London’s police chief has appealed for change, arguing that his officers are in an “impossible position” as they try to navigate the evolving landscape of online free speech while enforcing existing laws that bar threats and incitement to violence. The Metropolitan Police chief has called on Britain’s government to “change or clarify” the relevant laws after the controversial arrest of Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan over anti-transgender social media posts.
Linehan, who co-created the popular 1990s British sitcom “Father Ted” and wrote and created the more contemporary “The IT Crowd,” says he was arrested by five armed officers at London’s Heathrow Airport on Monday over his social media posts.
On his page on the Substack platform, Linehan said he asserted in one of the X posts in question that trans women being in female-only spaces was a, “violent, abusive act,” and added a call for people who see trans women in such spaces to, “make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails punch him in the balls.”
The Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday that the police force was still discussing Linehan’s arrest with the Crown Prosecution Service, which determines whether any formal charges should be filed against people suspected of crimes.
Linehan, 57, is due to appear in court Thursday in a separate case, in which he has been charged with the online harassment of an 18-year-old transgender woman called Sophia Brooks. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
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Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley has defended the officers who took Linehan into custody at Heathrow, saying in a statement seen by CBS News that the decision to arrest Linehan, “was made within existing legislation — which dictates that a threat to punch someone from a protected group could be an offense.”
But, Rowley added: “I don’t believe we should be policing toxic culture wars debates and officers are currently in an impossible position.”
He said police would “make similar decisions in future unless the law and guidance is changed or clarified.”
Britain’s laws against inciting violence have been in place for decades, but in more recent years, specific legislation has also barred hate that targets people based on their sexual orientation or gender.
Rowley acknowledged “concern caused by such incidents given differing perspectives on the balance between free speech and the risks of inciting violence in the real world,” and said Met officers would now pursue people over social media posts only, “where there is a clear risk of harm or disorder.”
“Where there is ambiguity in terms of intent and harm, policing has been left between a rock and a hard place by successive governments who have given officers no choice but to record such incidents as crimes when they’re reported,” he said.
“A long history of free speech”
The arrest of the Emmy award-winning writer has reignited a debate in the U.K. over freedom of speech, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging police on Wednesday to “focus on the most serious issues.”
Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling, well known as outspoken in her stance on gender and trans issues, called Linehan’s arrest “utterly deplorable” and “totalitarianism,” while X owner and former aid to President Trump Elon Musk called Britain a “police state.”
Far-right British politician Nigel Farage, an ally of Mr. Trump whose Reform Party is currently leading others in U.K. opinion polls, said he would raise the case, and others, when he gives evidence to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.
“The Graham Linehan case is yet another example of the war on freedom in the U.K.,” he said ahead of his appearance in front of the House Judiciary Committee. “Free speech is under assault, and I am urging the USA to be vigilant.”
But there was support for the police’s arrest of Linehan from some British politicians, including the newly-appointed leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski.
Speaking Tuesday night on the BBC’s “Newsnight” program, Polanski called Linehan’s posts on social media “totally unacceptable.”
“Proportionality of police response is a conversation that we need to have,” Polanski said, but he added that he could not understand why it would require five armed police officers to make such an arrest.
Starmer, meanwhile, told Britain’s parliament on Wednesday that there is “a long history of free speech in this country,” and “we must ensure the police focus on the most serious issues.”
Starmer’s government recently declared activist group Palestine Action a terrorist organization, leading to the arrest of at least 700 people, some over 70 years old.