Caroline Michel, Hay chair, said they would not work in Abu Dhabi again while Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan remains minister of tolerance.

Their employee, Caitlin McNamara, claims he attacked her earlier this year and is seeking legal redress.

Sheikh Nahyan, 69, has denied the allegations.

Ms McNamara, 32, told the Sunday Times that the alleged attack happened on 14 February at a remote private island villa where she had been summoned, she thought, to discuss preparations for the first-ever Hay Festival in Abu Dhabi, which was opening 11 days later.

She said she told both her employer and embassy officials soon after the attack, and went to the police in the UK when coronavirus lockdown restrictions lifted.