The optics are simply mind-boggling: five armed guards greeted Father Ted writer Graham Linehan at Heathrow just before Nigel Farage provided testimony to the US House Judiciary Committee on freedom of expression in the UK.
Several prominent American figures – including X boss Elon Musk and Vice-President JD Vance – have already voiced apprehension about the regulation of speech in the UK and across Europe. Linehan’s arrest played directly into their narrative; politicians at home and in the US keep an eagle eye on any hint of evidence of a hypocritical “two-tier” justice system, a conspiracy theory that right-wing or white people are treated more harshly by authorities.
Farage brought up both Linehan’s arrest and the imprisonment of Lucy Connolly – the former Tory councillor’s wife sentenced to 31 months in prison for an inflammatory post on social media last year – during his testimony before Congress on Wednesday. But the two cases are not equal. Connolly is not a “free speech heroine”, nor Sir Keir Starmer’s “political prisoner”, as she claimed to The Sun on her release. Her social media post in the wake of the Southport murders last summer saying that hotels with asylum seekers should be set on fire was, the courts found, incitement. Even so, her supporters rightly point out that others convicted of worse violent crimes have received lighter sentences.
Linehan’s tweets are expressions of his views on trans rights, clumsily expressed and not funny. In one, he posted a picture of a pro-trans demonstration in Brighton from April with his caption: “A photo you can smell”. Another reads: “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em”. And the third says: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”
I happened past this demonstration in April on the way for a stroll along the Brighton coast. It was a noisy – but non-violent – bunch of activists. “End Bigotry, RIP Trans Rights,” one hand-made placard said; another merely advertised a trans football club. But this left-wing grouping were also no fans of Starmer; no one here saw themselves the beneficiaries of left-wing judicial bias. They were also protesting against the Government’s position on Gaza. One poster, tacked under a portrait of Queen Victoria, read: “A Vote for Labour is a Vote for Genocide.”
square ELLIE GOMERSALL Judges have ripped up trans rights - I'm terrified
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In the ugly online war of trans rights activists versus “Terfs” – an acronym that stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminists – there have also been claims of two-tier justice. In 2023, Sarah Jane Baker – also convicted for torturing a teenager and attempting to murder a fellow inmate – told a rally: “If you see a Terf, punch them in the f***ing face.” The magistrate found Baker not guilty of encouraging violence, accepting the defence that it was not a serious threat but that Baker “wanted the publicity”.
If the precedent exists that discourages conviction, how could the Metropolitan Police possibly think Linehan’s case had passed the bar for prosecution under public order laws, especially given the time lapse between the tweets and the arrest?
As Linehan apparently gears up to sue the Met, the police are clearly sick of being dragged into what is often little more than an online barfight. Last year, the chairman of the Scottish Police Federation warned a deluge of hate-crime reports had overwhelmed his officers and created “a situation where we simply cannot cope”. On Wednesday, after Linehan’s arrest, Met Chief Mark Rowley said his officers are in an “impossible position” and should not be “policing toxic culture wars debates”.
In an extraordinary statement attacking politicians, the Met Commissioner called for free speech laws to be changed and said his officers will only take action on social media abuse “where there is a clear risk of harm or disorder”.
“Where there is ambiguity in terms of intent and harm, policing has been left between a rock and a hard place by successive governments who have given officers no choice but to record such incidents as crimes when they’re reported. Then they are obliged to follow all lines of enquiry and take action as appropriate,” Rowley added.
While Starmer moved to distance himself from the decision by the cops, the political fallout is going to be much harder to shrug off. Health Secretary Wes Streeting suggested the Government could look at legislation if the law is “not getting the balance right” on free speech.
But The i Paper understands there are no plans to try to unpick the Online Safety Act (OSA), another bête noire of the right. Instead, The College of Policing is expected to issue fresh guidance to officers on what constitutes a hate crime incident. Government officials are examining the effectiveness of the OSA – which has only just entered into law after taking years to come into effect. There are some early indicators showing child protection is on the rise.
Over in Washington, Farage said on Capitol Hill that the treatment of Linehan, an Irish citizen, should be a “klaxon” warning to any Big Tech boss coming over to the UK. He also called on the White House to put sanctions on countries that restrict free speech, claiming the UK has “lost its way”. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer said of this move: “You cannot get more unpatriotic than that. It’s a disgrace.”
Musk’s dominance of X has opened a window into what free-speech absolutism looks like: haphazard algorithms, disinformation, antisemitism and job cuts.
But it’s not just in the online sphere where debate is being stymied. Public order and safety still come first in real life. Earlier this summer, a proposed head-to-head debate between eco-radical Zack Polanski and Reform MP Richard Tice at the Glastonbury Festival didn’t go ahead, because Tice’s team were concerned “it would not be safe”. Left-wing Polanski, who was elected leader of the Green Party of England and Wales on Tuesday, says Linehan’s views are “totally unacceptable” and it was “proportionate” of the police to arrest him.
Nonetheless, even designed with the best of intentions, current UK legislation is clearly being overzealously interpreted. That’s created a sense of grievance that both the right and left are poised and ready to exploit. The police and public want out of this toxic brawl. Ministers should help them.
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