Weapons expert cut from government event due to Twitter posts

A planetary adept connected nervus agents, stood down from speaking astatine a government-backed conference, says helium believes it is due to the fact that helium is outspoken connected a scope of issues including asylum policy.

Dan Kaszeta was disinvited from Tuesday's league aft his societal media contented was vetted.

The Ministry of Defence said checks connected radical speaking astatine government-organised events ensured a balanced discussion.

But Mr Kaszeta insisted helium would person lone spoken connected his country of expertise.

That is firmly successful the country of chemical, biologic and radiological weapons and warfare - a taxable successful which helium has gathered 3 decades of experience. He besides spent 12 years moving arsenic an advisor for the White House.

So erstwhile the Ministry of Defence was putting unneurotic the impermanent database for the 25th yearly Chemical Weapons Demilitarisation Conference - which successful its ain words would "bring unneurotic planetary experts and promoting collaboration to execute a aboriginal escaped from chemic weapons" - Mr Kaszeta's services arsenic a keynote talker were secured backmost successful January.

The American, who has been based successful the UK for the past 13 years, told BBC Two's Newsnight helium was "outraged" that the government's trawl done his Twitter relationship - connected which helium poked amusive astatine Liz Truss, expressed anti-Brexit views and criticised asylum argumentation - means helium tin nary longer stock his cognition with delegates from the government, industry, academia and equipped forces.

He received an email past period - which has been shown to Newsnight - that told him: "Rules introduced by the Cabinet Office successful 2022 specify that the societal media accounts of imaginable speakers indispensable beryllium vetted earlier last acceptance to the programme. The vetting is impartial and purely evidence-based.

"The cheque connected your societal media has identified worldly that criticises authorities officials and policy. It is for this crushed and not due to the fact that we bash not worth your method insight, that I'm acrophobic that we person nary prime and indispensable cancel your invitation to the CWD conference."

Mr Kaszeta stressed helium was ne'er going to talk astir argumentation matters astatine the event.

"This is an outrage against escaped speech. I was going to talk astir imaginable aboriginal scenarios astir the satellite successful which chemic demilitarisation would beryllium relevant. I deliberation possibly the astir arguable happening I would accidental was perhaps, gee, we don't truly cognize what's going connected successful North Korea," helium said.

The email is the clearest denotation truthful acold of the unpublished guidance from the Cabinet Office connected the restrictions connected who tin beryllium fixed a salient level to talk astatine authorities venues and events.

A twelvemonth later, the archetypal known illustration of the caller "no-platform" regularisation being utilized came erstwhile Kate Devlin, a prof astatine King's College London, was disinvited from speaking astatine an lawsuit astir artificial intelligence. She told the Independent astatine the clip that she had received an email saying it was due to the fact that she had "made a disapproval of authorities argumentation connected societal media".

In her case, the disapproval was of the government's planned Online Harms Bill.

Mr Kaszeta argued that being a professional of immoderate authorities policies should not forestall him taking portion successful an lawsuit connected a wholly unrelated subject.

"I'm a professional of the government's argumentation connected homelessness and asylum seekers. Why that should person immoderate interaction whatsoever connected whether oregon not I tin talk to a method league successful my ain country of expertise. That's Stalinist."

When approached by Newsnight for an explanation, the authorities said: "As the nationalist would expect, we behaviour owed diligence checks and cautiously see each speakers astatine immoderate authorities hosted league to guarantee that we tin person a balanced and constructive treatment astir our policies."

Other than Mr Kaszeta and Ms Devlin, Newsnight knows of 3 different professionals who person received akin letters aft the Cabinet Office vetted their societal media.