The Fight for Academic Freedom in the UK

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As pressure mounted to weaken the bill, the Free Speech Union—a mass-membership UK organisation that had been campaigning for it—organised a letter in November 2022, signed by over fifty prominent UK academics, urging the government to stand firm. But on 7 December 2022, following intensive lobbying from university vice-chancellors and their representatives, the House of Lords voted to remove the statutory-tort clause completely.

Abhishek Saha, Quillette, 6th April 2025.

Met Police bans loud noises and spinning images in PowerPoint presentations

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Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, said: “You’d think someone with such a weak heart that a loud noise can trigger cardiac arrest would avoid Scotland Yard altogether.”

Claudia Joseph, Daily Mail, 6th April 2025.

Free speech campaigner attacks Labour for proposed definition of Islamophobia

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The head of the Free Speech Union has raised concerns about the government’s proposed definition of Islamophobia. Conservative peer Lord Young of Acton warned of a “two-tier justice risk” if the planned definition were incorporated into advice given to police or authorities.

Joe Rossiter, Express, 4th April 2025.

Police make 30 arrests a day for offensive online messages

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Toby Young, the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, said his organisation was helping half a dozen people who were being prosecuted for section 127 or section 1 offences.

Charlie Parker, Yennah Smart, George Willoughby, The Times, 4th April 2025.

Employment Bill could ‘excessively limit’ free speech, EHRC warns

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The Free Speech Union’s Director, Lord Young of Acton, said in his maiden speech that people were right to be concerned that pubs “might have to employ ‘banter bouncers’” as one of the “reasonable steps to protect employees”.

The Christian Institute, 3rd April 2025.

JK Rowling says suspension of toddler from nursery for ‘transphobia or homophobia’ is ‘totalitarian insanity’

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Lord Young, of the Free Speech Union, added: “I would have thought that if your ideology is so rigid it justifies you punishing toddlers for not complying with it, that’s a powerful argument for discarding it in favour of something less dogmatic.”

Bill Bowkett, Standard, 2nd April 2025.

I criticised Labour and the thought police came for me

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On Monday, I joined Lord Young’s Free Speech Union.

It seemed like the right thing to do in the current political climate, where you are expected to “toe the line” or else pay the price of being attacked and cancelled by the self-appointed guardians of the truth.

Charlie Mullins, The Telegraph, 1st April 2025.

The shameful silencing of Rangers fans

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This intolerance even extends to behaviour outside stadiums. Newcastle United supporter and Free Speech Union member Linzi Smith was banned from attending home matches for the rest of this season and the next two. Her ‘crime’ was to express gender-critical views online. In 2023, Smith wrote on X that ‘it’s like they’re trying to trans the gay away’. An anonymous complaint made to Northumbria Police said trans people would ‘not feel safe sitting next to her’ as a result of the post. Newcastle excommunicated Smith as soon as they found out about the police investigation.

Freddie Attenborough, Spiked, 30th March 2025.

Scientist forced out of top-secret base over gender-critical views wins legal victory

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Bryn Harris, Chief Legal Counsel at the Free Speech Union, which supported the case, said: “They’re meant to be fighting world wars not culture wars.”

The Christian Institute, 28th March 2025.

Angela Rayner’s banter crackdown is threat to free speech, warns EHRC

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Lord Young of Acton, who co-founded the Free Speech Union, said: “How will publicans be expected to protect their employees from overhearing conversations in pubs by customers that they may find offensive or upsetting?

Lucy Burton and Tony Diver, The Telegraph, 28th March 2025.

In the Media

Articles That Mention the Free Speech Union

The Fight for Academic Freedom in the UK

Met Police bans loud noises and spinning images in PowerPoint presentations

Free speech campaigner attacks Labour for proposed definition of Islamophobia

Police make 30 arrests a day for offensive online messages

Employment Bill could ‘excessively limit’ free speech, EHRC warns

JK Rowling says suspension of toddler from nursery for ‘transphobia or homophobia’ is ‘totalitarian insanity’

I criticised Labour and the thought police came for me

The shameful silencing of Rangers fans

Scientist forced out of top-secret base over gender-critical views wins legal victory

Angela Rayner’s banter crackdown is threat to free speech, warns EHRC

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