called for two “extremist” academics to be suspended from their positions on an advisory group of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the national research funding body, last October.

Ms Donelan wrote to UKRI claiming that academics Professor Kate Sang and Dr Kamna Patel, who both sit on its expert advisory group on equality, diversity and inclusion, had shared “radical” posts that appeared to support Hamas.

In the letter, which she shared to her 38,000 followers on X, Ms Donelan accused Prof Sang, an academic at Heriot-Watt University, of describing Suella Braverman’s crackdown on Hamas support in the UK as “disturbing”.

The Science Secretary also accused Dr Patel, an associate professor at University College London (UCL), of retweeting a post likening Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip to a “genocide”.

But an internal investigation by UKRI has now concluded that there was “no evidence” that the pair had shared extremist views and has said it will reverse their suspensions.

Law firm Bindmans also revealed that the two academics had launched a libel claim against Ms Donelan, and that the Science Secretary had been forced to pay damages to Professor Sang for incorrectly describing her as an “extremist”.

But i revealed on Tuesday evening that the taxpayer footed the bill on behalf of Ms Donelan, plus the academics’ legal fees.

The Government refused to disclose how much money the taxpayer paid to settle Ms Donelan’s libel claim when asked by i.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said it was a “nominal amount”.

It has sparked calls for Ms Donelan to resign, with the Liberal Democrats calling for a full Cabinet Office inquiry into the matter.

The University and College Union, which represents the two academics, called for the Science Secretary to quit.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “This investigation completely exonerates our members and confirms Michelle Donelan’s unprecedented, politicised intervention was an outrageous attack on academic freedom.”

Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dems’ spokeswoman, said the public would be “shocked” to learn that Ms Donelan used taxpayer funds to cover her libel case and legal fees.

“People deserve answers and not yet another Conservative cover-up,” she said.

“A Cabinet Office inquiry is urgently needed to get to the bottom of exactly what happened, whether any rules were broken and how much public money was spent.”

Labour also raised questions over Ms Donelan’s future.

Peter Kyle, the shadow Science Secretary , 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.

“Accusing researchers of sharing extremist material and sympathising with a proscribed group, without any proof, is a new low in Government standards.”

The UCU has also said Ms Donelan faces “serious questions” over a secret dossier on the academics that the Science Secretary asked her officials to draw up ahead of their suspensions.

i revealed last year that Ms Donelan ordered her special advisers at DSIT to create an 11-page document highlighting one of the academic’s posts supporting transgender rights, Black Lives Matter, lecturer strikes and criticisms of No 10.

The document, seen by i, was split into three sections titled “anti-racism”, highlighting posts in support of Black Lives Matter, “transgender advocacy” and “militant leftism”, which includes posts in support of strike action.

It stated that the academic, who i chose not to name, “attacked whiteness”, “endorsed scholarships for black students” and shared posts celebrating “happy trans day of visibility!”

The Government insisted to i at the time that this was the only document of its kind, though Ms Donelan had requested information on several academics.

Jo Grady, general secretary of the UCU, said the academic community would be “outraged” by the revelations, which marked the latest episode in an ongoing free speech row at UK universities.

“Both the public and the academic community will be horrified and outraged that the Government is compiling records on academics,” she told i.

“Ministers repeatedly claim to be guardians of free speech – they now need to explain whether they authorised the spending of time and public money investigating people for wholly legal and protected speech.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Ms Donelan issued a full retraction of her allegations against Professor Sang, saying she was “pleased to be able to withdraw my original concerns”.

DSIT declined to comment.