https://freespeechunion.org/universities-failing-to-promote-diversity-will-face-funding-cuts/

This means that a quarter of all research funding assessments will now be dictated by institutional culture, rather than academic output and impact. In other words, academics may find themselves under heightened pressure to conform to specific ideological frameworks, potentially at the expense of scholarly independence and the open exchange of ideas. […]

Notably absent from the new REF criteria is any reference to academic freedom – despite mounting evidence that UK universities are restricting scholars’ ability to research and discuss topics such as the clash between trans rights and women’s sex-based rights.