Free Speech being buried in the UK!

When UK Prime Minister once again insisted to President Trump that the UK has a “proud tradition of defending Free Speech” he was lying through his teeth. I want to go through two examples of free speech being closed down by the Police.

The first of these shows UK police issuing a Christian street preacher Ollie Sabotelli, with a Community Protection Warning (CPW) This was under the 2014 Anti-social Behaviour Act and it was for using Bible quotations deemed “upsetting” to passersby in Surrey, a routine first-step measure to curb nuisances without immediate arrest.

So he was warned to stop preaching from the Bible in public or else he might face further action that could include arrest. Now I was under the impression that we are a Christian country so HOW on earth can someone be warned for preaching the Christian message from The Bible? Who exactly were the people “upset” by this and why do their feelings take priority? What about the feelings of the Christian preacher?

Legal experts note that this CPWs are challengeable via judicial review if speech rights under the Human Rights Act are violated, but such a JR can cost at least £20,000 or more. I wonder if someone preaching from the Koran in the street was similarly targeted what would the police action be?

Here’s another instance where Police swoop on a man for the unspeakable crime of posting on social media! These four Hampshire police officers arrest a man outside his home for “aggravated communication” via posts on X, invoking the 1988 Malicious Communications Act, which criminalises messages intended to cause distress.

Now this legislation predates the internet but it is being used extensively to arrest people. In 2023, over 12,000 were arrested using this legislation. I am not saying that every arrest is unwarranted. I remember back in 2016 receiving repeated and specific death threats from a known individual and the Police used that legislation to take him to court. So I favour it being updated and used selectively and only when menace and or overt violence is threatened!

Under the Starmer regime, we have seen people sent to prison for spicy social media posts. I believe this was done to create a climate of fear and to stop expression of speech on social media. It makes me wonder what things will be like by 2029 and we get to change this dreadful authoritarian Government.