In Britain Criticizing your child’s school can land you in jail, astonishing and disturbing

[Social Media]

 

Britain’s Free Speech Crisis: From Criticism to Criminalization

 

In Britain today, expressing dissent — even about your child’s school — could potentially lead to arrest, a reality that has alarmed both domestic observers and international allies. In a tense February exchange in the Oval Office, U.S. Senator JD Vance raised this very issue with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, citing concerns that the UK’s crackdown on free speech might impact American tech companies and, by extension, American citizens.

 

“There have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British,” Vance said. Starmer, clearly uncomfortable, responded with strained diplomacy: “In relation to free speech in the U.K.,” he said, “I’m very proud of our history there.”

 

That word — “history” — speaks volumes. Britain has long been a champion of free expression, home to giants of liberal philosophy like John Milton, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill. Yet today, this legacy is being overshadowed by a legal regime that increasingly prioritizes feelings over freedom.

 

A recent investigation by The Times revealed that police in the UK are making over 12,000 arrests annually under “hate speech” laws — over 30 per day — citing statutes such as the Malicious Communications Act of 1988 and the Communications Act of 2003. The latter criminalizes not only content deemed “indecent, obscene or menacing,” but also any communication that causes “annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.”

 

 

In January, this sweeping legal standard resulted in six police officers arresting two parents in Hertfordshire for privately criticizing their daughter’s school via email and WhatsApp. Though later released, the parents were fingerprinted, searched, and held for eight hours. The justification? Their messages were “upsetting for staff.” Under Section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, arrests must be “necessary,” a threshold many argue was not met in this case.

 

The state’s definition of “hate” has grown so broad that it now includes so-called “non-crime hate incidents” — acts that don’t meet the threshold for criminality but are still logged by police. Between 2014 and 2019, over 250,000 such incidents were recorded. According to official guidance, the “victim” need not provide evidence; officers are instructed not to challenge the complainant’s perception. These entries can show up in background checks, with real-world consequences for careers in teaching, healthcare, and beyond.

 

The rationale behind this surveillance is rooted in psychologist Gordon Allport’s 1954 “pyramid of hate,” which posits a linear progression from offensive speech to violence. Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, supports this logic: “Hate left unaddressed, whether that’s propagated online or in person, has real-world consequences.”

 

There are numerous examples of successful prosecutions for offensive speech. In August 2024, Lee Joseph Dunn was sentenced to eight weeks in jail for posting three memes on Facebook, one of which depicted a group of knife-wielding immigrants with the caption “Coming to a town near you.”

 

In April 2018, teenager Chelsea Russell was convicted for quoting rap lyrics containing racially offensive language on her Instagram page as a tribute to a dead friend. She was given a community order and placed on curfew, later overturned on appeal.

 

Scotland has gone even further. Its Hate Crime and Public Order Act, enacted last year, criminalizes private speech at home and the public performance of plays that could stir up hatred — a definition so vague it threatens artistic freedom itself.

 

There have already been several high-profile convictions for speech crimes. In 2024, Lee Joseph Dunn was jailed for posting anti-immigrant memes. In 2022, Joseph Kelly was sentenced to community service for an offensive tweet about Captain Tom Moore, which was deleted within minutes. And in 2018, a teenager named Chelsea Russell was convicted for quoting rap lyrics on Instagram in memory of a friend, a sentence later overturned on appeal.

 

Most disturbing are recent events tied to the tragic murder of three girls in Merseyside. Protests followed, some marred by racism, others peaceful but critical of immigration policy. Royal Marine veteran Jamie Michael was arrested after posting a video criticizing the government. He was acquitted. Lucy Connolly, however, was not so lucky.

 

Her post, made in grief and deleted shortly after, called for the burning of hotels housing migrants. Despite expressing regret, she was sentenced to 31 months in prison. “If that makes me racist so be it,” she had written. Starmer, in response to the riots, encouraged courts to issue the “harshest sentences.”

 

The absurdity of Britain’s current trajectory is perhaps best captured by the so-called “banter ban” being debated in the House of Lords, which could require pubs to eject customers whose jokes offend staff. Under the proposed law, hearing an opinion one disagrees with in the workplace could amount to harassment.

 

The question remains: is society better served by tolerating offensive speech or by empowering the state to define and police acceptable thought? As history warns — and as current trends in Britain increasingly confirm — the latter path carries far greater dangers.

 

Adpated by ASEAN Now from The Washington Post  2025-04-22

 

 

 

 

[JonnyF]

1 hour ago, Social Media said:

There have already been several high-profile convictions for speech crimes. In 2024, Lee Joseph Dunn was jailed for posting anti-immigrant memes.

 

This was the most disturbing for me.

 

Dunn literally asked what would happen when immigrants come to a town near you. He posed a question on social media. Jail time. 

 

The left wing elites are so determined to push ahead with their flawed immigration policy that they are jailing people who criticize it in an attempt to silence dissent. And they are releasing serious offenders to make room in the jails for them, many of whom have reoffended. It's shameful. It's reminiscent of China. No wonder Reeves wants to cozy up to them, that, it seems is the blueprint for Britain under Labour. 

 

 

[Denim]

6 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

This was the most disturbing for me.

 

Dunn literally asked what would happen when immigrants come to a town near you. He posed a question on social media. Jail time. 

 

The left wing elites are so determined to push ahead with their flawed immigration policy that they are jailing people who criticize it in an attempt to silence dissent. And they are releasing serious offenders to make room in the jails for them, many of whom have reoffended. It's shameful. It's reminiscent of China. No wonder Reeves wants to cozy up to them, that, it seems is the blueprint for Britain under Labour. 

 

 

 

Oh dear. They will be waiting for you at immigration with a pair of handcuffs on your next visit home.  Go over on a rubber boat next time. Safer plus free accomodation. 

[JonnyF]

2 minutes ago, Denim said:

 

Oh dear. They will be waiting for you at immigration with a pair of handcuffs on your next visit home.  Go over on a rubber boat next time. Safer plus free accomodation. 

 

With posts like that, we might be sharing a cell. 😆

 

[Chomper Higgot]

2 hours ago, Social Media said:

Her post, made in grief and deleted shortly after, called for the burning of hotels housing migrants. Despite expressing regret, she was sentenced to 31 months in prison. “If that makes me racist so be it,” she had written. Starmer, in response to the riots, encouraged courts to issue the “harshest sentences.”

 

Yep, online hate mongering, encouraging others to burn a hotel with people inside.

 

Check the court records for the facts.

[JonnyF]

29 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Yep, online hate mongering, encouraging others to burn a hotel with people inside.

 

Check the court records for the facts.

 

What about calling for throats to be slit in front of a baying crowd, as Ricky Jones did?

 

Check the court records for the... Oh, wait a minute...

[Chomper Higgot]

24 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

What about calling for throats to be slit in front of a baying crowd, as Ricky Jones did?

 

Check the court records for the... Oh, wait a minute...

But but but …whatabout 

[JAG]

19 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

But but but …whatabout 

No, it is absolutely a fair point.

 

Starmer, his government and the courts are doing themselves absolutely no favours, in respect of maintaining apolitical judicial fairness, in allowing the contrast between the treatment of Mrs Lucy  Connelly and Mr Ricky Jones to continue.  It is an open sore which will continue to fester.

[Chomper Higgot]

17 minutes ago, JAG said:

No, it is absolutely a fair point.

 

Starmer, his government and the courts are doing themselves absolutely no favours, in respect of maintaining apolitical judicial fairness, in allowing the contrast between the treatment of Mrs Lucy  Connelly and Mr Ricky Jones to continue.  It is an open sore which will continue to fester.

Different cases, different courts, different circumstances.

 

But let’s start with some honesty, the actual charges, in many cases confessed and convicted crimes.

Court records are always a good place to start.

 

[GarryP]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Yep, online hate mongering, encouraging others to burn a hotel with people inside.

 

Check the court records for the facts.

“Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care... If that makes me racist, so be it.” Is that encouraging others to burn a hotel? You could kill a mosquito for all I care, you could @#$% a sheep for all I care. Are those classed as incitement to do such acts? No.   

[JonnyF]

33 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Different cases, different courts, different circumstances.

 

Yes, Lucy Connolly was a white Conservative and Ricky Jones was a Labour ethnic Minority. Completely different. The crimes were similar in nature (although Jones was far worse IMO) yet we have completely different treatment for the 2 individuals under Britian's 2 tier justice system. 

 

33 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

 

But let’s start with some honesty, the actual charges, in many cases confessed and convicted crimes.

Court records are always a good place to start.

 

 

Court records? Let me know when Ricky Jones goes to trial. 😆

 

Lucy Connolly was arrested, charged and convicted to 2 years 8 months within a week. Jones still walks free. But then, he's not a white conservative. 

[Chomper Higgot]

24 minutes ago, GarryP said:

“Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care... If that makes me racist, so be it.” Is that encouraging others to burn a hotel? You could kill a mosquito for all I care, you could @#$% a sheep for all I care. Are those classed as incitement to do such acts? No.   

Thank you for your opinion.

 

The court disagreed.

[JonnyF]

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The court disagreed.

 

Courts often get it wrong. People often make false confessions under duress. 

 

The Central Park 5 for example. No doubt you were cheering from the sidelines then as well...

[Chomper Higgot]

5 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

Courts often get it wrong. People often make false confessions under duress. 

 

The Central Park 5 for example. No doubt you were cheering from the sidelines then as well...

Courts do sometimes get it wrong and I’m sure confessions are occasionally obtained under duress.

 

That’s not evidence that this was the case in this particular conviction.

 

Lucy has the right to appeal.

 

 

[Social Media]

@Emdog your post was removed.

 

17. ASEAN NOW news team collects news articles from various recognised and reputable news sources. The articles  may be consolidated from different sources and rewritten with AI assistance These news items are shared in our forums for members to stay informed and engaged. Our dedicated news team puts in the effort to deliver quality content, and we ask for your respect in return. Any disrespectful comments about our news articles or the content itself, such as calling it "clickbait" or “slow news day”, and criticising grammatical errors, will not be tolerated and appropriate action will be taken. Please note that republished articles may contain errors or opinions that do not reflect the views of ASEAN NOW.

If you'd like to help us, and you see an error with an article, then please use the report function so that we can attend to it promptly.

 

 

[Photoguy21]

The UK is under the influence of Starma but things are starting to change. Slowly but surely. Just look at the judgement passed by the Supreme court regarding Trans people.

[JonnyF]

10 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

The UK is under the influence of Starma but things are starting to change. Slowly but surely. Just look at the judgement passed by the Supreme court regarding Trans people.

 

He does seem awfully quiet about the trans verdict. Haven't heard a peep.

 

One wonders if he doesn't approve. Or perhaps he still trying to work it out? He does seem awfully confused. Maybe he's still waiting for the return of the sausages.  

 

https://news.sky.com/story/keir-starmer-says-99-9-of-women-havent-got-a-penis-as-he-faces-questions-over-trans-rights-12848438

 

[Photoguy21]

22 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

He does seem awfully quiet about the trans verdict. Haven't heard a peep.

 

One wonders if he doesn't approve. Or perhaps he still trying to work it out? He does seem awfully confused. Maybe he's still waiting for the return of the sausages.  

 

https://news.sky.com/story/keir-starmer-says-99-9-of-women-havent-got-a-penis-as-he-faces-questions-over-trans-rights-12848438

 

Of course he is as it goes against his wishes. He is trying to destroy the country but now a lot of back benchers are rebelling against him. He should be kicked out and tried for his crimes against the people.

[JonnyF]

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Yep, online hate mongering, encouraging others to burn a hotel with people inside.

 

I thought her post was nasty and stupid. Certainly ill considered. That's why she took it down after an hour. But you are misrepresenting what she actually said. She wasn't encouraging anyone to do anything.

 

She said do it "for all I care". In other words, she doesn't care if you do it or not.

 

That is different to encouraging someone to do it. If I said to you "Go on holiday to Samui for all I care", it doesn't mean I want you to go there. I am not demanding or even encouraging you. It just means I don't care if you do or you don't.

 

Same as "if that makes me a racist then so be it". That doesn't mean she was saying "I am a racist". It's like if I said "I'm think I'm going to have half a shandy once a week, if that makes me a raging alcoholic then so be it". That is not a confession of raging alcoholism. 

 

It certainly gave them an opportunity to make an example of her though. Even so, they went way OTT with the sentence. Especially considering her loss of a young child and subsequent PTSD. I think if you were being honest you would admit that instead of posting your usual reply of "check the court records" which you will probably do again. 😆

[madone]

Quote

Senator JD Vance raised this very issue with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, citing concerns that the UK’s crackdown on free speech might impact American tech companies and, by extension, American citizens.

probably been said already -- i cant be bothered to read this <deleted> -- but given the US has recently wrongly accused and deported an innocent man for incarceration in one of the world's worst prisons,  this is hypocrisy at its very best.  

[Andycoops]

Everything that is wrong with the <deleted>house called the UK.

 

The police seem to spend more time trolling through online platforms than actually policing the streets.

 

So happy to be here where there is only defamation and lese majeste laws to contend with.

[Nick Carter icp]

4 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

I don't understand your remarks. I replied to @Gobbler's response to my post, giving him exactly what he asked for.

 

  As I predicted , someone else's fault 

[Purdey]

Too often we hear about mass killings by "such a nice boy" and don't always read about the danger signs that could have warned people of what was about to happen. Anyone calling for burning hotels or cutting throats deserves to be put away for mental evaluation, if not imprisonment,

[riclag]

3 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

The UK is under the influence of Starma but things are starting to change. Slowly but surely. Just look at the judgement passed by the Supreme court regarding Trans people.

One small step for the UK . One giant leap for  Mankind., Fingers crossed .

[ElwoodP]

Thread is about Britain

Posts about another country and replies removed.

[Ajarnbrian]

Menacing, threatening leading to jail? perhaps so. Criticising, not at all!