A free speech organisation which declares itself an opponent to the “many-headed hydra” of “cancel culture” has offered to cover the security costs of Suella Braverman’s rescheduled talk at Cambridge’s Conservative Association.

Neither Braverman nor the Conservative Association (CUCA) have confirmed whether they will be taking the offer, but CUCA has told Varsity that they are “fully committed” to rescheduling the event. The cost of security for the initial, now-cancelled event was reportedly quoted at £1,500.

The organisation, the Free Speech Union (FSU), is currently sponsoring “race-realist” fellow Nathan Cofnas’ lawsuit against Emmanuel College, his former employer.

Toby Young, FSU founder and an associate editor at the Spectator, told Varsity that the organisation is proposing to finance the event through its Ian Mactaggart Fund, which has funded multiple controversial student events in recent years.

The former Home Secretary was due to speak at a CUCA event last week, before the event was cancelled amid planned protests by student groups.

Announcing the event’s cancellation, CUCA cited “unprecedented security and logistical difficulties,” while Braverman accused student activists of using “threats, intimidation, and mob-rule tactics”.

Daniel Zeichner, Labour MP for Cambridge, told Varsity: “Suella Braverman is a backbench Tory MP who appears to be courting media coverage. In my view she is best ignored.”

Braverman claimed that she was advised by police to abandon the visit, while Cambridgeshire police told the Sunday Times that the event was deemed to be “low risk”.

The Organisation of Radical Cambridge Activists, one of the groups behind the planned protest, told Varsity that the “supposed ‘security issues’ were unfounded, and mobilised to protect Braverman from scrutiny.” The planned protest fell “well within the normal right to freedom of assembly in the UK, despite Braverman’s best attempts while in office,” they said.

Cambridge Stop the War also criticised Braverman’s comments about the cancellation, telling Varsity: “There is no “mob rule”. We will not be intimidated by Braverman’s scaremongering.”

Jason Scott-Warren, an English professor and member of University Council, also told Varsity: “Suella Braverman’s claim that she couldn’t speak at Cambridge because of ‘militant’ protest is a gross misrepresentation.”

Scott-Warren claimed that the former Home Secretary is “dedicated to crushing the right to peaceful protest,” adding: “that right is alive and well in our universities”.

The Ian Mactaggart fund financed two security guards for a student screening of a film titled ‘Birthgap - Childless World’ in Cambridge last year, Young told Varsity. The film, described as “anti-feminist” by some students, blames the “pitfalls of Feminism and the modern dating-world” for “the planet’s collapsing birth rate,” and was met with student protest.

James Orr, a professor at Cambridge’s Divinity Faculty, sits on the FSU’s advisory council, alongside author Lionel Shriver and historian David Starkey. Last year, a member of the Faculty described Orr as “racist” following his comments about pro-Palestine protests.

Last week, Orr accused student protesters of attempting to “intimidate” Braverman, and attacked Labour for “betraying” free speech.

The Free Speech Union was established by Young in 2020, with the stated aim of “safeguard[ing] and promot[ing] free speech”. The organisation’s website claims that “cancel culture” is a “many headed hydra”: “every time we succeed in cutting off one of those heads, three more grow in its place”.

Young told Varsity that the FSU has taken on around 3,000 free speech cases since 2020, about 20% of which have involved campus disputes.

The organisation keeps a ranking of universities according to the number of cases it has been involved in, Young said, in which Cambridge sits second, the FSU having weighed in on 17 occasions, behind Durham with 22 cases. Oxford sits third on the table, seen by Varsity, with 14 cases of FSU involvement in free speech.

Suella Braverman’s CUCA event is not the first time the former Home Secretary has met with controversy at Cambridge. In May, the MP visited the city’s pro-Palestine encampments, along with GB News anchor, Patrick Christys. Braverman attempted to speak to student members of Cambridge for Palestine (C4P), but all refused.

At the time, Braverman told Varsity that she believes campus Gaza protests to be “antisemitic,” while Cambridge Jews for Justice said that “non-Jewish” politicians were using the protests to “weaponise [Jewish] identities”.

A University spokesperson told the Sunday Times that it would have “provided arrangements” had it been notified about the CUCA event: “The university fully supports freedom of speech within the law, and recently implemented its policy on freedom of speech. We respect the right to protest within the law.”

CUCA told Varsity: “We are currently having discussions as part of our efforts to reschedule the postponed event. However, no arrangement has been reached between us, Suella’s team, and any other third party. We are currently not able to comment on security arrangements or costs.”

Toby Young told Varsity: “The FSU has reached out to Suella Braverman and CUCA and offered to pay the security costs if they’d like to reschedule this event.”