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Toby Young, Director of the Free Speech Union, told Express.co.uk: “A landlord cannot just kick people out of his pub because he disapproves of their perfectly lawful beliefs, particularly if the belief in question is that a person’s sex is biological and immutable and not something they can change at will.”
Jon King, Daily Express, 19th September 2024.
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Toby Young, Director of the Free Speech Union. told the News Letter that the “aggressive intolerance shown towards Timothy Gaston by Paula Bradshaw is typical of those who’ve been captured by gender ideology. Rather than acknowledge there can be a genuine conflict of rights between women and trans people – over whether transwomen should be able to compete against biological women in the Olympics, for instance – Ms Bradshaw appears to believe that trans rights should in all circumstances take priority and anyone who thinks otherwise, like Mr Gaston, is a bigot.”
David Thompson, Belfast News Letter, 19th September 2024.
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The incident prompted a furious reaction on social media, and the Free Speech Union has threatened the pub with legal action unless the landlord apologises and allows the meeting to be rebooked. Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: “Legally, the landlord doesn’t have a leg to stand on. He cannot evict customers just because he disapproves of their perfectly lawful beliefs, particularly if those beliefs are protected by the Equality Act. From a legal point of view, it’s no different to kicking someone out because they’re black or gay. It’s unlawful discrimination, plain and simple. We’ve fought several similar cases on behalf of our members and, where those cases have reached a conclusion, the pub has backed down and apologised.”
Albert Tait, The Telegraph, 18th September 2024.
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A Free Speech Union spokesman called it “typical of the woke double-think that has infected our Armed Forces. Next they’ll be warning Marine Commandoes to avoid ‘micro-aggressions.’”
Michael Hamilton, The Sun, 11th September 2024.
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Responding to Hoyle’s comments, the Free Speech Union wrote that it is “concerning to hear the Speaker of the Commons lumping ‘misinformation’ in with ‘incitement, threats and intimidation’ while talking up the need for greater cross-border censorship. Given that all statements of fact or opinion are provisional, who gets to define ‘misinformation’, and when?”
Joe Hadden, The Sun, 8th September 2024.
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Responding to Hoyle’s comments, the Free Speech Union wrote that it is “concerning to hear the Speaker of the Commons lumping ‘misinformation’ in with ‘incitement, threats and intimidation’ while talking up the need for greater cross-border censorship. Given that all statements of fact or opinion are provisional, who gets to define ‘misinformation’, and when?”
Kurt Zindulka, Breitbart, 7th September 2024.
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Bryn Harris, the FSU’s chief legal counsel, said: “The Free Speech Union has formally commenced legal proceedings against the Government following its revocation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. These proceedings are of the highest constitutional importance. For almost 350 years, the governance of this country has rested on a golden premise: ministers of the Crown may not set aside the law made by Parliament. We say that a new government, flushed with power and ideological fervour, has thrown that rule to the wind. We believe the law is clear: our fundamental right to free speech, as protected by our sovereign Parliament, cannot be treated with such cavalier contempt.”
Camilla Turner, The Telegraph, 7th September 2024.
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Writing to Yvette Cooper, the Free Speech Union (FSU) warned her not to reverse the previous Government’s policy protecting freedom of expression, which told the police to only record incidents if they present “a real risk” of either “significant harm” or a “future criminal offence”.
The Christian Institute, 5th September 2024.
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Toby Young, the director of the Free Speech Union, said 20 per cent of the 2,700 cases it has handled since being founded in 2020 have related to universities. “Professor Goldman’s comments don’t come as a surprise,” Mr Young said.
Tim Sigsworth, The Telegraph, 4th September 2024.
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The data, disclosed in response to freedom of information requests by the Free Speech Union, revealed significant increases in the number of incidents recorded by some police forces, including a 140 per cent rise by Staffordshire police, a 65 per cent increase by North Yorkshire police, a 63 per cent rise by Gwent police and a 35 per cent increase by Suffolk constabulary.
Matt Dathan, The Times, 3rd September 2024.
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