She spoke out after officers visited journalist Allison Pearson at her home, apparently because of a complaint about a year-old tweet.
Mrs Badenoch said: "There has been a long-running problem with people not taking free speech seriously. We shouldn't have journalists getting visited by the police for expressing opinions.
"That's absolutely wrong. We need to look at the laws around non-crime hate incidents.
"Keir Starmer says he is someone who believes in these things. Now he needs to show that he actually does believe it.
This story is from the November 17, 2024 edition of Sunday Express.
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This story is from the November 17, 2024 edition of Sunday Express.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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