Another small episode in the long, slow, lingering death of Britain. Who decides which people are “harmful to public interest”? Who appoints the tribunal that determines who can speak and who cannot? That this bill is necessary, and that it causes any controversy at all, shows yet again that Britain is in its death throes as a free society.
“UK Labour Party to vote against ‘Freedom of Speech’ bill, claiming it will embolden ‘hate speech,’” RT, July 11, 2021 (thanks to Henry):
The British Labour Party will oppose a Tory-sponsored bill that would allow “deplatformed” political speakers to sue universities. Labour leader Keir Starmer claims the bill will enable “Holocaust deniers” and “anti-vaxxers.”
The bill, proposed by the Conservative government and headed for a second reading in the House of Commons this week, would amend existing laws safeguarding free speech on university campuses by allowing guest speakers to sue the universities if they are denied a platform over political views. It would also mandate the appointment of a “Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom” within the government’s Office for Students, and allow university staff to take legal action if they felt they had been passed over for a job due to their views.
The Labour Party isn’t on board. In a statement on Saturday, the party said that its MPs would vote against this “hate speech bill.” Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green said that if passed, it could give “people harmful to public interest the opportunity to sue their way to a platform at universities.”
As for who Labour considers “harmful to the public interest,” Green listed “Holocaust deniers” and “anti-vaxxers” as two examples. Labour Leader Keir Starmer echoed Green’s words on Sunday, calling it “shocking” that the Conservatives would hypothetically support these people’s speech rights.
The UK’s universities are on Starmer’s side. Universities UK, which represents 140 higher education institutes, claims that “this bill could make it easier for those who promote conspiracy theories or ‘alternative facts’ to speak on university campuses,” while court cases over free speech could inflict “significant cost, time and reputational damage to universities.”…
OTTER says
Suppose I wanted to do nothing else except read verbatim from the Quran. Would that be hate speech on my part? Mind you I do nothing except quote. What say you, Your Labour toadies of Islam?
Infidel says
If you wanna do that, use RS’ ‘Critical Quran’ for your readings
Will Tyson says
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=psmJAuHdOwk
https://banned.video/watch?id=60ee062246d8b15d7198d08e
john smith says
Thank you for the links Will. I particularly liked the Paul Joseph Watson video, who came out with some interesting facts.
mortimer says
To Otter: since 2/3 of the Koran is the rant that Allah hates kafirs and wants Muslims to hurt them, then, yes, the Koran could be classified as ‘hate speech’ by the criteria used by the UK Labour Party.
OTTER says
I think this point must be tested. I suggest: hire big billboards on busy crossings and post the hateful texts of the Quran verbatim, nothing more and let’s see how this will be dealt with.
Infidel says
With or without stating that the quran is their source? Like would the billboard say
or would it say
Islamaphone says
Paul Weston was arrested for quoting Churchill in the UK.
https://newspunch.com/politician-arrested-quoting-winston-churchill/
gravenimage says
Yes–utter madness.
Infidel says
I’ll know that UK is on the mend the day Labour goes from being one of the top 2 parties to being # 6 or 7 on the list – behind For Britain, Britain First, Reclaim, Reform, UKIP, Tories and Lib-Dems. Maybe the UK needs its next Oliver Cromwell
Ecosse1314 says
Labour can vote against it as much as they like. The tories have a huge majority and should win any vote.
mortimer says
At long last, Conservatives in England are defending freedom of expression. Maybe Robert Spencer and Pam Geller will soon be invited to speak in Britain in order to help people understand jihadism.
Donovan Nuera says
Mr. Spencer and Mrs. Geller should just board a small boat in Calais and land in Dover.
gravenimage says
Donovan, violent Muslims would be let in, but Spencer and Geller would be arrested and deported–that’s how crazy things are.
Infidel says
Donovan
Spencer and Geller would be safer trying to make a trip to Mecca w/o converting to islam than trying to go to the Ummah Kaliphate
Ecosse1314 says
Infidel. Doubt the Irish Scots and a lot of English or Welsh would agree with another Oliver Cromwell
Jayell says
It was allegedly a Labour Prime Minister who signed a curiously unpubliched agreement with an unspecified foreign agency to allow muslims the UK to ‘practise their religion without impediment’ in return for a large financial bailout. The same PM allegedly sent a memo round to UK police chiefs to ignore certain kinds of complaint from or on behalf of young females because they ‘would probably be groundless’. Now Labour want to England to follow Scotland’s example (engineered by their muslm ‘Law Minister’) to trample on free speech. This is starting to get very predictable.
Ecosse1314 says
See above. Doubt even if all opposition parties vote against it that it would dent the tory majority.
Infidel says
Except that Tories and Labour are 2 sides of the same coin. I’d be more interested in one of the other ‘fringe’ parties – namely For Britain – coming to power
Ecosse1314 says
I know what you mean. The electoral system in the UK is so profoundly undemocratic that the fridge parties have little hope of electoral success.
Added to that the msm and TV are so woke and leftist.
Rarely says
Jayell
What is the evidence of your “allegations”?
Rarely says
I guess we can assume he has no evidence for his “allegations”. Anyone can make any claim they wish, however idiotic or imaginative it may be, and have people believing it. Just throw in enough provable facts into the mix and a new conspiracy theory is born. There are many websites devoted to doing this for one reason or another. create a lie, repeat it often enough and people begin to believe it.
Jayell’s allegations, for example, have all the signs of qualifying.
gravenimage says
Jayell, who is this about?
Rarely says
No one. It’s a fabrication.
Quoting Tom Lehrer: “I could tell you things about Peter Pan and the Wizard of Oz, there’s a dirty old man…”
gravenimage says
Jayell is normally a fine poster here. I have no reason to assume that he is just making things up here, Rarely.
Rarely says
GI.
You may be right. However vague posts making serious allegations supported by “allegedly”, “I heard” , “I believe” etc. without any supporting evidence carry the hallmarks of made up conspiracy theories. His posting qualifies — even if it is later proven to be 100% accurate.
BTW a person can be spot on 90% of the time and an ardent conspiracy theorist the other 10%.
I’m from Missouri — show me. (Actually I’ve never been there but I appreciate their cynicism especially when so much is at stake).
Joeyn says
UK even aftee Brexit seems to be going to the dogs. I thought Boris Johnson would make a good PM for the UK but he is turning out to be a real disappointment.
Infidel says
Precisely! None of the mainstream parties in the UK are even close to sanity
gravenimage says
Yes, he has been *very* disappointing. Still better than the pro-Jihad Jeremy Corbyn would have been–but this is almost the definitiion of damning with faint praise..
Elizabeth lawson says
Bah! Back to the ancient past with all of you moronic idiots. You have permitted – even encouraged the wild and the uncivilized to overcome centuries of the best that any political and highly educated/advanced culture had to offer. Now, you will be bundled back in time. How simply awful. The British people – if there are any of the original species left, will pay a horrifying price for this step. National suicide is the apt title for this step. Surely, the wise and the proud will prevent this idiocy gasp?
gravenimage says
The whole of the west is in trouble now–not just Britain. And there are many patriotic Britons here–not all of them are in favor of these suicidal policies,
Raja says
Looks like a bigger tragedy is in the making for the UK. The relations are already strained between the government and its citizens with respect to democratic rights under free speech etc. Now the govt wants to “reintroduce” a freedom-of-speech bill when the same freedom is dysfunctional for any or all reasons. This is akin to an estranged husband and wife, wanting fresh marriage contract!
God save the UK!
mortimer says
The UK Conservatives and American politicians should be reading THE CASE AGAINST THE NEW CENSORSHIP by Alan Dershowitz. Lawyer Dershowitz has protected the free speech rights of Nazis and many others whose opinions he does not hold, because they have constitutional rights to speak those opinions.
https://www.simonandschuster.net/books/Case-Against-the-New-Censorship/Alan-Dershowitz/9781510767737
“In The Case Against the New Censorship: Protecting Free Speech from Big Tech, Progressives, and Universities, Alan Dershowitz—New York Times bestselling author and one of America’s most respected legal scholars—analyzes the current regressive war against freedom of speech being waged by well-meaning but dangerous censors and proposes steps that can be taken to defend, reclaim, and strengthen freedom of speech and other basic liberties that are under attack.
Alan Dershowitz has been called “one of the most prominent and consistent defenders of civil liberties in America” by Politico and “the nation’s most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer and one of its most distinguished defenders of individual rights” by Newsweek. He is also a fair-minded and even-handed expert on the Constitution and our civil liberties, and in this book offers his knowledge and insight to help readers understand the war being waged against free speech by the ostensibly well-meaning forces seeking to constrain this basic right.”
My comment: UK urgently needs further protection from the censorship of the woke Left, since the UK has nothing like the First Amendment. The freedom of speech in UK depends on the good will of the government of the day.
gravenimage says
Thanks for that link.
Rob R (Brit stuck in Britainistan) says
I still don’t know how you came up with the phrase “Shattered, staggering Dhimmi Britain”.
it’s almost like you live here.
john smith says
The Labour party has a new leader, but it still has the same old leftist policies.
When I saw Keir Starmer take the knee it spoke volumes to me.
Infidel says
He mentioned ‘Holocaust deniers’ as one of his examples. He might want to check w/ his muslim constituents before he actually says that, since muslims simultaneously deny that the holocaust happened, but at the same time, curse the Adolfs (Hitler and Eichmann) for not finishing the job
I doubt that Labour will get back their Jewish or Hindu voters anytime soon. If they alienate their ummah voters as well, they’ll soon be reduced to the size of the Communist Party of Russia or the Congress Party of India or any of those parties that lost the plot and today appeal only to a fringe
gravenimage says
Muslims in Batley seem enraged because Keir Starmer isn’t lauding them enough for threatening to murder a teacher there.
gravenimage says
UK: Labour Party to vote against ‘Freedom of Speech’ bill, says it will embolden ‘hate speech’
……………..
Freedom of speech? Can’t have that…