Corbyn slams 'surveillance state' after UK universities pay firm to spy on pro-Palestine students

Corbyn slams 'surveillance state' after UK universities pay firm to spy on pro-Palestine students Submitted by Imran Mulla on Wed, 04/22/2026 - 14:08 Horus Security Consultancy Limited has been paid at least £440,000 by universities since 2022 for going through social media feeds of students A passerby wearing a keffiyeh walks past a banner reading 'Welcome to the people's university for Palestine' at Oxford University on 7 May 2024 (AFP) Off Twelve British universities have been criticised for paying a private firm run by former military intelligence officials to spy on student protesters and academics. Horus Security Consultancy Limited, which calls itself a "leading intelligence" firm, has been paid at least £440,000 ($594,000) by universities since 2022 for going through through the social media feeds of students looking for expressions of solidarity with Palestine, and making counter-terror threat assessments. An investigation by Al Jazeera English and Liberty Investigates revealed this week that the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, University College London, King’s College London, the University of Sheffield, the University of Leicester, the University of Nottingham, and Cardiff Metropolitan University have paid Horus to monitor students and academics.