Last fall, British comedian and screenwriter Graham Linehan flew from his Arizona home to London's Heathrow Airport, where he was greeted by five armed police officers who took him into custody. His "crime"? He posted gender-critical things on social media.
Linehan, who penned British comedies like "Fr. Ted" and "Black Books," wrote at the time of his arrest, "In a country where paedophiles escape sentencing, where knife crime is out of control, where women are assaulted and harassed every time they gather to speak the state had mobilised five armed officers to arrest a comedy writer for this tweet.”
What did Linehan write that was so offensive? He called men intruding into women's spaces "violent and abusive acts."
"If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls."
The encounter was so stressful that Linehan ended up in the hospital with elevated blood pressure.
The U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Service ended up dropping its case against Linehan in October, and Linehan wrote, "The police have informed my lawyers that I face no further action in respect of the arrest at Heathrow in September. After a successful hearing to get my bail conditions lifted (one which the police officer in charge of the case didn't even bother to attend) the Crown Prosecution Service has dropped the case. With the aid of the Free Speech Union, I still aim to hold the police accountable for what is only the latest attempt to silence and suppress gender critical voices on behalf of dangerous and disturbed men."
Members of the Trump administration, including Vice President Vance, have long criticized Europe for its restrictive free speech regulations, saying the continent suppresses free speech. European officials were very offended by those accusations, but they're true.
In Keir Starmer's Britain, you're more likely to end up in prison for saying you like bacon than you would be if you raped a girl.
Now Linehan will address the U.S. Congress on the abysmal state of free speech in the U.K.
Graham Linehan will address the US Congress on the state of free speech in Starmer’s Britain.@Glinner was arrested last September by five armed police officers at Heathrow over three gender-critical posts on X.
— The Free Speech Union (@SpeechUnion) February 2, 2026
The Irish comedian, who lives in the US, will appear before allies… pic.twitter.com/KJShzbTJja
Here's more on what Linehan might say:
Graham Linehan will tell members of the US Congress that Sir Keir Starmer has reduced freedom of speech in Britain at a censorship hearing on Wednesday.
The 57-year-old Father Ted co-creator will appear before allies of Donald Trump, who are investigating online censorship laws.
Linehan was detained by five armed police officers when he arrived at Heathrow airport in September and was questioned over gender-critical remarks he had made online.
His treatment triggered a freedom of speech row, and he announced plans to sue Scotland Yard after it dropped the case and deemed he would face no further action.
...
“Sir Keir came to power saying that he was going to end the culture war, but what he’s actually done is he’s hidden from it,” he told The Telegraph. “I want to point out that this elite is kind of working against the interests of working-class people. He has made it a million times worse, and it won’t get better until he’s gone.”
Glinner will appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, February 4.