Latest news with #GinaMiller
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
‘I was raped. And my dreams were shattered' – Gina Miller on abuse, cancer and the toxic race for Cambridge chancellor
My first question for Gina Miller is the same one I put to all interviewees – what did you have for breakfast? Since she's not a chef or a famous foodie, but the activist who fought Boris Johnson over his Brexit plans, and is now standing for chancellor of the University of Cambridge, this is more a journalistic ritual designed to test whether the recording device is working. But her response is startling. 'I rarely have time for breakfast,' says Miller, who turned 60 this year. 'I'm only just able to drink coffee again after my chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, which is amazing. As my dose has just been reduced, I was able to have the one cup I'm limited to today.' The only outward clue that she is undergoing the treatment is a new Jean Seberg-style crop. She exudes energy and a zest for life. 'I was diagnosed in September last year,' she says, breezily. 'Actually, I should say 'self-diagnosed'. I knew something wasn't right with one of my breasts. The GP kept sending me away but after my fourth visit they agreed to a biopsy. I am so glad I listened to my inner voice that all was not well. It turned out that I had an aggressive form of the disease and had to have a very high dosage of chemotherapy from October to February. In March, I had a double mastectomy. I will be on the lower-dose chemo until December.' Since the recurrence rates are so high, Miller has opted for further surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes in January. 'I don't want to keep looking over my shoulder to see if it's going to come back,' she says. 'I'm lucky; I've had my three kids so I don't need my female organs. If I get rid of everything, the prognosis is good.' In February, in the midst of what must have been an exhausting and stressful period, Miller was approached by a group of Cambridge professors who asked if she might be interested in standing for chancellor. She initially said no, believing it was open only to Cambridge alumni, then learned that this was not a requirement. Still she demurred, but not because of her illness. 'I told them I wasn't interested in taking on a ceremonial role. I only want to do something that has a real impact because I think our country, and the world in fact, is at a particularly traumatic time in history. Cambridge has the resources, and the great, brilliant minds and standing as an institution, to contribute to the world and to us finding a more resilient and sustainable future.' Researching what scope the chancellor actually has, she discovered that the role includes the power to ensure that university officers are performing as they should be, and to resolve disputes where solutions can't be found otherwise. 'I came to the conclusion that although it has previously been a figurehead role, that could change. The chancellor sits on the university council so could act as chair. I decided I would throw my hat in the ring.' How did she find the energy to do that while undergoing chemotherapy? 'It's true, chemo is gruelling. It's not only the treatment, it's the emotional side of it. Your appearance changes. Losing your hair, your eyebrows, your eyelashes, it changes the way people treat you and judge you as a woman. But although I suffered terribly with nausea, I didn't stay in bed all day. I still tried to work for two to three hours a day and rested a lot, too.' I tell her the new haircut looks elegant and she laughs. 'You never normally see the shape of your head. I think I have a weird double crown. But thank you.' Miller made her name in 2016 in a landmark challenge to the government's right to trigger article 50, formalising the UK's exit from the EU, without a parliamentary vote, and then in 2019, successfully blocking a no-deal Brexit by fighting Johnson's attempt to prorogue parliament for five weeks. Although you may imagine that a freethinking, remainer-leaning academic hub such as Cambridge might welcome Miller with open arms, her appearance on the 10-strong candidate list has ruffled feathers. For one thing, there has never been a female chancellor in the university's 800-year history. To give a sense of the type of individual the role attracts, the previous two incumbents were Prince Philip, who was succeeded in 2011 by Lord Sainsbury of Turville. Apart from Miller, the only other female candidate is the comedian Sandi Toksvig. Also in the running are the former BP head John Browne and the former Labour minister Chris Smith. In his campaign statement, another candidate, the astrophysics professor Wyn Evans, wrote: 'If Cambridge needs a high-profile or celebrity chancellor to be noticed, we might as well give up and rebrand the university as a reality TV show: 'Keeping Up With the Cantabrigians'.' Miller is unimpressed: 'Weirdly, the candidate who made the Kardashians comment is actually someone who is saying that the university needs to address its bullying and harassment issues.' There have also been cries of foul play, with concerns over certain candidates spending money on PR and social media, bad-mouthing opponents and using the university insignia to promote themselves, which is against protocol. In the run-up to the elections, Miller has been speaking to past and present students, professors, researchers and academics at the university. 'The word that keeps coming up is complacency. Cambridge really needs leadership. Its ranking has slipped [from fifth to sixth in the world], and it needs to resolve the issues it's facing. Behind the scenes there is disquiet, be it in terms of discrimination, short-term contracts, intergenerational unfairness and the coming austerity measures.' She says that throughout her life, education has always been 'the anchor that has helped me to survive'. Her biggest inspiration was her father, Doodnauth Singh, who rose from being a petrol pump attendant in Guyana, studying law at night school, to become the country's attorney general. 'Education is what brought me to the UK, to a small boarding school in Eastbourne aged 11. Guyana was going through a dictatorship at the time and so I was sent to the UK to be safe. My parents were deeply passionate believers in the power of education.' But beyond all these motivations, she has a more pressing reason to want to contribute to the university's future: 'It just so happens that the type of breast cancer I have is a very rare genetic mutation, PALB2, which affects only 1-2% of breast cancer patients. Some of the scientists who discovered it are based at Cambridge University and I've got to know them, talking about the astonishing work they are doing and the medical advancements going on there. So I do feel as if I have a debt to repay them.' That the university needs strategic leadership is not in doubt. According to its internal watchdog, the university ran up a deficit of £53m for 2023/24 'with no clear understanding of what has happened or why'. It is expected to report a £47m deficit for 2024/25 and cuts of 5% have been instigated across the institution. Cambridge has also been ranked the worst university in the country for the support it offers its disabled students, according to a recent study. 'That is not good, especially when you have so many neurodiverse individuals. We need to tap into that brilliance, but that has to come with care and support,' says Miller, whose eldest daughter, now 37, has severe special needs. One of the biggest issues she is keen to address is wellbeing and safety support for students and staff. 'There is a lot of pressure on individuals to perform in a way that excels at every level. But not much focus on supporting people to get there.' She says that she would advocate for each college having a properly trained psychotherapist and wellbeing support teams. 'This isn't just for students, it's for staff. I've spoken to lots of young female researchers, especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds, about microaggressions and misogyny that is going on. They need an independent person to talk to. All schools and corporate environments offer this. Why doesn't Cambridge University? It's a false economy to run away from this.' Miller has very good reason to get behind this cause. In 1987, two months before she was due to sit her final exams for a law degree at the Polytechnic of East London, Miller was attacked by a group of four Asian men on campus. Even 38 years on, she is still visibly upset recounting the events of that night. 'It happened on campus. It was cricket season and India had just played Pakistan. The Asian student societies were all celebrating. I had been studying in the library and when I left, I was intending to go to Mile End tube station. Four men spotted me. They had wrongly identified me as an Indian woman and accused me of dressing and behaving too western. They had seen me with Adrian, my white boyfriend. They attacked me.' She pauses, distressed. 'I was raped.' This is the first time Miller has described the incident as rape. She did not report the crime, nor did she tell anybody. 'Like many cultures, in my community there is a lot of shame associated with crimes like this.' She stopped attending lectures. 'I was completely broken and dysfunctional for at least seven months, probably a year. In my mind, I was going to go back to study when I felt better. My dream had always been to follow in my father's footsteps, to become the best goddamn criminal barrister there was. Or maybe I'd go into family law. But after the attack, my dreams were shattered. In the end, unsupported, I just couldn't face going back.' Instead, she moved to Bristol to set up a photographic business with Adrian, who became her first husband and with whom she had a daughter when she was 23. Later, she went to study marketing at the University of North London. Ironically, 30 years after she left the Polytechnic of East London (which became the University of East London in 1992), it awarded her with an honorary doctorate of laws in 2017. In her memoir, Rise, Miller describes feeling an acute sense of 'identity limbo' when she started law school. I wonder if this might explain the drive behind her hyperactive CV. She has campaigned on domestic violence, modern-day slavery and online abuse, as well as launching numerous business ventures. In 2024, she stood as a parliamentary candidate for Epsom and Ewell, representing her own political party, True and Fair, but lost her deposit. 'I've had a very eventful life,' she laughs. 'Education has always supported me, but life has educated me, too.' Along the way, she escaped a difficult second marriage, taking her eldest daughter with her and later marrying her third husband, Alan, with whom she has a son who is studying medicine and a daughter who has just sat her A-levels. But since 2016, her life has been lived against a backdrop of horrendous abuse. At the height of the Brexit legal proceedings, her family were under the protection of the anti-terrorism squad. To this day, she is still at the sharp end of public vitriol. Why would she put her head above the parapet again? 'I've considered this role really carefully. I think I have the bandwidth to do it.' She does add, though, that she is done with politics. 'I discovered that it's not for me. I'm disillusioned with our political system.' Before we finish, I ask Miller if she ever switches off, and she mentions her love of cooking, sharing with me a foolproof recipe for crispy aubergine, as well as dancing and music. Unexpectedly, she turns out to be an Iggy Pop fan. Was she a punk? 'No! But I did like Chrissie Hynde. As for Iggy, I just love Lust for Life. If you want to understand my take on life, that is the perfect song.' Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
‘I was raped. And my dreams were shattered' – Gina Miller on abuse, cancer and the toxic race for Cambridge chancellor
My first question for Gina Miller is the same one I put to all interviewees – what did you have for breakfast? Since she's not a chef or a famous foodie, but the activist who fought Boris Johnson over his Brexit plans, and is now standing for chancellor of the University of Cambridge, this is more a journalistic ritual designed to test whether the recording device is working. But her response is startling. 'I rarely have time for breakfast,' says Miller, who turned 60 this year. 'I'm only just able to drink coffee again after my chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, which is amazing. As my dose has just been reduced, I was able to have the one cup I'm limited to today.' The only outward clue that she is undergoing the treatment is a new Jean Seberg-style crop. She exudes energy and a zest for life. 'I was diagnosed in September last year,' she says, breezily. 'Actually, I should say 'self-diagnosed'. I knew something wasn't right with one of my breasts. The GP kept sending me away but after my fourth visit they agreed to a biopsy. I am so glad I listened to my inner voice that all was not well. It turned out that I had an aggressive form of the disease and had to have a very high dosage of chemotherapy from October to February. In March, I had a double mastectomy. I will be on the lower-dose chemo until December.' Since the recurrence rates are so high, Miller has opted for further surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes in January. 'I don't want to keep looking over my shoulder to see if it's going to come back,' she says. 'I'm lucky; I've had my three kids so I don't need my female organs. If I get rid of everything, the prognosis is good.' In February, in the midst of what must have been an exhausting and stressful period, Miller was approached by a group of Cambridge professors who asked if she might be interested in standing for chancellor. She initially said no, believing it was open only to Cambridge alumni, then learned that this was not a requirement. Still she demurred, but not because of her illness. 'I told them I wasn't interested in taking on a ceremonial role. I only want to do something that has a real impact because I think our country, and the world in fact, is at a particularly traumatic time in history. Cambridge has the resources, and the great, brilliant minds and standing as an institution, to contribute to the world and to us finding a more resilient and sustainable future.' Researching what scope the chancellor actually has, she discovered that the role includes the power to ensure that university officers are performing as they should be, and to resolve disputes where solutions can't be found otherwise. 'I came to the conclusion that although it has previously been a figurehead role, that could change. The chancellor sits on the university council so could act as chair. I decided I would throw my hat in the ring.' How did she find the energy to do that while undergoing chemotherapy? 'It's true, chemo is gruelling. It's not only the treatment, it's the emotional side of it. Your appearance changes. Losing your hair, your eyebrows, your eyelashes, it changes the way people treat you and judge you as a woman. But although I suffered terribly with nausea, I didn't stay in bed all day. I still tried to work for two to three hours a day and rested a lot, too.' I tell her the new haircut looks elegant and she laughs. 'You never normally see the shape of your head. I think I have a weird double crown. But thank you.' Miller made her name in 2016 in a landmark challenge to the government's right to trigger article 50, formalising the UK's exit from the EU, without a parliamentary vote, and then in 2019, successfully blocking a no-deal Brexit by fighting Johnson's attempt to prorogue parliament for five weeks. Although you may imagine that a freethinking, remainer-leaning academic hub such as Cambridge might welcome Miller with open arms, her appearance on the 10-strong candidate list has ruffled feathers. For one thing, there has never been a female chancellor in the university's 800-year history. To give a sense of the type of individual the role attracts, the previous two incumbents were Prince Philip, who was succeeded in 2011 by Lord Sainsbury of Turville. Apart from Miller, the only other female candidate is the comedian Sandi Toksvig. Also in the running are the former BP head John Browne and the former Labour minister Chris Smith. In his campaign statement, another candidate, the astrophysics professor Wyn Evans, wrote: 'If Cambridge needs a high-profile or celebrity chancellor to be noticed, we might as well give up and rebrand the university as a reality TV show: 'Keeping Up With the Cantabrigians'.' Miller is unimpressed: 'Weirdly, the candidate who made the Kardashians comment is actually someone who is saying that the university needs to address its bullying and harassment issues.' There have also been cries of foul play, with concerns over certain candidates spending money on PR and social media, bad-mouthing opponents and using the university insignia to promote themselves, which is against protocol. In the run-up to the elections, Miller has been speaking to past and present students, professors, researchers and academics at the university. 'The word that keeps coming up is complacency. Cambridge really needs leadership. Its ranking has slipped [from fifth to sixth in the world], and it needs to resolve the issues it's facing. Behind the scenes there is disquiet, be it in terms of discrimination, short-term contracts, intergenerational unfairness and the coming austerity measures.' She says that throughout her life, education has always been 'the anchor that has helped me to survive'. Her biggest inspiration was her father, Doodnauth Singh, who rose from being a petrol pump attendant in Guyana, studying law at night school, to become the country's attorney general. 'Education is what brought me to the UK, to a small boarding school in Eastbourne aged 11. Guyana was going through a dictatorship at the time and so I was sent to the UK to be safe. My parents were deeply passionate believers in the power of education.' But beyond all these motivations, she has a more pressing reason to want to contribute to the university's future: 'It just so happens that the type of breast cancer I have is a very rare genetic mutation, PALB2, which affects only 1-2% of breast cancer patients. Some of the scientists who discovered it are based at Cambridge University and I've got to know them, talking about the astonishing work they are doing and the medical advancements going on there. So I do feel as if I have a debt to repay them.' That the university needs strategic leadership is not in doubt. According to its internal watchdog, the university ran up a deficit of £53m for 2023/24 'with no clear understanding of what has happened or why'. It is expected to report a £47m deficit for 2024/25 and cuts of 5% have been instigated across the institution. Cambridge has also been ranked the worst university in the country for the support it offers its disabled students, according to a recent study. 'That is not good, especially when you have so many neurodiverse individuals. We need to tap into that brilliance, but that has to come with care and support,' says Miller, whose eldest daughter, now 37, has severe special needs. One of the biggest issues she is keen to address is wellbeing and safety support for students and staff. 'There is a lot of pressure on individuals to perform in a way that excels at every level. But not much focus on supporting people to get there.' She says that she would advocate for each college having a properly trained psychotherapist and wellbeing support teams. 'This isn't just for students, it's for staff. I've spoken to lots of young female researchers, especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds, about microaggressions and misogyny that is going on. They need an independent person to talk to. All schools and corporate environments offer this. Why doesn't Cambridge University? It's a false economy to run away from this.' Miller has very good reason to get behind this cause. In 1987, two months before she was due to sit her final exams for a law degree at the Polytechnic of East London, Miller was attacked by a group of four Asian men on campus. Even 38 years on, she is still visibly upset recounting the events of that night. 'It happened on campus. It was cricket season and India had just played Pakistan. The Asian student societies were all celebrating. I had been studying in the library and when I left, I was intending to go to Mile End tube station. Four men spotted me. They had wrongly identified me as an Indian woman and accused me of dressing and behaving too western. They had seen me with Adrian, my white boyfriend. They attacked me.' She pauses, distressed. 'I was raped.' This is the first time Miller has described the incident as rape. She did not report the crime, nor did she tell anybody. 'Like many cultures, in my community there is a lot of shame associated with crimes like this.' She stopped attending lectures. 'I was completely broken and dysfunctional for at least seven months, probably a year. In my mind, I was going to go back to study when I felt better. My dream had always been to follow in my father's footsteps, to become the best goddamn criminal barrister there was. Or maybe I'd go into family law. But after the attack, my dreams were shattered. In the end, unsupported, I just couldn't face going back.' Instead, she moved to Bristol to set up a photographic business with Adrian, who became her first husband and with whom she had a daughter when she was 23. Later, she went to study marketing at the University of North London. Ironically, 30 years after she left the Polytechnic of East London (which became the University of East London in 1992), it awarded her with an honorary doctorate of laws in 2017. In her memoir, Rise, Miller describes feeling an acute sense of 'identity limbo' when she started law school. I wonder if this might explain the drive behind her hyperactive CV. She has campaigned on domestic violence, modern-day slavery and online abuse, as well as launching numerous business ventures. In 2024, she stood as a parliamentary candidate for Epsom and Ewell, representing her own political party, True and Fair, but lost her deposit. 'I've had a very eventful life,' she laughs. 'Education has always supported me, but life has educated me, too.' Along the way, she escaped a difficult second marriage, taking her eldest daughter with her and later marrying her third husband, Alan, with whom she has a son who is studying medicine and a daughter who has just sat her A-levels. But since 2016, her life has been lived against a backdrop of horrendous abuse. At the height of the Brexit legal proceedings, her family were under the protection of the anti-terrorism squad. To this day, she is still at the sharp end of public vitriol. Why would she put her head above the parapet again? 'I've considered this role really carefully. I think I have the bandwidth to do it.' She does add, though, that she is done with politics. 'I discovered that it's not for me. I'm disillusioned with our political system.' Before we finish, I ask Miller if she ever switches off, and she mentions her love of cooking, sharing with me a foolproof recipe for crispy aubergine, as well as dancing and music. Unexpectedly, she turns out to be an Iggy Pop fan. Was she a punk? 'No! But I did like Chrissie Hynde. As for Iggy, I just love Lust for Life. If you want to understand my take on life, that is the perfect song.' Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at
Business Wire
17-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
First Internet Bank Secures $125,000 Grant for Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership
FISHERS, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Internet Bank announced today that it has assisted the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership (INHP) in securing a $125,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis (FHLBank Indianapolis) through its new Community Multiplier–Member Match program. 'We commend FHLBank Indianapolis for its novel approach. In addition to partnering with member banks and not-for-profits, they invest ten percent of their annual net earnings back into affordable housing and community development-related initiatives,' said Nicole Lorch, First Internet Bank President and Chief Operating Officer and INHP board member. 'We are passionate about creating pathways to affordable housing in and around the city where so many of our employees and customers reside. This grant further enables INHP to provide critical counseling services that help transform lives and enhance our neighborhoods.' The grant will support INHP's housing counseling programs that help renters and aspiring homebuyers in Marion County (Indiana) overcome barriers to homeownership. 'FHLBank Indianapolis' innovative Community Multiplier funding program and First Internet Bank's commitment to unlocking $125,000 in matching grant dollars will be instrumental toward INHP increasing affordable and sustainable housing opportunities in our community,' said Gina Miller, president and CEO at INHP. 'Through their partnership, many hardworking Indianapolis residents will be making the dream of homeownership a reality – even during a nationwide housing affordability crisis.' The Community Multiplier–Member Match program, launched on March 27, 2025, provides grants between $25,000 and $125,000 to not-for-profit organizations headquartered in Indiana or Michigan that partner with FHLBank Indianapolis member financial institutions on targeted affordable housing initiatives. The program requires a 10% matching fund commitment from the member financial institution. To learn more about First Internet Bank, please visit For more information about INHP's affordable housing solutions, please visit About First Internet Bank First Internet Bank opened for business in 1999 as an industry pioneer in the branchless delivery of banking services. With assets of $5.8 billion as of March 31, 2025, the Bank provides consumer and small business deposits, consumer loans and specialty finance services nationally. The Bank also offers commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, SBA financing and treasury management services. Additional information about the Bank, including its products and services, is available at The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Internet Bancorp (Nasdaq: INBK). First Internet Bank is a Member FDIC. About Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership The Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership (INHP) creates affordable housing solutions for people with low and moderate incomes, and collaborates to enhance quality of life in Indianapolis neighborhoods. INHP supports people by providing homebuyer and financial education, one-on-one homeownership advising, home purchase and home repair lending, and housing stability programming for renters participating in economic mobility initiatives. As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) INHP also supports the creation or preservation of affordable housing through investments in affordable housing development, land banking, community lending and grantmaking. For more information, visit
Telegraph
31-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
‘Academics are fleeing Trump's anti-intellectual America. We should take advantage'
The University of Cambridge should take in academics fleeing Donald Trump's America, a candidate to become the institution's new figurehead has said. Gina Miller, a prominent anti-Brexit campaigner running to become the next Cambridge chancellor, said UK universities must cash in on a US brain drain sparked by the president's assault on academia. In an interview with The Telegraph, Mrs Miller also urged Cambridge to divest from arms companies and to be more transparent about its financial arrangements. She vowed to uphold free speech on campus if elected as chancellor, but criticised the 'politicised' debate on the topic and said she would not invite people such as Andrew Tate, the controversial influencer, to speak to students. Mrs Miller rose to prominence for two successful legal challenges to the former government's Brexit dealings, and now aims to take her 'fight for democracy' to the world's third-oldest university. The businesswoman, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, will go head-to-head with nine other candidates in the hopes of becoming Cambridge's 109th chancellor – and the first female leader in the role's 800-year history. Her rivals include Sandi Toksvig, the comedian and ex-presenter of the Great British Bake Off, and Lord Browne of Madingley, the former chief executive of BP. Speaking to The Telegraph, Mrs Miller said she threw her hat in the ring after her cancer diagnosis, for which she underwent a double mastectomy earlier this year, prompted her to 'reassess' life. 'It's been incredibly difficult, but I don't want to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life, thinking 'what if',' she said. Born in British Guiana, now Guyana, the entrepreneur was sent by her parents to an English boarding school aged 10 after her father's career as the country's attorney general put the family's life in danger. 'My father was always obsessed with Cambridge. He started as a petrol pump assistant – you know, very poor – and his dream was to become a Cambridge blue for cricket. I mean, that's how far the reach of the reputation of that university is,' she said. She said Cambridge now had an opportunity to enhance that influence by offering a safe haven for students and academics deserting the US. Canada and Germany have both offered 'exile campuses', but UK universities are yet to do the same – with sources suggesting vice-chancellors were cautious not to appear too 'anti-American'. 'This last year we've seen the biggest uptick in US students looking for universities outside the US. And the same goes for the academics. So why is Cambridge not making the most of that?' said Mrs Miller. 'Intellectual jealousy by Trump' Mr Trump has attacked elite US universities in recent months, accusing them of fostering anti-Semitism on campus and adopting biased admissions policies against white students. The US leader has also frozen around $3.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard, and on Tuesday ramped up his campaign by ordering embassies to halt all new international student visa applications. Mrs Miller claimed the attack stemmed from a sense of 'intellectual jealousy' in Mr Trump, which she suggested was why the president had surrounded himself 'with the tech bros – because they're not wearing the clothes of traditional academia'. She warned that the rise of 'authoritarianism and anti-intellectualism' would sharpen the need to protect free speech at universities. However, she said she would not extend a campus invite to figures such as Mr Tate, the social media influencer who was charged with rape and human trafficking by UK prosecutors earlier this week. 'Free speech is one thing, but if it crosses the line into promoting hate and misogyny and behaviours that are actually damaging, I would say, no, absolutely not,' Mrs Miller said. The businesswoman became a target of misogyny and abuse after winning two Supreme Court challenges in 2017 and 2019 against the then government's handling of exiting the EU, which many saw as attempts to frustrate Brexit. She received death threats. Nine years on from the referendum, Mrs Miller views the 'old Right and Left, those old Overton Window classifications' to have gone as Reform UK continues to cleave open the traditional two-party system. 'Political parties need to up their game' The financier, once a Labour party member, founded her own True and Fair political party in 2021, based on her campaign of the same name calling for greater transparency in the City. The party was dissolved last year after Mrs Miller stood as its candidate for Epsom and Ewell at the general election and came sixth. She criticised recent comments by Lord Hermer as 'crass' after the Attorney General compared calls to leave the European Convention on Human Rights to the rise of Nazism. 'I wish all the parties would up their game,' she said. 'I don't see a leader. And I think that's the thing that's very worrying for us, as the 2030s will be a transformative decade.' Mrs Miller promised to bring her campaigning for greater transparency to Cambridge, and said it was 'right' that the university's King's College earlier this month announced it would cut its financial ties with arms firms. The founder of wealth manager SCM Direct vowed to do the same to Cambridge's £4 billion endowment fund, adding: 'I think the university has to have ethics, an ethical sense has to go through everything it does.' 'Cambridge can be an ambassador' Pitching herself as 'someone from outside the university's inner circle', she also criticised previous Cambridge chancellors for not speaking out about important matters or attempting to boost UK universities on the world stage. 'Why is Cambridge not at Davos, for example? Cambridge has the opportunity to be an ambassador for not just itself, but actually for the sector,' she said. 'I think that's where I'd be critical of the chancellorships in the past, in that I'd say they haven't utilised that platform enough in the service of our nation, and I think that's a real shame.' Lord Sainsbury of Turville, who was elected Cambridge chancellor in 2011, stepped down last year. He had succeeded Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, who held the position for 35 years. The role was not on Mrs Miller's radar until a group of Cambridge professors approached her earlier this year and urged her to apply, despite her not being an alumna of the university. 'And actually, weirdly, there was another connection. The cancer that I have is a very rare genetic mutation which was discovered by a team at Cambridge five or six years ago, so I had been in contact with that team and become really close to them,' she said. 'One of the missions of Cambridge is to be able to help the progression of humanity and society. We need to get it off the page into the real world. And I would argue that having a chancellor who is actually from the world can speak and become almost a translator and storyteller of what Cambridge is doing and how that connects to the real world.'
Telegraph
30-05-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Surely Cambridge can do better than Gina Miller?
The opportunity not to vote for Sandi Toksvig should never be lightly passed over, so I shall be casting a ballot in the elections for the chancellor of Cambridge. Excitingly, you can do so online, though I'd prefer to be obliged to turn up in person. Browsing through the manifestos is a dispiriting experience. It's not just Sandi whose mission is to further diversity and inclusion; everyone is determined to engage in outreach and brag about being at a state school. But the former host of the News Quiz also makes quite a thing about being a woman: 'The first known chancellor of Cambridge was Richard of Wetheringsett who served sometime between 1215 and 1232. After that we have had a plethora of other Richards, many Johns and an awful lot of Stephens. After over 800 years I wonder if it isn't time for a change?' No, Sandi. Not if it means having a really annoying broadcaster representing the university. Another candidate not to vote for is Gina Miller. She'll go down well in some bits of Cambridge on account of Brexit, but the notion of having someone at the helm who says 'I have spent my life speaking truth to power' is not inviting. I mean, one previous chancellor who really did speak truth to power was Bishop John Fisher and he had his head chopped off. His successor, Thomas Cromwell, was a good fundraiser (another big issue), though unfortunately at other people's expense; he too was quite a name to reckon with. But that's the thing. The list is gloomily unimpressive, from the bloke who wants to 'champion inclusive excellence' (which is either meaningless or contradictory) to the one who declares that 'the university's powerful brand enables it to generate significant income, which ought to be reinvested into its core mission'. Brand? Mission? It's a university, not a business; at least, not wholly, not yet. Or there's the candidate who wants 'flourishment'. Is flourishment a thing? What, exactly, is it? Or how about the one who declares: 'Cambridge is more than a university – it is a living idea. It speaks through the rustle of books in dawn-lit libraries, in the quiet authority of our porters, the resilience of our cleaners and caterers, the curiosity of our students'. Dawn-lit libraries? No undergraduate I know has ever seen a library at dawn. The 'quiet authority' of the porters is funny, and I remember when half had been in the military. Lord (John) Browne, ex-BP, tells us about being a closet homosexual. Do we really need to know? If this selection is indicative of the quality of our public life, let alone our academic life, we have a problem. Hardly anyone on the list is an individual of real substance. I remember when the chancellor was Prince Philip (he was very good at it) and the vice-chancellor was a formidable scientist, Rosemary Murray (who would have been a brilliant chancellor herself). That was more like it. By comparison with past chancellors, from Prince Albert to Stanley Baldwin, our lot are dire. In fact, the Cambridge chancellorship is quite a good way of estimating the kind of establishment we have, and it looks to me like a collection of unfascinating technocrats or media showoffs. It looks then like I shall have to vote for Chris Smith, who pushed it a bit when he said that as Culture Secretary he made all the national galleries and museums free (quite a few were free already) but at least he cared about culture and can write English. But it's a single transferable vote system…Lord knows whom I should pick for the rest of the selection. At least I know whom I'm not voting for; that's a start. Looking at the competition, I have to ask stopped me throwing my hat in the ring?
