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With depressing predictability, the riots have led to calls for more censorship. Historically, it was the authoritarian right who blamed outbreaks of civil disorder on too much free speech, but this knee-jerk, illiberal reaction is now more likely to be found on the left.
Toby Young, The Spectator Australia, 10th August 2024.
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…..the Free Speech Union said of the fines: “The blanket ban on any behaviour ‘likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress’ is a draconian measure wide open to abuse. It may be the council only intends to enforce the PSPO in certain cases of legitimately anti-social conduct.”
Antony Clements-Thrower, The Mirror, 9th August 2024.
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As the General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, Toby Young, pointed out last year for the Spectator, even if during lockdown the CDU may not have gone beyond monitoring journalistic activities, in the absence of a statutory footing and all the attendant Parliamentary oversight and democratic accountability, “What’s to stop them going further next time?”
Freddie Attenborough, The Critic, 8th August 2024.
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The Free Speech Union has threatened to legally challenge the council’s new rule, which it sees as an “unreasonable and probably unlawful” restriction on their right to freedom of expression.
Ethan Singh, The Sun, 8th August 2024.
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Toby Young, the Director of the Free Speech Union, accused the Government of attacking the law in the middle of “a free speech crisis in our universities”.
The Christian Institute, 3rd August 2024.
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The Free Speech Union has threatened to launch a judicial review against Bridget Phillipson after she halted new protections for academics just days before they were due to come into force.
Poppy Wood, The Telegraph, 2nd August 2024.
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Toby Young of the Free Speech Union said: “This is an act of vandalism by the Government. This was a very carefully crafted Act designed to address the free speech crisis in our universities that commanded cross-party support. Clearly, the Labour Party is determined to reignite a culture war issue that had been settled by the last Government.”
Alex Ward, The Daily Mail, 29th July 2024.
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I was a little shocked by Bridget Phillipson’s decision to torpedo the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act on Friday.
In justifying this act of vandalism, the Education Secretary said the legislation would have imposed a “burdensome” new duty on universities to uphold free speech, trumping their obligations to protect the “safety and well-being of minority groups”.
Toby Young, The Critic, 29th July 2024.
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While these higher education figureheads took a cavalier approach to academic freedom, the Free Speech Union tweeted: The Government’s attack on the Freedom of Speech Act is shocking. If Labour refuses to commence legislation passed in the last parliament, the Free Speech Union will bring judicial review proceedings … There is a free speech crisis in our universities.
Graham Barnfield, The European Conservative, 26th July 2024.
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The Free Speech Union has vowed to launch legal action against the Government. It said in a statement: “The Government’s attack on the Freedom of Speech Act is shocking. If Labour refuses to commence legislation passed in the last parliament, the Free Speech Union will bring judicial review proceedings. There is a free speech crisis in our universities, as has been widely acknowledged, and this Act, which enjoyed cross-party support, was designed to remedy that. For all Sir Keir Starmer’s talk about human rights, he clearly doesn’t care about the most important human right of all, which is the right to free speech.”
Poppy Wood, The Telegraph, 26th July 2024.
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