The Free Speech Union has condemned a growing “snowflake mentality” after police visited a grandmother’s home over Facebook posts criticising Labour councillors.
Dr Benjamin Jones of the Free Speech Union said the case showed “how low the threshold is getting” in Britain’s democracy.
The incident has sparked fresh concerns about freedom of expression after officers questioned Helen Jones, 54, at her Stockport home for Facebook posts.
Two plain-clothes detectives arrived at Jones’s home last Tuesday at 1.30pm whilst she was looking after her baby grandson nearby.
Dr Benjamin Jones of the Free Speech Union said the case showed “how low the threshold is getting” in Britain’s democracy
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Jones had posted comments on Facebook groups calling for Councillor David Sedgwick to resign following revelations about offensive WhatsApp messages.
Speaking to GB News, Free Speech Union’s Dr Benjamin Jones: “My theory about this is that there needs to be much better filtering from the police at the earliest possible stages.
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“The police seem to be predisposed to accept complaints from members of the public and to record non-crime hate incidents to show that something is being done.
“I think, actually, the police need to get much better at simply saying no. They need to say, This is not a police matter. This is not something were going to waste our time on. You are wasting our time by bringing this to our attention.”
He added: “What I would say on that point is that, particularly since the Brexit referendum, I think there has been a growing snowflake mentality among people in public life.
“We’ve seen a case in the last fortnight where were being told again that judges and their decisions ought not to be criticised. That is anti-democratic.
“This case shows how low the threshold is getting. If you cannot even say that your local councillor is hopeless and ought to resign, its just extraordinary.
“It should not be a police matter for somebody to say that their local councillor, their local MP, or a decision made by a judge is wrong.”
In one Facebook post on the 4Heatons Hub group, Mrs Jones had written: “Let’s hope he does the decent thing and resigns. I somehow think his ego won’t allow it.”
Plain clothes police officers showed up at the grandmothers door
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Jones told The Mail: “It was actually quite scary. It made me think I best just keep quiet for the rest of my life, because you just can’t say anything these days.”
“I’m living my life day to day, law-abiding, and then suddenly I’ve got the police at the door showing a warrant card,” she added.
The school administrator says she now feels too terrified to post on social media again.
