Underneath leftist Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the UK is sinking ever deeper within the censorship quagmire, signaling an authoritarian future the place free-speech will likely be utterly criminalized.
However that’s not to say there was no pushback from the British society.
Now, a retired police constable has been awarded some measure of justice within the type of compensation of £20,000 [US$ 27,000] after a wrongful arrest over one social media put up through which he warned about rising anti-Semitism.
The police haven’t simply been arresting residents over memes—they’ve gone after their very own former officers.
You most likely didn’t hear about this case, however in November 2023, Kent Police arrested retired particular constable Julian Foulkes.
His so-called crime?
Posting a warning about… pic.twitter.com/Zb8oIyJNxH
— The Stark Bare Temporary. (@StarkNakedBrief) May 10, 2025
The Telegraph reported:
“Julian Foulkes, from Gillingham, Kent, was handcuffed at his residence by six officers after replying to a pro-Palestinian activist on X. Kent Law enforcement officials searched his residence and commented on his ‘very Brexity’ guide assortment. The power detained the 71-year-old for eight hours, interrogated and issued him with a warning after officers visited his residence on Nov 2 2023.”
Again in Could, Kent Police admitted that the warning was a mistake and deleted it from Foulkes’s report.
Kent’s chief constable Tim Smith phoned Foulkes personally and provided an apology for the ‘ordeal’.
A letter despatched to Foulkes’ legal professionals confirmed the Police power agrees to a settlement, after Foulkes launched a authorized problem supported by the Free Speech Union (FSU) for wrongful arrest and detention.
“The letter, despatched by a lawyer for the power, learn: ‘I’m instructed to simply accept the provide of early decision with out recourse to litigation by cost of compensation within the sum of £20,000 plus your shopper’s cheap authorized charges in full and remaining settlement of all potential claims arising from his arrest on Nov 2 2023’.”
The case of Julian Foulkes appears like a joke, nevertheless it exposes one thing surprising. The UK police must be reformed, urgently.
Weeks after October 7, Foulkes, a retired police officer, had his residence searched, was handcuffed, and brought to the police station. They discovered nothing… pic.twitter.com/fRjL6uJI5q
— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) May 11, 2025
Foulkes is happy that Kent Police adopted their apology with compensation.
“’Nonetheless, this was by no means about cash’, he mentioned. ‘For me, it was a easy matter of proper and mistaken and I now have to see that the complete investigation I’ve been promised takes place and crucial actions are taken to stop any recurrence’.”
On Friday (Could 30), Kent Police took the weird step of referring itself to the Unbiased Workplace for Police Conduct (IOPC).
“Mr. Foulkes’s X put up replied to an activist threatening to sue Suella Braverman, the house secretary on the time, for calling pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London ‘hate marches’. Within the put up, despatched two days earlier than police visited his residence, Mr Foulkes wrote: ‘One step away from storming Heathrow on the lookout for Jewish arrivals…’”
What Foulkes’s was referring to have been the information studies of ‘an anti-Semitic mob’ storming an airport in Dagestan, Russia, ‘on the lookout for Jewish passengers’.
Bryn Harris, chief authorized counsel for the FSU:
“’The [FSU] is happy to see that Kent Police has performed the suitable factor and apologized to Julian, with due compensation. That is, nevertheless, merely the tip of the start – we now have to see a full and credible investigation into the outrageous violations of Julian’s primary freedoms’.”
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