Exclusive: Matt discusses UK free speech crisis with top expert Michael Shellenberger

A one-hour discussion on the latest events in the UK

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The United Kingdom, as we’ve consistently tracked right here on this Substack, is in the midst of a free speech crisis.

Increasingly, millions of Brits feel they cannot say what they really think and challenge the liberal progressive orthodoxy.

Whether it’s the rise of ‘non-crime hate incidents’, hate laws, or expanded definitions of terms like ‘Islamophobia’, many of us feel the public square narrowing as the ruling class try to control the supply and flow of information and debate.

Which is why, against the backdrop of the latest scandal this weekend, which saw six police officers arrest two parents who had complained about their local school on a WhatsApp group, I sat down to discuss this crisis with top censorship expert Michael Shellenberger, who has been tracking similar developments in the US.

Michael Shellenberger, in case you don’t know, is the best-selling author of San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities and Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All.

Michael also oversees Public, the Substack whose mission is to break big stories on the most important issues of the day, from the censorship industrial complex and the decline of major cities to mental health and addiction to energy and the environment.

He is one of the leading commentators in North America who has consistently been ahead of the curve on many issues.

Yesterday, Michael and I talked for an hour about the spiralling free speech crisis in the UK, and covered a lot of ground, including —the recent scandal of police arresting parents, non-crime hate incidents, the new definition of ‘Islamophobia’, the reaction to Southport, ‘Two-Tier’ Keir Starmer, the new sentencing guidelines, the attack on free speech in the universities, and more.

Here’s the full chat exclusively for our paid subscribers who make our work possible. There will be lots more conversations like this one in the months to come as we continue to shape the conversation and push back against the broken status-quo …

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