Protest rights
The Free Speech Union has covered 54 stories on this topic. Browse our coverage below.
20 October 2026
The Free Speech Union heads to Downing Street to save jury trials and meets Larry the Cat
The Free Speech Union delivered its petition to save jury trials to 10 Downing Street this week, warning that government plans to curb the right to trial by jury would see more people wrongly convicted.
16 October 2026
"Prevent is becoming a complaints desk for the offended", writes FSU's Max Thompson in The Critic
Prevent, the Government's counter-extremism programme, is being used to investigate lawful criticism of Islam from figures including Robert Jenrick and John Cleese — part of a wider pattern of activists and courts enforcing a de facto blasphemy law.
29 September 2026
Police officers lectured about Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick during publicly funded Islamophobia talk
Police officers were lectured about Nigel Farage, Robert Jenrick and other Reform UK figures during a publicly funded Islamophobia training session — the latest sign of a de facto blasphemy law taking hold in Britain.
25 September 2026
Burnham moves an inch on Lammy's reforms, but ministers still plan to slash our right to a jury trial
Andy Burnham looks set to scrap David Lammy's plan for judge-only trials in less serious cases, but ministers are still pushing ahead with abolishing the right to elect for a jury trial — a right that matters enormously for those accused of speech offences.
1 September 2026
Man who tried to blackmail venues to cancel Katie Hopkins's shows has been found guilty
Oliver Hutchings has been found guilty of blackmailing venues into cancelling Katie Hopkins's tour after objecting to her views on gay and transgender people, in a case that shows how intimidation is being used to silence lawful speech.
19 August 2026
FSU helps ex-police officer Stephen Gray appeal conviction for joke about Muhammad
A retired police officer fined for reposting a joke about Islam is appealing his conviction with FSU backing, in what campaigners say is the latest sign of a de facto blasphemy law protecting Islam alone.
17 July 2026
Major policing reforms delayed until Autumn as Labour changes its leader
The Government has delayed publication of Lord Macdonald's landmark review of public order and hate crime law until the Autumn, blaming the transition from Keir Starmer to Andy Burnham — leaving police forces and protestors in continued confusion.
29 June 2026
Labour's jury trial reforms are a threat to free speech, says former High Court judge
A former High Court judge has warned that Labour's plans to curtail the right to trial by jury pose a direct threat to freedom of speech and protest. Sir Stephen Mitchell argues that jury trials are a critical safeguard against politically motivated prosecutions—particularly in Public Order cases where free expression is at stake—and that removing them would hand the Government a mechanism to bypass that protection in "sensitive" cases.
2 June 2026
FSU member James Cooper acquitted of violent disorder
FSU member James Cooper has been unanimously acquitted of violent disorder at Manchester Crown Court, after the Free Speech Union funded his defence over his attendance at a 2024 protest outside a Manchester asylum hotel.
11 May 2026
Councils that are banning shouting and swearing are threatening free speech
A survey has shown that one in five councils have introduced bans on swearing and shouting in public. Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) are being used to police "everyday behaviour", according to the Campaign for Freedom in Everyday Life.
2 March 2026
A lone female Met Police officer defends free speech – but Christian street preachers are being targeted
A lone Met Police officer went viral for defending a Christian street preacher's right to speak — but across Britain, heavy-handed policing of preachers is becoming the norm.
11 December 2025
Free speech campaigners demand investigation into their arrest by Belgian Police
10 December 2025
Police arrest anti-abortionist campaigner at peaceful protest in Cambridge
3 September 2025
Thanet backs down after FSU challenge to ‘free speech gagging’ order
14 August 2025
FSU launches legal challenge over Thanet’s ‘free speech gagging’ order
26 July 2025
Protest footage blocked as online safety act comes into force
2 June 2025
Radiohead bassist: Concert cancellations ‘curtail free speech’
4 April 2025
Activist guilty of breaching protected zone outside abortion clinic
1 April 2025
“Don’t question your councillor or we’ll arrest you,” police tell retired lecturer
14 March 2025
Retired Pastor faces court for preaching near Northern Ireland abortion clinic
11 March 2025
Police admit unlawful arrest of Republican protester at King’s Proclamation
21 February 2025
Lisa Nandy says protesting sponsorship of the arts is “gagging society”
22 January 2025
Police break up mob protesting ‘offensive’ Bollywood film at London cinema
23 December 2024
Concerns raised over aggressive heckling of female Councillor during debate on violence against women
1 December 2024
Oxford Union descends into chaos as students shout down Israeli speakers
10 November 2024
Remembrance Day should be ‘decolonised’, say campaigners
5 November 2024
Iran student strips in protest over strict hijab dress code
2 November 2024
Silent prayer breaches of abortion clinic ‘buffer zones’ will land offenders unlimited fines
31 October 2024
Pro-Palestine protesters to demand removal of Lloyd George statue
10 October 2024
FSU intervenes after “mob rule tactics” force cancellation of ex-Home Secretary’s Cambridge speech
9 October 2024
Iron bar wielding trans activists arrested at Paris protest over gender-critical book
24 August 2024
Free speech victory for the FSU as councils shelve ‘busybody charters’
19 August 2024
Anti-abortion campaigner receives apology and substantial payout from police after twice being arrested for silent prayer
10 August 2024
FSU threatens legal action over Labour-run council plans to fine people £100 for swearing in street
7 August 2024
UCL wins court order on Gaza protest camps
1 August 2024
FSU threatens judicial review over Thanet County Council’s speech restrictive PSPO
13 June 2024
Pro-Palestine protesters shut down debate at Durham University
18 May 2024
“Controlling the Narrative”: Free Speech Under Fire
9 May 2024
How universities raised a generation of activists
29 April 2024
Free Speech victory for the FSU as councils shelve ‘busybody charters’
24 April 2024
Judge throws out case against UK climate activist who held sign on jurors’ rights
16 April 2024
Free speech prevails: emergency legal challenge strikes down attempted no-platforming of Conservative conference
14 April 2024
Free speech victory for the FSU as councils shelve ‘busybody charters’
14 April 2024
Judge blocks police ban on ‘Hamas is Terrorist’ banner protester
7 April 2024
Feminists accuse pro-trans activists of ‘intimidation’ on Scottish march
24 March 2024
End school protests that force teachers to adopt de facto blasphemy code, says independent government advisor
23 March 2024
Doctors at gender-critical conference ambushed by masked trans activists
20 March 2024
Protesters can’t use beliefs as vandalism defence, court rules
11 March 2024
Blasphemy demos “are growing in radicalism”, warns a government commissioned report
26 February 2024
Israel-Hamas conflict is “generational moment” of radicalisation, police chief warns
15 February 2024
Freedom Convoy protesters to sue Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over frozen bank accounts
13 February 2024
Raft of new measures announced by government to crackdown on “disruptive” protests
1 February 2024
A total ban on masks at protests is a bad idea
27 January 2024
Trudeau government “not justified” in freezing protesters’ bank accounts, court rules
