The police watchdog has found that the Metropolitan Police may have unfairly arrested Irish comedian and Father Ted creator Graham Linehan because of his gender-critical views. Last year, five armed Met officers arrested Graham Linehan as he arrived at Heathrow from Arizona and took him in for questioning. While in custody, his blood pressure rose so high that he was rushed to A&E in the early hours of the morning. His alleged offence? Three gender-critical posts on X. With the support of the Free Speech Union, Mr Linehan sent the Met a pre-action letter arguing that his arrest was unlawful and breached his right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. He also complained to the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, asking it to investigate his arrest and detention in September 2025. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has now ruled that the Met’s investigation “did not go far enough” and its findings were “not reasonable or proportionate”. The force must reinvestigate the complaints, including whether Mr Linehan was treated unfairly because of his gender-critical views, which are protected under the Equality Act. In response, Mr Linehan said: “The so-called complainant in this case has made scores of spurious claims, as evidenced by the High Court claims that he has lost. “The only possible reason the Met acted in the extreme way they did was political bias. That the Met sought to cover this up is yet more evidence of a two-tier approach to the policing of this debate.” Read more from FSU Campaigns Officer @MaxHThompson below 👇