Britain | Hate to say it

Britain’s police are restricting speech in worrying ways

Muddled laws give them wide discretion

Illustration of an evidence bag with Whatsapp mesages in it.
Illustration: Harry Harysom
|7 min read

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.

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