The first to go in any dictatorship are the people who ask awkward questions. So here’s one – do you think it’s normal, fair or even a sign of strength to try and gag those who disagree with you? If you do, you’re a wrong ‘un.
At the moment, however, Reform possesses contradictory beliefs on the matter. They push back against state overreach in the case of Connolly, but very much welcome it in the case of Polanski. They must make their minds up. They are either staunch defenders of free speech, or they draw the line at incitement.
Expecting councillors to police the behaviour of every follower, every comment, every stranger who tags or replies to them, across multiple platforms, is unrealistic and unworkable.
Until the public ceases to tolerate violations of free expression the government would continue to limit free speech, either directly or by pressuring private companies to do so, regardless of whether a Freedom of Speech Bill were passed.
Brodie Mitchell is taking Royal Holloway university to the High Court after being suspended and placed under restrictions following a campus confrontation where he compared a pro-Palestinian student’s keffiyeh to a “tea towel”. At risk? A quarter of a million pounds.
The 2024 intake is rediscovering a more Thatcherite voice: championing a free, entrepreneurial and property-owning democracy.
Incredibly, Labour’s ludicrously named Social Cohesion Action Plan is flirting with a blasphemy law with its imprecise ‘anti-Muslim hate’ clause.
In a society increasingly eager to take offence, even wishing a particularly woke member of staff a “Merry Christmas” instead of a “Happy Holidays” could, in theory, land a struggling landlord in an employment tribunal court. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex would no doubt approve. But remember: the banter ban isn’t just for Christmas — it’s for life in Starmer’s Britain.
Our culture has classified words as weapons, fostered victim mentalities, and accordingly expanded what constitutes harm to the point that speech itself is equated with violence.
The Union now gives automatic membership to (overwhelmingly international) business students whilst being no longer permitted to advertise itself to domestic students when they receive their offer. The results have been predictable.
We are now running into next year’s crucial local elections. These contests will set the tone for what follows. They will show whether we can regain trust, reconnect with our base, and convince new voters that we are still the party of competence.
If regulators can muscle fringe websites into submission, what is to say that mainstream voices won’t be next. It is a slippery slope that should frighten anyone who values free speech.
The Conservative Party should bring forward a Free Speech Bill. Such a Bill would replace today’s messy patchwork of laws with a clear standard. The principle is simple: words are free, actions are not.
The Labour MP says Lucy Connolly is “wrong” to call herself a political prisoner.
If Nandy was genuinely concerned about the spread of misinformation and disinformation on X, her departure looks less like principled protest than an abdication of duty. She should have stayed and engaged. More conversation, not less, is the antidote to disinformation online.