David Vance SubstackRead More
Last evening, I attended the Free Speech Union roadshow which was visiting Belfast. It was well attended with t least 150 people crammed into the venue room, and as always it was a fascinating few hours.
The Free Speech Union is a membership organisation whose purpose is to defend freedom of speech and support people who get into trouble for expressing lawful opinions. It also campaigns against laws or actions it sees as threats to free expression. In practical terms, it provides casework, legal support, campaigning, and advice for members, especially in settings like workplaces, universities, and social media.
We heard a lot about this last night. It’s only when you go to events like this that you realise how under threat our Free Speech has become. Looking at the data presented several things jumped out at me;
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Since Labour came to power, people being legally threatened by “Islam” related issues have rocketed. That is not a coincidence.
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If you look across the UK by police force, you see a concentration of “hate crime” prosecutions in the north of England. This is related to point one.
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One Free Speech battleground is the University Campus. Woke Student Unions are particularly dangerous these days and it was interesting to see that our elite Universities “The Russell Group” are easily the MOST intolerant of students holding gender critical beliefs.
I had a chat with Lord Toby Young in the interval and expressed my respect for what he and his team contribute to the cause of Free Speech. I have been a member since 2023 and I see it as a form of insurance. After all, I am active across social media platforms in my own name and therefore am a target. I have friends who have been specifically targeted and understand the risk of speaking what I feel. In doing that here on Substack, the Algorithm has hushed me completely.
Another notable attendee last night was Baroness Hoey. Kate is a remarkable lady, ex-Labour she sits as a non-aligned peer and her insights are always great to talk with. She and I discussed the cancellation of the Tommy Robinson/Laurence Fox proposed debate on Islam at the Oxford Union. From what we understand, the Police brought this cancellation about by insisting that the Student Union fund the security for the Event (Circa £80,000). They could not afford this, unsurprisingly, but when Tommy Robinson/Laurence Fox offered to fund it, the Police refused insisting that the Union must fund this itself. It’s a cute way to stop something happening.
The mood of the event was cheerful and engaged and there was only one discordant moment. Some man claiming to be “a journalist” forcefully wanted to know what the Speech Union was going to do about the killing of “journalists” in Gaza. This was a remarkable stupid question that fundamentally ignores the purpose of the FSU. The panel dealt with it very well and a chap called David Rose gave a forceful answer.
All in all, a really good night and it really is worth joining the FSU if you want to actively support Free Speech in the UK.
Here is a link to find out more about this organisation.
I arrived home quite late so apologies for delay in my first article today!
PS. One of the Speakers, Dr Benjamin Jones, has a very interesting new book coming out.
I hope to interview Ben on this and will post it here.
