Lucy Connolly, the mother who was jailed for a social media post, is to be made a guest of honour in Parliament.
Connolly, 41, was locked up at HMP Peterborough in October after being found guilty of inciting “racial hatred”.
In the aftermath of Axel Rudakubana’s Southport murders, the mum wrote “mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******** for all I care” on social media, before deleting it a few hours later.
Lucy Connolly was jailed for a social media post
The petition, kicked off by ex-Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe, has secured nearly 200,000 signatures after it was started in June – though it is still waiting for a debate date.
“We believe imprisoning individuals for posts on social media sets a dangerous precedent and raises wider questions about freedom of expression,” he said as he launched it.
After consulting Connolly’s family, Lowe said he was “pleased” to confirm that she would be in attendance as a guest of honour.
“Evidently, Lucy is better qualified to talk on this than all of us,” he said.
“I will of course be relaying her experience. 10 MPs signed my motion in Parliament on Lucy’s unfair imprisonment – independents, Conservatives, Northern Irish and even a Labour MP supported it.
“I look forward to welcoming Lucy and her family to Parliament. What they have been put through is abhorrent.”
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Connolly will be welcomed to Westminster when a debate date is set for Rupert Lowe’s petition
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After consulting Connolly’s family, Lowe said he was ‘pleased’ to confirm that she would be in attendance
Lowe’s early day motion has so far been signed by Gavin Williamson, Mary Glindon, Peter Bedford, Andrew Rosindell, Lewis Cocking, Sammy Wilson, Gregory Campbell, Charlie Dewhurst and Alex Easton.
Left-wing hardliners Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell had temporarily signed the motion, before swiftly withdrawing it – with both claiming administrative errors had played a role.
Connolly’s case has long fuelled “two-tier justice” warnings in Britain – and has even been elevated to the White House.
American political commentator and activist Charlie Kirk pledged to take Connolly’s case right to the top of the Trump administration following a landmark interview with GB News – with the American State Department later confirming it was “monitoring” the matter.
Elsewhere on Britain’s News Channel, Lowe’s former colleague Richard Tice, after visiting Connolly in jail, revealed that she had been left covered in bruises after “politically motivated” mistreatment behind bars.
FREE SPEECH SUPRESSED – READ MORE:
Richard Tice revealed that Connolly had been left covered in bruises after ‘politically motivated’ mistreatment behind bars
In prison, she was unexpectedly moved to a wing housing the most violent inmates, where she faces 23-hour lockdowns in conditions Tice called “inexplicable” for someone with an “immaculate record in prison”.
“I genuinely fear she is essentially a political prisoner, held effectively at the behest indirectly of the Prime Minister. It’s so inexplicable. If you can’t understand something, you’ve got to ask what else is going on?” Tice warned.
Now-independent MP Lowe also tabled her imprisonment at Sir Keir Starmer’s door during PMQs in May, asking the Prime Minister whether her jailing was an “effective or fair” use of Britain’s strained prison resources.
Starmer said: “Sentencing is a matter for our courts, and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country.
“I am strongly in favour of free speech, we’ve had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely.
“But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people. I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe.”