Mea Maxima Culpa

On Tuesday 7th January, Jan joined many others in Trafalgar Square to stand in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo and honour the victims from ten years ago. The commemoration took on an added poignancy when a group of French students, visiting the square by chance, spontaneously joined the gathering. Together, they reaffirmed the enduring importance of protecting free expression from those who would seek to destroy it. You can watch a clip of Jan’s speech here. As you may have seen in the Telegraph, FSU member Saba Poursaeedi is fighting back after being penalised by his employer for his involvement in Reform UK. Saba was working for the Hightown Housing Association and had applied for – and been offered – a promotion to a more senior role. However, Hightown withdrew the job offer, despite his exemplary work record, when it discovered he was a regional organiser for Reform UK and hoped to stand as a candidate. His employer claimed Reform UK’s policies on immigration, net zero, and green belt development were incompatible with Hightown’s ‘values’. You can find out more about Saba’s case and donate here. Toby also interviewed Saba about his ordeal, and you can watch that video here. The Mail reported this week that the boss of a speech and language therapy group has been forced to issue a grovelling apology following a five-month investigation – because he followed Tommy Robinson on X. Steve Jamieson did not ‘like’ or repost any views of the far-right agitator but still faced calls to resign from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT). The RCSLT appointed a sub-committee which instructed a barrister to investigate the ‘incident’, which likely cost tens of thousands of pounds. In what can only be described as a ‘Mea Culpa’ statement, he wrote: ‘I am deeply sorry for the hurt, upset, distress, fear and anger that this caused members, colleagues and staff.’ We end today’s episode with an update on forthcoming FSU events. ‘That's Debatable!’  is edited by Jason Clift.