Letters

Letters We’ve Written Defending People’s Right to Free Speech

The Free Speech Union responds to the Bar Standards Board consultation about imposing a duty on barristers to promote equality, diversity and inclusion

We’ve responded to the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries’ (IFoA) consultation on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). Like many other professional and supervisory bodies, the IFoA is proposing to update its Code of Conduct to (among other changes) require its members to encourage DEI. We are concerned this will result in further suppression of members’ free speech and expression, especially as the IFoA’s code of conduct has very broad application,

Read More »

The Free Speech Union responds to the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries’ Consultation on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

We’ve responded to the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries’ (IFoA) consultation on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). Like many other professional and supervisory bodies, the IFoA is proposing to update its Code of Conduct to (among other changes) require its members to encourage DEI. We are concerned this will result in further suppression of members’ free speech and expression, especially as the IFoA’s code of conduct has very broad application,

Read More »

Letter about the Durham Union Society not being allowed a stall at Freshers’ Fair

The Free Speech Union has made two complaints about the email sent by the Master and Senior Tutor of Gonville and Caius, denouncing Dr Helen Joyce, who’d been invited to speak at the College by Dr Arif Ahmed, a Fellow of Cauis and a Professor of Philosophy. The first complaint is to the College Council, Caius’s governing body, pointing out that the email may have been a breach of the

Read More »

Letter to Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, regarding its ‘Trans Inclusion’ training course

The Free Speech Union has sent a letter before claim to the Secretary of State for Education under the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review setting out why we think her decision not to commence the clauses of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act due to come into effect on 1st August was unlawful and notifying her of our intention to apply for a Judicial Review.

Read More »

Letter to Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP concerning a post on X made by the Home Office’s official account

The Free Speech Union has sent a letter before claim to the Secretary of State for Education under the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review setting out why we think her decision not to commence the clauses of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act due to come into effect on 1st August was unlawful and notifying her of our intention to apply for a Judicial Review.

Read More »

Pre-Action Protocol letter sent by the Free Speech Union to Bridget Phillipson, the Secretary of State for Education, about her decision to torpedo the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act.

The Free Speech Union has sent a letter before claim to the Secretary of State for Education under the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review setting out why we think her decision not to commence the clauses of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act due to come into effect on 1st August was unlawful and notifying her of our intention to apply for a Judicial Review.

Read More »

Letter to Ingrid Brown, Head of Legal and Democracy and Monitoring Officer at Thanet District Council

Local authoritarianism continues to spread, with a rash of local councils abusing their power to make Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) to crack down on speech they don’t like. Previously, the FSU has succeeded in persuading Redbridge and Cumberland councils to back down from making PSPOs which would have unlawfully restricted the speech rights of their residents. Last week, Thanet District Council passed a PSPO of their own, and this

Read More »

Letter to The Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP concerning the guide to conspiracy theories for MPs and members of the House of Lords that she commissioned

The FSU’s General Secretary has written to Penny Mordaunt MP about a guide she commissioned, along with the Labour MP Lucy Powell, that’s designed to help Parliamentarians identify ‘conspiracy theories’ in the run-up to the General Election and which has been sent to every MP and member of the House of Lords. Although well-intentioned, it has several major flaws, e.g., two of the guide’s co-authors identified the lab leak hypothesis

Read More »

Letter as a response to the PRA consultation entitled ‘CP18/23 – Diversity and inclusion in PRA-regulated firms’

We have responded to two consultations run by the financial regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA). We’re concerned that the proposals will force regulated firms to embed politically contentious diversity and inclusion policies deeper into their businesses. We have shared with both regulators our first-hand experience of the chilling effect on free speech that diversity and inclusion initiatives have already had for employees of

Read More »