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The group of academics, which also includes Lord Young, the head of the Free Speech Union, and Lord Biggar, a philosophy professor at the University of Oxford, urged UK institutions to instead adopt the principle that “the university is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself the critic”.
Poppy Wood, The Telegraph, 18th April 2025.
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Five years ago, when I set up an organisation to fight for free speech, I never imagined that my closest political allies would be a group of radical feminists. But on Wednesday evening I found myself co-hosting a party at the Hippodrome for Sex Matters, the LGB Alliance and For Women Scotland, the campaigning groups who have just won a tremendous victory in the Supreme Court.
Toby Young, The Sun, 18th April 2025.
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Peers are anticipated to try and block the ‘banter crackdown’ next month, as Lord Young of Acton, the founder of the Free Speech Union, warned the proposed anti harassment clause will have a ‘chilling effect’ on free speech.
Shannon McGuigan and Greg Heffer, Mail Online, 17th April 2025.
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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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