{"id":2481615,"date":"2025-09-02T18:03:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T22:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/farage-and-starmer-furious-after-comedy-writer-arrested-in-uk-over-transgender-criticism\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T18:04:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T22:04:42","slug":"farage-and-starmer-furious-after-comedy-writer-arrested-in-uk-over-transgender-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/farage-and-starmer-furious-after-comedy-writer-arrested-in-uk-over-transgender-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Farage and Starmer furious after comedy writer arrested in UK over transgender criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffarage-and-starmer-furious-after-comedy-writer-arrested-in-uk-over-transgender-criticism%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2481615&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-does-this-photo-show-the-monster-building-in-hong-kong-with-hundreds-of-floors\/\" title=\"FACT CHECK: Does This Photo Show The Monster Building In Hong Kong With Hundreds Of Floors?\">article reports<\/a> on the arrest of Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan in the UK over tweets deemed anti-transgender. Linehan, known for creating the sitcoms *Father Ted* and *The IT Crowd*, was detained by five Metropolitan Police officers upon arriving at Heathrow Airport from Arizona. He stated that the arrest was related to three posts on X (formerly Twitter) containing criticism of transgender issues.During his detainment, Linehan experienced a stress-related <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-year-of-living-fearfully\/\" title=\"The Year of Living Fearfully\">high blood pressure<\/a> episode and was hospitalized.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-rogan-calls-out-biden-administrations-hypocrisy-as-they-attempt-to-secure-brittney-griners-release-from-russia\/\" title=\"Joe Rogan Calls Out Biden Administration\u2019s Hypocrisy As They Attempt To Secure Brittney Griner\u2019s Release From Russia\">arrest sparked outrage<\/a> from prominent figures including British Prime minister keir Starmer and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, both of whom condemned the police action. Starmer&#8217;s office emphasized the importance of focusing police resources on community priorities and reaffirmed the UK&#8217;s tradition of free speech. However, Starmer&#8217;s team also distanced themselves from Elon Musk&#8217;s characterization of the UK as a &#8220;police state,&#8221; a comment Musk made in response to J.K.Rowling&#8217;s condemnation of the arrest as &#8220;Totalitarianism.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Farage announced he would address the issue of free speech in the UK during a US House Judiciary Committee hearing titled &#8220;Europe&#8217;s Threat to American Speech and Innovation,&#8221; citing linehan&#8217;s case as evidence of a broader crackdown on freedom of expression. The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >article highlights ongoing tensions surrounding transgender rights<\/a>,free speech,and law enforcement in the UK. <br \/> <!DOCTYPE html><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Farage and Starmer furious after comedy writer arrested in UK over transgender criticism<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2219288\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>British Prime Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/keir-starmer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Keir Starmer<\/a> and Reform UK party leader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nigel-farage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nigel Farage<\/a> furiously condemned the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/london\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Metropolitan Police<\/a>&lsquo;s arrest of Irish comedy writer and transgender rights critic Graham Linehan.<\/p>\n<p>Linehan, the writer behind sitcoms <em>Father Ted<\/em> and <em>The IT Crowd<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/home\/post\/p-172541933\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> he was arrested by five police officers at London&rsquo;s Heathrow Airport after landing in the United Kingdom on a flight from Arizona. Linehan wrote in his <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/home\/post\/p-172541933\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Substack post<\/a> that the officers said he was arrested over three X posts that contained anti-transgender rhetoric.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3789566\/vladimir-putin-meets-leaders-stalls-volodymyr-zelensky-meeting\/\">Putin meets with world leaders as he stalls on US-backed Zelensky meeting<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3789505\/rescuers-afghan-earthquake-survivors-death-toll-passes-1400\/\">Rescuers race to find Afghan earthquake survivors as death toll passes 1,400<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3789311\/belgium-recognize-palestinian-state-under-conditions\/\">Belgium to recognize a Palestinian state if certain conditions are met<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>He also noted that during his detainment, he was hospitalized for having a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/home\/post\/p-172541933\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stress-related<\/a>&rdquo; high blood pressure of over 200. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This May 12, 2025, photo shows Graham Linehan in London. (Lucy North\/PA via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A spokesman for Starmer told the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2025\/09\/02\/graham-linehan-claims-he-was-arrested-for-tweets-heathrow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Telegraph<\/em><\/a>  that the police should focus on what matters &ldquo;most to their communities.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Met Police Commissioner himself has talked previously about recruits joining the police to protect the public, and that he wants the police to exist to protect the public, spending their time dealing with the issues that matter most to their communities,&rdquo; the spokesman said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Prime Minister has spoken previously about how he is strongly in favour of free speech and the long proud history of free speech in this country, and he will continue to do so,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p><em>Harry Potter<\/em> author J.K. Rowling <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jk_rowling\/status\/1962847107343139014\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">posted on X <\/a>following the news of the arrest, saying, &ldquo;This is Totalitarianism. Utterly deplorable.&rdquo; Tesla CEO Elon Musk reposted Rowling&rsquo;s assessment and wrote &ldquo;police state&rdquo; in <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1962864920657305794\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">an X post<\/a> of his own.<\/p>\n<p>Starmer&rsquo;s spokesman also told the <em>Telegraph<\/em> that the prime minister did not agree with Musk&rsquo;s statement on X.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/technology\/3785324\/jim-jordan-nigel-farage-hearing-europe-threats-us-free-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">JIM JORDAN INVITES NIGEL FARAGE TO HEARING ON EUROPEAN &lsquo;THREATS&rsquo; TO US FREE SPEECH<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Farage told the<em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/news\/politics\/36545559\/farage-to-slam-graham-linehan-arrest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sun<\/a><\/em>  that he would speak about the Linehan arrest and the state of free speech in the U.K. before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Farage was slated to speak as part of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/study-shows-certain-illinois-hospitals-provide-below-average-levels-of-charity-care-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Study shows certain Illinois hospitals provide below average levels of charity care - Washington Examiner\">hearing titled &#038;ldquo<\/a>;<a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/committee-activity\/hearings\/europes-threat-american-speech-and-innovation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Europe&rsquo;s Threat to American Speech and Innovation<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Graham Linehan case is yet another example of the war on freedom in the U.K.,&rdquo; Farage said. &ldquo;I will discuss this, the Lucy Connolly case, and the increasing role of our police in non-crime &lsquo;hate&rsquo; incidents on Capitol Hill tomorrow. Free speech is under assault, and I am urging the USA to be vigilant.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Farage and Starmer outraged over UK arrest of comedy writer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3976,"featured_media":2481616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25245555827788.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[62462,62461,34755],"class_list":["post-2481615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-comedy-writer","tag-farage-2","tag-starmer"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25245555827788.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2481615"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2481619,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481615\/revisions\/2481619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2481616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2481615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2481615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2481615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}