Academic axed from Labour conference panel for criticising energy policy

Matthew Agarwala, the Bennett professor of sustainable finance at the University of Sussex, said he was ‘hardly a radical on these issues’. Photograph: X/@MatthewAgarwala

A prominent sustainability professor had events cancelled at Labour and Conservative conferences after hosts of a panel he was on said they did not want his views on oil and gas aired in front of MPs.

Prof Matthew Agarwala spoke on the fringe at Lib Dem conference for the panel organised by Total Politics but was then pulled from similar panels at subsequent Labour and Conservative conferences.