Black actors must join ‘white folks’ on anti-racism course

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The Free Speech Union has reported the NTS to the UK equalities watchdog because the Equality Act prohibits employers from treating staff differently based on the protected characteristic of race, which includes skin colour, nationality and ethnic origin. Young welcomed confirmation that the training will be fully inclusive but condemned Wylie’s effort to distance the national theatre from the row.

Mark McLaughlin, The Times, 29th May 2025.

Convicting man accused of setting fire to Quran could ‘reintroduce blasphemy’

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Ahead of his trial, in a quote released through the Free Speech Union, he said: ‘Encountering such treatment in a country like England, which I truly believed to be a place where freedom prevailed, was a real shock to me.’ His legal fees are being paid for by the Free Speech Union and the National Secular Society (NSS), who say they are defending them because they believe ‘no one should be compelled to observe the blasphemy codes of any religion, whether Christian or Muslim.’

Sarah Hooper, Metro, 28th May 2025.

Quran burning prosecution in effect ‘reintroduces blasphemy law’

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The Free Speech Union said it was defending him “not because we’re anti-Islam, but because we believe no one should be compelled to observe the blasphemy codes of any religion, whether Christian or Muslim”.

Peter Chappell, The Times, 28th May 2025.

‘Banter ban’ will have chilling effect on our free speech

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Are you ready for the “banter ban”? Labour is planning to ban banter in pubs, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues and football grounds. Clause 20 of the Employment Rights Bill, currently going through the House of Lords, amends the Equality Act to impose a legal duty on employers to “take all reasonable steps” to prevent their employees being “harassed” by third parties – meaning they could be sued by their workers if they don’t do enough.

Lord Toby Young, Express, 27th May 2025.

Regulator Backs Down on ‘Woke’ Equality Rule for Barristers

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Britain’s Bar Standards Board (BSB) has withdrawn controversial proposals to oblige barristers to “act in a way that advances equality, diversity and inclusion” (EDI). Opposition from lawyers and the Free Speech Union (FSU) helped to defeat the plan.

European Conservative, 27th May 2025.

Toby Young: Pub ‘banter’ might just be chat or it might be offensive- but penalising the Landlord for it is a joke

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In the House of Lords earlier this week, I tabled various amendments to Clause 20 of the Employment Rights Bill – or, as I prefer to call it, the ‘banter ban’.

Clause 20 will amend Section 26 of the Equality Act to make employers liable for the “harassment” of their employees by third parties, i.e., members of the public. If it goes through unamended, employers will have to take “all reasonable steps” to protect their employees from being “harassed” by their customers and if they fail to do so they could be sued in the Employment Tribunal.

Toby Young, Conservative Home, 26th May 2025.

White actors in Brian Cox play given ‘anti-oppression’ and misogyny training by National Theatre of Scotland

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Jackie Wylie, the artistic director and NTS chief executive, has ordered a review after the Free Speech Union complained the training treated “members of one racial group less favourably than members of others”. It said the specific exemption for black performers implied the “training is only mandatory for actors of white, European ancestry”.

Ben Borland, Scottish Daily Express, 26th May 2025.

White House pressures Starmer over Lucy Connolly case

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Lord Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, which helped fund Connolly’s appeal, said: “This is the third national humiliation in a week under Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership. 

“Has it really come to this? That the US government now has to monitor human rights abuses in the United Kingdom?

“Britain is rapidly becoming the North Korea of the North Sea.”

Connor Stringer, Charles Hymas, The Telegraph, 25th May 2025.

White actors in Brian Cox play forced to take anti-oppression course

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Jackie Wylie, artistic director and NTS chief executive, has ordered a review after the Free Speech Union complained the training treated “members of one racial group less favourably than members of others”.

The union, founded by the journalist and Conservative peer Lord Young of Acton, said the specific exemption for black performers implied the “training is only mandatory for actors of white, European ancestry”.

Mark McLaughlin, The Times, 25th May 2025.

Trump sends free-speech team to interview UK activists

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Lord Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, which helped fund Connolly’s appeal, said: “If Sir Keir Starmer gave any promises to protect free speech in the course of negotiating the UK-US trade agreement, he doesn’t appear to be keeping them.”

Connor Stringer, Janet Eastman, Cameron Henderson, The Telegraph, 24th May 2025.