Nigel Farage warned a House committee that American citizens could face arrest if they travel to the United Kingdom after posting things online that violate British speech laws.
Farage, a member of Parliament and leader of the Reform U.K. party, raised the issue after Irish comedian Graham Linehan was arrested at Heathrow Airport over his X posts about transgender people.
In the U.S., free speech limits in Europe are often criticized, while supporters of “hate speech” and incitement laws argue they are needed to protect society.
“He’s not even a British citizen. He’s an Irish citizen. This could happen to any American man or woman that goes to Heathrow, that has said things online that the British government and British police don’t like,” Farage told the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
“It is a potentially big threat to tech bosses, to many, many others.”
Linehan admitted to police that one of his posts—about punching a trans woman who entered a female space—was meant as a joke. He has long clashed with trans rights activists.
“At what point did we become North Korea?” Farage asked the committee. “I think the Irish comedy writer found that out two days ago at Heathrow Airport. This is a genuinely worrying, concerning, and shocking situation.”
After backlash to the arrest, London’s Metropolitan Police Chief, Sir Mark Rowley, said officers had been put in an “impossible position” and should not be drawn into policing culture war debates.
Rowley explained that Linehan was arrested under current legislation, which treats a threat against a protected group as a possible crime. He acknowledged concerns about how these laws affect free speech.
“Most reasonable people would agree that genuine threats of physical violence against an identified person or group should be acted upon by officers,” Rowley said. “Such actions can and do have serious real-world consequences.”
But in cases where intent and harm are less clear, Rowley said police are forced by government rules to record the complaint as a crime and investigate it fully.
“I don’t believe we should be policing toxic culture wars debates,” he said. “Officers are currently in an impossible position.”
