Writing from London

Writing from London

The UK as the world’s censor

Free speech update

Nick Cohen's avatar
Nick Cohen
Nov 05, 2025
∙ Paid
girl in white crew neck t-shirt and blue denim shorts

The Spectator has run my post from yesterday on how the Chinese are now using the enormous fees British libel lawyers charge as a weapon to silence their critics.

They’ve put it under the headline “Keir Starmer is letting China abuse our libel laws.” It’s a Conservative paper and naturally it doesn’t think much of Starmer (or of communist China, now you …

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Writing from London to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Nick Cohen
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture