Dr Campbell Campbell-Jack has a timely TCW piece on the decline of free speech in Britain.
Surveillance Britain and the war on free speech
MANY of the great anti-totalitarian novels of our times have been written by British writers and set in the United Kingdom. George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World stand out on any list. Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange deserves mention, as do Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey and the graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. We can all make our own lists, but the real question is: Why do so many dystopian and anti-totalitarian novels come out of the UK, a liberal democracy?
It is possibly because Britain has been a liberal democracy and the shock of contemplating a totalitarian Britain has greater impact than if the novel was set in one of our continental neighbours who have experienced actual and terrifying totalitarianism. Curbs on free speech and the restriction of public expression of political and social opinions would seem especially horrific if they happened in staid, cosy old Britain; we don’t do that sort of thing here. Or do we?
The whole piece is well worth reading, even if it is a reminder of what we already know, such as this paragraph -
The last Conservative government set in motion legislation under which universities, colleges and student unions could be sanctioned for failing to protect freedom of speech. A mere fortnight after coming into power and a week before it was due to come into effect the Labour government, without any parliamentary debate, paused this legislation which protected academic freedom. The priorities of the Starmer government are clear.
Say it while you still can seems to be the message. The situation won't improve under Labour, with or without the odious Starmer.
Say it while you still can seems to be the message. The situation won't improve under Labour, with or without the odious Starmer.
2 comments:
Just a question of time for us I’d say, AKH, esp. over Haigh.
I wonder if at the very root cause is the idea of Common Law in England - you can do anything that is not prohibited. The EU and other parts are ruled under Roman (or Napoleonic) law - you may only do what is permitted.
This difference leads to an expectation that the ordinary people are independent of the government in England, but subservient to the government if you live under Roman law.
It's one of the reasons I voted Leave because the two types of law were at odds, but the odds were being diminished. The evidence that Two Tier Free Gear Keir Starmer Farmer Harmer (TTFGKSFH) would prefer closer ties to the moribund EU suggests to me that he really would prefer that we could only do what was permitted.
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