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The Metropolitan police have declined to drop their investigation into the comedy writer Graham Linehan for tweets about trans issues, and said that the law used by officers to detain him needs reviewing.
The Met commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said on Wednesday officers should not be “policing toxic culture wars debates”, and while any review took place, officers would investigate only more serious cases concerning online messages.
Rowley said “policing has been left between a rock and a hard place by successive governments”.
The new Met statement followed a largely hostile reaction to the arrest of Linehan on Monday as he arrived at Heathrow airport on a flight from the US.
He was arrested for allegedly inciting violence and detained by officers at the airport, who are routinely armed.
In a statement, Rowley said: “On Monday, officers arrested a man in his 50s at Heathrow in relation to allegations of inciting violence, linked to posts on X. The officers involved in the arrest had reasonable grounds to believe an offence had been committed under the Public Order Act.
“While the decision to investigate and ultimately arrest the man was made within existing legislation – which dictates that a threat to punch someone from a protected group could be an offence – I understand the concern caused by such incidents given differing perspectives on the balance between free speech and the risks of inciting violence in the real world.
“Most reasonable people would agree that genuine threats of physical violence against an identified person or group should be acted upon by officers. Such actions can and do have serious and violent real-world implications.
“But when it comes to lesser cases, where there is ambiguity in terms of intent and harm, policing has been left between a rock and a hard place by successive governments who have given officers no choice but to record such incidents as crimes when they’re reported. Then they are obliged to follow all lines of inquiry and take action as appropriate.
“I don’t believe we should be policing toxic culture wars debates and officers are currently in an impossible position. I have offered to provide suggestions to the Home Office on where the law and policy should be clarified. Greater clarity and common sense would enable us to limit the resources we dedicate to tackling online statements to those cases creating real threats in the real world. If agreed, we could be ready to test new approaches quickly, within a matter of weeks.
“As an immediate way of protecting our officers from the situation we find ourselves in today, we will be putting in place a more stringent triaging process to make sure only the most serious cases are taken forward in future – where there is a clear risk of harm or disorder.
“But officers across the country will have to make similar decisions in future unless the law and guidance is changed or clarified. I hope to see this happen without delay so policing’s focus can be squarely on tackling priority issues like street crime and serious violence.”
Linehan, 57, is best known as the co-writer of the Father Ted comedy series and has been vocal about trans issues on social media.
The Guardian understands the Met is now talking to the Crown Prosecution Service, which decides whether criminal charges should be brought.
Linehan said he was met by five armed officers after flying in from Arizona and told he was under arrest over the tweets.
Writing on Substack, the 57-year-old said he was taken to a cell and then questioned over the posts, published on X in April. He said the posts related to him challenging a “trans-identified male” in a “female-only space”.
Linehan said after questioning by police that his blood pressure “was over 200 – stroke territory” and he was taken to hospital and kept under observation before being discharged and released on bail.
In its first statement the Met said: “On Monday, 1 September, at 1pm officers arrested a man at Heathrow airport after he arrived on an inbound American Airlines flight.
“The man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence. This is in relation to posts on X.
“After being taken to police custody, officers became concerned for his health and he was taken to hospital. His condition is neither life-threatening nor life-changing. He has now been bailed pending further investigation.
“The arrest was made by officers from the MPS aviation unit. It is routine for officers policing airports to carry firearms. These were not drawn or used at any point during the arrest.”
