Graham Linehan: free-speech martyr?
Arrest of Father Ted co-creator seen as symptom of a wider issue

“How many police officers does it take to arrest one middle-aged sitcom writer?” Unfortunately, it’s not a joke, said Frank Furedi in the Daily Mail. When Graham Linehan, the co-creator of “Father Ted” and “The IT Crowd”, landed at Heathrow from his home in the US last Monday, five armed police were waiting for him. His alleged offence? A series of posts on X/Twitter in which he had inveighed against trans rights activists.
In one, he called them “misogynists and homophobes”. In another, he had tweeted that if a woman saw “a trans-identified male” in a “female-only space”, she should “make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails punch him in the balls”. Linehan insists he meant it as humour; but even if you think it’s unfunny or objectionable, it was surely not a pressing police matter.
Yet Linehan was arrested and held for 12 hours; he was granted bail only on the condition that he kept off social media. It’s a symptom of a wider issue, said The Times. Britain has a real problem with “the suppression of free speech”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
‘Inflammatory comments’
The chorus of outrage was predictable, said Marc Burrows in The Independent. But Linehan has spent many years “making inflammatory comments” about trans people, relentlessly hounding “a vulnerable, marginalised group”: he came back to Britain to face charges that he harassed a trans woman and broke her phone. And the truth is that tweets “have real-world consequences”. Free speech has never been absolute. Inciting violence is an offence; and encouraging people to punch trans women certainly sounds like incitement to me.
‘Breathtaking contrast’
I’m no fan of Linehan’s crusade, said Janice Turner in The Times: it has often been “cruel” and counter-productive. “Yet the contrast between the police response to his words and those addressed to women by violent trans activists is simply breathtaking.” Any woman who has spoken out on this subject has received endless death threats and rape threats. We have stopped reporting them because the police just aren’t interested. Yet they seem to jump to attention when trans activists call. The police today mostly won’t attend over a stolen phone or car, even if you can track it to a precise address. “Yet for a problematic tweet, they’ll arrest you at the airport.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
October 19 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's editorial cartoons include Pete Hegseth and the press, an absence of government, and George Washington crossing the Delaware
-
A little-visited Indian Ocean archipelago
The Week Recommends The paradise of the Union of the Comoros features beautiful beaches, colourful coral reefs and lush forests
-
AI: is the bubble about to burst?
In the Spotlight Stock market ever-more reliant on tech stocks whose value relies on assumptions of continued growth and easy financing
-
Bad Bunny: Why MAGA is incensed
Feature The NFL announced Latino artist Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime headliner, sparking MAGA outrage
-
Supreme Court: Judging 20 years of Roberts
Feature Two decades after promising to “call balls and strikes,” Chief Justice John Roberts faces scrutiny for reshaping American democracy
-
Venezuela: Does Trump want war?
Feature Donald Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading a drug cartel and waging a narco-terrorism campaign against the United States
-
Shutdown: Are Democrats fighting the right battle?
Feature Democrats are holding firm on health insurance subsidies as Trump ramps up the pain by freezing funding and vowing to cut more jobs
-
Two years on, a Gaza truce may be in sight
Feature Israel and Hamas consider the U.S.’ 20-point peace plan exchanging hostages for prisoners
-
The GOP: Merging flag and cross
Feature Donald Trump has launched a task force to pursue “anti-Christian policies”
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocrat
Feature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?
Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress