Some right-wing UK "defenders" of freedom of speech criticized a no-platforming which did not actually happen. They, and the minister in charge, were careless with the facts.

Nonetheless, another instance they cite did really occur, and so do others. If 53 speakers were vetoed in one year, that may be a small fraction of all speakers that year, but it is still a lot of censorship.

I gather that the Equality Act is meant to prohibit discrimination and harassment. I support that goal, but campaigning for that goal should not go so far as to ban controversial speakers from giving talks. Even in a good cause, there must be limits on how far we can go. I would not try to ban people from praising proprietary software, even though I disagree with such praise. People have a right to disagree with me, or with you, or with anyone.

I also agree that the government can easily be a worse threat to freedom of speech than any collection of students.