Leading article: Welcome advice on Israel

The legal advice warning against a boycott of Israeli universities by the University and College Union (UCU) should be welcomed, and hopefully brings an end to this sorry episode. The fact that the likes of Anthony Lester QC need to remind the UCU of what its aims and objectives should be, let alone what constitutes discrimination, illustrates how foolhardy such a restriction on academic freedom would have been.

The question is, why was legal advice not sought earlier? That way, the UCU could have discussed the implications of links with Israeli institutions, and avoided any talk of a boycott, thereby preventing the damaging effects the boycott saga has now wrought.