Failure to protect free speech could cost Labour votes at next election, says Liberty

Protesters at a ‘united not divided’ rally in London in September 2024. Photograph: Martin Pope/Zuma Press/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Protesters at a ‘united not divided’ rally in London in September 2024. Photograph: Martin Pope/Zuma Press/Shutterstock Failure to protect free speech could cost Labour votes at next election, says Liberty Polling for rights group shows issue is concern for voters and many feel recent policies have had negative effect Free speech will be a big concern for voters at the next general election, with the government’s current approach on the issue perceived , polling suggests. Three in five people said a political party’s position on free speech would affect how they voted at a general election. The human rights organisation Liberty, which commissioned the polling from More in Common, claimed the results showed that Labour’s failure to protect free speech could cost it votes. A significant proportion of those polled felt certain policies and rhetoric . For example, two in five said arrests of people for holding signs in support of the banned group Palestine Action had had a negative effect on freedom of speech. That compared with one in five who said it was positive. Only about one in seven thought Andy Burnham cared more about protecting free speech than his predecessor, Keir Starmer. Akiko Hart, the director of Liberty, said: “The ability to express ourselves freely makes us all who we are, and free speech is of vital importance to the British public. These findings should serve as a stark wake-up call for the government, which has lost the public’s confidence on protecting this fundamental human right. “We’re fortunate to live in a nation shaped , which means differences of opinion and sometimes uncomfortable views that could upset or offend others. This requires the government to adopt a consistent, non-partisan approach to safeguard everyone’s right to speak freely while protecting people from discrimination.” Graph on voter opinions on free speechThe polling, released ahead of a joint Liberty and More in Common panel event at the Labour party conference on Monday, also found that more than a third of people believe politicians calling for phrases to be banned at protests is bad for free speech, compared with just over a quarter who think it is positive. When asked about police getting greater powers to restrict protests or marches, a similar proportion – a third – believed it was good as thought it was bad.