Police admit mistake in investigating woman’s gender critical posts

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The Free Speech Union supported Smith throughout the investigation. Its General Secretary, Lord Young, said: “Linzi should never have been investigated for a hate crime for saying trans women aren’t women, any more than she should have been banned from Newcastle games.” He added: “I’m delighted that Northumbria Police have now admitted their error and apologised and I look forward to Newcastle now lifting its ban. No one should be punished by a football club for expressing a point of view that is perfectly legitimate, not remotely hateful and which 99 per cent of the club’s fans agree with.”

The Christian Institute, 8th March 2025.

Are you offended by ‘hard-working families’?

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Scarcely a day passes without a newspaper story about some absurd ‘language guide’ issued by a public body. This week the Daily Mail reported that Wokingham Borough Council had told its staff not to use the phrase ‘hard-working families’ in case it offended the unemployed. Other verboten words included ‘blacklist’ and ‘whitewash’, and staff were warned that ‘sustained eye contact could be considered aggressive’ in some cultures. I don’t think they meant supporters of Millwall football club, but you never know.

Toby Young, The Spectator, 8th March 2025.

No charges in Koran-burning case that should never have been brought

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In a significant moment in the fight to protect free expression in Britain, a man arrested for burning a copy of the Koran in Bradford will not face charges, following intervention by the Free Speech Union (FSU).

Dr Frederick Attenborough, TCW, 6th March 2025.

Starmer’s authoritarian instincts

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Former Royal Marine and Free Speech Union (FSU) member Jamie Michael was arrested and charged with “stirring up racial hatred” for a speech crime under the Public Order Act after posting a 12-minute Facebook video in the aftermath of the murders encouraging people to share their concerns with elected officials about the risk of allowing undocumented migrants into the country. Buffy Williams, Jamie’s Labour representative in the Welsh Parliament, reported him to the police for a “hate crime” and he was arrested and charged with “stirring up racial hatred”, an offence under the Public Order Act 1986 which carries a maximum sentence of seven years.

The FSU funded Michael’s legal defence, and at his trial in February, it took the jury just 17 minutes to return a unanimous verdict of “Not Guilty”.

Freddie Attenborough, The Critic, 4th March 2025.

Council bans staff from using the term ‘hard-working families’ in case it offends jobless

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Free Speech Union chief Toby Young said: ‘Of course, it would be Wokingham borough council that came up with this. I expect the next step will be to delete the last two syllables of their name so it becomes Woke Borough Council. More inclusive that way because the hard of understanding will get what the council’s all about.’

Noor Qurashi, Daily Mail, 3rd March 2025.

Don’t say ‘piece of cake’ because it’s too British, university claims

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Lord Young, the founder of the Free Speech Union, told the Mail on Sunday: “Language guides like this are always badged as ‘inclusive’, but in fact they are exclusionary. The Free Speech Union has defended over 3,500 people in the past three years and many of them are older people who have been accused of ‘hate speech’, for not using the correct woke phrase for something or other.”

Telegraph Reporters, The Telegraph, 2nd March 2025.

Woke British university tells students not to say ‘a piece of cake’ or ‘kill two birds with one stone’ as they’re TOO BRITISH

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Free Speech Union founder Toby Young said: ‘Language guides like this are always badged as “inclusive”, but in fact they are exclusionary. The Free Speech Union has defended over 3,500 people in the past three years and many of them are older people who have been accused of “hate speech”, for not using the correct woke phrase for something or other.’

Sanchez Manning, Daily Mail, 1st March 2025.

Labour Slammed For Deploying AI Censorship Tool to Police Posts

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Since 2021, the Government has spent more than £5.3 million on developing the CDDP and other disinformation projects. Toby Young of the Free Speech Union slammed the project:

It’s politically unwise, to put it mildly. To the Trump-Vance administration this will look like another attempt to ‘kill Musk’s Twitter’, the self-professed agenda of a pro-censorship lobby group founded by Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.”

Guido Fawkes, 24th February 2025.

Woman visited by police after anti-Labour Facebook posts

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Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: “Good luck persuading Greater Manchester police to send two police officers to your house if you’re burgled or your car is stolen.”

Ben Ellery, The Times, 23rd February 2025.

EXCLUSIVE Knock knock, it’s the Thought Police: As thousands of criminals go uninvestigated, detectives call on a grandmother. Her crime? She went on Facebook to criticise Labour councillors at the centre of the ‘Hope you Die’ WhatsApp scandal exposed by the MoS

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And Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: ‘This is typical of the weird authoritarian atmosphere that has grown up in Britain since Sir Keir Starmer took control. Good luck persuading Greater Manchester Police to send two police officers to your house if you’re burgled or your car is stolen.’

Abul Taher and Mark Hooham, Daily Mail, 23rd February 2025.