Now every force must stop policing our free speech

NOW that Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has confirmed —non-crime hate incidents will no longer be investigated by his officers, this major victory for free speech must be rolled out across the UK to prevent further wastage of valuable police time — an estimated 666,000 hours and counting.

- Tim Newark Political Commentator

Scotland Yard’s decision comes hot on the heels of Father Ted creator Graham Linehan’s vindication after he confirmed on Monday that no charges would be brought against him following his arrest over tweets he made about trans issues.

Linehan’s posts were one of 133,000 non-crime hate incidents logged by the police over recent years, which have constrained free speech in our country.

Returning from the US last month, where many Americans regard Linehan as a free speech champion, the comedy writer was detained by five officers on suspicion of “inciting violence”.

Linehan’s ‘crime’ was to make gendercritical remarks about transgender men invading women-only spaces. But on Monday, following the intervention of the splendid Free Speech Union and their legal team, all charges were dropped against Linehan. The Metropolitan Police commissioner rightly recognised that this was a colossal waste of police time and should never happen again.

YET this is too late for the 133,000 victims across the UK who've been accused of non-crime hate incidents that could well appear on Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks that might disqualify someone from applying for certain jobs.