An Edinburgh University professor says he is no enemy of the state and just wants to avoid World War III.
The university lecturer was this week accused by a UK Government MP of spreading Russian propaganda but he told Edinburgh Live this is "absurd and offensive."
Tim Hayward is Professor of Environmental Political Theory at the University of Edinburgh, and he was stunned when Tory MP Robert Halfon, made the accusation in Westminster.
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Halfon accused the Edinburgh university professor of being a “useful idiot for President Putin’s atrocities” due to his conduct on Twitter.
Professor Hayward retweeted a Russian representative to the UN, describing the horrific attacks on that maternity hospital in Mariupol as "fake news".
He then wrote: "As long as we’re still able to hear two sides of the story we should continue striving to do so."
However, speaking to Edinburgh Live, Mr Hayward said he is much more concerned about attempts to crack down on freedom of speech and did not want to go into the allegations any further.
The academic says he simply wants to broaden the discussion.
He explained: "Even if sometimes one side is clearly wrong, hearing what they say can still be important.
"Citizens need to understand the challenges decision makers face, and political leaders need to understand what their adversaries are thinking. To know thy enemy is to reduce the risk of escalating a conflict through misunderstandings.
"In war, miscalculations can have terrible consequences. We also know that misinformation can sometimes even slip through on our own side, as when the UK went to war in Iraq, mistakenly believing it had weapons of mass destruction."
Edinburgh University told Edinburgh Live that their employees use social media in a personal capacity, and this was something Mr Hayward was also keen to point out.
But he also questioned whether academics like him should be writing pieces, only from a British point of view.
He continued: "I happen to tweet purely in a capacity of personal concern and as a private citizen, but let’s imagine an academic who is about to write a scholarly article about events in a war in another country.
"Should they present one side only? Would peer reviewers even accept that? Would it equip students to face the complexities of the world if they never learn how to rebut false claims because they are always shielded from them?"
He had no problem in condemning Vladimir Putin and Russia, and explicitly states that they are the aggressors in the current conflict.
He said: "In the present situation, it will be rightly said that, morally speaking, there are not ‘two sides’ to a war of aggression, which is a crime under international law.
"So as our leaders rightly condemn Putin’s invasion we can also earnestly hope they commit themselves to working for a future in which international law is respected – by all nations.
"More immediately, the hope is they will work to promote as swift and as bloodless an end to the war as possible in Ukraine – as well as in the less-publicised wars elsewhere."
The likes of Nicola Sturgeon and other world leaders have threatened Russia with a no fly zone over the country but Hayward vehemently disagrees and says challenging such notions does not make him an enemy but instead an "ally of humanity."
He continued: "As for the people of Ukraine, their need is for peace – not to become the epicentre of World War III.
"There is such a risk if calls for a no-fly zone, or other measures that would lead to direct military confrontation between nuclear powers, are heard without challenge. To challenge them is not to be a stooge of the enemy but an ally of humanity.
"Universities are there for the service of humanity. As the very name implies, they are responsible for maintaining universally shared standards of knowledge and understanding. They provide a vantage point from which the affairs of nations can be seen in wider perspectives. It is in everyone’s interest that they be allowed to fulfil that role."
A spokesperson for The University of Edinburgh said: “The University of Edinburgh joins colleagues in the sector in condemning the invasion of Ukraine and we fully endorse the Universities UK statement on this issue.
“Our Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Mathieson, has recently issued the following statement to students and staff: https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2022/support-for-ukraine-an-update-on-our-response.
“We do not comment on individual members of our staff.”
To read Tim's comment in full visit his blog.
