Sir Keir Starmer has told police to prioritise “what matters to communities” amid a row over a police investigation into a journalist’s social media posts.
The Prime Minister waded into the free speech row after officers visited Telegraph journalist Allison Pearson at her Essex home over a year-old deleted message on X, formerly Twitter.
The backlash grew as it emerged children as young as nine are being investigated for classroom insults under so-called non-crime hate incidents.
Downing Street sources confirmed Sir Keir believed police should focus resources on tackling violent crime, theft and criminal damage.
Sir Keir, in Brazil for the G20 summit, told reporters: “Firstly, obviously, this is a matter for the police themselves.
“So they can make their decisions and will obviously be held to account for those decisions.
“There is a review going on of this particular aspect but, you know, I think that as a general principle the police should concentrate on what matters most to their communities.”
A government source added: “You can take it from that that the PM wants the police to put tackling crime first.”
The columnist said she initially thought she heard the policemen say they were investigating a NCHIs.
Essex Police dispute this and said the officers, who had made attempts to contact Ms Pearson before the visit, were captured on body-worn video. On Saturday, the force released a transcript of her conversation with them.
A spokesman said: “We police without fear or favour and when a crime is reported, we investigate.
“Essex Police supports free speech.
“It does not support inaccuracy. There is no public interest in falsehood.”
News of the visit has sparked a backlash, including from two former Conservative prime ministers and X owner Elon Musk.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said people need to stop “wasting police time on trivial incidents”.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has said rules around “non-crime hate incidents” need to be “significantly recalibrated”.
Meanwhile, feminist writer Julie Bindel, 62, claimed two Metropolitan Police officers visited her home to warn her they were investigating one of her tweets as a “hate crime” in 2019.
They are said to have told her that a “transgender man” from the Netherlands had reported one of her social media posts.
Scotland Yard had no record of the incident.
