Graham Linehan, the Irish co-creator of television comedies such as Father Ted and The IT Crowd, was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence through social media posts concerning transgender issues. The 57-year-old was detained as he arrived on an American Airlines flight, with five armed police officers reportedly escorting him off the plane. According to the Metropolitan Police, the arrest relates to three specific posts Linehan made on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
In a statement on his Substack website, Linehan confirmed he was interviewed about each post and disclosed that during questioning, he experienced high blood pressure and was taken to hospital for observation. The broadcaster was reportedly informed he is now subject to bail conditions that prohibit him from using Twitter, which he interprets as a legal gag order intended to silence him while he is in the UK. Linehan has also been told he must face a further police interview in October.
Linehan is known for his vocal criticism of transgender activism, particularly on social media. One of the tweets that led to his arrest controversially claimed that ‘if a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act,’ followed by an exhortation to ‘make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls’. Linehan has defended this post as a serious point expressed with humour, denying any intent to incite violence.
The arrest has ignited a storm of controversy and debate across the UK and beyond, centred on the boundaries between free speech and hate speech. The timing of the arrest coincides with statements from the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission which recently clarified that transgender women will be excluded from certain women-only spaces like toilets, single-sex hospital wards, and sports teams. This follows a legal ruling from Britain’s highest court affirming that, for anti-discrimination purposes, ‘woman’ and ‘man’ refer to biological sex.
The usual suspects have reacted sharply to Linehan’s arrest. Author J.K. Rowling condemned the action as ‘totalitarianism’ and ‘utterly deplorable’, while broadcaster Piers Morgan described the situation as ‘absolutely ridiculous’, suggesting that Britain is ‘turning into North Korea’ on free speech matters.
Does that mean we can suggest that if people come into contact with Piers Morgan they should punch him in the balls then? No, thought not.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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