That’s Debatable!

That’s Debatable!

Welcome to ‘That’s Debatable!’, the weekly podcast of the Free Speech Union. Hosts Connie Shaw and Jan Macvarish – both staffers at the FSU – talk about the free speech controversies that have erupted in the past week. Edited by Jason Clift. Please like, subscribe and share. Thank you.

Episodes

October 15, 2025 26 mins
FREE SPEECH UNION MEMBERS GET 20% DISCOUNT ON BATTLE OF IDEAS TICKETS! Find them here: https://freespeechunion.org/event/battle-of-ideas-festival-2025   Baroness Fox of Buckley founded the Academy of Ideas 25 years ago and it continues to put on the UK’s biggest freedom of speech festival every year. Claire explains how we must go about tackling the free speech crisis, and what better place to do that than at the Battle of Ideas.  ...
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This week, Jan Macvarish speaks to the FSU’s Director of Projects Stephen O’Grady about the continuing case of Hamit Coskun, the asylum-seeker from Turkey who the FSU is helping appeal his conviction for a public order offence.

As an act of political protest, against the Turkish government that had previously tortured and imprisoned him, Hamit burned a copy of the Quran, out...

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Connie Shaw   18:54 (11 minutes ago)       to me               In this week’s That’s Debateable!, hosts Vinay Kapoor and Connie Shaw discuss:
  • The new academic year in a post-Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act world, and what needs to be done to restore the university experience.
  • They relay their visit to LSE campus where they spoke to a variety of students from different ca...
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September 23, 2025 37 mins

This week, Connie and Jan discuss the extraordinary level of interest in the case of Deborah Anderson, the Free Speech Union member and American citizen who filmed a visit from a British police officer who wished to talk to her about her ‘upsetting’ Facebook posts. The video has been viewed over 6 million times on X alone. Deborah’s indignant defence of her speech rights in the face of state overreach h...

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September 15, 2025 43 mins

This week on That’s Debatable…

Charlie Kirk, a bastion for free speech and open debate, was tragically assassinated last week. Everyone at The FSU is still holding the wife and young children of Charlie Kirk in our thoughts and prayers.

Jan describes her experience witnessing The Unite the Kingdom march for free speech that took place on 13th September, where many Free Speech Union members were present. 

The Leader of the Oppositio...

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September 10, 2025 44 mins

Jan Macvarish is joined by Vinay Kapoor who runs the Free Speech Union’s funding stream for students and young people, the Ian Mactaggart Programme.

They begin by responding to the outrageous arrest of comedy writer Graham Linehan by five armed police officers at Heathrow Airport. Graham has not yet been charged but police are investigating him for three tweets posted earlie...

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Celeste, an FSU Case Officer, and External Affairs Officer Connie discuss what goes on behind the scenes at the FSU, what case officers do when they receive your emails to the help@freespeechunion.org line, and what tactics they deploy against those who try to silence you.    Cases and news of note include:
  • The Islamophobia definition delayed down to the FSU’s pressure on the government 
  • Disabled 8 year old boy banned from ...
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Lucy Connolly, the child minder who was jailed for 31 months for a single tweet, has been released from prison.

The Free Speech Union funded her appeal in May 2025. In this episode, Toby Young answers some common questions surrounding Lucy Connolly’s case.

Edited by Jason Clift

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This week on That’s Debatable…

The Free Speech Union had a trip to Margate beach to protest Thanet District Council’s new Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO). Being so broad and over-reaching, the PSPO is likely unlawful and has the effect of banning swearing in public and taking the mickey! The FSU are threatening legal action if Thanet District Council does not alter the wording of the PSPO.

Along with JD Vance’s visit to the U...

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July 29, 2025 33 mins

This week Connie and Jan discuss the Public Spaces Protection Order that has been passed by Thanet District Council (TDC). In the summer of 2024, the FSU threatened legal action when TDC proposed a similar measure. This is their second attempt, and there are still serious concerns that it will infringe on speech rights and is likely to be unlawful – the swearing ban!

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/council-launches-fresh-b...

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This week, Connie and Jan discuss a new report released by the Government’s Commission for Countering Extremism (CCE). The CCE Freedom of Expression Survey asked 2000 people in England and Wales about their views on free speech with regard to politics, religion, race, immigration, climate change and transgender issues. It claims to reveal a ‘nuanced landscape of public opinion on free speech’ and highli...

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July 15, 2025 24 mins

In a special episode of That's Debatable, FSU founder and General Secretary Lord Young talks to Fiyaz Mughal, the founder of Tell MAMA and Faith Matters, about the government's determination to adopt an official definition of 'Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred' and the chilling effect it is likely to have on free speech.

That's Debatable is edited by Jason Clift

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July 8, 2025 43 mins

Connie and Jan begin by discussing the furore arising from last week’s Glastonbury Festival, when rap duo Bob Vylan led a crowd of thousands in chanting ‘Death, death to the IDF’. Some commentators have demanded that police investigate the rapper for incitement to violence while others greeted his words as a morally impassioned politically justifiable performance. Many drew parallels with Lucy Connolly,...

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That’s Debatable! is the weekly podcast of the Free Speech Union. Hosts Lynsey Metcalfe and Jan MacVarish – both staffers at the FSU – talk about the free speech controversies that have erupted in the past week. Please like, subscribe and share.

Jan is joined this week by FSU Case Officer Lynsey Metcalfe. They discuss stories of more ‘rainbow refuseniks’ – in this case, two footballers who have been punished by the French footballi...

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That’s Debatable!’ is the weekly podcast of the Free Speech Union. Hosts Connie Shaw and Jan MacVarish – both staffers at the FSU – talk about the free speech controversies that have erupted in the past week. Please like, subscribe and share.

This week Jan and Connie discuss the robust guidance issued by the Office for Students in relation to free speech, and the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 which comes into force ...

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June 16, 2025 41 mins

That’s Debatable!’ is the weekly podcast of the Free Speech Union. Hosts Tom Harris and Jan MacVarish – both staffers at the FSU – talk about the free speech controversies that have erupted in the past week. Please like, subscribe and share.

In this week’s episode, Jan Macvarish and Connie Shaw discuss the FSU’s campaign against the ‘banter ban’. Connie describes legislative...

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June 10, 2025 45 mins

That’s Debatable!’ is the weekly podcast of the Free Speech Union. Hosts Tom Harris and Jan MacVarish – both staffers at the FSU – talk about the free speech controversies that have erupted in the past week. Please like, subscribe and share.

In this week’s episode, Jan Macvarish and Connie Shaw discuss the FSU’s campaign against the ‘banter ban’. Connie describes legislative...

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June 3, 2025 43 mins

That’s Debatable!’ is the weekly podcast of the Free Speech Union. Hosts Tom Harris and Jan MacVarish – both staffers at the FSU – talk about the free speech controversies that have erupted in the past week. Please like, subscribe and share.

This week, the Free Speech Union’s Education and Events Director Jan Macvarish takes the steering wheel as Tom Harris is away. She is joined by the Free Speech Union’s Case Management Officer L...

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May 20, 2025 38 mins

With the FSU’s backing, Lucy Connolly, jailed for a tweet about migrants that she posted following the Southport murders, has been fighting her 31-month sentence in the Court of Appeal. Although a verdict was expected on Thursday when the hearing concluded, the Court will now be providing a written judgement, somewhat vaguely scheduled for “as soon as possible”. Allison Pearson has written a powerful pi...

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May 13, 2025 36 mins

Julian Foulkes, a retired Special Constable, was arrested and held in a cell for eight hours over a tweet warning about the threat to British Jews posed by the pro-Palestinian marches. In October of 2023, he responded to another tweet criticising Suella Braverman for describing the pro-Palestinian protests that were sweeping the country in the aftermath of the massacre in Southern Israel as ‘hate marches’. As reported in the Telegr...

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