Britain’s police are restricting speech in worrying ways
Muddled laws give them wide discretion
THE POLICE arrived at Maxie Allen’s door at midday on January 29th. None of the six officers seemed to know much about why they were there, recalls Mr Allen. But they read out a list of charges and searched the house, before arresting him and his partner and taking them to the police station, where they were held for eight hours. The couple’s alleged crime? Disparaging emails and WhatsApp messages about their daughter’s primary school.
Already have an account?Log in
Continue with a free trial
Get full access to our independent journalism for free
Get startedA world without Nigel Farage
British politics hinges on one man’s survival
Britain’s experiment with liberal immigration policies is over
It was unpopular, but it worked
Britain’s second-world-war veterans are dying out
The country celebrates the last big anniversary with the generation that beat Hitler
Aberdeen shows why the UK’s clean-energy transition will be messy
The jobs in renewables can’t come fast enough to replace those related to oil and gas
The Church of England is dying out and selling up
Even if you don’t go to church, this matters