The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

Father Ted is one of my favourite comedy shows. It’s eccentric, mild-mannered and gently satirical – a wonderful piece of work. It was written by two Irishmen and performed by a selection of others. It’s a jewel of Irish culture. This is no small claim. However, it was made by a British company and first aired by Channel 4. Its creators are cultural benefactors.

One of the two of them is Graham Linehan. Unfortunately, he is now more known for being smeared as a “transphobe” than for his creative writing. When I saw him at the Battle of Ideas in London last year, he had the eyes of a wounded beast. For years, his life has been torn apart by vicious enemies and most friends have melted away as cowards will. It takes a special kind of courage for such a gentle soul to stand alone as friends and colleagues deserted him. He could easily, as most of us do, just hide away from this insanity.

He has sympathy for those few people with actual gender dysphoria – who doesn’t? He has questions and concerns however (like every sane human) about the extension of the definition of transgender so far that, for example, men imprisoned for rape can just choose to be locked up with women by putting on a shit wig and lippy and adopting a stripper name.

For the extremists now controlling the public agenda, sympathy, tolerance and a spirit of reasonable enquiry are not on. They demand that you enable them. They want to compel your speech if not your thoughts. If you believe womanhood is not just a costume to be worn or are concerned about the child abuse involved in “gender affirming care” for minors, then – for them – you are no better than a Nazi.

Not that most of these nut-jobs can define a Nazi, any more than they can define a woman.

Not just his friendships and his business relationships but his marriage ended amid all the turmoil. He has said that his ex-wife…

… was scared. She was justifiably scared. They started to target her. They started to target her family. It just got too much for her

He has been on anti-anxiety medicine for years since first having been targeted by “trans rights” activists. He considered suicide during the COVID-19 lockdowns as he had lost work and relationships and was completely alone.

The last straw was being arrested by five policeman on landing at Heathrow Airport recently. I am sure the police have no serious expectation of securing a conviction here. The arrest was more likely performative. It was probably intended to silence gender-critical thinkers in general. Setting a bail condition that he ceases to post on x.com speaks to the freedom-chilling intent of those I was brought up to think of as my protectors and friends, but whom I have come to regard as state thugs.

I can only apologise to Graham for the way he’s been treated by, not just the authorities in England, but our commercial and social elites. I am profoundly sorry and ashamed that, due to idiotic, cowardly and unkind behaviour by those who should know better, he has become so afraid of my country that he’s seeking political asylum elsewhere. I would never have believed in my youth that one day people would flee Britain to seek asylum from the enemies of freedom. I am horrified, ashamed and disgusted that it’s happening.

I wish Graham well in America. God knows its main leftwing party, its press and academics are just as crazy as ours, but it has the blessing of its Constitution. May that wonderful document continue to be a shield for him and all those yearning to be free.

Meanwhile those of us still stuck here must reflect on what this means. As Spiked wrote recently;

It is a great shame that in the UK – a nation that once exported the very idea of liberty to the world – comedians are arrested for jokes and mothers for angry X posts. It is more important now than ever to defend the freedoms that once made Britain so great. We must protect the right to express one’s views, no matter how offensive or grotesque.

Amen to that. Now, how do we go about it without violence?