The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion

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GB Politics @GBPolitcs

12 hours ago

🚨NEW: Many comments on Andy Burnham's "Ask Me Anything" Reddit thread are being removed by moderators

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86 out of the 532 Crown courtrooms across England and Wales are sitting empty today. That’s 16 per cent. Rather than getting the courts to sit, David Lammy has gone to war with jury trials. He believes slashing our ancient right to trial by jury is the only way to bring down the Crown Court backlog. He is wrong. There is no credible evidence that his plan will work. What his reforms would achieve is a loss of public trust in the criminal justice system, as well as more people being banged up for simply exercising their right to free speech. Andy Burnham must axe this policy as soon as he walks through the door of Number 10.

🚨 BREAKING: Andy Burnham will proceed with Keir Starmer's social media ban for under-16s in the UK

This is a total disgrace. It is absolutely not the role of the police to intimidate members of the public - especially while openly admitting no law has been broken. An affront to free speech and a massive overstep of authority. The public expects the police to focus on real crime, like stopping burglaries, not squandering taxpayer funded time and abusing their powers by actively undermining free speech. x.com/London_W4/stat…

Alastair Hilton @London_W4

a day ago

I am having a drink this evening with a friend in a Chiswick pub. Two policemen have just come into the pub and asked me to step outside. I have stepped outside and they have threatened me because I tweeted about a councillor banning seating outside pubs in Chiswick. They admit

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dailymail.com/news/article-1…

Met Police madness strikes again. Two Metropolitan Police officers tracked down photographer Alastair Hilton while he was enjoying a pint with a friend at a pub in Chiswick to warn him about his critical tweets concerning a local Green Party councillor. Mr Hilton feared he was about to be arrested when officers asked him to step outside the pub for a conversation. He had been celebrating a local victory over the Labour-run council’s plans affecting outdoor seating at three riverside pubs. As so often happens in these cases, the officers acknowledged that no crime had been committed. Nevertheless, one of them read out provisions of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, warning Mr Hilton that he could be arrested if he crossed the line. Mr Hilton said: “They admit on video that I did not break the law at all. They came to threaten me. To warn me off tweeting about councillors and the council. This is modern Britain. This is the police state. Police coming out to threaten someone who hasn’t committed a crime. I’m fuming.” It is another example of the Metropolitan Police unnecessarily involving themselves in the lawful speech of British citizens. It also adds to growing concerns about two-tier policing. Mr Hilton told officers that, just weeks earlier, his daughter had experienced an attempted burglary while she slept at home, yet he claimed the police refused to attend. Top Gear star James May, who lives in west London, also voiced his support for Mr Hilton, tweeting: “I’m genuinely interested to know if you’ve woken up in the gulag. Bang on the pipes if you need us to batter the door down with a pub bench.” Once again, the Metropolitan Police appear more interested in policing lawful speech online than tackling real crime. The dispute began after Mr Hilton campaigned against the Labour-run council’s plans affecting outdoor eating and drinking at local pubs. On social media, he alleged that the original complaint about the outdoor seating had been made by Green Party councillor Rick Rowe, a claim Mr Rowe denies. Read more below 👇

Two Met police officers have tracked down to a pub a man who had criticised a local Green councillor over an outdoor drinking ban, sparking concerns that Britain is becoming a police state. dailysceptic.org/2026/07/03/pol…

The Chief Constable of Essex Police said it was “madness” - the furore after two officers visited my house on Remembrance Sunday. He described it as “just a five-minute conversation with a journalist”. There is no “just” about a visit from the police. It is deliberately intimidating and an attack on free speech. I was accused of a serious offence under the Public Order Act for posting a tweet, a year earlier. No one thinks the tweet came anywhere near the threshold for criminal investigation. The CPS threw the case out but the process is the punishment. In the same week, a 15-year-old boy was robbed at knifepoint a few miles from me. Terrified, he called the police and was told it was no longer a live incident! Feisty tweet - police visit. Knife crime - you’re on your own, mate. Police now think it’s their business to advise and to lecture to enforce “values”. Usually on the basis of an allegation by a “protected characteristic”. They look increasingly sinister and ridiculous. They need to return to policing. Allister did nothing wrong and I hope he joins me in suing the police. Innocent, decent people must take a stand against tyranny, Thank god for @SpeechUnion Do join today if you haven’t already.

Daily Mail @DailyMail

18 hours ago

'Police state' row as officers track down and threaten to arrest man who criticised his local Green councillor over outdoor drinking ban trib.al/vudgilJ

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The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy’s departure from X has rightly raised eyebrows. But, as @RobertJenrick has pointed out, there is something even more sinister going on. Just 10 days ago, Lisa Nandy told the House of Commons that the Government plans to force social media companies to promote what it deems to be “trustworthy” news providers. The Government is trying to dictate what you see online. This is beyond dystopian.

GB News @GBNEWS

a day ago

'They are trying to dictate what you see!' Reform UK's Robert Jenrick criticises Lisa Nandy's decision to leave X and calls the Government's intention to give certain news outlets prominence over others, 'dystopian'.

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This is deeply concerning. Photographer Alastair Hilton was enjoying a pint with a friend when two Metropolitan Police officers tracked him down and warned him about his posts on social media. Mr Hilton was asked to step outside the pub, where the officers read out the section of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 under which they threatened to arrest him should he cross the line. This was all because Mr Hilton had shared a post protesting the actions of a local Green councillor, who had successfully campaigned to remove the outdoor seating from three pubs on the Thames riverside near his home. While we do not approve of intimidating public office holders at their homes, gathering at a pub in the vicinity of a councillor’s house and standing up for your right to sit outside and enjoy a beer is not a crime. We can already see how this legislation — with this provision having come into force only on 29th June — can be manipulated to silence dissent. The Met Police again appear more interested in dealing with free speech disputes online rather than tackling real crime. @London_W4, the FSU will write to you today.

Alastair Hilton @London_W4

a day ago

I am having a drink this evening with a friend in a Chiswick pub. Two policemen have just come into the pub and asked me to step outside. I have stepped outside and they have threatened me because I tweeted about a councillor banning seating outside pubs in Chiswick. They admit

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telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/0…

The Secretary of State responsible for the media has quit X — along with her department — because of what she says is the spread of misinformation, dubbing the platform a danger to democracy. Despite professing to be a champion of free speech, Lisa Nandy also turned off comments on her post. Lisa Nandy has served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in the most authoritarian government in modern British history. If she truly believes in free speech, was she not concerned that around 30 people a day are arrested for allegedly “offensive” social media posts? Why was she in the House of Commons only last week spearheading government plans to dictate what content citizens see online? And if Lisa Nandy cares so deeply about democracy, why was she so quiet when the Government sought to cancel a significant proportion of this year’s local elections? Most concerning of all, Lisa Nandy — a close ally of our next Prime Minister, Andy Burnham — would, if she remains in post, likely be the minister charged with leading the Government’s campaign against Britain’s free press, acting on the wishes of Burnham and Hugh Grant. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said: “DCMS is supposed to counter and deal with misinformation, not run away because it’s all too much.” Read more below 👇

Labour’s Islamophobia definition has already been misused to shut down free speech. Radical activists now have a doorway to push divisive ideas into our public bodies - exactly as they did for race and gender issues. We must stand against it.

🏹 Our @jcdinnage's latest article for @CityAM reshared by @SpeechUnion Read it here 👇 cityam.com/will-hugh-gran…

The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion

2 days ago

Hugh Grant hopes to bring the free press under greater state control as his friend Andy Burnham stands on the cusp of becoming Prime Minister. Freedom of the press is on the brink in the UK. Last week, Hugh Grant — the veteran actor and campaigner for tighter press regulation —

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freespeechunion.org/campaigns/onli…

📣🚨 New FSU Survey: The ONLINE SAFETY ACT: ONE YEAR ON A year on from the Orwellian rules contained in the Online Safety Act coming into force — including age checks and restrictions on content alleged to be harmful to under-18s — the Free Speech Union wants to hear from you. We are asking what, if anything, has changed in how you experience free speech on social media: what gets removed, restricted or quietly suppressed, and how that shapes what people feel able to say. The survey takes between five and ten minutes to complete, and we would be incredibly grateful if you could take part. Your responses will help us strengthen our evidence base as we continue the fight for free expression online. Take the survey below 👇

BREAKING: County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is refusing to rule out taking disciplinary action against the Darlington nurses despite an employment tribunal finding they were unlawfully harassed. President of the Darlington Nursing Union, said: “After everything we have been through it is astonishing that the Trust is still refusing to rule out taking disciplinary action against us. “The trust has apologised. It has paid damages. It has accepted our concerns were not properly heard. An employment tribunal found we were subjected to harassment and unlawful discrimination. Yet somehow, even now, the trust appears to be keeping open the possibility of punishing the very nurses who were vindicated" See more breaking in the media 👇🏻 express.co.uk/news/uk/222394…

spiked-online.com/2026/06/30/wor…

Workers must defend their right to hold private opinions as employers increasingly turn into vindictive moral busybodies, says Andrew Tettenborn. Last week, Lord Moynihan introduced an important Private Member’s Bill in the House of Lords — the Regulated Professionals (Freedom of Speech) Bill — which seeks to protect professionals from attempts by regulators to penalise them for ‘off-duty expressive conduct’. That means anything said outside the practice of their profession. The only exceptions to the Bill’s protections are threats of violence, threats of harm relating to professional duties, serious sexual offences, or convictions for offences that directly affect an individual’s ability to practise their profession or carry a custodial sentence. Where the protections apply, regulators would be barred from imposing penalties, disadvantages, compulsory training or any other coercive measures. Say goodbye to being forced onto mandatory diversity, equality and inclusion training programmes. This is all the more important following the introduction of the Government’s non-statutory definition of “anti-Muslim hostility”. It is also an important antidote to the increasing policing of social media posts by employers or disgruntled colleagues. Accusations of bringing an employer into “disrepute” can carry significant consequences, resulting in disciplinary action or individuals being hounded out of their jobs. Lord Moynihan’s Bill is principled, well drafted and practical. As a Private Member’s Bill, it is sadly unlikely to become law, but everyone — regardless of political party — should support it. Read more below 👇

It is a bit late for Lisa Nandy to profess to be a staunch supporter of free speech — only to then leave X. @lisanandy has served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in one of the most authoritarian governments in modern times, whose policies have posed a direct threat to free speech. As a close ally of our next Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, should she remain in post, she will undoubtedly be the figure leading Andy Burnham’s war on the free press. If Lisa Nandy truly cares about free speech and tackling misinformation and disinformation, she should engage in debate, not vacate the stage. More conversation, not less.

Lisa Nandy MP @lisanandy

2 days ago

I've decided to leave this platform and my Department will too. A platform originally designed for free speech and expression now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate. It isn't healthy for our democracy or our communities and I don’t want to support it.

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