The government needs to look at whether police are “getting the balance right”, Wes Streeting has said after the arrest of the co-writer of Father Ted over posts on social media.
The health secretary told Sky News with Wilfred Frost that he can’t comment on the specifics of the case involving Graham Linehan – who also created the Black Books and The IT Crowd comedies – as operational police decisions are “rightly independent of politicians”.
Linehan said on Tuesday he was arrested at Heathrow Airport, over social media posts sharing his views on trans rights.
But Mr Streeting said more generally that the government would rather see “police on the streets rather than policing tweets”.
The cabinet member added: “It’s the easiest thing in the world for people to criticise the police, but they are enforcing laws that parliament has passed and asked them to enforce.
“So if we haven’t got the balance right, as Parliament over successive governments, that is something that we need to look at because the Home Secretary is very clear about what her priorities are”.
He said that those priorities are neighbourhood policing and keeping borders safe.
Mr Linehan’s arrest has sparked a fresh debate about free speech in the UK.
Writing on Substack, the 57-year-old said that after flying into the UK from Arizona, he was detained by five armed officers at Heathrow Airport and put in a cell before being questioned over posts published on X in April.
