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Young, the founder of the Free Speech Union, said that the way the law was drafted would mean an employee could take offence on behalf of another member of staff, even if they did not hear the comments made.
Max Kendix, The Times, 16th April 2025.
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Lord Young of Acton, the founder of the Free Speech Union, has warned the proposed laws will have a ‘chilling effect’ on free speech. He has tabled a series of amendments in the House of Lords in an effort to stop the clause, as it is currently worded, from becoming law. The Tory peer said his changes would stop pub or university bosses from having to ensure staff were not subject to harassment by hearing opinions they disagree with. He is hoping to tweak the laws so that opinions on political, moral, religious or social matters are exempt as long as that opinion is not ‘indecent or grossly offensive’.
Greg Heffer, Mail Online, 16th April 2025.
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Lord Young, who co-founded the Free Speech Union, has called for a sweeping overhaul of the Bill to ensure the venues are excluded from the crackdown. As part of a series of amendments to the Bill, the Tory peer has proposed changes aimed at relieving pub bosses from acting as “banter cops”. This includes not expecting pubs or universities to protect employees from overhearing conversations which they might find offensive about political or religious matters, “provided the opinion is not indecent or grossly offensive”.
Amy Gibbons, The Telegraph, 16th April 2025.
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Lord Young, who co-founded the Free Speech Union, has called for a sweeping overhaul of Ms Rayner’s Employment Rights Bill to ensure these venues are excluded from the crackdown.
As part of a series of amendments to the Bill, the Tory peer has proposed changes aimed at relieving pub bosses from acting as “banter cops”. This includes not expecting pubs or universities to protect employees from overhearing conversations which they might find offensive about political or religious matters, “provided the opinion is not indecent or grossly offensive,” he said.
Lucy Burton, The Telegraph, 15th April 2025.
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Signatories to the letter include Lord Young of Acton, founder of the Free Speech Union, Julius Grower, Associate Professor of Law at Oxford University, and journalist and author Helen Joyce.
The Christian Institute, 15th April 2025.
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A peer has made a bid to block a so-called “banter ban” in Labour’s workers’ rights overhaul. Lord Young, the founder of the Free Speech Union, has tabled a series of amendments to the draft legislation – championed by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner – ahead of its return to Parliament later this month
Katie Harris, Express, 15th April 2025.
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Lord Young of Acton, the founder of the Free Speech Union, has tabled a number of amendments that would stop pub and university bosses having to ensure their staff were not subject to harassment by overhearing opinions they did not agree with.
Geraldine Scott, The Times, 15th April 2025.
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Lord Young, the founder of the Free Speech Union, condemned the booklet. He told the Sunday Telegraph: “If I was a gender-confused adolescent in care, I’d want to speak to someone who could give me some sensible, practical advice, the kind of advice a loving parent would give. Instead, the Scottish care watchdog is telling carers to affirm the delusions of the children it’s supposed to be looking after – delusions that could lead them to make life-changing decisions that they’ll come to regret.”
Ben Borland, Scottish Daily Express, 14th April 2025.
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Lord Young, the General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, told MailOnline: “This is unacceptable. What if the schoolchildren are debating whether sex is an immutable biological characteristic or a social construct that’s merely ‘assigned at birth’? By forcing the participants to declare their pronouns, which is a tacit acknowledgement that someone can become a member of the opposite sex, the organisers of the competition are siding with those who believe that sex is a social construct.”
Noor Qurashi, Daily Mail, 9th April 2025.
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Connolly is also back in the news following an eye-opening exposé by Allison Pearson in the Telegraph, detailing Connolly’s swift and punitive treatment by the authorities as racist riots ripped across England. Her case will be in the Court of Appeal next month, with the support of the estimable Free Speech Union.
Tom Slater, Spiked, 7th April 2025.
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