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Shocking cases reveal Britain’s Orwellian free speech crackdown
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With President Donald Trump’s slated departure for a state visit to the United Kingdom later this month, another high-profile arrest has exposed Britain’s growing free speech crisis.
The arrest of Arizona-based Irish comedian Graham Linehan, for allegedly criticizing transgender activists on social media, coincided with a Wednesday warning from British politician Nigel Farage to Congress that England is collapsing into a «really awful authoritarian situation.»
The leader of the populist Reform U.K. party, Farage, told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday at a hearing on «European threats to free speech» that the sitcom writer Linehan found out what life is like in the totalitarian North Korean state on Monday at Heathrow Airport in London.
UK LOOKS TO TREAT MISOGYNY AS EXTREMIST VIOLENCE, RAISING FREE SPEECH CRACKDOWN CONCERNS
«Father Ted» co-creator Graham Linehan speaks to the media outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court, London, where he has pleaded not guilty to harassing a transgender woman and damaging her phone. The Irish comedy writer, 56, denied the charges of harassing Sophia Brooks on social media and damaging her mobile in October. Picture date: Monday May 12, 2025. (Lucy North/PA Images via Getty Images)
The arrest of Linehan in a nation that is widely considered one of the birthplaces of robust free speech has unleashed fierce criticism of the left-wing Labour government.
Comedian and actor John Cleese, whose film «The Life of Brian» satirized a biblical man who wished to become a woman named Loretta and have babies, wrote to his more than 5.3 million followers about Linehan: «I see that it took five London policemen to arrest a comedian. Meanwhile, people in Chelsea have learned not to waste their time reporting burglaries. Is this an intelligent use of resources?»
President Donald Trump declared on Thursday, that «I will just say that in terms of, U.K., strange things are happening over there. They are cracking down and surprisingly so. And I’ve spoken to the prime minister and, let’s see what happens. But, it is a different a little bit different situation. I’m very surprised to see what’s happening.»
Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, left, and US President Donald Trump, during a bilateral meeting at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, on Monday, July 28, 2025. Trump said he would reduce the 50-day deadline he gave Russian leader Vladimir Putin to reach a truce with Ukraine, saying he was disappointed in his counterpart over the continuation of the war. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer said at a February White House meeting that, «We’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom — and it will last for a very, very long time.»
Egregious examples of a crackdown on free speech in recent years abound, according to critics in the U.K. and U.S., under both Conservative and Labour governments.
In January, Hertfordshire Police arrested parents, Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine, for messages shared in a parents’ WhatsApp chat group. Six officers searched their residence, and the couple were detained for eight hours over a spat with Cowley Hill Primary School. The school complained about Allen’s remarks about the hiring process for a senior teacher.
The Essex police launched an investigation into conservative Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson for an allegedly racist X post that criticized the police in November 2024. She wrote, in the context of pro-Palestinian rallies, many of which embrace the terrorist organization Hamas: «How dare they. Invited to pose for a photo with lovely peaceful British Friends of Israel on Saturday police refused. Look at this lot smiling with the Jew haters.»
‘MONTY PYTHON’ COMEDIAN SAYS TRUMP EMBOLDENED PEOPLE TO LAUGH AGAIN AFTER WOKE ACTIVISTS RUINED COMEDY
Union Jack flags on Westminster Bridge opposite the Houses of Parliament on 6th November 2024 in London, United Kingdom. London is one of the worlds leading tourism destinations, with many famous tourist attractions, with Elizabeth Tower which contains Big Ben being one of the iconic views of the capital. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)
In August, business owner Rob Davies, whose store had suffered from shoplifting, was advised by police to remove a handwritten note stating, «Due to scumbags shoplifting, please ask for assistance to open cabinets.» Davies refused and was not arrested.
The authorities jailed Lucy Connolly, wife of a Conservative party politician, because she posted an allegedly racist message on X after Axel Rudakubana murdered three children in Southport in Aug. 2024. «Mass deportation now. Set fire to all the f—— hotels full of the b——- for all I care. While you’re at it, take the treacherous government and politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.» She deleted the post within four hours. The court imposed a 31-month prison sentence on Connolly.
Lucy Connolly, who was jailed for 31 months over a racist tweet that called for mass deportations, among other extreme remarks following the Southport attack, and who was recently released, takes part in a panel discussion during Britain’s Reform UK party conference in Birmingham, September 6, 2025. (Phil Noble/Reuters)
The vast crackdown on freedom of speech and thought in the United Kingdom is raising alarm bells on both sides of the Atlantic. Critics have alleged other forms of curbs on speech and thought in Britain.
Lois McLatchie Miller, a senior legal communications officer with the Britain-based Alliance Defending Freedom International, told Fox News Digital that the British authorities are using drastic measures to curtail the right to prayer. She said, «We support several individuals who have been praying silently near abortion centers.»
Adam Smith-Connor was required to pay $11,330 for praying in the buffer zone of abortion clinic in 2022. (Alliance Defending Freedom UK)
She cited the «most expensive prayer in history as one example» when Adam Smith-Connor, a British veteran of the Afghanistan war, in 2022 engaged in «three minutes of silent prayer,» that led to an order that he pay approximately $11,330.
«Adam was praying for his son, whom he lost to an abortion 22 years prior. He was also praying for the men and women facing difficult decisions about abortion that day,» according to the Alliance Defending Freedom International.
Vice President JD Vance warned that «Free speech, I fear, is in retreat» with respect to Smith-Connor’s case at the Munich Security Conference in February. McLatchie Miller said, «What JD Vance did was phenomenal.»
UK GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF CRACKING DOWN ON FREE SPEECH: ‘THINK BEFORE YOU POST’
Livia Tossici-Bolt, a retired scientist, was arrested for standing outside an abortion clinic with a sign reading, «Here to talk if you want.» (ADF International)
McLatchie Miller cited additional alleged victims of Britain’s fast-moving crackdown on free speech, including the case of Catholic pro-life campaigner Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, who was «arrested for a thought crime,» close to an abortion clinic for silent prayer in 2022.
Livia Tossici-Bolt, a retired medical scientist, was arrested for standing outside an abortion facility with a sign stating: «Here to talk if you want.» The authorities arrested her for violating a «buffer zone» law that restricts protests at abortion clinics.
Scotland has been a kind of ground zero for restrictions on free speech rights for the pro-life community. The authorities arrested grandmother Rose Docherty for her silent protest outside an abortion facility in Glasgow. She held a sign that read: «Coercion is a crime, here to talk, if you want.»
Police officers in Liverpool, England (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
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Shawn Carney, president and CEO of the Texas-based 40 Days for Life, told Fox News Digital that his pro-life organization has U.K. citizen leaders who oversee networks in Britain. He termed the crackdown in the U.K. a «newfound bigotry for free speech. It has developed over the last few years.»
Asked why Britain is reportedly gutting free speech, he said, «My only guess is, the more pro-life the U.S. has gotten, the more they target their own citizens who are pro-life.» Carney added that the U.K.’s restrictions on free speech are also a reaction to President Trump’s pro-life policy. «The U.K. has been the laughingstock of free speech in the West,» said Carney.
united kingdom,donald trump,personal freedoms,woke
Es el cuarto invierno de la invasión a gran escala. Y es muy difícil. Los misiles y drones rusos destruyen deliberadamente la infraestructura energética de la cual depende la supervivencia de la población civil. En enero y febrero, la temperatura desciende hasta menos veinticinco grados centígrados. Las ciudades ucranianas literalmente se congelan. Millones de personas tienen acceso limitado, o no tienen acceso en absoluto, a la calefacción, el agua y la electricidad.
Recuerdo que en 2022, cuando los rusos empezaron por primera vez a golpear la infraestructura, apareció en las redes una foto de una maestra de Kyiv. Está con un abrigo rojo, un gorro caliente, en cuclillas junto a un poste metálico sobre el que puso su computador, justo en la calle, cerca de una tienda donde funciona un generador y hay señal de internet. Y allí, en pleno frío, les da una clase a los niños. Y pensé que los rusos habían venido a quitarnos todo: nuestra tierra, nuestra libertad, nuestro futuro, la educación de nuestros hijos. Pero esa maestra de Kyiv decidió no entregarles nada. Y hasta una cosa tan sencilla como darles clase a los niños se convirtió en un acto de resistencia.
Sé por experiencia propia que, cuando no puedes confiar en el sistema internacional de paz y seguridad, siempre puedes confiar en las personas. Estamos acostumbrados a pensar en categorías de Estados y organizaciones intergubernamentales, pero la gente común tiene mucha más fuerza de la que ella misma imagina.
Hace cuatro años estaba en Kyiv cuando las tropas rusas intentaban cercarla. En aquel momento, nadie creía que pudiéramos resistir una amenaza militar tan poderosa. Recibíamos cada mañana como una victoria, porque habíamos logrado aguantar una noche más. Recuerdo cómo las organizaciones humanitarias internacionales evacuaban a su personal. Pero la gente común se quedó y empezó a resistir. Las personas comunes empezaron a hacer cosas extraordinarias.
Una de esas personas era mi amiga Victoria Amelina, la escritora ucraniana. En los primeros días de la invasión a gran escala, interrumpió un viaje y regresó a Ucrania. Muy pronto se incorporó al trabajo de documentación de crímenes de guerra. Y además hacía muchas cosas en paralelo. Recuerdo que le decía: haces demasiado y ya estás al borde del agotamiento: escribes un libro, documentas crímenes de guerra, vas a misiones de campo, haces trabajo voluntario. ¿Cómo puedes asumir más proyectos? Pero ella respondía que tenía una sensación persistente de no estar haciendo lo suficiente. Y que no sabía cuánto tiempo le quedaba a ella y, al final, a todos nosotros.
Un mes después de esa conversación, un misil ruso impactó un restaurante en Kramatorsk. En ese momento Vika estaba allí acompañando al Donbas a un grupo de colombianos que promueven la campaña de solidaridad ¡Aguanta Ucrania!. Sufrió una herida grave y cayó en coma. Tal vez suene absurdo, pero le escribía mensajes todos los días. Estaba convencida de que despertaría y leería todo. Y aun cuando una amiga común, que estaba a su lado en cuidados intensivos, me dijo que no solo debía prepararme, sino aceptar lo inevitable, respondí que, aun así, no perdía la esperanza.
No hace mucho revisé por primera vez esa última conversación que Vika nunca llegó a leer. Y esto es lo que quiero decirles.
Primero. Durante tres siglos, los ucranianos vivieron a la sombra del imperio ruso. Por eso entramos en esta guerra como una sociedad sin contexto. Nuestra historia no fue escrita por nosotros. Somos un país con una literatura clásica sin traducir. Las personas en otros continentes sabían de nuestra parte del mundo solo que aquí estaba Rusia. Un imperio no es solo la posesión de tierras, recursos y personas. Es la posesión del conocimiento, es decir, el derecho a nombrar las cosas.
Segundo. Putin afirma abiertamente que no existe la nación ucraniana, así como tampoco existen la lengua o la cultura ucranianas. Desde hace doce años documentamos cómo esas palabras se convierten en una práctica terrible en los territorios ocupados. Los rusos eliminan físicamente a las personas activas en las comunidades, prohíben la lengua ucraniana, saquean el patrimonio cultural ucraniano y educan a los niños ucranianos con manuales rusos en los que Ucrania no existe como Estado.
Y por último. Esta guerra tiene una dimensión de valores. No es una guerra entre dos países, sino entre dos sistemas: el autoritarismo y la democracia. Putin busca demostrar que un país con poder de veto en la ONU y armas nucleares puede permitirse todo lo que quiera. Incluso privar a toda una nación de su identidad y su libertad. Y la libertad, para los ucranianos, no es solo un valor de autoexpresión, es un valor de supervivencia. No habríamos sobrevivido ni surgido como nación si no hubiéramos aspirado obstinadamente a la libertad durante todos estos siglos.
Por eso, pese a todo, hay personas que enseñan a los niños ucranianos. Hay personas que escriben libros ucranianos. Hay personas que preservan su memoria.
Sembramos. Sembramos semillas. Sembramos incluso en invierno, cuando todo está congelado. Sembramos aquello que no teme al frío. Sembramos como un acto de fe, porque sabemos que la primavera llegará inevitablemente y todo lo que sembremos brotará. Y sí, es un trabajo a largo plazo. Pero quien piensa en el largo plazo, gana.
Cuando releía aquella conversación que Vika nunca alcanzó a leer, recordaba todo lo importante que logró hacer en su corta vida; pensaba en el amor que compartió generosamente conmigo, con su familia y con nuestras amigas; revisaba las fotos de su libro inconcluso sobre mujeres en la guerra, que fue publicado después de su muerte y traducido a varios idiomas. La vida humana es frágil. Pero aun así, puede estar llena de sentidos eternos.
Ahora sé mucho sobre lo que es la esperanza. La esperanza no es la convicción de que todo saldrá bien. Es la profunda conciencia de que todos nuestros esfuerzos tienen sentido.
*Oleksandra Matviichuk, defensora de derechos humanos y presidenta del Centro para las Libertades Civiles, en 2022 recibió el Premio Nobel de Paz.
“Cartas de Ucrania” es un proyecto de la campaña de solidaridad latinoamericana ¡Aguanta Ucrania! en conjunto con PEN Ucrania, UkraineWorld e Instituto Ucraniano.
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Greenland’s rejection of President Donald Trump sending a U.S. military hospital ship has touched off a private-public healthcare debate amid ongoing diplomatic talks about Arctic security.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on Sunday turned down Trump’s offer, and now Trump special envoy to Greenland, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, has weighed in.
«Shame on Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen!» Landry wrote in response to a Fox News report on Nielsen’s objection. «President Donald J. Trump and America care. After speaking to many Greenlanders about the day to day problems they face, one issue stood out — healthcare.»
Greenland has sought more self-governance from Denmark under the Self Government Act in 2009 to take more local authority under home rule, but Danish officials’ instant rejection of Trump’s offer is aligned with Greenland’s own rejection that came later Sunday.
CANADA AND FRANCE OPENING NEW CONSULATES IN GREENLAND’S CAPITAL AMID TRUMP PRESSURE
Greenland has rejected the Trump administration’s push to take over the Danish territory. (Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images; Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«President Trump’s idea of sending an American hospital ship here to Greenland has been noted,» Nielsen wrote in a translated Facebook post. «But we have a public healthcare system where treatment is free for citizens.
«It is a deliberate choice.»
Greenland remains open to dialogue and cooperation with the U.S., with a caveat, according to Nielsen.
«But talk to us instead of just making more or less random outbursts on social media,» Nielsen said in his own public Facebook protestation.
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Louisiana GOP Gov. Jeff Landry speaks during a meeting with President Donald Trump last year. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Greenland’s «free for citizens» care is not sufficient, Landry argued in his Facebook response posted to his campaign’s page.
«Many villages and small towns lack basic services that Americans often take for granted,» Landry’s post continued. «Small settlements are without permanent doctors, diagnostic tools, or specialist care – forcing residents to travel great distances for vital treatments that should be available at home.»
The healthcare issue underlies the overreaching Trump hopes to annex Greenland to secure the strategic Arctic region from Russian and Chinese designs, calling it a vital issue for «national security» for both the U.S. and the NATO alliance.
«A healthy Greenland is vital for America’s national security,» Landry’s post concluded. «America is committed to defending Greenland, and that begins by ensuring its people are defended against basic illnesses and ailments.
«These missions matter because health is inseparable from security. America’s commitment to defending Greenland must begin with ensuring its people are healthy.»
The recent dust-up came after Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command evacuated a crew member who required urgent medical treatment from a U.S. submarine in Greenlandic waters, seven nautical miles outside of Greenland’s capital of Nuuk.
«Working with the fantastic Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there,» Trump wrote Saturday night on Truth Social. «It’s on the way!!!»
That post sparked objection from both Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Sunday.
«The Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs,» Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR, according to Reuters. «They receive it either in Greenland, or, if they require specialized treatment, they receive it in Denmark.
VANCE: US SHOULD GET ‘SOME BENEFIT’ FROM GREENLAND IF IT’S GOING TO BE ‘ON THE HOOK’ FOR PROTECTING TERRITORY
«So it’s not as if there’s a need for a special healthcare initiative in Greenland.»
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is rejecting President Donald Trump’s offer to send a U.S. military hospital ship to Greenland, suggesting Denmark’s public healthcare system is sufficient. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Kirsty Wigglesworth – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Frederiksen spun the Trump offer into a political debate on public healthcare.
«Am happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health for all,» Frederiksen wrote in a translated post, sharing a Democrat attack point on Trump’s Republican Party’s struggles to reform what Trump has rebuked as a «failure» of Obamacare. «Where it’s not insurances and wealth that determine whether you get proper treatment. You have the same approach in Greenland.»
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The U.S. Navy has two hospital ships, the Mercy and the Comfort. Both were last docked in Alabama for repairs, according to Reuters.
greenland,health care healthy living,foreign policy,nato,donald trump,state department
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was re-elected as general secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, according to a press release from the country’s state-run media.
The decision was announced on Monday by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which said the party formally adopted the measure on Feb. 22 during its Ninth Congress.
KCNA described the move as reflecting the «unanimous desire» of party members, the military and the public, praising Kim as the «centre of unity and leadership» and crediting him with strengthening the country’s nuclear deterrence and advancing economic and military development.
The lengthy statement highlighted the country’s achievements over the past five years, including improvements to national defense capabilities and economic planning.
KIM JONG UN APPEARS WITH DAUGHTER AT MAUSOLEUM, FUELING SUCCESSION SPECULATION
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, leader Kim Jong Un claps after being re-elected to the top post of the ruling Workers’ Party during its congress in Pyongyang on Feb. 22, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
It also reaffirmed Kim’s role as the guiding figure in the country’s «socialist construction.»
Kim, who has been in power since 2011, has served as general secretary of the Workers’ Party since 2021, when he formally assumed the title previously held by his late father, Kim Jong Il.
An analysis by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) suggests North Korea could use the conclusion of the Ninth Party Congress to unveil new strategic weapons and highlight progress under its 2021–2025 military modernization plan.
SOUTH KOREAN COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENT YOON SUK YEOL GUILTY IN INSURRECTION TRIAL
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, leader Kim Jong Un attends the ruling Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang on Feb. 22, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
The report notes Pyongyang may showcase advances in intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles as it seeks to improve the survivability and accuracy of its nuclear capabilities.
AEI assessed that Kim is also likely to outline modernization goals for the 2026–2030 period, potentially emphasizing second-strike capabilities, faster launch readiness and more diverse delivery systems.
NORTH KOREA FIRES MISSILE AS US, SOUTH KOREA BEGIN THEIR 1ST JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE OF TRUMP’S 2ND TERM
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Beyond military issues, the analysis says Kim may frame the current five-year economic plan as a success, pointing to increased trade with Russia and China and efforts under his «20×10 Regional Development Policy» to reduce rural-urban disparities.
north korea,kim jong un,world
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