During his regular LBC phone-in, Keir Starmer was asked by one listener for his thoughts on the latest free speech saga. According to reports in the Telegraph, the Brexit activist Darren Grimes has been called in for questioning by the Met police over comments David Starkey made on his podcast.
Starmer responded with characteristic indecision when asked whether Starkey’s unpleasant comments warranted police investigation. He told listeners:
I think it does sometimes have to involve the police, unfortunately. When I was director of public prosecutions there was a lot of focus on whether what people say on social media should be policed or not. There’s got to be a level of tolerance, of course. But there is a line that can be crossed and it’s very important that when it is crossed there is [police] involvement, in some cases prosecutions.
Starmer’s time at the Crown Prosecution Service did indeed come under scrutiny over the question of the legal limits of free speech on social media. The erstwhile DPP controversially decided to prosecute Paul Chambers, then 26, for tweeting in January 2010:
Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!
Chambers was arrested by anti-terror officers a week after he sent the tweet and was eventually found guilty at Doncaster Magistrates — despite the seemingly obvious fact that the tweet was a joke.
According to Observer reports, denied at the time, the CPS realised the absurdity of the case and told Chambers that prosecutors would not oppose an appeal — only for Sir Keir to push ahead with his attempt to uphold the conviction.
A true model of ‘tolerance’…
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