Actor Jeremy Irons called university students "crazy" to ban controversial speakers on Sunday, in a warning over freedom of speech on campus.
Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, the 71-year-old Oscar-winning star said he gets "very depressed" when guests at universities are banned from talking to students due to disagreement with their views.
"I think it's right that all views should be examined and certainly acceptable to discuss", he said.
He said that he believes universities should be about debate, disagreement and forming opinions as well as testing new ideas in the face of evidence.
The comments follow former Home Secretary Amber Rudd being "no platformed" by students at Oxford University on Thursday last week after she was invited to speak by a student society. However, the event was abruptly cancelled due to protests over her links to the Windrush scandal, which saw people wrongly deported from Britain to the Caribbean.
An hour before the talk was scheduled, the UNWomen Oxford UK Society Facebook page issued a statement announcing that the talk had been cancelled after a majority vote by the group’s committee.
The University of Oxford issued a statement to disapprove of the decision by the UNWomen Oxford UK Society.
“The university is strongly committed to freedom of speech and opposes no-platforming. We encourage our students to debate and engage with a range of views, and to treat others with the courtesy and dignity that they would expect themselves".
Ms Rudd described her shutting down as "rude" and "badly judged" in a tweet.
Former Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson also criticised the move as "anti-democratic".
Lawmakers are now looking towards expanding powers of the university regulator to censor student bodies which fail to adequately protect free speech.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has threatened direct intervention in universities which fail to protect democratic rights and ordered Oxford University to take "robust action" over students blocking speakers from talking because they might cause offence.
