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In the Media

Articles That Mention the Free Speech Union

Banks told to uphold free speech after blacklisting customers holding certain views

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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.

Yorkshire Building Society “closed vicar’s account after trans protest”

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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.

EXCLUSIVE: Major British building society admits it IS closing accounts of people who “are rude or discriminate” amid uproar as banks are accused of dumping customers including Nigel Farage over their views on Brexit and LGBT issues

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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.

After my banking travails, I fear Britain is lost

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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.

Colonel “forced out of Army” after stating “men cannot be women”

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Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: “The way in which Dr Wright has been treated is absolutely disgraceful. The freedom to express your views in the public square is a fundamental human right that the British Army is supposed to be defending, not attacking.”
“Continuing to hound him following his resignation just adds insult to injury. The Army should apologise, thank him for his service and close the case.”

Ewan Somerville, The Telegraph, 29th June 2023.

Young’s First Law of free speech

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I’ve always been envious of journalists who give their names to ‘laws’, as in O’Sullivan’s First Law: ‘All organisations that are not actually right-wing will over time become left-wing.’ So I’m going to take a stab at articulating Young’s First Law and it is this: ‘The more progressive a country is when it comes to sex and gender, the more authoritarian it is when it comes to speech and language.’

Toby Young, The Spectator, 28th June 2023.

Orthodox Christian teachers are on the chopping block

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But according to the General Secretary of the Free Speech Union (FSU), Toby Young, the challenges Christian teachers are already facing could loom considerably larger under Labour.
He told Christian Today: “I think it’s likely Labour will bring forward a Hate Crime and Public Order (England and Wales) Bill, which will be very similar to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act. It will increase the number of protected groups you can be prosecuted for ‘stirring up’ hatred against to include trans-identifying people and that will make it a criminal offence to misgender or deadname trans individuals.”

Julian Mann, Christian Today, 22nd June 2023.

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