Last month a British comedian named Graham Linehan was arrested at Heathrow airport after a flight from the US to England. The reason five armed officers showed up to take him into custody was shocking to a lot of people.
His crime? He had posted three tweets about trans activists that someone in the UK found objectionable.
This tweet in particular seems to have necessitated a police response.
If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.
— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) April 20, 2025
Keep in mind, Linehan is a 57-year-old comedy writer, not a militant. The arrest was so embarrassing that everyone from Keir Starmer on down tried to distance themselves from it. Starmer didn't actually say it was wrong, only that it might not be the most important job police had facing them.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Minister’s spokesman suggested police should be concentrating on issues that “matter most to their communities”.
He said: “This is an operational matter for the police, but the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary have been clear about what their priorities on crime and policing are – that’s tackling anti-social behaviour, shoplifting and street crime, as well as reducing serious violent crime such as knife crime and violence against women.
The chief of the Metropolitan Police, the force that polices greater London, suggested that the law that made the arrest possible need a rethink.
Sir Mark said his officers "had reasonable grounds to believe an offence had been committed," but that police more broadly had "been left between a rock and a hard place" when investigating online speech.
He continued: "I don't believe we should be policing toxic culture wars debates and officers are currently in an impossible position."
That was on Sep. 3, two days after the arrest. By that point, everyone was basically in agreement this was an embarrassment and a waste of time. Yes somehow it took more than six weeks for the police to decide Linehan should not be facing any charges.
Irish TV comedy writer Graham Linehan will not face charges following his arrest over a series of social media posts critical of transgender people, prosecutors said Monday...
Linehan said he planned to hold the police accountable for trying to “suppress gender-critical voices on behalf of dangerous and disturbed men.”
The Free Speech Union, which helped him, said it instructed its lawyers to sue the Met Police for wrongful arrest.
Here's hoping the police do get sued for this. They essentially admitted today that this never should have been a case in the first place. In fact, the Met Police said they would no longer investigate "non-crime hate incidents" at all. The decision not to charge Linehan was presented as the first fruits of this newly announced policy.
The Metropolitan Police says it will no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents to allow officers to "focus on matters that meet the threshold for criminal investigations".
"This decision means that no charges will be brought against Graham Linehan in relation to this allegation," a detective wrote in an email to the comic on Monday...
In a statement on Monday addressing non-crime hate incidents, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said it "understands the concern" around Mr Linehan's case.
"The Commissioner has been clear he doesn't believe officers should be policing toxic culture war debates, with current laws and rules on inciting violence online leaving them in an impossible position," the spokesperson said.
The policy change would "provide clearer direction for officers, reduce ambiguity and enable them to focus on matters that meet the threshold for criminal investigations," the spokesperson added.
Again, the police chief said this more than six weeks ago. So why did we have to wait six weeks for this decision?
It sure looks to me like they dragged this reversal out until the heat around the arrest had died down. Better to wait a few weeks and admit they were wrong once the spotlight on them wasn't so bright.
The free speech union posted this announcement about the decision:
🚨BREAKING: The @metpoliceuk have dropped their investigation into Graham Linehan’s tweets.
— The Free Speech Union (@SpeechUnion) October 20, 2025
After weeks of police bail – subject to unlawful conditions, including a ban on posting on X – officers have told @Glinner that prosecutors say there isn’t sufficient evidence to support…
After weeks of police bail – subject to unlawful conditions, including a ban on posting on X – officers have told @Glinner that prosecutors say there isn’t sufficient evidence to support any charges. That shouldn’t have been a surprise since opposing trans ideology is not a crime.
Throughout this probe, the police have behaved like activists, not impartial upholders of the law. Last week, FSU lawyers had to take the Met Police to court to get their illegal ban on Graham contacting any trans-identifying male dropped. The Met didn’t even show up to the hearing.
Rather than inviting Graham for an interview in September, the Met sent five armed police officers to arrest him at Heathrow airport.
So, we’re not stopping here. Police forces cannot continue to suppress lawful free speech without facing consequences.
We’ve instructed a top flight team of lawyers to sue the Met for wrongful arrest, among other things. Graham deserves an apology but, more importantly, the police need to be taught a lesson that they cannot allow themselves to be continually manipulated by woke activists.
Making them pay is the only way to really discourage this behavior. Here's some reaction to the decision from GB News.
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