Arrest of comedy writer sparks UK free speech row

The arrest of an Emmy award-winning comedy writer for allegedly insulting transgender people online has reignited a UK row over freedom of speech, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday urging police to “focus on the most serious issues”.

Irish writer Graham Linehan, who co-created the popular 1990s sitcom “Father Ted”, says he was arrested by five armed officers at London’s Heathrow Airport on Monday over social media posts.

London’s Metropolitan Police said a man was arrested after arriving on a flight from the United States on suspicion of inciting violence in relation to posts on X.

“It is routine for officers policing airports to carry firearms. These were not drawn or used at any point during the arrest,” the force said.

Nigel Farage, an ally of US President Donald Trump whose Reform Party is leading in the UK polls, said he would raise the case, and others, when he gives evidence to Congress on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

“The Graham Linehan case is yet another example of the war on freedom in the UK,” he said ahead of his appearance in front of the House Judiciary Committee.

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“Free speech is under assault, and I am urging the USA to be vigilant.”

Starmer told parliament on Wednesday that “we have a long history of free speech in this country” and that “we must ensure the police focus on the most serious issues”.

But Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley said that the law needed changing and that officers would now pursue social media posts only “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,” he added.

“I don’t believe we should be policing toxic culture wars debates,” he added.

‘Totalitarianism’

Linehan said the arrest related to three messages sent on X.

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In one of the posts, he said that “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,” he said.

The arrest once again focused attention on the UK’s speech laws.

Harry Potter creator JK Rowling, who is also known for her gender-critical views, called Linehan’s arrest “utterly deplorable” and “totalitarianism”.

Tech billionaire and X owner Elon Musk said Britain was a “police state”.

New UK Green Party leader Zack Polanski defended the arrest as “proportionate” given the content of the posts, but said he did not know why the officers were armed.

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Free speech has recently hit the headlines in the UK after hundreds of people were arrested for voicing support for the  campaign group Palestine Action. It was banned as a terror group after its activists broke into a UK airbase and threw paint on planes.

Debate also swirled around last year’s sentencing of a woman to 31 months in prison for writing on X “set fire to all the… hotels (housing asylum seekers)… for all I care”.

US Vice President JD Vance has been particularly vocal about the issue, raising it with Starmer during a White House meeting in February.

Linehan also co-created the popular sitcoms “Black Books” and “The IT Crowd”, which was awarded both an Emmy and several BAFTAs.

More recently, he has become known for his gender-critical views, which emerged after an episode he wrote was criticised as being transphobic.

He is due to appear in court in London on Thursday in another case, in which he is charged with harassment and criminal damage against a transgender person.

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– By: © Agence France-Presse