Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said police forces should concentrate on “what matters most to their communities” rather than responding to tweets, amid an ongoing controversy over an investigation into Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson.
Speaking to reporters en route to the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Starmer said it was a matter for individual police forces to make operational decisions and be held accountable for them. He added that a review of the issue was underway.
Essex Police are investigating an allegation of inciting racial hatred against Pearson over a deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, in which she reportedly labelled protesters as “Jew haters”. The force said it was liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as part of a criminal investigation.
Pearson has denied being a racist and claimed her tweet was “fairly innocuous” and did not incite violence. She said police had initially treated it as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) but later upgraded it to an offence under the Public Order Act. Essex Police have denied telling her it was an NCHI and released a transcript from body-worn video showing an officer stating the potential offence.
The case has sparked a fierce debate about free speech and the policing of social media posts, with shadow home secretary Chris Philp calling for the rules on NCHIs to be reviewed.
