WES STREETING said today ministers need to “look at” hate speech laws following uproar over the arrest of Father Ted writer Graham Linehan.

Mr Linehan was arrested by armed officers at Heathrow airport on Monday for tweets attacking trans activists and trans women in women’s spaces.

One post read: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”

The Conservative Party branded the arrest “an absurd infringement of free speech” and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the police should focus on more serious issues.

Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley said “a threat to punch someone from a protected group could be an offence,” but added that police should not be “policing toxic culture wars” and suggested similar arrests would continue unless the law was “changed or clarified.”

New Green Party leader Zack Polanksi said the arrest seemed “proportionate” as the posts were “totally unacceptable.”