The latest person to run afoul of Big Brother-like authorities in Great Britain is Irish comedian Graham Linehan. The writer-director, known for sitcoms “The IT Crowd” and “Father Ted,” was arrested at Heathrow Airport this week after stepping off a flight from the United States.
What was Linehan’s offense? He wrote several crude and blunt comments on X defending females against trans-identifying males. One post suggested women who find a trans-identifying man in a female-only space should “make a scene, call the cops, and if all else fails, punch him in the [genitals].”
That crude joke and two others resulted in five bobbies waiting at Heathrow to wait for Linehan and arrest him on a charge of “inciting violence.”
Audio of that arrest included one police officer informing Linehan it’s alleged he published a post on X “intended to instill hated and incite violence.”
Before his arrest this week, Linehan (pictured above) was already standing trial on a charge of harassment for online posts that criticized a transgender teen, Sophia Brooks. Linehan, accurately referring to the activist as "he," called Brooks "a deeply disturbed sociopath and I believe he had some involvement in Friday’s homophobic attack”.
The comedian’s airport arrest did not surprise British-born Calvin Robinson, an Anglican priest who is politically conservative and now lives in the U.S.
“The United Kingdom is not a free country,” Robinson, reacting to the arrest, wrote on X.
In a radio interview about the arrest, Robinson told American Family Radio the blame lies with Kier Starmer, the controversial prime minister.
“This is Sir Kier Starmer's police state,” Robinson said. “He has made it very clear that he doesn't want any unapproved narratives being spread online and he would clamp down.”
Starmer confronted over free speech limits
Such "unapproved narratives" include using social media to criticize the Third World asylum seekers who have flooded Great Britain, and dramatically changed its European culture, over several decades. Those posts, like Linehan's online comments, are considered non-crime hate incidents and fall under Orwellian allegations of "spreading hate" online.
A story by The Telegraph, published after Linehan's arrest, said British police are averaging 30 arrests a day as they chase down the creators behind offensive posts.
Great Britain’s clampdown on free speech has not gone ignored by the Trump administration. Starmer himself was confronted by Vice President J.D. Vance during a February visit to the White House. Just one week earlier, Vance had told European leaders in Munich that “free speech is in retreat" within their borders.
“We've had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom,” Starmer assured the vice president, “and it will last for a very, very long time.”
The arrest of a comedian for crude jokes, however, comes from the same country once known for producing and celebrating crude humor, such as the bawdy “Benny Hill Show.”
Great Britain also gave the world Monty Python, the comedy troupe known for its sketch comedy. Those comedians, who mock Jesus in the “Life of Brian” film, also poke fun at a character named Stan. He informs his friends (pictured at right) he wants to be a woman, named Loretta, and have babies.
“You can’t have babies,” Stan is informed.
“Don’t you oppress me!” Stan replies.
“I’m not oppressing you, Stan,” he is told. “You haven’t got a womb.”
Asked about free speech rights in Great Britain, Robinson told show host Jenna Ellis there is no written defense of free speech like the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution.
“We've got tradition and free speech in our country, but it's not enshrined in law,” he said. “It's just a common law thing, so people assume that we have it when we don't.”
Interestingly, in an X post published the day of Linehan’s airport arrest, Robinson wrote that England needs a new "Bill of Rights" like the Bill of Rights written by America's founding fathers.
"The English Bill of Rights gave sovereignty to Parliament, limiting royal power, protecting Parliament privilege, ensuring a constitutional monarchy," Robinson wrote. "The U.S. Bill of Rights went the next step and secured individual freedoms against government overreach. This is what we need."
