The Free Speech Union

Comedian, author and commentator Andrew Doyle joins FSU General Secretary Lord Young to discuss a little-noticed government-commissioned report on misinformation and its implications for public debate.
The report's Orwellian proposals include "psychological inoculation", "pre-bunking" and game-based "interventions" to steer the public towards state-approved political messages.
Andrew Doyle and Lord Young also discuss:
Why Andrew and Graham Linehan are working from Arizona
Government proposals to give prominence online to approved news sources such as the BBC and Channel 4 News
#freespeech #censorshipdebate #onlinesafety
Support the Free Speech Union: https://freespeechunion.org/join
Follow the Free Speech Union
X/Twitter: https://x.com/SpeechUnion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechunion/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeechUnion
Follow Andrew Doyle
X/Twitter: https://x.com/andrewdoyle_com?lang=en
Andrew's website: https://www.andrewdoyle.org/
Andrew's Substack: https://substack.com/@andrewdoyle
Read Andrew Doyle's Substack article about proposals to "inoculate" us against "wrongthink": https://www.andrewdoyle.org/p/the-government-report-that-wants
Read Lord Young's Spectator article on the dangers of policing misinformation: https://spectator.com/article/the-dangers-of-policing-misinformation/
Read the report commissioned by the UK government's Office for Science, "False and Misleading Information: An Evidence Summary and Map for Policy and Practice" here: https://usher.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2026-05/False%20and%20Misleading%20Information%3A%20An%20Evidence%20Summary%20and%20Map%20for%20Policy%20and%20Practice%20.pdf
 

Sentenced to 31 months in prison for a tweet posted in anger after the Southport murders in 2024, Lucy Connolly pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred. But should she have opted for a jury trial instead? One year after her release from prison, she talks to the FSU's Connie Shaw about her new life as a free speech campaigner and the author of A Tweet Too Far?
#freespeech #twotierpolicing
Support the Free Speech Union:
https://freespeechunion.org/join
Follow the Free Speech Union
X/Twitter: https://x.com/SpeechUnion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechunion/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeechUnion
Follow Lucy Connolly
X/Twitter: https://x.com/LucyTCWife
Substack: https://lucyconnolly1.substack.com/
 

Leaked documents obtained by investigative journalist Paul Holden revealed an anti-free speech project at the heart of the Starmer government.
In this edition of the Free Speech Union's podcast, Holden tells the FSU's David Rose why he fears free speech and online privacy could be further eroded under incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
#freespeech #onlineprivacy #labourparty
Support the Free Speech Union: https://freespeechunion.org/join
Follow the Free Speech Union
X/Twitter: https://x.com/SpeechUnion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechunion/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeechUnion
Follow Paul Holden
Paul is Director of Investigations at Shadow World Investigations: https://shadowworldinvestigations.org/
He is the author of "The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney, and the Crisis of British Democracy"
 

The latest threat to free speech on trans issues has been published by the government.
The draft Conversion Practices Bill purports to protect gay and trans people from abuse. It creates a new criminal offence, punishable with up to five years in prison.
Minister for Equalities, Emily Bailey MP, claims it won't stop parents and therapists talking openly to children with identity issues. She says it only crimnalises conversion practices which are abusive and which cause serious harm. However, James Esses, a therapist and campaigner who challenges children who believe they are "trapped in the wrong body" argues that the proposed new law puts him at risk of jail. #freespeech #transgender
Support the Free Speech Union: https://freespeechunion.org/join
Follow the Free Speech Union
X/Twitter: https://x.com/SpeechUnion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechunion/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeechUnion
Follow James Esses
X/Twitter: https://x.com/JamesEsses
Substack: https://substack.com/@jamesesses
James's home page: https://jamesesses.com/
 

The UK government plans to ban social media for under 16s. Is it digital ID by stealth? The Free Speech Union's general secretary, Lord Young, answers this and other questions sent in by FSU members.
*Will VPNs might be banned?
*Is it true that the ban won't apply to Bluesky?
*How will it be enforced?
*How has a similar ban worked in Australia?
*Will it lead to more censorship and regulation of the media?
 
Hosted by Jan McVarish, the FSU's education and events director. #freespeech #socialmediaban #digitalidentity
 
Support the Free Speech Union: https://freespeechunion.org/join
 
Follow the Free Speech Union
X/Twitter: https://x.com/SpeechUnion
Instagram: https://x.com/freespeechunion  
Facebook: https://x.com/speechunion  
 
 

Investigative reporter Nick Wallis played a leading role in exposing the Post Office scandal. His BBC documentaries helped uncover the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history and led to a public inquiry. Now Nick's turning his journalistic skills to exposing the medical and safeguarding harms caused by trans ideology. But this time, he doesn't have the backing of the BBC. "I got involved when it became a free speech issue," he tells the Free Speech Union's Connie Shaw. #freespeech #transgender #bbcnews
 
Support the Free Speech Union: https://freespeechunion.org/join
Follow the Free Speech Union
X/Twitter: https://x.com/SpeechUnion
Instagram: https://freespeechunion  
Facebook: https://speechunion  
Follow Nick Wallis
X/Twitter: https://x.com/nickwallis
Nick's website: https://nickwallis.com/
Donate to and follow Nick's work on trans: https://genderblog.net/
Donate to and follow Nick's work on the Post Office Scandal: https://www.postofficescandal.uk/

Former UK government Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho MP reveals how civil service "group think" stopped questioning of Net Zero. From misleading costings to attempts to silence dissent, Coutinho reveals why she believes the Climate Change Act needs a total reset. #freespeech #netzero #climatechange
Support the Free Speech Union: https://freespeechunion.org/join
Follow the Free Speech Union
X/Twitter: https://x.com/SpeechUnion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechunion/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeechUnion
 

Is the 'vibe shift' real? Or are we kidding ourselves that we are past “peak woke”?
Bestselling novelist Lionel Shriver joins the Free Speech Union’s general secretary Lord Young to explain why the 'long war' on free speech is just beginning.
They discuss
*Immigration: the subject of Lionel’s latest novel “A Better Life” and why immigration has become the litmus test for progressives.
*The Trans Debate: Why Lionel is resisting the urge to write the "predictable" trans novel. *Ideological Conformism: The chilling reason why most intellectuals choose "ideological collusion" over truth.
* Political Violence: Reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk and the rising temperature of the far-left.
Support the Free Speech Union: https://freespeechunion.org/join
Read Lionel Shriver’s latest novel A Better Life: https://https://www.amazon.co.uk/Better-Life-Lionel-Shriver/dp/0063482142
Follow the Free Speech Union
X/Twitter: https://x.com/SpeechUnion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechunion/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeechUnion
 

Ex-cop Rick Prior worked in the Met police's Culture, Diversity and Inclusion department. He reveals how he witnessed the adoption of the sort of woke ideologies that lead to two-tier policing and situations like the arrest of dying victim Henry Nowak. #freespeech #twotierpolicing #henrynowak
Read the Free Speech Union's briefing "With Fear and Favour: Britiain's Policing Emergency": https://freespeechunion.org/publications/fear-and-favour-policing-emergency
Join the Free Speech Union: https://freespeechunion.org/
Follow the Free Speech Union
X/Twitter: https://x.com/SpeechUnion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechunion/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeechUnion
Follow Rick Prior: https://x.com/mpfchairman
 

Former BBC editor Rob Burley talks about his recent Unherd investigation: "Inside the capture of the BBC How transgenderism killed impartiality."
 
This is an insider account of how bosses at one of Britain’s most important institutions became scared of young, woke employees and speaking freely. #freespeech #bbc #bbcnews
Read Rob's article for Unherd: https://unherd.com/2026/05/inside-the-capture-of-the-bbc/
Follow Rob Burley:
SubStack: https://substack.com/@UCws6I35J8b51YrUdkcph8CA
X/Twitter: https://x.com/RobBurl?lang=en
Join the Free Speech Union: https://freespeechunion.org/
Follow the Free Speech Union
X/Twitter: https://x.com/SpeechUnion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freespeechunion/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeechUnion