Graham Linehan Stands Up to the UK Police State

This is how it is done. 

Graham Linehan, who was recently arrested in the UK for mean tweets he posted while in the United States, showed up today for his court hearing wearing a billboard declaring that men are men and women are women. 

This is how Graham Linehan shows up for trial in the UK just days after being arrested in the London airport for posting "offensive tweets"

This is how you deal with the trans mob. Double down. We're cheering you on, @Glinner 👏🏼🔥pic.twitter.com/vWVItcwUGK

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) September 4, 2025

Linehan's arrest serves as a clarifying moment in the debate over free speech, not because what was done to him was an outlier, but because it was not. The Metropolitan Police have been embarrassed by the event, but remain unrepentant. They are, we are told, just following orders. 

And I suppose they are. 

But about 30 people a day get arrested for speech crimes in the UK, and the arrest of Linehan is embarrassing, mainly because he is a celebrity in Britain. No doubt the police did not anticipate the firestorm that came at them, and they are on the defensive. 

But of course, the arrest, as those of others, is indefensible. 

The arrest of Graham Linehan was no rogue raid; it was a top-down signal. Our police aren’t just enforcing law, they’re enforcing an ideology handed down by NGOs and consultants. When power fears words more than violence, it’s not protecting the public, it’s protecting itself. pic.twitter.com/GAEUMxG7sT

— Frank Furedi (@Furedibyte) September 3, 2025

Linehan may get justice, or at least be let off the hook. But that leaves victims like Lucy Connelly still on the hook. She was thrown into prison for more than a year because of an ill-considered tweet that was on X for a few hours. She was denied rights that other, violent, prisoners were granted. Her punishment was intended to be a warning to others. 

Not only is the U.K. asking to extradite Elon Musk for Meme Crimes…they’re now telling people that they’ll be prosecuted if they share any information on the current U.K. Riots. pic.twitter.com/iaNcAnAkdF

— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) August 7, 2024

As the Met scrambles to blame the government for forcing them to enforce speech crimes, we should be reminded that their leadership is actually enthusiastic about doing so. You don't send 5 armed officers to an airport to arrest somebody without wanting to make a point, and you don't threaten foreign citizens with extradition unless you want to scare the pants off everybody. 

understand this sounds hyperbolic and crazy, but it seems the london met police are threatening to extradite elon musk for speech crime? pic.twitter.com/nOkv8ZMGbU

— Mike Solana (@micsolana) August 9, 2024

Europeans lecture us all the time on moral and political matters, but the truth is that the real threat to democracy and the Western alliance is their growing totalitarianism. 

German prosecutors explain to American viewers on 60 Minutes all the various ways the country criminalizes speech, such as online insults, holocaust denial and reposting fake news. pic.twitter.com/ESc1zvivX1

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) February 17, 2025

I am glad to see that Linehan and a few others are standing up to the madness, and it seems likely that they will get a temporary victory or two. But until the British people rise up against their elites, every victory will be temporary, and freedom will slip away.