Downing Street declined to say “at this stage” whether Andy Burnham was considering an inquiry into Arday’s death, reiterating that it was “a moment for reflection”, and that it was right for “the usual processes” like an inquest, to conclude.
An investigation will be carried out to determine Arday’s cause of death, which could take several weeks, the London Inner South Coroner’s Court has said.
Once complete, and following any submissions from Arday’s family, the coroner will confirm if an inquest will take place.
Sir James Cleverly said he was angry about what happened to Arday, and the university establishment – not just Cambridge – should have “done the robust due diligence and checking that should happen with any senior academic appointment”.
Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme on Monday, the shadow housing secretary said he felt Arday was used as “bragging rights by some universities”, and that people spoke of his “age and his ethnicity rather than his talent”.
“I think it was part of the reason that he was lifted so high so quickly and then when the scrutiny did come – external to the universities – his reputation had so far to fall. I think it was unfair on him and I think it’s been a terrible, terrible situation.”
Sir James – who was Britain’s first black home secretary and foreign secretary – said much of the coverage surrounding Arday was “quite possibly” motivated by racism, but that the questions over plagiarism were legitimate, regardless of motivation.
Meanwhile, when housing minister Matthew Pennycook, was questioned over whether the press behaved poorly, he echoed comments by the prime minister that it was not the time to “rush to judgement on this”.
“I do think the events leading up to his death raised questions about duty of care and the nature of modern media scrutiny, but I don’t think the time is now to get into a debate about those, I certainly don’t intend to sit here and opine on them myself,” he said.
Pennycook added that it was a time to reflect and “think compassionately about how we got to this situation, which is a desperately, desperately sad one”.
The chair of the NHS Confederation, who signed the letter calling for a public inquiry, said focus should be turned on the press, rather than social media, because “self regulation totally failed” in the case of Arday.
Lord Victor Adebowale told the BBC’s Radio 4 World At One programme: “People were warned in advance this pursuit risked his life and the warnings were ignored.
“It is true we live in a world of social media where people say what they like and can pursue people as much as they want. In this case I’m pointing at the press. They failed.”
