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Lord Waldegrave withdrew from the appeals panel after members of the Old Etonian Association asked him to leave.
One member said it was “amazing” that he had “made his biases so publicly known” before the appeal hearing.
Lord Waldegrave admitted that he was wrong in stating that the content of the lecture at the heart of the free speech row played no role in the Master’s dismissal.
Writing to parents Sunday evening, Lord Waldegrave stated that Mr. Knowland would not have lost his job “just for the content of the lesson”, but that it was his “repeated refusal” to follow the Principal’s instructions that caused him led to being fired.
However, on Monday morning he wrote again to the parents to apologize and say that this was “wrong”. He added that, in fact, “it may well have been possible” that Mr. Knowland had been sanctioned rather than fired entirely for the content of the conference.
The £ 42,500-a-year school has said it had “no choice” but to ask Mr Knowland to remove the video from the internet as it violates equality laws.
Mr. Knowland’s supporters noted that the Equality Act contains a specific provision regarding its use in schools that states that “nothing in this chapter applies to anything that is done in relation to the content of the curriculum.”
The Equality and Human Rights Commission published an information note in 2019 on the Equality Law and its application in schools, which says that “you are not restricted in the range of topics, ideas and materials you use in your study program and will have academic freedom to expose students to a variety of thoughts and ideas, no matter how controversial ”.
Toby Young, secretary general of the Free Speech Union, which supports Knowland, said the case “is and always has been about freedom of expression.”
He added that the dispute revolves around the purpose of a good education and whether it is “equipping children with the knowledge and skills to think about the big issues facing our society or simply teaching them the ‘correct’ vision.”
A spokesperson for Eton College said: “As the Chancellor has publicly explained the school’s position, he deemed it inappropriate to be chair of the Appeals Panel. In accordance with our procedures, the Vice Chancellor will take your place.
“Regarding the clarification letter, this was a writing error, an apology was issued and it was corrected as soon as possible.”
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