Sir James Cleverly said he was angry with the situation, and that this never would have happened if the “people within the university establishment – not just Cambridge – had done the robust due diligence and checking that should happen with any senior academic appointment”.
Speaking to the ‘s Today programme, he said he felt Arday was used as “bragging rights by some universities”, and that people spoke of his “age and his ethnicity rather than his talent”.
“I think it was part of the reason that he was lifted so high so quickly and then when the scrutiny did come – external to the universities – his reputation had so far to fall. I think it was unfair on him and I think it’s been a terrible, terrible situation.”
Sir James said much of the coverage surrounding Arday was “quite possibly” motivated by racism, but that the questions over plagiarism were legitimate, regardless of motivation.
The row first erupted after another academic – self-defined “race realist” Nathan Cofnas, who was sacked from his Cambridge role in 2024 – said he found numerous instances of plagiarism in the professor’s work.
Cofnas’s post had been terminated amid a backlash to his view that under a true meritocracy black people would “disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment”.
Cambridge had celebrated Arday’s appointment as a young black professor, one of a tiny and visible minority in academia. Only 1% of professors in UK universities are black, making each appointment hugely significant.
A vigil organised by the group Stand Up To Racism is set to take place on Monday evening in Trafalgar Square.
On Sunday, more than 200 people attended a vigil at Cambridge that was organised by Arday’s postdoctoral students.