Eight in ten university lecturers are “Left-wing”, a survey has found as it warns of the dangers of “group think” in British institutions.

A report by the Adam Smith Institute said that the number of British academics are liberal or Left-wing has been steadily on the rise since the 1960s.

“Conservative and Right-wing academics are particularly scarce in the social sciences, the humanities and the arts,” the report found.

"Social settings characterised by too little diversity of viewpoints are liable to become afflicted by group think, a dysfunctional atmosphere where key assumptions go unquestioned, dissenting opinions are neutralized, and favoured beliefs are held as sacrosanct."