UK News

Graham Linehan Cleared After Heathrow Arrest as CPS Drops Case After Free Speech Controversy

The charges may be dropped but the arrest leaves behind a chilling portrait of a country increasingly turning against free speech.

Graham Linehan, the Irish writer best known for Father Ted and The IT Crowd , says police have now confirmed he will face no further action following his controversial arrest at Heathrow Airport last month. He was accused of using social media to incite violence, a claim now dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Linehans arrest became a flashpoint in a growing concern over the decline of free speech in modern Britain. The image of an airport surrounded by armed officers confronting a comedy writer for tweets struck many as absurd, even dystopian.

He credited the Free Speech Union for its support and vowed to hold the police accountable for what is only the latest attempt to silence and suppress gender critical voices on behalf of dangerous and disturbed men

The US State Department regularly asses human right in countries around the world. The latest report about the UK is particularly scathing. The US State Department Summary reads:

The human rights situation worsened in the United Kingdom during the year.

Significant human rights issues included credible reports of serious restrictions on freedom of expression, including enforcement of or threat of criminal or civil laws in order to limit expression; and crimes, violence, or threats of violence motivated by antisemitism.

The government sometimes took credible steps to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses, but prosecution and punishment for such abuses was inconsistent.

The US report is critical of the UK's censorship law, particularly The Online Safety Act:

There were laws in the United Kingdom (UK) that restricted freedom of speech in certain areas or allowed local councils to establish areas with restrictions on freedom of speech.

The law authorized UK authorities, including the Office of Communications (Ofcom), to monitor all forms of communication for speech they deemed illegal.

The Online Safety Act of 2023, which came into force in 2024, defined the category of online harm and expressly expanded Ofcom's authority to include American media and technology firms with a substantial number of British users, regardless of whether they had a corporate presence in the UK. Under the law, companies were required to engage in proactive illegal content risk assessment to mitigate the risk of users encountering speech deemed illegal by Ofcom. Experts warned that one effect of the bill could be government regulation to reduce or eliminate effective encryption (and therefore user privacy) on platforms.

On April 1, the Scottish government implemented the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, including the introduction of offenses stirring up hatred through threatening or abusive behavior and the communication of threatening or abusive material.

Oner 450 people have been arrested in central London at the largest demonstration relating to Palestine Action since the group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation.

On Saturday night, the Metropolitan police said:

Parliament Square and Whitehall are clear. As of 9pm, 466 people had been arrested for showing support for Palestine Action.

By Saturday afternoon, hundreds of people had gathered in Parliament Square for a demonstration organised by the campaign group Defend Our Juries, who said approximately 1,000 sign-holders had turned up.

The Met said it estimated 500-600 people were in Parliament Square when the demonstration began, but many were not partaking.

A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said earlier:

The fact that unprecedented numbers came out today risking arrest and possible imprisonment shows how repulsed and ashamed people are about our governments ongoing complicity in a livestreamed genocide, and the lengths people are prepared to go to defend this countrys ancient liberties.