A British university lecturer who claimed black people were intellectually inferior to whites has been suspended

Matthew Taylor:

Frank Ellis, a lecturer in Russian and Slavonic studies at Leeds University, said he was an "unrepentant Powellite" who thought the BNP was "a bit too socialist" for his liking in a recent interview with the Leeds Student newspaper.

Dr Ellis said he supported ideas such as the theory developed by Richard J Herrnstein and Charles Murray in their 1994 book, The Bell Curve, which claims that white people are more intelligent than black people.

He also told the Leeds Student paper that women did not have the same intellectual capacity as men.

But this afternoon Leeds became the first university to suspend a lecturer under the new Race Relations [Ammendment] Act, in a move that could have major implications for academic freedom.

The secretary of the University of Leeds, Roger Gair, said: "Given the seriousness of the issues, the vice-chancellor, Michael Arthur, has decided to suspend Dr Ellis from his duties while the disciplinary process is under way.

"Prof Arthur saw Dr Ellis this afternoon to tell him of that decision. I must emphasise that suspension is not in itself a disciplinary penalty." Mr Gair said the disciplinary procedures could take weeks or months to be completed and Dr Ellis would remain an employee of the university.

Last week, more than 300 students and staff from several universities gathered in Leeds to call for Dr Ellis to be sacked.

Dr Ellis maintained the university had gagged him. Five years ago he hit the headlines when he spoke at the American Renaissance conference in the US, which attracts figures from organisations like the Ku Klux Klan.

Racism row lecturer is suspended