The Free Speech Union

A mass membership organisation dedicated to upholding free speech. To join, go to Membership fees start at £4.99 a month

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

📣🚨 FSU Victory!!

The Free Speech Union has just heard from South Wales Police that it has withdrawn its guidance on “anti-Muslim hostility”.

The force had effectively adopted its own Islamic blasphemy law, instructing officers to record any conversation that went beyond “legitimate” discussion of Islam.

Under this guidance, criticism of Islam could have been recorded as an anti-social behaviour incident and potentially appeared on DBS checks, affecting someone’s ability to work as a teacher, carer, or in other regulated professions.

South Wales Police has backed down because the Free Speech Union threatened them with a judicial review if it chose to press ahead with the policy.

The force has described this move as a “pause” to the guidance — but we think it is highly unlikely to return.

We must also thank Shadow Equalities Minister @ClaireCoutinho for referring South Wales Police to the Equality and Human Rights Commission after we brought this issue to her attention.

Blasphemy laws were abolished by Parliament 18 years ago. We must not allow them to return through the back door.

Let this be a warning to any other public body — particularly police forces — considering the adoption of its own blasphemy laws.

Watch Lord Young below 👇

[Toby Young @toadmeister]

Britain is facing a surge in people taking their employers to court, with claims up 55% year on year, following Angela Rayner’s sweeping workers' rights reforms. https://t.co/cZpUX4VcQg

[Professor Alice Sullivan @ProfAliceS]

Now on over 200 signatures.

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

Hague:%20Oxford%20gender%20lectures%20should%20go%20ahead%20despite%20trans%20protests https://t.co/ZJAxo8yTv1

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

Chancellor of the University of Oxford and former Conservative Party leader Lord Hague says that Oxford gender lectures should go ahead despite trans protests.

Dr Michael Foran, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oxford, announced last Sunday that he had cancelled the remaining two lectures in his four-part series following abuse from trans protesters.

Trans activists disrupted two separate events at which the gender law expert had been addressing the themes of his new book, Sex, Gender and the Law.

The protesters called him transphobic and a “bigot”, as well as calling on audience members to join them in leaving the event.

Lord Hague has said that the lectures must go ahead for the sake of “freedom of speech”.

He said: “The rest of Michael Foran’s talks should go ahead”.

He added: “Freedom of speech is a fundamental academic freedom and it must be upheld.

“Equally, legitimate and lawful protest has an important place in university life. The task is to maintain both.

“Especially at events open to the public like this, it is an important Oxford tradition that any disagreement is expressed in a civil and respectful way.”

Read more below 👇

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

https://t.co/uI4dV77ZqY

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

What a great evening at the launch of FSU Director of Case Management @BenBarryJones’s new book, Island of Strangers: Diversity, Decline and Free Speech in Crisis.

Drawing on more than five years of experience at @SpeechUnion, Ben explores Britain’s free speech crisis, the erosion of national identity, the transformation of British society, and the rise of Islam.

Get your copy below 👇

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

83 of the 532 Crown Court courtrooms across England and Wales are not sitting today. That’s 16%.

David Lammy may claim that curbing our right to jury trial is the only way to tackle the Crown Court backlog of 80,000 cases, but there is no credible evidence to support that claim.

The Institute for Government has shown that Lammy’s plan would save just 2% of Crown Court time, not the 20% promised by ministers.

Judges, lawyers, MPs and victims of crime have all warned that these reforms would undermine public trust in the criminal justice system.

The problem is not jury trials. The problem is that the courts are not sitting.

Open the courts. Save jury trials.

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

https://t.co/R2OjpAKWDj

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

The Government’s jury trial reforms are deeply unfair. Under these proposals, a repeat offender could be more likely to receive a jury trial than a first-time offender facing the same charge.

David Lammy is trying to push these controversial reforms through Parliament at breakneck speed, despite repeated warnings from judges, lawyers, opposition MPs, Labour MPs and victims of crime that they will undermine public trust in the criminal justice system.

Labour does not have a mandate for such a sweeping overhaul of our criminal justice system.

We cannot let the Government get away with restricting our ancient right to trial by jury.

Read more below 👇

[Claire Coutinho @ClaireCoutinho]

South Wales Police tried to introduce an Islamic blasphemy law.

Why? Because of the Government's Islamophobia definition, which gives one religion special protection over others.

It must be withdrawn.

My letter to the Home Secretary👇🏾

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

The Online Safety Act has created a minefield for individuals and businesses trying to navigate life online.

The consequences of getting any of the Ofcom guidance wrong can be financially ruinous.

So, we at the FSU want to help!

Do you run a small to medium website that Ofcom is looking into? Are you likely to fall into the ‘small but risky’ category of providers?

Have Ofcom approached you and your business about OSA compliance?

If this answer is yes, please contact us at [email protected]

[Samiksha's State of the Debate @samikshassotd]

Proud to have signed the letter! You can do so here: https://t.co/rFJzXORbQv

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

https://t.co/pjnVuRDSlY

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

“I’d gone through this London Police Race Action Plan and I just couldn’t believe what I was reading.”

On this week’s episode of the FSU Podcast, Policy and Research Director @DavidRoseUK sits down with former chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, Rick Prior.

Rick was dismissed from his role after saying in a GB News interview that rank-and-file officers were concerned about vexatious allegations of racism.

In the wake of the tragic murder of Henry Nowak, serious questions have been raised about both the policies governing our police and the culture within them — and the consequences that follow.

In an attempt to avoid appearing “institutionally racist”, the police have swung so far in the opposite direction that they now discriminate against white people, particularly white working-class men.

Rick reflects on his experience as a police officer, his time as chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, and his work in the Met Police’s Culture, Diversity and Inclusion department.

The police have gone woke — and the consequences are proving fatal.

Watch the FSU Podcast below 👇

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

The Free Speech Union is proud to host the launch of @BenBarryJones’s book, Island of Strangers: Diversity, Decline and Free Speech in Crisis 👇

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

https://t.co/ie4Kz5tDjw

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

Why is the transformation of society is making us all so unfree?

Find out in FSU Director of Case Management @BenBarryJones’s new book Island of Strangers: Diversity, Decline and Free Speech in Crisis 👇

[David Rose @DavidRoseUK]

Henry Nowak’s appalling treatment was a death foretold, the consequence of disastrous and divisive policing policy that meant the officers who attended him believed his killer’s lies - as our new @SpeechUnion podcast explains https://t.co/zywcot5vB3

[Benjamin Jones @BenBarryJones]

This was a difficult book to stop writing. Every week - almost every day - brings fresh evidence that multiculturalism has been a disaster. The Henry Nokak murder. Belfast. The Bristol rape trial.

This book is an "unflinching" analysis of how we got here. The UK state has suppressed freedom of speech, while pursuing a disastrous policy of mass migration.

The result has been to make our society dysfunctional, fragmented and unfree. 'Island of Strangers' is a short book. It's blunt. There is no way to avoid what is happening in our country. We have to tell the truth.

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

We are pleased to see that the @britishmuseum went ahead with its rescheduled talk on Ancient Israel and Judah.

[Board of Deputies of British Jews @BoardofDeputies]

A @britishmuseum talk exploring the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah drew the largest audience of Jewish Culture Month, with around 4000 people joining in person and online.

We are proud to work in close partnership with the British Museum and with a range of cultural and academic institutions to bring events like this to life.