A student from the University of Leeds has claimed that Britain is the “laughing stock of the world” for its stance on free speech.

The student Connie Shaw made the comments after being suspended from hosting a radio show because she expressed gender-critical beliefs

She was accused of breaching the “student union’s code of conduct” and removed from her university’s radio show revoved after daring to state that “men can’t be women”.

MSN reports: Speaking to GB News, Shaw issued a stark warning for the future of policing free speech in the UK and claimed that people are being policed for having “non-controversial views”.

Discussing her ordeal, Shaw explained: “I was removed from my committee position for apparently bringing the student radio into dispute. But the reason why the investigation was started, I believe, and so does the Free Speech Union, was as a result of my gender-critical views.

“They said to me in the interview, ‘it’s not about your gender-critical views, but how do you maintain an inclusive environment when your choice to publicly post your views makes some people feel included?'”

Revealing what her views were, Shaw told host Ben Leo: “My view was that men can’t be women.”

Criticising the Labour Government, Shaw hit out at the rise in people being charged under the Online Safety Act and cautioned that the “state is basically going to be able to decide what is true and what isn’t”.

She added: “It’s very concerning that the state is basically going to be able to decide what is true and what isn’t when we have a Prime Minister who thinks that some women can have penises, and a Foreign Secretary who thinks that men can grow a cervix.

“If it’s the state who’s deciding what’s true and what’s not true, then that is a very concerning starting point.”

Noting that Starmer and Lammy’s views on gender are “subjective”, Shaw added: “There’s this other aspect of the act where it says that if someone is found to be knowingly spreading disinformation, that is another way that it can be illegal.

“But I would like to think that Keir Starmer and David Lammy know that they’re spreading disinformation.”

When asked by Ben where the UK stands on the world stage with free speech in light of the Act and the Southport riots in 2024, Shaw claimed that the country is a “laughing stock” compared to other Governments.

Shaw said: “I think we clearly are the laughing stock of the world for the Vice President to call us out directly and say, look, I’m worried about the threat from within. And he is absolutely right.

“We have students like me being removed from their posts for simply having very non-controversial views. You have people being arrested for burning the Koran, which is not illegal.”

She concluded: “The state facilitates the falsification of sex – the Gender Recognition Act means that men can pretend to be women by law. So for the state to come out and say that they’re cracking down on misinformation, I think they need to take a look at themselves.”