I have a fear that the fact that the Charles Koch Foundation gave money to Spiked to assist their free speech campaigns will be seen as the Tories importing a US culture war. This free speech campaign by the British right, while having transnational links, has domestic origins. https://twitter.com/jasonintrator/status/1361789129013477377

Spiked (and its predecessors) and sections of the Conservatives have both campaigned for ‘free speech on campus’ since 1980s-90s, assisted by publications like The Spectator. Toby Young and his Free Speech Union are at the nexus of these two longer campaigns, with links to both.

I have also written about how Spiked fits into a wider transnational network of ‘free speech’ campaigners, with links to organisations in United States and Australia. https://hatfulofhistory.wordpress.com/2019/09/02/the-institute-of-public-affairs-and-the-globalised-network-of-free-speech-warriors/