The Scary Reason The UK Government is Censoring Free Speech - Dan Wootton

What do you think the three biggest problems in the UK are? And then at the end we'll talk about some solutions. But now, what's the three worst things?

Well, look, firstly, free speech.

Oh.

And to be honest, this. This absolutely relates to all of the conversations that we're having today. But if you look at the thread of Islam, for example, there are literally plans in place to introduce some type of Islamophobia law, which, as I say, could make a conversation like this pot essentially illegal. That is chilling. It is chilling. We don't have blasphemy laws in this country. We should not. But free speech comes into a whole load of things. I mean, slippery Starmer is absolutely attempting to control the mainstream media. Like you look at the fact that he wants the off Communists, as I call them. This is the state regulator of the media in the United Kingdom, effectively the body that actually ended up being the final straw that got me cancelled from GB News. They want to stop Nigel Farage being able to present on GB News, for example. So there's. There's a whole load of control of the mainstream media going on. But actually what they're most concerned about and what they most want to shut down is this revolution. Right? So it's disruptors, it's outspoken, but it's also, Robin, probably they view these guys as more of a threat. It's the citizen journalists that are on the ground covering the hotel migrant protests, covering what's going on with migrants up and down the country, actually going into the HMOs where they live, going into the hospitals where they're being treated, and they want to delegitimize that type of journalism, which is, I believe, revealing the truth. And so there's a whole load of things that are being done to try and shut down free speech in this country. There's like libel tourism, abuse of the libel laws, which makes it very impossible for someone to risk speaking out about a rich person, for example. There's a huge pressure being put on the social media giants to shut down free speech. And when people challenged Starmer over this, he literally said, well, if you don't agree with my censorship, then I believe that you're a supporter of pedophiles and, and you're a supporter of Jimmy Savile. He literally said that. I mean, that's not an exaggeration and it's nuts because what people are doing is they are hiding behind trying to protect children as a way to actually shut down genuine debate. I mean, we've seen it with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle too, for example, because they fundamentally want to shut down their critics right on, on social media. People like me, people like Piers Morgan, they don't want us speaking out, so they've pretended. Oh no. But the reason we want this censorship is because we have to protect our children. And obviously there tragic cases about what's happened with children being bullied via social media. But the solution is not censorship for all, okay? The solution is not the Online Safety act, because what it's actually doing, Rob, is encouraging censorship of difficult conversations, important conversations, conversations like the ones we're having now aimed at adult, because there's a chance a child might view it. Well, I'm sorry, that's not good enough for me. I'm a free speech absolutist. We've got to have these conversations. And by the way, kids are going to find this stuff whether they like it or not. And all this so called censorship is doing is driving them into the grips of the dark web, which is far, far worse than anything that you might find on YouTube. So the solution for all of these losers, these people who are losing the argument, whether it's Keir Starmer, whether it's Harry and Meghan, is let's censor things, let's take away free speech and let's cover up why we're really doing this by saying, oh, we want to protect the kids. Well, we all want to protect the kids, we all do. But as you know, kids have always been bullied in a whole load of horrendous ways. Technology is now the latest way being used. It's not an excuse to take away free speech.

And what about like these, what, 12,000 arrests is it? And you know, people even going to prison for social media posts. I mean, I guess you must think that's pretty ridiculous.

I mean, it's insane. I mean, we have more arrests for social media posts than despot countries like Russia. I mean, it's absolutely nice.

So we're becoming a communist country then?

Well, I think we are. And I think we're becoming an authoritarian country. And I, I don't really think that any of the arguments that people in power make about, oh no, you know, we don't get involved in the justice system stand anymore because trust me, I mean, I followed very closely the case of Lucy Connolly, who was the grieving mother who was jailed for 31 months because of one post on X on the night of the Southport massacre, which she deleted, by the way. She went out for a walk with the dog. She deleted the post within hours, she was locked up for 31 months. There were loads of extenuating circumstances in her case. The fact that she had lost her son because of NHS neglect, her baby son. And so she was traumatized by seeing what Axel Ruda cabana did in that Taylor Swift dance class. But even if that wasn't the case, she posted something which some people were offended by. Yeah, I don't think it was violent in any way. It was. May be unpleasant, but she was not only locked up for 31 months. The whole justice system was designed, Rob, to come down on her like a ton of bricks, to provide a warning to the rest of us, us mere mortals, be careful what you post because you could end up being like Lucy Conley. So she was in remand, she was on a threat to anyone. I mean, we've literally seen Jihad Al Shami, right, who is our most recent Islamist terrorist who attempted to blow himself up at synagogue in Manchester but failed, however, did still see two people killed as a result of his terror attack. And he was out on bail for rape. Clearly a dangerous man. Right, An Islamist extremist on bail for rape. Lucy Connolly behind bars, locked up over a long period of time for a post on X. It was insanity. We all know it was insanity. But I think all of this is designed to try and send a chilling warning to everyone. Just don't say what you're thinking. And that's a dangerous society, don't you think? If you feel something, if you see something happening around you, but you think, oh, I can't say this, I can't say this, I've got kids, I might get locked up. And I see that going on. I see so many people who are too scared or who say to me, oh, Dan, you're brave. And it's like, what a crazy thing to say. I'm a journalist, you know, I. I'm a long term journalist who worked in the mainstream and just believes in revealing the truth. There should be nothing brave about that. But we're living in a country where journalists have actually been targeted. I think what keeps happening, Rob, is the police take on these cases, think they're doing the right thing and then are immediately freaked out by the backlash. But the problem is when it's not Katie Hopkins, when it's not Alison Pearson, when it's not Graham Linehan, the problem is when it's you and you're arrested and no one is speaking up for you. Yeah, because Lucy Connolly became the public face of what was, I believe, the most revolting attempt to stun British patriots into silence. And probably the case that was most upsetting to me was that of Peter lynch, who was the father of, I think four good family man who had been a protest right and he'd been an anti establishment protester in the United Kingdom for many years. So he had protested against Brexit, he'd protested against Covid. He believed in the deep state, he believed that the government were not looking out for its people. Loads of things that I believe. And he was on the streets and he had his signs and, and this is what he did. This was his way to express his democratic right to free expression. And after the Southport massacre, he found himself, and obviously he chose to go there at one of the protests outside a migrant hotel. But I've seen the police body cam footage, Rob, and I've read the court transcripts and there is absolutely no suggestion that Peter lynch was at all violent towards any police officer. He called them scum, he said that they were protecting child killers. Now, I struggle to see how him saying that was anything other than factual. Again, some people might find it offensive, some people might find it inappropriate, but it was his opinion based on what he'd seen in regards to the Southport massacre. Anyway, he was locked up, pleaded guilty, which was a crazy decision, but of course everyone was virtually forced into pleading guilty because they were manded in custody and told, if you don't plead guilty, you're gonna get an even longer jail sentence. But his jail sentence was insane. I believe it was over two years and he is said to have killed himself in prison. The details of this case are so disturbing to me because we're not being told the whole truth about what happened. Most recently we've learned via one of the hearings of his inquest that the day before his death he had been charged with a crime behind bars in prison. But we're not able to know what that was. And remember, Martin Brunt, who is the crime correspondent for Sly News, had reported that so called right wing protesters like Peter lynch were going to be targeted by Muslim gangs in prison. And so Peter lynch lost his life for expressing his democratic right to protest against the regime. And this happened to a whole load of people. Most of their cases are forgotten and their lives have been destroyed. And it just is meant to provide a warning shot to all of us.

So why are you staying here then?

Well, I'm staying here to fight. And don't get me wrong, sometimes there are times when it feels very appealing. And obviously there's a lot of my contemporaries father Calvin Robinson, for example, who has gone overseas. There's loads, you know, loads of people who I respect. And don't get me wrong, I've always been very clear that if the authoritarian state becomes too much, where it's impossible for me to report the truth about what's going on in the United Kingdom, then I might have to do the whole pirate radio thing, right, and sort of be doing my show from somewhere outside the uk, just so I'm not impacted by British censorship. But I understand that most people don't have the opportunity to leave the country and they, I think, want to see people that are going to stay and fight in lots of different ways. And obviously for me, it's via the medium of independent broadcasting. That's what I do. I'm a journalist. I've never wanted to get into politics. I have no desire of taking on any type of elected position. That's never been something I want to do. So what I feel I can do is keep all politicians honest, keep the mainstream media honest. And by the way, that includes mainstream media organizations that are said to be on the right, because actually, whether it's the Daily Telegraph or Talk TV or GB News or the sun or the Daily Mail, lots of places that I've previously worked, very often I see them giving in to this narrative too, and I think it's also important to call them out. So that's what I'm able to do. But don't get me wrong, I. I don't judge someone anymore when they tell me they're leaving the country. I completely understand it. There are huge challenges here financially, in terms of safety, in terms of security. So I get it, I get it. People are unfortunately able to go overseas and immediately have a far better quality of life in a whole load of ways. And I think rather than attacking those people or treating those types of people as traitors, we need to understand why, you know, the money that is pouring out of this country is utterly, utterly terrifying given, you know, what percentage of tax the top, you know, 0.1% of earners pay. It's astronomical. And those people are leaving.

Sam.