[Geo4All] Supporting Humanities and Social Science

[Suchith Anand]

Dear colleagues,

According to the Guardian article dated  8 July 2026 , three people have been arrested as part of an investigation into financial crimes involving the University of Greater Manchester, including allegations of fraud, bribery and money laundering.  

Details at https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/jul/08/three-arrested-investigation-university-of-greater-manchester

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0ly5550jkxo

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/dec/04/regulators-inquiry-university-greater-manchester-fraud-claims

These news on alleged financial irregularities at the University of Greater Manchester raises questions on the governance and financial structures in UK Higher Education.

This also raises some serious questions of the Office for Students and why they didn't catch any of this? 

The police only got involved thanks to some good local investigative journalism. Let's protect actual journalism, and let's change the governance & funding system of UK Higher Education.

What does Andy Burnham’s promise to transfer power from Westminster to local communities mean for academic communities?

This article “UK devolution must extend to its authoritarian universities” published in Times Higher Education on July 24th might be of interest. 
Institutions whose managers are unaccountable to their staff can never be truly civic universities, says Krzysztof Nawratek. Details at
 https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/uk-devolution-must-extend-its-authoritarian-universities

I request the UK government to investigate the role of consultancy firms involved in advising the university senior managements on ‘restructuring’ and senior university management of many UK universities taking significant pay rises and bonuses throughout a worsening national economic situation.

This article in Financial Times “We need humanities more than ever in the age of AI” by Hetan Shah, chief executive of The British Academy, the UK’s national academy for humanities and social sciences at https://www.ft.com/content/fbde3d46-0e53-47cb-8f0b-4988dbf22040

Thank you all for the huge support and solidarity for defending Humanities and Social Science.

Best wishes

Suchith


> On 23 Jul 2026, at 22:03, Suchith Anand <suchithanand1976 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear colleagues,
> 
> Thank you all for the huge support and solidarity for defending Humanities and Social Science. Over 35000 have signed the petition to stop redundancies at the University of Exeter. Details at https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/geoforall/2026-July/006684.html
> 
> This Guardian Editorial on 20 July 2026 highlights the importance of Literature, the arts and social sciences.
> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/20/the-guardian-view-on-humanities-cuts-in-universities-academic-departments-are-more-than-cost-centres
> 
> The UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is a Humanities graduate. In 2023, Andy gave this excellent interview about his experience studying a Humanities degree.
> 
> Humanities Degrees - An Interview with Andy Burnham
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dJGnGiYy7T4&pp=iggUQAFKEF91OFZlaUloX2lrcnhlSU0%3D
> 
> I request the UK Government to support Humanities and Social Science in all UK universities.
> 
> Best wishes
> 
> Suchith
> 
> Professor Suchith Anand
> Professor of Practice in Science Policy | Senior Adviser to Governments and International Organisations | Scientist | Global Citizen | Science Diplomacy |  SDG Volunteer and Advocate
> https://spspa.exeter.ac.uk/people/profile/index.php?username=sa1131
> https://ethicaldatainitiative.org <https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/>
> 

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