Father Ted comedian arrested over trans posts, igniting free speech outcry

2 weeks ago 3

The arrest of a comedian for his social posts about transgender people has set off a new British storm over freedom of speech, as populist politician Nigel Farage seizes on the issue to build support after campaigning against asylum seekers and net zero climate targets.

Police arrested television comedy writer Graham Linehan, a creator of the Father Ted, Black Books, and The IT Crowd series, after five officers met him at Heathrow Airport on Monday when he returned to the UK after several weeks away.

Comedian Graham Linehan said police met him at Heathrow and arrested him for his posts on social media.

The arrest sparked criticism from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, whose spokesman said the police should be focused on serious crime, and drew support for the comedian from Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

The uproar appears certain to be cited when Farage speaks to a US Congressional committee in Washington DC this week about free speech in Europe, a key issue for his Reform UK party as it surges in the opinion polls.

Farage, who rose to prominence in the Brexit campaign to leave the European Union, is aiming to replace Starmer by tapping into deepening discontent over the cost of living, migration and the cost of energy.

The populist leader will step up this campaign on Friday when Reform UK holds its annual party conference in Birmingham, demonstrating its rise as a major party that threatens Labour and the Conservatives.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at a press conference in Scotland last week.

Farage has blamed a “woke virus” for taking over big companies and vowed to remove a “poisonous trans ideology” from British schools, while promising to send asylum seekers to detention centres before deporting them.

In a shock for Starmer and his Labour colleagues as parliament resumes in Westminster after the northern summer, polling company BMG issued results on Monday that showed 35 per cent of voters supported Reform UK.

The “headline vote intention” for Labour was only 20 per cent, down from 25 per cent in February, and the result was only 17 per cent for the Conservative Party.

A YouGov survey in May and June found that 26 per cent of voters backed Reform UK, ahead of 23 per cent for Labour and 18 per cent for the Conservatives.

Starmer is responding by outlining help for families on hip-pocket issues, including childcare assistance announced this week, in the hope he can win back voters over the four years before the next election.

In a tacit acknowledgement that new tactics are needed, Starmer arranged major interviews this week to outline “phase two” of his government, shortly after overhauling his team at 10 Downing Street.

The arrest at Heathrow is the latest incident in years of dispute about the rights of trans people to act against speech they regard as threatening – a key issue for Farage in his criticism of “woke” politics.

Linehan said he was met at Heathrow by five armed police officers who escorted him to a private area and told him he was under arrest for his posts on the platform X.

After he was interviewed by the police, a nurse checked on him and found his blood pressure was very high and he was moved to a medical facility, where he spent eight hours under observation. Linehan was released on condition he did not post on X.

He will face Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday and Friday on separate charges of harassment, which he has blamed on a trans activist.

In one of the posts at the centre of his arrest this week, Linehan posted in April: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”

Trans healthcare advocate Helen Webberley argued the arrest was justified because Linehan had incited hatred.

“Let this be a sage warning to all those who think it is OK to have views that are hateful towards trans people – your time is coming,” wrote Webberley, who founded health service GenderGP.

Rowling, a feminist and long-time critic of trans activists, said the arrest was deplorable.

Index on Censorship, a free speech advocacy group, said: “Whatever one may think about his posts it’s hard to see how such a heavy-handed response is justified or proportionate.”

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