Author: Mick Hartley

What Sir Mark Rowley calls a 'toxic culture war,' I call a mass campaign of intimidation against women for standing up for their rights, and police turning a blind eye to the men publicly calling for women to be beaten, raped, hanged and decapitated.https://t.co/ArpZNV9Lfj

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 3, 2025

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So let’s get this straight. If a mugger snatches your phone, the police will do nothing. If burglars ransack your home, the police will do nothing. If your daughter is raped by a grooming gang, the police will do nothing.

But if you write a social media post that offends someone who identifies as transgender, you’ll be abruptly set upon by five armed officers.

Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.

he "most heinous" dictatorship in Gaza, torturing and killing those who oppose them, and charged that "some TV channels and pundits" are accomplices in this anti-Palestinian crime.

The nodding man on the left suggests perhaps that this is not an uncommon view in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

At the Saatchi Gallery, the Royal Photographic Society 166th edition International Photography Exhibition. Into the first gallery (it's a free exhibition) and straightaway this:

Gosh. The innocent native, born free yet struggling to escape the evil chains of Zionism. Presented as though this take is entirely undisputed. As perhaps it is in these circles.

Yes, elsewhere there's also a lot of "challenging gender norms".

The latest:

Graham Linehan, the comedian arrested over gender-critical social media posts, is set to sue the Metropolitan Police for wrongful arrest and breach of his free speech rights.

The Father Ted co-creator said he was taking the action because he had been “treated like a terrorist for speaking his mind on social media”….

Linehan said: “This was a horrible glimpse of the dystopian clown show that Britain has become. The FSU will support me by providing lawyers to advise on a claim against the Met police for wrongful arrest and wrongful imprisonment in the hope that no one else is treated like a terrorist for speaking their mind on social media.”

Meanwhile…

As the row intensified Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, joined calls to change the law, saying that his officers were in an “impossible position”. He added: “Officers should not be policing toxic culture wars debates.”

This is nonsense. He's deflecting – passing the buck. It was a police decision to arrest Linehan with a show of force, just as they've been police decisions not to bother when women are threatened by violent trans activists. And just as they've been police decisions not to bother with stuff like shoplifting or threats to property any more. By all means clarify the law, but it's Rowley who should be in the dock here – as, let's hope, he will be when Linehan's wrongful arrest case comes up.

In 2022 my restaurant was smashed up w/multiple threats of death & arson, & a huge pile on of fake 1* reviews. All because @suzanne_moore & @jk_rowling came for dinner once.
No arrests made as was "not in the public interest"
Honestly thought we were passed this shit.#glinner

— James Chiavarini (@JamesChiavarini) September 2, 2025

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Suzanne Moore adds:

James what a friend, ally, mensch. I was so upset when this happened but he has never wavered. Trust me you will have the best time at his restaurants. Il Portico and La Palombe. I am going next week. Can't wait.

ice do not waste their time.

Not sure about that. The police need to change – and someone needs to lose their job. This looks more like performative wibbling from the Labour front bench – seeing the furore and making the right noises before moving on to the next thing, having done absolutely nothing. At the very least the Home Secretary should be summoning the Met chief for some very strong words, and maybe the threat of dismissal. The police have lost the plot.

Added:

What @BBCr4today & their interviewees have all omitted this morning is reference to the contrast between the police treatment of Graham Linehan’s tweets & their light touch when women face violence threats, harassment & assault by trans activists. This is a big part of the story.

— Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) September 3, 2025

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🚨 Malcolm Gladwell says “trans athletes have no place in the female category.”

He admits he was cowed into saying that it was ok.

He knows it’s not.

He was bullied into it and he’s ashamed that he gave in.

Good for him. Mad props. pic.twitter.com/GGm1oCiNbv

— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) September 2, 2025

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Well good for him – but it's all a bit pathetic, isn't it? When it mattered he was right there cheering on the trans athletes, and now the tide is turning he says he was cowed. It doesn't say much for his intellectual integrity. Though yes, better late than never. It's not like it's an abstruse problem that requires long deliberation and expertise in human biology – hulking great men, at best mediocre in their chosen sport, putting on a wig and some lippy and charging to top spot on the podium by claiming to be women.

ere it appears to be OK to carry signs that say “Decapitate Terfs” amongst other threats that explicitly call for violence against women.

The police do absolutely nothing about the tsunami of explicitly violent tweets from trans activists, up to and including death threats, yet storm in with five armed officers when it's suggested that trans-identified men in women's spaces should, if all else fails, be punched in the balls. There's something rotten here. Too many Stonewall seminars? – or high-up trans activists in the force? Or, most likely, just stupid and unaware, with a deeply ingrained misogyny.

This is frankly Orwellian. He has been arrested for wrongthink. The police have outdone themselves. Either we have freedom of speech or we don’t, and freedom of speech means freedom to offend. It also means defending those you may disagree with.

There is no serious justification for this arrest.

It is an alarming authoritarian move which furthers no one rights.

I stand with Graham Linehan.

Added:

The police are only interested in tweets threatening or inciting violence against women if the ‘women’ in question have dicks. https://t.co/X4BJvYYzmj

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 2, 2025

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…and he gets the full ISIS treatment.’

To put @Glinner’s arrest over a few harmless tweets in context, have a look at this website.

Then ask yourself: given that violent language and online threats are so normalised in trans activist circles, why do the UK police never investigate those?https://t.co/3k4zgOaeWk

— Andrew Doyle (@andrewdoyle_com) September 2, 2025

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Added:

One of the tweets which caused 5 @metpoliceuk officers to descend upon the highly dangerous comedian as he made his way off the aircraft was "punch [them] in the bollocks".
Elsewhere, bearers of signs saying "kill terfs" happily go about their business unhindered.
A "disparity".

— Colin Wynter KC (@QcWynter) September 2, 2025

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