FIRST NEWSLETTER FROM THE FREE SPEECH UNION

This newsletter contains information very relevant to Scotland and the new Hate Crime Legislation. Over the last fortnight big numbers of Scots have joined, including myself. This is very dangerous legislation and Freedom of Speech, the basis for democracy in a free society, is very much worth fighting for.

View this email in your browserDear Iain Lawson, Welcome to the FSU’s weekly newsletter, our round-up of the free speech news of the week. If you’re reading this and you’re not already a paying member please join today, and help us turn the tide against cancel culture.  In Today’s NewsletterHumza Yousaf says Police Scotland is ‘reviewing’ guidance on NCHIs following the intervention by Murdo Fraser and the FSUFSU sets up Hate Speech Hotline in ScotlandFSU Edinburgh Speakeasy: Thirty Days of Hate Crime LawsThe EDI tax – latest FSU research briefing gains media tractionChristian social worker sues NHS-backed care firm after “being denied job for anti-LGBTQ+ views”Latest episode of the FSU’s weekly podcast is out nowLionel Shriver in conversation with Toby Young – tickets now availableHow we learned to question medicine – tickets now available!FSU banners at national horseboarding eventDisciplinary action for ONS female employees if they object to trans colleagues using their lavatories!Shout out to Mel and Lewis McLean  Humza Yousaf says Police Scotland is ‘reviewing’ guidance on NCHIs following the intervention by Murdo Fraser and the FSUConservative Member of the Scottish Parliament Murdo Fraser has written to Scotland’s top police officer to demand “urgent clarity” after the force recorded a social media post he had written criticising the SNP-led government’s Non-Binary Equality Action Plan as a ‘non-crime hate incident’ (NCHI), yet failed to do the same when similar complaints were made against SNP First Minister Humza Yousaf and multi-millionaire author JK Rowling. This is contrary to their own guidance, which is to record all reports of ‘hate crimes’ as NCHIs, no matter how trivial or vexatious. Mr Fraser has previously sent a letter to Police Scotland, that we helped him draft, threatening legal action if they didn’t revise this guidance, in a case we have pledged to fund. (You can find the crowdfunder here.)However, a law suit may not be necessary. According to Humza Yousaf, being interviewed yesterday afternoon, Police Scotland are now “looking at the changes that were made in England and Wales recently [regarding the recording and retention of NCHIs] and reviewing their own procedures in that respect”.If that means Police Scotland are going to revise their national guidance on NCHIs to bring it into line with the guidance that the police in England and Wales are now following – after a succession of legal and legislative victories by Harry Miller and the FSU – that’s excellent news. NCHIs can have a detrimental effect on a person’s career – for instance, they can show up on an enhanced criminal record check and may prevent someone getting a job as a teacher or a carer.What Mr Yousaf said in the interview was slipped in almost as an afterthought, but it sounds very much like our threat of legal action has pressured Police Scotland into doing the right thing, and respecting the free speech rights of Scottish citizens. That means we can allocate the money we’ve raised so far to pay for the defence of any of our members who are contacted by the police in connection with a speech-related ‘hate crime’.Full details here.  FSU sets up Hate Speech Hotline in ScotlandAs reported in the Times, almost 1,000 new Scottish members have joined in the past fortnight, most of them women, and in response we’ve set up a Hate Speech Hotline in case any of them get into trouble with the police about something they’ve said. We’ve also put an arrangement in place with Levy & McRea, a top firm of criminal lawyers in Scotland, so if any of our members are arrested or interviewed under caution for something speech-related we can come to their aid. You can find the Hotline number, as well as detailed instructions about what to do if you’re arrested in Scotland for a speech-related offence in this set of FAQs, here. The Hotline number is also available in this separate set of FAQs, here, which answers questions about the new criminal offences created by the Hate Crime Act.  FSU Edinburgh Speakeasy: Thirty Days of Hate Crime LawsIn just the first 24 hours after the activation of Scotland’s Hate Crime and Public Order Act on 1st April, 3,800 ‘hate crimes’ were reported to Police Scotland. This was entirely predictable and no doubt reflected a combination of reporting by those keen to make use of the act’s censorious powers and mischievous attempts at exposing its almost comically authoritarian intent. The problems of the law on paper were much discussed in the years it took for it to reach the statute book, but what will happen next?Since the law came into force, the FSU has been inundated with hundreds of new members in Scotland, a sure indication of the level of concern that exists north of the border. But it’s not just the Scots who are paying close attention – free speech supporters in the rest of the UK and internationally are watching closely, anxious to learn how to resist attempts elsewhere to impose similarly draconian measures.On Wednesday 1st May, the FSU brings together an expert panel to discuss what we have learnt from the first 30 days under the new hate crime regime, and what can be done to mitigate its effects and hasten its demise. Speakers confirmed so far include MSP Murdo Fraser, FSU general secretary Toby Young and lawyer David McKie.There will, of course, be plenty of time for discussion, as well as socialising with fellow free speech supporters.Tickets are £5 for FSU members, £10 for non-members.FSU Members can join the event online by registering here.David McKie is a lawyer at the firm of Levy & McRea, with whom we’ve got a special arrangement, so if any of the other panellists – or members of the audience – are arrested for ‘hate speech’ on the night, he will be able to act for them.  The EDI tax – latest FSU research briefing gains media tractionThe FSU has published its latest research briefing, titled The EDI Tax: How Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is Hobbling British Businesses, and it’s great to see it written up in the Telegraph.The report is authored by our Director of Data and Impact, Tom Harris, and draws on the results of an FSU survey of a representative sample of 800 British workers, all of whom had undertaken some form of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Climate (EDIC) training with either a current or former employer.What the data reveals is that authoritarian EDIC training is now endemic in the British workplace. Contrary to the popular slogan that expenditure on these courses is ‘just good business’, it operates, in effect, as an EDI tax. Ambitious employees and senior managers are leaving companies because of the excessive time they’re expected to spend on these courses and, ironically, they are proving most irksome to those they purport to benefit, i.e., members of the LGBT community and ethnic minorities.You can read our latest report here. Christian social worker sues NHS-backed care firm after “being denied job for anti-LGBTQ+ views”A devoutly Christian social worker denied a job because of his views on homosexuality has warned that if he loses a legal challenge it will provide a “green light” to discriminate against religious employees. Felix Ngole will this week launch proceedings against Leeds based Touchstone Support, after claiming he was denied his dream job as a mental health support worker when they discovered his strongly held Christian beliefs. Full details here.  Latest episode of the FSU’s weekly podcast is out nowTalking points on this week’s episode of our podcast include: how we assisted Rachel Maclean MP to get a non-crime hate incident scrubbed from her record, the activation of Scotland’s Hate Crime Act, and how the FSU is configured to support any members north of the border who are arrested or questioned under caution on suspicion of wrongthink.Download and listen here. Lionel Shriver in conversation with Toby Young – tickets now availableJoin us on in person or online on Monday 15th April for a very special FSU Speakeasy to hear author Lionel Shriver in conversation with Toby Young. They will discuss Lionel’s new book, MANIA, in which she turns her piercing gaze on the policing of opinion and intellect, and imagines a world in which discriminating against stupid people in any way is heresy. It has been described as “hilarious, deadpan, scathing and at times frighteningly plausible” and will delight the many fans of her fiction and journalism alike.There will, of course, be an audience Q and A and Lionel will be signing copies of her book on the night.In-person tickets and a special offer on the book can be purchased here and you can register to join online here. FSU members attending online can also buy a signed copy of MANIA at a discounted price of £20, including UK delivery, if pre-ordered here before Sunday 14th April.The author Laura Dodsworth recently interviewed Lionel – it’s free to view on her substack, The Free Mind, here. How we learned to question medicine – tickets now available!We were delighted that Professor Alan Sokal agreed to deliver the first lecture in our spring series Science, Scepticism and Free Speech. The video of his lecture ‘What is science and why should we care?’ can be watched in full here.The next lecture in the series takes place in three weeks’ time on Wednesday 24th April. This lecture will be given by Professor Paul Garner, professor emeritus in Evidence Synthesis in Global Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, on the theme, ‘How We Learned to Question Medicine’.Professor Garner will argue that scepticism is integral to good science and make the case for using the tools of science to hold those in authority to account. Building on the themes of Professor Sokal’s first lecture, Professor Garner will share noteworthy examples where an insistence on xposure of malpractice.You can attend in person in central London or online on Zoom. FSU banners at national horseboarding eventWe would like to thank Daniel Fowler-Prime of Horseboarding UK for displaying FSU banners at Thame Country Fair last weekend. Look out for them adorning the arena at future events in East Anglia, Burghley, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Cheshire and Sandringham, where we hope they’ll be seen by thousands of attendees. Disciplinary action for ONS female employees if they object to trans colleagues using their lavatories!Women working for the Office for National Statistics face disciplinary action if they object to male-born colleagues using single-sex lavatories and changing rooms, documents leaked documents reveal. Full details here. Shout out to Mel and Lewis McLeanFinally, we’d like to say a special thanks to Mel and Lewis McLean, who have asked mourners at the funeral of their late father, Dr WMR McLean, to donate to the Free Speech Union. The late doctor, known as Melville to his friends, was the consultant in charge of Queenborough House Hospital for geriatrics in the Cannongate, Edinburgh. Sharing the newsletter As with all our work, this newsletter depends on the support of our members and donors, so if you’re not already a paying member, please sign up today or encourage a friend to join, and help us turn the tide against cancel culture. You can share our newsletters on social media with the buttons below to help us spread the word. If someone has shared this newsletter with you and you’d like to join the FSU, you can find our website here.  Best wishes,Freddie AttenboroughCommunications Officer  Follow us on social mediaJoin Our CommunityBecome a Member Make a DonationOur mailing address is: The Free Speech Union 85, Great Portland Street London, W1W 7LT Copyright © 2024 Free Speech Union Ltd. All rights reserved. Newsletter Preferences You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.