In the Media

Articles That Mention the Free Speech Union

Teenage girl banned over transgender remark appeals with help of group assisting Allison Pearson

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The teenage girl banned from football after asking a “bearded” transgender opponent “Are you a man?” is to appeal her punishment with the help of a free-speech group that is also assisting Allison Pearson. The Free Speech Union (FSU) has appointed leading barrister John Jolliffe to fight a guilty verdict imposed by a national serious case panel that has provoked growing outrage and a protest outside Wembley ahead of England’s Nations League victory against Republic of Ireland on Sunday.

Ben Rumsby, The Telegraph, 18th November 2024.

The horror of turning children into thoughtcriminals

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I wasn’t surprised to read The Times’s story about schoolchildren being investigated for possible ‘hate crimes’. These included a nine-year-old who’d called a classmate a ‘retard’ and two girls at a secondary school who’d told another pupil she smelt ‘like fish’. The police, having decided that these episodes did not meet the threshold for criminal prosecution, dutifully recorded them as ‘non-crime hate incidents’ (NCHIs).

Toby Young, Spiked, 15th November 2024.

Essex Police have made Allison Pearson a free speech martyr instead of fighting actual crime

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I think I can guess the sort of person or group who might be responsible for this sort of charge; I think we all can. But it’s the sinister effect that the charge seems intended to have which should worry us. It is designed to intimidate; to make people like Allison Pearson think twice before they sound off about matters to do with race or religion. It is meant to have a chilling effect on free speech, which is why the Free Speech Union has provided her with a solicitor to accompany her to her voluntary police interview.

Melanie McDonagh, The Standard, 15th November 2024.

‘Orwell’s Operation Manual’ — UK Hate Speech Laws Used Against Conservative Journalist

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Free Speech Union director Toby Young added: “It’s little wonder that 93 per cent of car-related crimes went unsolved in Essex last year. The local officers are too busy policing journalists’ tweets to police their streets. I’m sure they’d prefer to be investigating actual crimes rather than ‘non-crimes’, but their politically correct bosses are more concerned with punishing wrongthink.”

Kurt Zindulka, Breitbart, 14th November 2024.