Mrs G

[Laurence Fox @LozzaFox]

My full speech at the @OxfordUnion debating whether the west is right to be suspicious of Islam.

I needed a security team to attend and we were spat at, bullied and heckled by a baying mob.

But I will not give up on free speech.

I will not submit.

[Michael Fabricant 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇦 @Mike_Fabricant]

I ❤️ America’s pride in the flag and the respect they show 6 locals from Smithville TN killed in service of their country by laying a table for them at a restaurant they went to…….
It will be forever theirs.

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

@andyburnham FFS you’re the unelected PM. Do better you utter knob

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

@KayBurley You really are shamefully bad at your profession.

[Lucy Connolly @LucyTCWife]

I see this a lot. But if you had just crawled back under your rock Lucy Connolly, we wouldn’t be so hypocritically vile to you.

Let’s just clear this up. I was a nobody, a normal mum and wife working as a childminder living in the suburbs of Northampton.

The police, CPS, courts and establishment could have prosecuted me
quietly and by the book.
But no, they decided to make me the right wing poster girl.
I didn’t ask Sly News and the BBC to be constantly showing my mugshot as breaking news all over MSM.
And it was constant, for about 3 months. Do you really think I wanted my family and daughter to to see that?

They could have played by the rules, but they chose not to. The opportunity was too golden for them, it was a warning to you all.

So given the establishment and MSM did their best to destroy my life, not for the first time either. I think it’s only fair that I had the right to reply and set the record straight.

I didn’t ask for the media to be waiting in droves outside the prison upon release. I didn’t ask for them to be camping outside my family home upon release. But there you go.

Like I say, I don’t make the rules!!

So no Carol, I won’t be shutting up any time soon. 😘

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

@stellacreasy Someone take the shovel off her

[Andy Burnham @andyburnham]

Any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now.

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

😂

[Benedict Spence @BenedictSpence]

If you look up ‘stupid’ in the dictionary it won’t list anyone, Stella. That’s not how they work.

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

😂😂

[James Dreyfus @DreyfusJames]

Good on you, Stella!

Oh, and if you’re anywhere near Trafalgar Square today, could you keep half an eye out for my mate’s missing pigeon?

It’s called Keith & only has one foot.

Ta. 👍

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

@LucyTCWife Made me smile - and I bet you loaned her the stuff !

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

@cabinetofficeuk Convicted of fraud and a liar. Boris ate cake and they lost their minds!

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

@TRobinsonNewEra Poor Ann

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

@RachelReevesMP The worst chancellor ever. Good riddance

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

Starmer unironically just said 'my work is done'.

On behalf of a very angry nation - you've done an eye-wateringly appalling job, @Keir_Starmer.

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

Trans-identified men in Edinburgh are fortunate enough to be welcome at the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre, which was headed for a while by a trans-identified man who believed, and said publicly, that women who wanted a female-only service were bigots. That same rape centre admitted a male as a client because he called himself non-binary. The man was subsequently convicted for rape.

Beira’s Place was set up by me to provide women in Edinburgh and the Lothians with the female-only service they were being denied. Internal emails between ERRC staff were revealed during an unrelated court case, which showed them to be angry and dismayed that there was now an alternative service for women. One might have thought, reading those emails, that ERRC staff’s priority was the ideological conversion of rape survivors rather than the provision of a service that traumatised women required to feel safe after rape.

Beira’s Place has been exceptionally busy since it opened. We’ve taken on more staff and are currently looking for larger premises. We’ve helped women who’ve admitted that they didn’t want to use the alternative rape centre because of its very loud and public ‘trans women are women’ stance. We are also open to any and all trans-identified women who need support after rape.

In short, you’ll be relieved to hear that the trans-identified men for whom you feel such empathy and compassion aren’t losing out. It was biological women who were being shamed for their entirely legitimate desire for a male-free space. Apparently you’d have preferred that situation to continue, but I think you’ll find that most people, whether male or female, will see that as evidence of your cruelty, not mine.

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

@RupertLowe10 If a country can afford to give our money to other countries then we are being taxed too much.

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

@MatthewTorbitt Congratulations. Don’t let him lean too much left… ❤️

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

@toadmeister @GoodwinMJ @guardian 👏👏👏

[Toby Young @toadmeister]

Earlier today a @Guardian journalist sent me this query:

Dear Toby Young,

I'm Aisha Down, a journalist at the Guardian. I'm getting in touch because we're planning to report that the US state department is considering a grant of $5m to Free Speech Union, your organisation, as part of a new grant-making scheme, and wanted to give you the chance to comment. We would appreciate receiving your comment by 14:30.

We are considering reporting the following:

- The grant to the FSU is part of a package to Maga aligned groups that former US officials have condemned as a misuse of public money to seek influence over foreign politics and interfere with democracy.

- It is rare for the US government to fund partisan political organisations in western countries.

- These grants are likely to pose a challenge to Andy Burnham, who has said he will be "very upfront" with Trump about any disagreements.

- These grants - including to your organisation - are "sole source" grants, meaning they are to be awarded without any competitive process. This is unusual for a highly regulated process which usually requires grantees to show they have a track record for handling funds and clear plans for the money.

- This lack of process has been criticised as "outrageous and absurd" by former US officials, and as "gross incompetence" and "horrible stewardship" of US taxpayer money.

- Your organisation does not appear to have a track record of handling grants of this amount.

- We describe your organisation as "a rallying point for “anti-woke” grievance" which "frequently allies itself with rightwing causes" and say that you, Toby Young, appeared on Rees-Mogg's GB news show earlier this month to warn about 'Soviet-style' censorship in the UK.

- The state department says that its grant to FSU will “support campaigns promoting free speech and countering digital overregulation across the UK, Europe and Australia”. The sole-source award is justified “due to FSU’s global network of free speech activists”.

We would like to fully and fairly reflect your point of view and look forward to your statement. Thank you,

--
Aisha Kehoe Down
Senior Tarbell Fellow,
Guardian News and Media

I replied as follows:

It sounds like a pretty garbled story.

Free Speech Union International, which is the umbrella group that FSU UK, FSU Australia, FSU New Zealand, FSU Canada, FSU South Africa and FSU Brazil sit within, has expressed interest in applying for grant funding from the US State Department. This would be to promote the right to freedom of expression in those countries, which, far from being a partisan cause, is a universal human right. But it hasn't submitted a formal application and, consequently, has been awarded no grant from the State Department or any other branch of the US Government.

You've mischaracterised the FSUs, all of which are non-partisan organisations that defend people who get into trouble for exercising their right to feee speech regardless of their political views. The FSU UK, for instance, is currently paying for the legal defence of a protestor who's being prosecuted for holding up a sign saying "I support Palestine Action", as well as a protestor for wearing a t-shirt at a Unite the Kingdom rally for saying "Fuck Islam Christ is King". Yes, we helped Lucy Connolly appeal her sentence -- we thought a prison sentence of over two-and-a-half years for a single tweet was excessive -- but we also tweeted yesterday, condemning the arrest of Heather Herbert and offering our support. Yes, we came to the defence of Nigel Farage when he was debanked, but we've also offered to help the Canary in its recent debanking case. So to describe the FSU UK as a "rallying point for anti-woke grievance" is misleading. We are a rallying point for those who want to defend the right to freedom of expression.

Best,

Toby

The @Guardian then ran this story:

https://t.co/1l4K0PABvM

You be the judge of whether you think this is good journalism.

[Mrs G @MrsG1066]

Buckle in!

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

I’m often tickled by press articles asserting that I’m furious about things that actually gave me a proper belly laugh. This time, though, knock yourselves out. Amnesty’s attack on Beira’s Place has left me burning with the kind of fury that mounts with every passing hour.