That’s Debatable!

All to Play For

The former Conservative and UKIP MP, Douglas Carswell, writes in The Telegraph this week, “England is no longer a free society. The old country is descending into authoritarianism.” We begin by pondering whether this is true. As Jan points out, the very fact there is a fight on for free expression is a positive and we should eschew a paralysing fatalism. We move on to discuss The Spectator being reprimanded by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) for a piece by Gareth Roberts last May in which he wrote that Nicola Sturgeon “was interviewed by writer Juno Dawson, a man who claims to be a woman, and so the conversation naturally turned to gender”. Michael Gove, the new editor of The Spectator, has written powerfully in protest at IPSO’s ruling in this week’s edition of the magazine. Some important good news is that Bromley Council has adopted free speech protections for councillors in its constitution. The Council’s Code of Conduct now states: “The right to free speech under the law is the basis of democracy and will be upheld at all times and there is no right to be offended by any lawful speech”. The FSU has been working for months with Bromley councillor Simon Fawthrop to draft these protections. There is further good news reported in The Times that the Chairman of the College of Policing, Lord Herbert of South Downs, has demanded a complete rethink on non-crime hate incidents (NCHI). As he says in the article, “We want to apply a commonsense approach, where the police officer would receive a complaint and they would be able to say, ‘We’re sorry, we can understand you find that offensive but it’s not a matter for us’”. We couldn’t agree more! Finally, we report back on this week’s annual online review which saw Ayaan Hirsi Ali declared our ‘free speech hero’ for 2024 and Sir Keir Starmer our ‘free speech zero’.
We wish all our listeners and viewers a very Happy Christmas and a 2025 full of free expression.
‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.

Long Live the Refuseniks!

We start with some good news. As reported in The Telegraph, Cambridge Constabulary have announced that they will be taking no further action against the FSU member who used the word “pikey” on the phone to the police while reporting two men who were threatening her and her family. Meanwhile, “Rainbow Refuseniks” is the name given to a growing group of footballers who have either refused to wear rainbow-coloured jerseys and armbands to signify their support for the Football Association’s Rainbow Laces campaign or have written religious messages on them. To date, they include Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy, Crystal Palace captain Marc Guéhi and Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui. Our Executive Communications Officer, Freddie Attenborough, has written more broadly about the football world’s war on free speech in The Critic. We move on to discuss the state of debate in the UK, following a debate at the Oxford Union, which is now being investigated by counter-terror police. The motion was: “This house believes Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide”. As Jan explains, the video of the debate is an unedifying spectacle but it is also revealing, especially in a context where certain speakers were claiming they ought not even be there to debate the issue. By contrast, FSU member Connie Shaw is heroically standing up for free speech, having been suspended from hosting a student radio show on Leeds Student Radio after she was accused of breaching her student union’s code of conduct. This followed her expressing gender critical views and interviewing controversial figures for her podcast. The Telegraph reports how the FSU is helping Connie to appeal the student union’s decision and has called for the investigation findings to be quashed. We stay within the FSU family to discuss the research of Ben Jones, our Director of Case Management. Ben spoke at the National Secular Society’s members’ day about the experiences of ex-muslims in the UK. As he said in his talk, his findings were shocking and “shouldn’t happen in any country, let alone the UK”. Finally, FSU members have just a few hours left to sign-up for our Online Christmas Review on Tuesday 10th December (register using the link in the weekly newsletter).
‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.

Unpopular Opinions - Academic Freedom in New Zealand

We were delighted to welcome Dr James Kierstead onto ‘That's Debatable!’ to discuss his latest report, “Unpopular Opinions: Academic Freedom in New Zealand”. James is a Senior Fellow at the New Zealand Initiative, where his work focuses on universities, free speech, and democracy. We begin with a recap of a story that hit the UK press back in 2021 about academics who were threatened with expulsion from the Royal Society of New Zealand for criticising plans that would see Māori knowledge added to the school curriculum. Controversy around race issues, especially those relating to the ‘Treaty of Waitangi’ continue to exert a chilling effect on free expression – one testimony in the report notes that “Questioning anything about the radical current interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi is likely to be career ending”. Another area explored in detail within the report is the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (‘CCP) on academic freedom, with recent incidents revealing how higher management in New Zealand’s universities appear to be afraid to offend the Chinese Government. In a discussion on taboos  –  and the double standard around taboos  –  we briefly bring the focus back to the UK and the troubling call this week by Labour MP Tahir Ali for the introduction of blasphemy laws. In his conclusion, Dr Kierstead notes that if New Zealand can rediscover its historical defence of academic freedom, there is an opportunity for New Zealand’s universities to steal a march on the larger and better-resourced university systems it tends to compete within the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Finally, a reminder to listeners and viewers of our Comedy Unleashed event on 17th December – tickets are selling fast!
‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.

Censor Like It's 1979

Jan was fortunate enough to join ‘Academics for Academic Freedom’ (AFAF) at their annual conference on Saturday 23rd November and we begin by discussing how important that organisation has become in emboldening academics to fight for their freedom in the university context. The public row around Non Crime Hate Incidents (NCHI) has continued to rumble on, despite Essex police dropping its investigation into Allison Pearson. The Telegraph this week reported that Yvette Cooper is committed to reversing the Tories’ decision to downgrade the monitoring of the incidents, specifically in relation to anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, so that they can be logged by police. The think tank ‘Policy Exchange’ has now added its voice to the debate with the release of a new report entitled, “Non-Crime Hate Incidents: A chilling distraction from the public’s priorities on policing”. We move on to discuss an item in The Guardian, which highlights how an anti-racism campaigner’s London book events had to be cancelled amid the threat of far-right violence, a story that shows the need for free speech consistency. Next up, as reported in The Times, a consultation from the Bar Standards Board (BSB) which proposes bringing barristers’ equality obligations into line with solicitors in England and Wales has triggered a row with the Bar Council. We recently hosted a panel of eminent legal experts to grapple with the merits of the Bar Standards Board’s proposals, which you can watch here. We have also written a response to the consultation, which can be found here. We end with the news that a poster promoting Fern Brady’s stand-up tour has been ruled as ‘offensive’ to Christians by the Advertising Standards Authority. The debate resembles many of the arguments that were played out in 1979 following the release of ‘Life of Brian’.
‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.

Watch It!

Allison Pearson’s visit from Essex Police on Remembrance Sunday has reignited the debate around the state of free expression in the UK. While some confusion remains around the precise details of that doorstep conversation, it has nevertheless thrown the thorny issue of ‘Non-Crime Hate Incidents’ (or NCHI) sharply back into the public eye. The Times, for example, has discovered that police have been recording NCHI against children as young as nine, this despite paragraph 36 of the new Code of Conduct explicitly recommending them not to do so. Our Informative Guide sets out how you can find out if your local police force has recorded an NCHI against you and what you can do to get it deleted – log in to your FSU account to take a look. Control of language continues across the country and we were dismayed to read in The Telegraph that the Welsh government’s anti-racism action plan aims to change the beliefs and behaviour of the white majority. Official reports have even advised creating “dog free areas” to boost inclusion. We move on to discuss an important article by two Oxford students who each testify to the endemic fear of cancellation across the student campus. This follows the tragic death of Alexander Rogers and the inquest’s ruling that the student was the victim of “pervasive cancel culture”. Professor Kathleen Stock has written a very thoughtful piece in Unherd on how universities are teaching students to shame. Finally, Jan discusses Wendy Houston’s show, “Watch It!” and reports on Sunday’s march on Wembley for the teenage female footballer banned following a transgender row.
‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.

Two Cheers for Trump on Free Speech

When it comes to American politics, it’s probably fair to describe the events of the last seven days as ‘historic’. We begin, therefore, by asking the question, “What does the election of President Trump mean for free expression?” – and it turns out that things are perhaps more nuanced than either side would care to admit. While Trump’s classically liberal instincts sometimes serve to protect the First Amendment rights of all Americans, too often they are overridden by his determination to fight culture wars or by a fixation with settling personal vendettas. We begin today’s episode by discussing these arguments, which Freddie Attenborough has also put together for an excellent article in The Critic. Back home in the UK, The Times reports how several of Britain’s most eminent authors have told ministers that literary freedom is being “eroded” by their failure to stand up to cancel culture on university campuses. In their letter, they accuse the government of failing to safeguard “humane and liberal values”. Those signing the letter include the novelists Ian McEwan, Lady Antonia Fraser and Lionel Shriver. They have been joined by the philosopher AC Grayling, the actor and author Stephen Fry and the former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion. Finally, an article in Spiked caught our attention this week, which pointed out various ways in which Ofcom appears to be applying different standards to GB News than to mainstream media outlets. This is especially worrying at a time when the Online Safety Act has granted Ofcom new authority over not only traditional broadcasting, but also social-media companies and online streaming services.
‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.

Political Football

A striking chart that we’ve included in November’s newsletter shows how the FSU has surged from just under 14,000 members at the beginning of July, to 20,100 members at the end of October – a percentage increase of 43%. As our graph highlights, it won’t be long before we’re bigger than Aslef and the National Union of Journalists. There’s good news to pass on in relation to the Judicial Review of Bridget Phillipson’s decision to pause the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act. It was reported by the Telegraph over the weekend that the FSU has now been granted permission to appeal the move, with a judicial hearing set to take place in the High Court on January 23rd. In a legal document confirming permission to appeal the move, a High Court judge said it was in the “public interest” for the issue to be resolved promptly. Worryingly, though, Sir Keir Starmer has now resurrected the Football Governance Bill, which fell by the wayside during the last Parliament. Among the reams of red tape it will impose on football clubs is a requirement that they submit a “corporate governance statement” to the newly created Independent Football Regulator saying what action they’re taking on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Our concern is that this requirement will normalise what happened to our member, Linzi Smith, with tens of thousands of fans banned from attending games simply because their political views put them at odds with their club’s EDI policy. Finally, we briefly discuss our response to the latest consultation issued by the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries on the inclusion of EDI requirements in the Actuaries Code before deciding definitively not to speculate on who might win the imminent presidential election in the USA.
‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.

L(loyd)G(eorge)BTQ+

The Battle of Ideas 2024 delivered yet another weekend of thought-provoking talks, panel discussions and debate. It was especially heartening to witness so many attendees from the younger generation – so-called ‘Gen Z’ – contributing to and shaping discussion that will equip us to defend enlightenment principles over the coming years and decades. How ironic it is then, that, according to a new language Guide reported on by The Telegraph, words used to discuss generational differences are to be classified as offensive across Northern Ireland’s Civil Service. The guide also advises staff to use gender-neutral language and to avoid words such as “love”, “dear” or “darling”. In Wales, meanwhile, the next chapter in the Welsh government’s tax-payer funded ‘Anti-racist Wales Action Plan’ is a project to ‘decolonise’ the childhood home of David Lloyd George. According to The Telegraph, the museum in Llanystumdwy honouring Britain’s First World War leader has worked with a “decolonisation consultant” to change its approach to history, and LGBT displays could be included in future. While our new language commissars continue their mission of command and control across the UK, we shall continue to draw refreshment from the mountain-tops of Western culture – just one reason why we’ll be listening back to the session, “Why JS Bach Still Matters” from the Battle of Ideas.
‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.

The Knight's Tale

It’s been 100 days since Sir Keir Starmer formed his new government and it’s fair to say that they have not been great for freedom in the UK. From the resurrection of Non-Crime Hate Incidents through to the establishment of a new unit commissioned with delivering a Bill to ban trans-inclusive conversion therapy, it’s quite the shopping list of free expression issues. Sadly – though perhaps not surprisingly – the July halting of the Higher Education Freedom of Speech Act is now having real life consequences. On 10th October, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was due to speak about her career and life in politics to the Cambridge University Conservative Association (CUCA), which she led 20 years ago as a student. But the event was cancelled due to safety concerns after “Cambridge for Palestine”, a campaign group, called on supporters to “no platform” the “far Right”, claiming her “hyper-authoritarian populist policies on migration, policing and protest” represented “everything we stand against”. The FSU has since reached out to Ms Braverman and CUCA offering to pay the security costs to allow the talk to go ahead at a later date. An editorial piece in The Times  lays out that paper’s own concerns for students and free thinking. Meanwhile, Nottingham university has slapped a trigger warning on Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, apparently because they contain ‘expressions of Christian faith’. Yet writing a collection of stories about characters on a pilgrimage from London to the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket without mentioning the Church, Jesus or the Bible would be quite the achievement! We end on an upbeat note with a mention of the upcoming Battle of Ideas. The event takes place in London this weekend, 19-20 October and tickets are available here, but FSU members can get a discounted price using the link provided in the Weekly News Round-Up.
‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.

Discussion with Bernie Spofforth

We are delighted to welcome Bernadette (‘Bernie’) Spofforth onto ‘That’s Debatable!’ this week. The FSU offered to defend Bernie after she was arrested for a social media post on X on 29th July in the wake of the tragic Southport stabbings. She was held in custody for 36 hours on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and false communications – this was in spite of the fact that she added the caveat “if this is true”, and deleted the relevant tweet when she discovered it wasn’t. In August, Cheshire Police confirmed Ms Spofforth had been arrested “in relation to social media post containing inaccurate information” and that she had been bailed “pending further enquiries”. However, in a video first posted to X, Bernie said the force had now decided to take NFA, or ‘no further action’. Her message continued: “Firstly, thank you for all of your messages, and I’m so sorry I haven’t responded or replied to any of you, but I couldn’t. I would have been locked up in a cell again for breaching bail conditions if I had”. Today’s conversation provides a first-hand account of the worrying state of free expression in the UK and you can find more background information on Bernie’s ordeal here.
‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.