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Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: “The Free Speech Union has been lobbying the Government to stamp out this sinister new form of cancel culture for nearly a year and I’m delighted it has decided to do something about it. There’s no place for this kind of censorship in a modern democracy.”
Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph, 19th July 2023.
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Her remarks were condemned by feminist campaigner Maya Forstater and Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union.
Harry Howard, Daily Mail, 16th July 2023.
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when I discovered that PayPal had also closed the accounts of the Free Speech Union and the Daily Sceptic, both organisations I run, that initial wave of embarrassment was replaced by anger. And after going through the internal appeals processes, I decided to launch a public campaign to get the accounts reinstated. This worked, but I haven’t used PayPal since. Meanwhile, the Free Speech Union has been lobbying the UK Treasury for the past nine months to put a stop to this sinister new form of cancel culture.
Toby Young, Spiked, 12th July 2023.
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The vicar contacted the Free Speech Union for help. Its founder, Toby Young, said: “If you respond to a bank’s request for feedback in good faith you shouldn’t lose your account if you say something it doesn’t like.”
The Christian Institute, 7th July 2023.
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Free Speech Union director Toby Young said: “Claire Coutinho is absolutely right. That’s why the new Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, which Claire helped to pilot through Parliament, is so important.”
Connor Stringer, Daily Mail, 5th July 2023.
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The government first started consulting on freedom of expression and the provision of payment services earlier this year after it was contacted by the Free Speech Union, the campaign group set up by Toby Young, which said it was concerned about financial services being denied to some people.
Ben Quinn and Kayleena Makortoff, The Guardian, 3rd July 2023.
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Mr Young last night said he believed thousands of people have had their accounts closed.
He said: “I’m pleased this issue is on Jeremy Hunt’s radar, but I hope the investigation won’t take too long. There is no doubt that thousands of people are being penalised by banks and payment services providers for exercising their right to lawful free speech.”
“Indeed, the Free Speech Union has been lobbying the Treasury to change the payment services regulations for the last nine months and submitted reams of evidence about the scale of the problem. Since then, it has only got worse. The Treasury urgently needs to change the regulations to prohibit this new and sinister form of cancel culture.”
Simon Foy, Charles Hymas and Neil Johnston, The Telegraph, 2nd July 2023.
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Fothergill approached the Free Speech Union after his bank’s letter.
Toby Young, the union’s founder, told The Times: “People who’ve been debanked contact the Free Speech Union all the time, but even I was shocked by this story. If you respond to a bank’s request for feedback in good faith you shouldn’t lose your account if you say something it doesn’t like. That‘s the kind of thing we’d expect to happen in Communist China, not a supposedly free country like ours.”
James Beal, The Times, 1st July 2023.
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Journalist Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, told Mr Farage on GB News last night that he was contacted by a Yorkshire Building Society customer who claimed he asked why their branches were festooned with Pride flags. The bank allegedly replied that his account would be closed down.
Martin Robinson, Daily Mail, 30th June 2023.
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Beware: if they are coming for me today, they can come for you tomorrow. If you were to post a political opinion on social media that did not conform to your bank’s “values”, you could find yourself in my position. This happened to a gentleman recently who questioned why his bank was celebrating Pride. He is now being advised by the Free Speech Union.
Nigel Farage, The Telegraph, 30th June 2023.
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