Zack Polanski defends Cambridge professor who resigned amid plagiarism row

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has defended a black university professor who resigned amid a plagiarism row.

Mr Polanski said that "people of colour... can sometimes be held by higher standards" in society - and claimed the University of Cambridge had already carried out investigations.

Professor Jason Arday quit his high-profile role at the university on Wednesday after it launched an investigation into his "academic qualifications and honorary appointments".

In his open resignation letter, the professor of sociology of education, who became Cambridge's youngest black professor in 2023, said the "only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away".

His decision to step down comes after a series of media reports, including a story in The Daily Telegraph, alleging he plagiarised his PhD thesis and other research.

Questions were also raised about the truth of other claims he made, including that he ran 600 miles in six days and that he had raised £5.5m for charity.

He said his resignation should not be "mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me" or "interpreted as a loss of faith in scholarship".

He added that he had "reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure".

Speaking on LBC, Mr Polanski sought to defend his decision to sign a letter which criticised the "sustained and malicious attacks" on the academic's integrity.

He said: "I think the whole affair sounds pretty sad.

"I think it would be good, actually, if the (university) investigation still was carried out, because I think it would be good to know the truth.

"And ultimately, I think these things should be about fair process and transparency rather than trial by media."

He added: "(The university) had already done, I think, two investigations and found there was no problem here or that the allegations were unfounded, and so (the letter) was about essentially saying that people of colour, particularly in society, can sometimes be held by higher standards."

The letter was also signed by a number of other prominent left-wing figures.

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On Wednesday evening, the University of Cambridge announced it had launched an investigation - which Mr Polanski urged them to continue.

In a statement, it said: "Separately, there remains a number of ongoing complaints regarding academic misconduct, which are being handled in line with our misconduct in research policy."

Jesus College said in a statement that it was launching its own process in relation to the allegation.

Prof Arday's memoir, Great And Unfortunate Things, is due to be published by Simon & Schuster later this month.

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