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In today’s newsletter:
Free speech concerns reach fever pitch
Is the UK in a debt crisis?
The nonsensical energy drinks ban
Concerns about free speech have been gathering steam for some years following Covid restrictions, the ‘hate crime’ allegations against journalist Allison Pearson and the severe penalties, including the substantial period of imprisonment received by Lucy Connolly for an ill-advised tweet, imposed after the Southport riots. This week things reached fever pitch.
On Monday comedian and writer Graham Linehan was arrested at Heathrow by five armed police officers for posts on X which appear to have upset a trans activist. Up in Scotland Sandie Peggie’s tribunal case against NHS Fife for suspending her over her objections to sharing a changing room with a born-as-a-male doctor grinds on, at considerable cost to the taxpayer. Angela Rayner may have gone, but her Employment Rights Bill is reaching its Parliamentary conclusion, bringing the threat of restrictions on gossip and political repartee in pubs as employers fear tribunal cases if their staff are offended by banter. And it seems likely that we will shortly be getting an official definition of Islamophobia which amounts to a backdoor blasphemy law - despite the efforts this week by Labour peer Lord Glasman to dissuade the Prime Minister from this.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Reform leader Nigel Farage warmed up for his party’s annual conference by telling the House Justice Committee about the threats which the Online Safety Act creates for free expression. Farage sees the OSA as giving ‘extraordinary and arbitrary powers’ to Ofcom, the UK regulator which is rapidly growing too big for its boots. These powers, which the Institute of Economic Affairs has long warned about, are being used to censor output and to impose access restrictions which go way beyond the stated purpose of protecting young and/or vulnerable people from measurable harm.
Farage’s Washington trip reflects a real concern on the other side of the Atlantic about where Britain, long held up – maybe debatably, given our long history of censorship - as the origin of the Free Speech traditions which the USA holds so dear, is heading. This concern has economic as well as political dimensions, for excessive restrictions on what can be said or advertised on social media and other platforms restricts trade, increases costs and could lead to retaliatory sanctions which would damage our already fragile economy. Maybe we need our own First Amendment as an ironic reexport from the Land of the Free.
A few years back I edited a book on Free Speech for the IEA which showed growing concern on a range of other issues, including hate laws, restrictions on prayer, ‘cancelled’ comedy (a lively piece by GB News’s Leo Kearse), advertising bans, university activism and ‘extreme’ speech. It's worth reading again as the Speech Wars ratchet up a few more notches.
Len Shackleton
Editorial and Research Fellow
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IEA Podcast: Executive Director Tom Clougherty, Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz and Managing Editor Daniel Freeman discuss the UK’s fiscal situation, the collapse of house-building in London, and freedom of speech — IEA YouTube
Is the UK in a debt crisis?
Economics Fellow Julian Jessop writes in the Spectator this week about causes and consequences of rising borrowing costs:
“The cost of new government borrowing for ten years is now around 4.7 per cent in the UK, compared to 4.2 per cent in the US, around 3.5 per cent in France, Italy and Canada, 2.7 per cent in Germany, and just 1.6 per cent in Japan…
“There are three main reasons why UK borrowing costs are such an outlier. First, international investors have lost confidence in the UK government’s willingness to take tough decisions to bring borrowing down, especially after the recent failures to curb welfare spending…
“Second, the Bank of England is actively selling government bonds, reversing the previous policy known as ‘Quantitative Easing’ (QE) and it is doing so more aggressively than other central banks…
“Third, there are fears that higher UK inflation will keep official interest rates higher for longer too, while adding to the cost of inflation index-linked borrowing (of which the UK has a relatively large amount)…
“This does not mean that a UK debt crisis is imminent, or even inevitable…”
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News and Views
The Building Crisis Destroying Britain, Director of Communications Callum Price interviews Sam Richards, CEO of Britain Remade, IEA YouTube
“We need more growth. We need less government spending. That is the way to fix the public finances.” Economics Fellow Julian Jessop speaks to GBNews
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Should workers be entitled to ‘digital downtime’? Callum Price says no, CityAM
“Employee rights do not come free. Enforcing their delivery and proving their compliance all add costs to employers. And that’s before you take into account the potential cost of the right itself – in this case having an entire workforce go dark for periods during the workday. The government has clearly proven it is not shy about mounting costs on businesses, with their minimum wage rise, employers’ National Insurance contributions hikes and forthcoming Employment Rights Bill.”
Graham Linehan’s arrest shows we need a UK First Amendment, Reem Ibrahim argues in Spiked
“The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects the right to freedom of expression from government censorship. Had Graham Linehan, Lucy Connolly and Britain’s countless other speech criminals said what they said across the pond, they would never have been put in cuffs.”
Britain Blackout: Can Renewables Keep the Lights On? Energy Analyst Andy Mayer interviews energy expert Kathryn Porter for Free the Power, IEA YouTube
Are we going to start banning all sugary drinks for children? Head of Media Reem Ibrahim on the energy drinks ban, TalkTV
“It would be madness to rely solely on tax hikes to fill the black hole in the public finances.” Julian Jessop on the challenge facing the Chancellor, The Sun
Kids’ caffeine cancelled, Reem Ibrahim discusses the nonsensical energy drinks ban with Jacob Rees-Mogg, GB News
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Between The Waves — Britain’s post-empire problem with Europe, the IEA is referenced in a review of a new book by Tom McTague on Britain and Europe, Financial Times
INVITATION: British Conservatism, Winston Churchill, and the Second World War | ||||||
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IEA at Reform Party Conference 2025
Is climate realism inevitable?, COO & Energy Analyst Andy Mayer spoke on a panel on the future of energy policy.
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Politics and Prohibition: The Fight for Choice, Head of Lifestyle Economics Chris Snowdon discussed the importance of consumer choice.
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What could Reform’s economic policies look like?, Head of Media Reem Ibrahim was interviewed by Tom Harwood to discuss the economic challenges a potential Reform Government could face, GB News
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