Adam Brooks has found himself in a rather heated debate with Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Deborah Meaden on social media.
The millionaire investor caused uproar on the social media platform as she questioned the claim that people in the UK could find themselves cancelled, sacked or even arrested for expressing mere opinions.
Mr Brooks, who has been a vocal opponent of cancel culture over the years, promptly disputed Ms Meaden’s position on the issue.
The debate erupted when Mr Brooks took to X to express his bemusement at the current state of affairs and risks at play when it comes to expressing opinions in the United Kingdom.
Adam Brooks is a regular on the People’s Channel
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GB NEWS
“We live in a country where saying your honest opinion out loud, can get you cancelled, sacked or even arrested. How did we get here?” Mr Brooks queried.
A number of his 427.5k followers replied with their suggestions, but among the replies was Ms Meaden, who simply asked: “Examples?”
Mr Brooks promptly replied: “Theres literally thousands available online Deborah, but a recent story for you highlights my point perfectly…”
The pub owner then included a link to a news story that explained how a primary school teacher was allegedly “banned for telling a Muslim child that Britain is a Christian country”.
Deborah Meaden is a star of Dragons’ Den
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BBC
Mr Brooks added: “Try searching people sacked for opinions on trans, immigration, religion, protests etc.
“You cannot be this stupid, or are you simply trolling?” he asked the Dragons’ Den star.
Ms Meaden bluntly replied: “Or, indeed simply fact checking.” (sic)
Mr Brooks fired back: “You’ve embarrassed yourself again, just like over your FTSE 100 tweet.
Deborah Meaden and Adam Brooks clashed on social media
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X
“Here’s a few high profile cases for you amongst the thousands of people sacked or cancelled for opinions…” (sic)
The People’s Channel regular included a post from Grok, which listed reported incidents in the UK where people have been sacked from their jobs, cancelled, or arrested for giving their opinion.
These included the arrest of Graham Linehan, the sentencing of Lucy Connolly, and the police questioning of the Telegraph columnist, Allison Pearson.
Mr Brooks summed up the exchange in a separate X post: “Another corker from @DeborahMeaden… Deborah doesn’t believe that people are sacked, cancelled or arrested in the UK for opinions.
“I must have imagined those cases on trans, immigration, religion & even on people being suspended or sacked for liking or sharing a Tommy Robinson post.”
Mr Brooks was far from the only public figure to dispute Ms Meaden’s questioning of the claim.
British tax expert and gender-critical activist Maya Forstater shared a link to a BBC article about her case. She explained: “I lost my job for saying that men can not be women. I was told that this is not inclusive.”
Meanwhile, a dance teacher named Rosie Kay similarly replied to Ms Meaden. Ms Kay explained what happened to her in a Times column titled: “I resigned from my own dance company after I was accused of transphobia.”
Graham Linehan was arrested over his social media posts last year
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PAElsewhere, children’s author Rachel Rooney also added to the discussion: “Not sacked but I was bullied out of children’s publishing for writing a picture book My Body is Me! which encouraged very young children to love the body they are in.”
However, Ms Meaden did receive some support from her fans, including one X user who fired back at Mr Brooks.
“Adam. 70 million people in this country. You will always find daft examples and cases on Social Media,” they argued. “Some big accounts make a nice income amplifying for outrage and clicks. It’s good to touch grass sometimes.”
The Times published a report in early 2025 that alleged that police were making more than 30 arrests a day over offensive posts on social media. Overall, this equated to over 12,000 annual arrests of this kind.