WHAT happens is this. One of our greatest comedy writers arrives off a flight at Heathrow – and five armed cops pounce on him.
They take him to the nick and throw him in a cell. They question him. Turns out it was all about something he said online. About trans people, natch.
GettyFather Ted comedy writer Graham Linehan was arrested by armed police for tweets[/caption]
The writer, who suffers from very poor health, is frightened. So frightened that his blood pressure shoots up. It gets so bad that he has to be taken to hospital.
It beggars belief that something like this could happen in the UK.
That bully boys from the Old Bill can haul you out of an airport and into a cell simply for saying something online. But that’s where we are now.
The writer is Graham Linehan, a genius of comedy. He is the creator of the brilliant Father Ted. And he’s contributed to other great shows, such as Brass Eye and The IT Crowd.
But his career came to an abrupt halt when he made it clear that he thought a man who transitions to being a woman isn’t a biological woman. Not a real woman, per se, then.
Just as our Supreme Court seemed to decide recently — it is the sex at birth that matters.
He suffered endless vilification and bile from the screaming Mimis of the trans lobby. The cowardly scum who inhabit the world of luvvies shunned him. For having expressed his views. He lost his career, his marriage and his health.
But he refused to be silent. He kept speaking up. Because he felt it was the right thing to do.
And what was it that provoked the recent arrest? Apparently, Linehan tweeted that trans women who invade women’s spaces were guilty of a violent, abusive, act. And he advised women: “Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”
And for THAT, you can be hauled to the cells by the thought police.
Everybody has criticised what happened. Elon Musk and JK Rowling both registered their support for Linehan.
Then the Government got on board. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said it was wrong for the police to be wasting their time on such business. Hear, hear.
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, said much the same thing. The police should be fighting knife crime and stuff, he said.
Well, you’re the bleedin’ Prime Minister, mate. So, do something about it.
But it’s not just that. Do you know who else expressed their disquiet?
The head of the very police force who arrested Linehan, Sir Mark Rowley.
GettyStarmer said police should be fighting knife crime, not tweets – well you’re the bleedin’ Prime Minister, mate[/caption]
He said that his men and women should not be “policing toxic culture war debates”. No, indeed, Sir Mark. Would you mind awfully having a word, then, with some of your officers? And get any possible charges dropped, right now?
We are sliding into authoritarianism, quite rapidly. This country used to pride itself on freedom of expression. It can’t do that any more.
‘Toxic debates’
We MUST stop arresting people simply for what they say on social media. Just stop it, end it right now.
Incidentally, not long after Linehan was released, the police arrested five members of the left-wing campaigning group Defend Our Juries.
Simply for objecting to the law which labels Palestine Action a terrorist group.
Now, I hate Palestine Action. But to oppose making them illegal is not a terrorist act. It is once again, freedom of speech.
That thing we once had, but seemingly have no longer.
ZACK’S A POOR CHOICE
UH-OH. There’s a new biffer in town.
The Greens have elected a posturing egomaniac to lead their convocation of organic kale-chomping nutters.
Zack Polanski is a former hypnotist and jobbing actor.
He is further to the left than a soup spoon.
He thinks the Greens have been banging on about the environment for too long.
Zack’s all about hating Israel and “social equality”. Which means making everyone poorer.
Still, it’s all bad news for the Labour Party.
There are plenty of dimwits who will be attracted to his populist drivel. People who otherwise might have voted Labour.
I wonder if Sir Keir will get any votes at all at the next election?
GOT to admit, I really wanted Fred and Min to win Channel 4 show, The Fortune Hotel.
The pair were just so staggeringly useless, on pretty much every level.
OK, they weren’t quite as thick as the posh couple. But they were a regular sight coming last in the tasks asked of them by Stephen Mangan.
And the great thing was that – unlike the posh couple – they KNEW they were useless. And were delightfully unassuming about it.
Anyway, at least they trousered £30,000.
And thanks to Mangan for hosting with a certain panache.
Pain of losing Jessie is harder than I feared
Rest in peace, Jessie. You were the best of dogs
IT’S been more than two weeks now. And we still can’t get over the death of our lovely dog, Jessie.
I knew it would hit hard. But not THIS hard. I see her every day, or at least I think I do.
But it’s just a shadow, or a coat left on the floor. And I think I hear her all the time. The house seems horribly empty.
For those of you who have lost a dog, I now understand the immense pain it causes.
Rest in peace, Jessie. You were the best of dogs.
DEPORT DISMAY
BAKER Carlos Kassimo Dos Santos was convicted of a gangland murder in Portugal.
He left the country. In his absence he was sentenced to 14 in prison.
You can guess where the bloke is now. Yup, over here. In Leeds.
Where he owns a nice cake shop.
Apparently the High Court refuses to extradite him to Portugal.
Incredible. If we can’t send criminals back to even Portugal – a mature democracy with excellent human rights – where can we send them?
DID you know that Leicester University has a Centre for Hate Studies?
It does, it does. It’s a place where third-rate academics meet to dream up resentments against the UK.
The latest is a demand that the British countryside be changed because ethnic minority people find it “challenging”.
Changed how? More mosques and a halal butchers were two of the suggestions. And fewer monocultural pubs. Up yours, mate. We’ve all had more than enough of this rot, haven’t we?
ANGE’S FOOL HOUSE
ReutersAngela Rayner has finally fessed up that she underpaid stamp duty by £40,000[/caption]
AT long last, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has owned up to conning the taxpayer.
She nominated her new luxury sea-view pad in Hove as her main home instead of her house in Greater Manchester. Thus avoiding paying £40,000 in stamp duty.
For ages she said she had done nowt wrong. And, of course, Sir Keir Starmer backed her.
But now she’s fessed up to what everybody knew. Her seaside pad is NOT her main home. And she should have paid the extra stamp duty.
Let us not pretend that this was an accident. It looks more like a brazen and deliberate attempt to mislead tax authorities.
The idea that she simply took bad advice adds insult to injury.
Nope, Ange: You tried to save yourself some taxpayers’ money and you thought nobody would notice. That was both dishonest of you – and frankly, pretty stupid.
Shouldn’t she resign?
QUEASY LISTEN
EXPERTS have decided that the best way to prevent car sickness is to play an “uplifting” tune.
It does something to the receptors in your head, apparently.
Listen, you boffins. I get car sick.
And if I’m sitting in the back of a car and someone, out of misplaced kindness, puts on Elton John singing I’m Still Standing, then the driver is going to be sprayed with roughly double the amount of semi-digested full English than that which would have been emitted WITHOUT the song.
Just sayin’.
THE Summit of the Scumbags in Beijing looks exciting, doesn’t it?
Over here, smirking fit to burst, Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Over there, North Korea’s porky rocket-obsessed nutjob Kim Jong-Un.
Both of them paying tribute to China’s totalitarian old thug Xi Jinping.
And every other basket case of a country in attendance.
Zimbabwe, for example. And the Iranians.
I’m glad Xi called this conference. It’s good to be reminded what side one should be on.
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