Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley has said his force has been left in an “impossible position” following the arrest of Father Ted creator Graham Linehan at Heathrow Airport. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner said officers should not be “policing toxic culture wars debates” and pointed the finger of blame at the Government.
Sir Mark called for the law to be changed and said the force will now only take action on social media abuse “where there is a clear risk of harm or disorder”. Without naming Linehan, he appeared to acknowledge that his was a “lesser” case, adding that “where there is ambiguity in terms of intent and harm, policing has been left between a rock and a hard place by successive governments”.
The statement comes as a row raged over the arrest of Linehan, 57, who said he had been detained by five armed officers at Heathrow over social media posts about trans people. The Bafta-winning writer claimed online that after being escorted to a private area, officers informed him he had been held “for three tweets”.
Several high-profile figures condemned the arrest, with author JK Rowling labelling it “utterly deplorable” and Elon Musk describing the UK as a “police state”. When asked about the arrest at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer said the police must “focus on the most serious issues”.
Sir Mark’s statement explained that the arrest was made under the Public Order Act after a post that included a threat to “punch him in the balls” regarding a trans-identified male in a female-only space. He added: “Most reasonable people would agree that genuine threats of physical violence against an identified person or group should be acted upon by officers.” However, he stressed that for lesser cases, officers are left with no choice but to record such incidents as crimes when reported.
