Kemi Badenoch will launch her plan to stop the Right being silenced on Monday as she takes on Labour’s approach to free speech.
Vowing to fight to preserve free speech, the Conservative leader will announce her new policy task force, which will be headed by Toby Young.
Its aim will be to review laws which may restrict freedom of expression.
Ms Badenoch warned that “offending someone has effectively been turned into a crime” in a section written in the Daily Mail.
Kemi Badenoch will launch her scheme to combat the stifling of free speech
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PA
She added that while “what happened to Charlie Kirk and Graham Linehan are on different scales”, both are “symptoms of the same sickness: a culture that seeks to silence, not debate”.
She said: “Worse, we have a government that sneers at those who dare raise the alarm about the erosion of free speech.”
It is believed the commission will report back to Ms Badenoch by the end of the year.
It will evaluate places which are affected by free speech, such as universities, social media and broadcasting.
KEMI BADENOCH – READ MORE:
Lord Toby Young speaks to GB News | GB NEWSIt is also expected to review if rules are fair, necessary and in line with British values.
Lord Young will meet campaigners, journalists and academics as well as everyday people who have experience with free speech being smothered throughout the country.
It is thought the Conservative Party will then challenge Labour to put the proposals from the commission, which will form a central part of Conservative Party policy, into practice.
Director of the Free Speech Union, Lord Young, told the Daily Mail: “The recent arrest of Graham Linehan by five armed officers at Heathrow for three tweets mocking trans rights activists shows how urgently we need to overhaul our free speech laws.
Graham Linehan spoke out on GB News about his arrest | GB NEWS“The police should not be wasting their time on tweets when they should be policing our streets.”
The 57-year-old Father Ted creator was arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence.
This was on suspicion of posts he had made on X, formerly Twitter.
Mr Linehan told GB News he was “absolutely infuriated” by his arrest.
