On Lucy Connolly's Release and Free Speech in the UK
Understanding Two-Tier Justice Accusations
Dear subscribers,
Today, Lucy Connolly was freed from prison, having served ten months of a 31-month sentence at HMP Peterborough. Anyone who considers themselves a Reformer, a Conservative, or part of any other political movement that is not in power currently should take lessons from this.
Many, including Connolly herself, believe that her imprisonment was politically motivated. There seems to be evidence for this claim. The Telegraph has highlighted that paedophiles, rapists, terror offenders and domestic abusers have all received shorter sentences than her.
So, is this another example of Keir’s ‘Two-Tier Justice’ in Britain?
Who is Lucy Connolly?
Connolly, a self-declared ‘nobody’, is a 42-year-old childminder from Northampton. Her son sadly died after NHS blunders. She has another child, a daughter. She only pleaded guilty as she believed she would be out by Christmas for her daughter’s sake. She is a Conservative councillor’s wife. Sounds pretty normal, right?
The internet has been awash with vitriolic comments towards her. Some more offensive than what she said in her original tweet, in my opinion. So, what did she actually say?
The Post Itself
Connolly’s post called for the burning of migrant hotels after the Southport murders. She admits it was not her ‘finest moment’ but she was in a ‘red mist’ of anger about the killing of innocent children. She was grieving the death of her son as a result of NHS blunders. She was angry. Many were.
Importantly, she deleted her social media post four hours after it was posted. But by then, the police had already decided to arrest her. She was not granted bail, which is highly unusual.
It begs the question: with our cities more dangerous than ever, with our only ‘world leader’ status being in phone theft and knife crime, with our social fabric tearing, was this a good use of prison space and police time?
Two Tier Justice
I do not want to live in a country where every single online post I make could be used as evidence to lock me up. Most people would agree. In Starmer’s Britain, we are already seeing censorship of right-wing voices due to the Online Safety Act. We have already seen attempts by the Home Office to have access to encrypted Apple data. Now, we see people going to prison for tweets.
As a believer in a small-state, I abhor this level of government snooping. I would say the same regardless of who was in charge. British humour has always been provocative and free speech is one of our most fundamental rights. We have exported free speech around the world. Yet we have forgotten our own principles.
Many have compared the Ricky Jones case, where a Labour councillor was found not guilty of a public order offence for calling for the throats of Southport protesters to be ‘cut’, to Lucy’s ordeal. Whilst there are differences between the cases, namely that Lucy pleaded guilty, one thing is clear.
Justice is not being seen to be done. This is a fundamental aspect of the rule of law; justice should be done and people should believe that they are all treated equally in front of the law.
The numbers speak for themselves; over 60% of British people now believe that there is political bias in our courts.
Where Do We Go From Here?
I am delighted that Lucy Connolly remained defiant and is now talking about her experience in the media. Having watched her interview, I think she spoke eloquently and defiantly.
Readers of all political persuasions, I ask that you support Lucy as she goes to meet the Trump administration to discuss free speech in Britain. If you do not stand up for the right to free speech, you too may find yourself, one day, in this predicament. No one should go through what Lucy has been through.