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After weeks of unnecessary stress and pressure, our event went ahead successfully – thanks to a huge amount of support from the public and from the Free Speech Union.
Raquel Rosario-Sanchez, Spiked, 17th May 2023.
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This is all despite the fact that the ‘usual free-speech mob’ – including Spiked, the Free Speech Union and broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer – responded almost immediately to condemn the arrests.
Fraser Myers, Spiked, 9th May 2023.
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Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: “Arif is an excellent choice for the role. He has a proven track record as a fearless defender of free speech. I remember when he opposed a revision to Cambridge University’s free speech policy that would have forced academics to ‘respect’ each other’s opinions. That could easily have been misused to shut down discussion and debate. He was one of very few dons willing to stick his head above the parapet on that issue, but thanks to his moral courage the word ‘respect’ was replaced with ‘tolerate’, which was a huge improvement. He has a backbone of steel.”
Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph, 9th May 2023.
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Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said the university “has become so pickled in woke gobbledegook it’s becoming a bit of a joke”.
“Nearly all these institutions are publicly funded, yet all the polling indicates the public are overwhelmingly opposed to this nonsense. The University of the Arts has become so pickled in woke gobbledegook it’s becoming a bit of a joke. I hope it can correct course before it goes bankrupt.”
Connor Stringer, Daily Mail, 4th May 2023.
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Appearing at the same event, Bryn Harris, the chief legal counsel for the Free Speech Union, said another potential issue when the bill is implemented will be universities arguing that freedom of speech within the law allows them to impose employment policies that can then restrict what academics say.
He agreed the new legislation “may see institutions performing a tightrope walk between compliance with this bill or, if they get it slightly wrong, potentially falling foul of the Equality Act”. But this could be dealt with by the OfS guidance, he said.
There needs to be “interplay” between free speech and HR committees to ensure overall compliance with all legislation, he said, adding that “universities are going to have a lot of work to do.”
Tom Williams, Times Higher Education, 26th April 2023.
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Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: “For the past five years, LGBTQ activists have been refusing to debate gender critical feminists, claiming their views are ‘harmful’ and smearing them as bigots and TERFS [trans-exclusionary radical feminists]. As a consequence, they’re losing the argument in the public square and setting the cause of trans rights backwards.”
Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph, 24th April 2023.
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This concern is compounded by Free Speech Union’s recent report, which found that approximately 78 per cent of the police forces are providing no or inadequate training on freedom of speech.
Simon Caldwell, Catholic Herald, 17th April 2023.
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This was in response to Toby Young, from the Free Speech Union, who said workers would report sexist language from customers – suggesting places like pubs would have to put up “no banter” signs.
Danni Scott, Mirror, 14th April 2023.
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The Free Speech Union (FSU) said there is a “free speech crisis” in British policing and that forces were spending little or no time on the right to freedom of expression.
The FSU’s report states that the concept of “gender identity” is not the consensus position and it is “concerning to find police EDI training endorsing one side of this ongoing debate”.
The report claims that officers, primed by “partisan EDI training to see any criticism of gender identity as intrinsically ‘hateful’”, have been arresting “gender critical speakers without a second thought”.
The Christian Institute, 25th March 2023.
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Toby Young, General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: “Expressing orthodox Christian beliefs should not be grounds for dismissal from a purportedly Christian organisation. I look forward to Alastair Campbell defending Aaron Edwards’ right to free speech, just as he did Gary Lineker’s.”
“Defending free speech means defending the right of people to express views you do not agree with, not just those you agree with.”
Christian Today, 20th March 2023.
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