Free Speech Union

Initially, much of its activity was a response to cancel culture.[1]

The organization was "established to counter Twitter mobs that drown out opinions they dislike". Its directors say it will be the beginning of a solution to the "censorship problem". It should take on the “witch-finder generals” and the “enforcers of intellectual conformity and moral dogma", Young told The Times.[2] The FSU has written letters to several universities to criticize "no-platforming", in the cases of Selina Todd and Amber Rudd at Oxford University, Caroline Farrow at Exeter University, Richard Dawkins at Trinity College, Dublin, and Chris Williamson at Royal Holloway Debating Society.[3]

The FSU also lobbied against the "Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill" proposed by Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf of the SNP. In a submission to the public consultation, prepared by law professor Andrew Tettenborn of Swansea university, the FSU claimed that the bill would be one of the most draconian constraints on free speech in the Western world. [4]

In October 2020, a director of the FSU announced that the Union had begun a lawsuit against Ofcom over its March 2020 "coronavirus guidance", which was published simultaneously with the instantiation of the UK lockdown. In the words of the complainant, the guidance "warns broadcasters to exercise extreme caution before criticizing the response by the public health authorities or interviewing any sceptics." He inferred that the guidance was the reason for the lack of public discussion of the Great Barrington Declaration, and questioned the behaviour of SAGE (UK) member Susan Michie, who wrote of a show that turned into a discussion of coronavirus politics that "I'd got prior agreement from BBC Radio 4 about the framing of the item... I was assured that this would not be held as an even-handed debate."[5] A judge dismissed the case and the FSU had to pay £16,732 to cover Ofcoms costs.[6]

In January 2021, student members of the Free Speech Youth Advisory Board resigned after they discovered the board had close links to the Free Speech Union rather than being an independent grassroots movement that they had been led to believe. The students had hoped for a group addressing free speech issues around the world but found one dominated by Young's right-of-centre perspective.[6]

Other directors of the union include Douglas Murray, Inaya Folarin Iman, Dr Radomir Tylecote of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Prof. Nigel Biggar, and Ian Rons.

The Legal Advisory Council of the FSU consists of sixteen lawyers, among them former High Court judge Sir Patrick Garland and law professors Andrew Tettenborn and Raymond Wacks.

The Media/PR Advisory Council consists of several journalists including Julia Hartley-Brewer,[7] Allison Pearson and David Rose,[8] as well as University of Cambridge philosophy don Arif Ahmed.[7]

Imogen West-Knights, writing for Vice, said that Young "wants to be able to slag off [minority groups] to his heart's content".[9]

Joel Golby, writing an op-ed for The Guardian, feared that Young was likely to become a "Nigel Farage copycat", and "we didn’t take Ukip seriously at the start because it was just Robert Kilroy-Silk pouring excess energy from not being on TV any more into saying “legitimate concerns” a lot... And then, oops, we all woke up and Brexit had happened."[10]

In January 2021 a group of student activists who had joined the Free Speech Youth Advisory Board criticised the way the organisation was run.[11] They said they were censured if they disagreed with the groups right-of-centre views and were dismayed to find that it was an astroturfed front for the Free Speech Union.[11] They had been led to believe that it was a grass-roots campaign.[11]

• Official website