Father Ted creator arrested at Heathrow for trans posts

Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has revealed he was arrested at Heathrow airport over a series of posts about transgender people.

- BRYONY GOOCH

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that a man in his fifties was arrested at Heathrow on Monday at 1pm on suspicion of inciting violence relating to posts on X (Twitter), as he arrived on an inbound American Airlines flight.

They did not confirm the man’s identity, but added that the arresting officers became concerned for his health and took him to hospital. He was later bailed pending further investigation.

Reform leader Nigel Farage, meanwhile, said in a statement while in transit to the US that Britain has become an “authoritarian censorship regime” after Linehan’s arrest.

Mr Farage will give evidence to the House Judiciary Committee in Washington on free speech in the UK, during a hearing today.

According to The Sun, Mr Farage said he would discuss both Linehan, whose case he described as an example of “the war on freedom in the UK”, and jailed Southport tweeter Lucy Connolly.

Linehan shared further details of the arrest on his blog, which he said occurred as he was returning from Arizona. He claimed to have “been flagged” and “arrested at an airport like a terrorist”.