Can I be cancelled twice?

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One of the biggest regrets of my life was saying yes when Jo Johnson asked if I wanted to be on the board of the Office for Students (OfS) in the autumn of 2017. It wasn’t a particularly prestigious position: the OfS was to be a new regulator of higher education in England and I would be one of 15 non-executive directors. But because it was a public appointment it would be made by the prime minister, which meant I was a political target. When it was announced on 1 January 2018, the offence archaeologists went to work, sifting through everything I’d said or written dating back 30 years in the hope of finding evidence that I wasn’t a suitable person to take up the role. The idea was to force me out, embarrass Theresa May and end my career into the bargain.

Toby Young, The Spectator, 4th January 2025.

Starmer faces free speech row with Trump

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Toby Young, the founder of the Free Speech Union, who is soon to become a member of the House of Lords, said the issue would be a “flashpoint” between the White House and Number 10 and would “colour Mr Trump’s perception of Sir Keir and his regime”.

Gordon Raynor, The Telegraph, 3rd January 2025.

JOIN THE FIGHT: Free Speech Union seeks your support to challenge Labour’s attack on Free Speech Law

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The Free Speech Union has launched a legal challenge against the Education Secretary, claiming the government’s move to pause the Act is unlawful. In a statement, the FSU said:

“For almost 350 years, the governance of Britain has rested on the premise that ministers may not set aside laws made by Parliament. The right to free speech, as protected by our sovereign Parliament, cannot be treated with such contempt.”

The Conservative Post, 30th December 2024.

Can free speech survive Keir Starmer?

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From ‘banter bouncers’ in pubs to Islamic blasphemy codes, state censorship is set to explode in 2025.

Toby Young, Spiked, 30th December 2024.

Phillipson tried to pull plug on new free speech law days after election

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Ms Phillipson now faces legal action over her decision to pull the plug on the Act, after the Free Speech Union was granted permission to appeal the move. A judicial review hearing is set to take place in the High Court on Jan 23.

Poppy Wood, The Telegraph, 28th December 2024.

New ‘virtue signalling’ guide for chemists branded latest ‘woke nonsense’ for workers

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Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, slammed the PDA for publishing Mr Bhogal’s guide. He said: “Penalising old white men for using racially insensitive language doesn’t improve the lives of poor black people one iota. It’s just performative virtue signalling,” he added.

Stephen Beech, Express, 27th December 2024.

Union accused of woke ‘language policing’ after banning pharmacists from referring to patients who faint as suffering from ‘blackouts’

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Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, offers a sweeping and intellectually robust exploration of conservatism’s enduring principles in his article ‘Why I Am a Conservative,’ published in The Telegraph this week.

James Tozer, Mail Online, 26th December 2024.

A Thoughtful Defence of Conservative Values in Tumultuous Times

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Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, offers a sweeping and intellectually robust exploration of conservatism’s enduring principles in his article ‘Why I Am a Conservative,’ published in The Telegraph this week.

The Conservative Post, 22nd December 2024.

Home Office ‘indoctrinating civil servants with distorted history of British Empire’

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Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: “Our public servants should be learning about the glories of Britain’s past, how we exported parliamentary democracy to the Anglosphere and invented the free market system that has done so much to eliminate poverty in the global south

Camilla Turner, The Telegraph, 21st December 2024.

Free speech champion Toby Young among six Tory peers nominated by Kemi Badenoch

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Mr Young, who is a prominent proponent of free schools and set one up in west London, said last night: “Delighted that the work of the Free Speech Union has been recognised in this way – and congratulations to our Chairman, Nigel Biggar, who’s also been given a peerage. I look forward to working with the Leader of the Opposition on how to restore free speech to pride of place in our democracy and repair the damage Keir Starmer has done to this vital human right when she succeeds him as our next Prime Minister.”

Harriet Line, The Daily Mail, 21st December 2024.