Free Speech in the UK?

T-shirts with the inscriptions STOP PUTIN, STOP WAR are prohibited in the UK factory where I work. Who is wearing it will be fired. HR explains that this offends the Russians and supporters of the Putin regime working in the factory. Where is freedom of speech? I can send more info about.

Ironic that all kinds of rights have been denied the 'working class' ie the majority of regular people across the Anglophone world, particularly political rights and representation, but also socially and in terms of redress in newspapers and of course also economically under the capitalism-on-steroids we have now which feeds the wealthiest amply and some of the middle classes whilst denying and withholding help for those suffering and most desperate.

In such a harsh political climate, the deterioration of free speech and genuine cultural norms and the checks and balances we accept in democratic and (mostly) civilised societies are neither here nor there. Yes, a lot of PC and wokery is insane, but so is our politics, economy and attitude to the working classes, who are again talked about as if they are a separate species. These things, though appearing as different things, run into each other. Those who accept and work artfully for the marginalisation and poverty of others sooner or later find themselves caught up in other webs of hatred, stupidity and blind ignorance. In short, the worst nonsense of the cancel culture/PC/Woke etc is just the spirit of the age. Some of us can see this. Many can't.

"for most people, true free speech has ceased to exist." This may be true in part, but the UK now have the leverage they desperately needed: Exit from the EU means Exit not only to have your own laws but also exit from an ideologically driven EU. It will not matter what the Pope would like (a "federation"); if the house is built on sand it will fall. The EU is not built on the same Judaeo-Christian foundation that the UK is. The inertia is now in action, taking control over your own veggie patch. It is what Margaret Thatcher gave UK citizens a taste for, and what Tony Blair did was try to reverse all that.
Now they have a battle. It is not just a Muslim mayor in London, it is loss of identity. To regain that will mean each individual will need to work on it himself or herself. Pray/ fast/ lead a simple life, and be reconciled to God each day.
God not an ideology of the EU must be put first, and any ideologically driven entity must be avoided.
Britain's situation is winnable.
The EU is quite another matter. If Macron goes,of course, life will be simpler.
Timely article.

Thank you again Judith, your articles are always the best! I would really like to know your opinions, if it's possible to solve or fix smth out there? And how? Who of the ancient times' great rulers could solve?! As I'm reading about one of the great XIXth century English teachers, the Reverend and Dean of the City of London in 1865 Edwin Abbott I'm wondering where are his students? That school was considered one of the best under his service. His book Flatland resonates me in these challenging times!

Good reporting of a state of affairs that I find incomprehensible--especially for Britain. What was the whole point of founding Speaker's Corner?
After all that England went through to develop the freedom to speak one's mind--on Broadsheets no less. We are re-primitivizing at light-speed.

This madness of restricting free speech has gone completely over the top in
Australia. Hat Tip Caldron Pool

In Victoria, a Christian parent could potentially go to prison for ten years for telling their supposedly transgender child that they are in fact their biological sex.

Freedom of speech and freedom of association used to be synonyms of the traditional British democracy. Today the woke left hijacked this agenda and people are free to say what is permitted by the lefty political elite. The freedom of association means today that people are free to join the organisations which are on the approved list of the same lefty political elite. Hence we are observing the downfall of the Great British Democracy Democracy. Britain is no longer Great Britain of Sir Winston Spencer Churchill and Lady Margaret Tatcher, but a country at the mercy of the left.

Sadly, it is now practically "set in stone" that 1) A man can become a woman and vice versa just by declaration and changing their clothes. 2) The earth is getting too hot and our poor behavior and choices will be the cause of our demise. 3) A dust mask can stop the flu 4) Islam is a religion of peace. Do we now hold these truths to be self evident? Better wake up people, wake up to the woke. It's a dangerous and sinister ideology.

Great article, this has gone on for years as politicians in the free world have masqueraded under the label of being liberal and progressive when in actual fact they are communists with a new name that preach equality etc etc. They don't and never give a hoot about anyone, has to name a few like Tony Blair been noted for his philanthropy? Barack Obama who lectures people about equality? The EU leaders? They are all nothing more than sanctimonious hypocrites who are just interested in feathering their own nests like Stalin Xping etc period.

Trans women should not be allowed to compete in girls and women's sports because they still have a biological advantage over biological females!

An excellent article. Free speech is extremely important as is a sense of what and when something is appropriate or not to say. This doesn't mean it can never be said but means there is no open slather to say what you want when you want. A return to manners and consideration might be a good start and an ability to agree to disagree would be even better. The polarisation of opinion is not helpful nor is cancel-culture.

The main assault on free speech was on Tommy Robinson, who was thrown into jail for reporting the truth about Muslim rape gangs.

Jesus said that Satan is "the father of lies". It is obvious to me that a Spirit of Lying and hatred has taken over in all countries where God's laws for the life of mankind have been flouted or ignored.

It is all so stupid words cannot possibly defend correctness. Stupid men who want to be a woman and equally stupid women who want to be men should be ignored, not paraded through the media! Well done J K Rowling and Peter Hitchens!!!!!!!!!

There's a game going on. The problem is that those victimised don't know it. And even if they do, they don't know how to play it. The game might be called 'name calling'. The particular name, in vogue at the moment, is 'transphobe' or 'transphobic'. All the personalities cited in Judith Bergman's article have fallen foul of this accusation. Some, even, might not have a clue what a 'transphobe' is until accused of it. (I still don't know!)

How NOT to play the game: to rush into reams and reams of detail as to why this is not true in your case; and how such an accusation is wrong and unfair. If you do this, you lose. You are 'cancelled'. You no longer have a platform.
You play the game by NOT responding to the accusation in detail. You play the game by hurling back a name at your accusers. You get THEM on the defensive.

What name could you use? Well 'McCarthyite' would be a good one. The older generation will immediately know
to whom you refer; the younger generation can learn. There may be OTHER equally as suitable names. Perhaps you can think of some........

It is not much different in the states. It seems that the 40, 30, and 20 somethings and below are now convinced through the propagation of their minds that the know everything. What doesn't matter is truth. What does matter is that they simply parrot what they're being spoon fed as knowledge. The ability to think beyond one's nose seems bazaar and strange to them. What it speaks of is damaging brainwashing by adults that were also brainwasher and therefore accept notions that what is right is wrong and well......

1984 on steroids!

Please join the F.S.U. Free Speech Union, who are leading the fight, they need your support and membership is not expensive. If you are not in UK there is probably a sister organisation in your country

Where did this cancel culture begin. After WW2 everybody agreed that nationalism is bad because it led to two world wars. At the same time colonialism was denounced. The self proclaimed liberals promoted liberalism and multi-culturism as the solution to all the world's problems. Understanding and accepting cultural differences and accommodating them in all societies was promoted as the right thing to do. As an corollary it was axiomatically accepted that all peoples are the same (equal) and therefor have the same rights, which included access to all the nice goodies and facilities that well off people have, irrespective of whether they have earned it through their own efforts. Equality in every way became the norm and therefor the principle of equal opportunity was replaced by the principle of equal outcomes.

Now we all know that the theory that all people are the same is false, but this lie is music to the ears of anybody who is incompetent, too lazy to improve hisself, or imagines life should have dealt hisself a better hand. This gave rise to the concept of entitlement: If I can not achieve my ideals through my own efforts somebody must give it to me or I can rightfully take it for someone who has what I want.
This brings us to the transgender phenomenon. Why would men want to self-identify as women? IMHO they can not handle life as men and want to compete against physically weaker women in order to appear strong.
I have not once read about a woman who wants to identify hisself as a male and want to compete with males on a level playing field.
Biologically determination of gender has always been the norm since time immemorial. Gender confusion is a fringe phenomenon and should be treated with compassion and patience BUT it should not be allowed to lay down the rules for gender determination. That would create far more problems than it solves.

PS "Hisself' is a gender neutral pronoun.

Like the topics in this article, Islam is another 'no go' area for debate or discussion. Just mentioning the word will silence any social space. It is self censorship that operates in the UK. It is self censorship which has crushed a once great nation.

The backlash is already starting, and it will not be pretty.

If gender is not real, then I guess "patriarchy" can't be real either?
What would SJWs make of that?

If free speech is dead, can it be replaced with the truth ?

It's correct that in Britain we can no longer speak our minds, free speech is being taken away very quickly. The main problem has been lobbying by representatives of ethnic minorities, one, in particular, that has made it their goal to stop anyone from criticism of any description. Of course, then we are faced with MPs who represent these people and want to retain their position of power and keep their jobs in parliament no matter the consequences for our country. People are being arrested and prosecuted for expressing genuine concerns in an honest and straightforward manner. Speaking of MPs, it's probably the same in the USA. We have politicians from different parties who appear to be more concerned about getting into or retaining power, above everything else. The whole world has been affected by Covid 19, economies have been hit, there's the threat of war in Europe, and yet our politicians are wrapped up in their own battles in order to control things and undermine not just the security of their respective countries but are failing the people by not addressing the problems we all see as being far more important. MPs, Senators, whatever you see them as, are not doing what they were voted into power to do. I totally agree with those that contributed to this article. When you are born, you are born as you are, full stop! All these gender reassignments that some people claim is simply a figment of their imagination. It's almost as if they don't like who they are and imagine themselves in a world they want to be. They are welcome to do just that but don't ever attempt to force me to agree with something that is not real.

Hitchens is right. This thinking has been allowed to develop from the left-liberal composition of virtually all our public bodes, from schools, though universities to national museums. Qangoes are stuffed with similarly-minded individuals who select for joining them those that think like them. The Government, which presumably has some influence over the membership of these bodies, has chickened out of trying to influence them-and now we are wreaking the consequences. Of course it is nonsense to allow a fully equipped man to compete in sports as a woman, to use women's changing rooms or sent to womens' prisons and there have been several cases where trans women have raped or attempted to rape women under these circumstances. This is idiotic and WRONG.

How different is it Canada? During apartheid days in South Africa, for ten years, 1977 to 1987, through newspapers vastly more brave and open than those in Canada, Britain and he U.S., I bluntly stated my objection to government policies and attitudes, and barely a thing was not published.

Try such candour in Canada where I now live and your views will not see the light of day. Political correctness cowardice and dishonesty reigns, while facts and truth are shunned, regarded as wrong and to be punished.

It is just fine to lie and twist the truth in order to avoid upsetting someone who believes things that are illogical and dishonest, like Critical Race Theory, or that transgenderism is normal, or that Islam is peaceful. But tell the truth about such things and God forbid you should do so. Suddenly its wrong and evil to tell the truth. Having abandoned Judaeo-Christian beliefs and its emphasis upon being honest, lies and deceit have become part of the culture. In the process history is re-written, no less than it was in Soviet Russia and communist China.

What the Nazis could not do, the progressive fascists/radical feminists/sexualists, Islamists have done. Millions died in vain in WW2 to secure our freedoms. Today's current state of affairs proves it.

England, the country where for decades young girls by the thousands were raped and tortured by mostly Muslim gangs while the police and social workers turned a blind eye and you weren't allowed to talk about it for fear of offending the perpetrators who might then cause social unrest. That country that was once considered the cradle of liberty. Fear, intimidation and blind conformity, that's what's driven free speech out of the public square and the harm already is enormous and getting greater. I believe it was Socrates who said that if you speak the truth you are lucky if they don't kill you.

If you believe something realistically proven to be false completely and thoroughly enough, it becomes true? Demonic!

So, if Britons are generally so desperate to protect "people from offensive or hateful speech", why are they not demanding banning of the Qur'an and imprisonment for Muslims holding up placards in London calling for death to those who insult Mohammad and Islam?
And good for men for having more common sense regarding free speech. Kudos to J.K. Rowling for having the courage of her convictions. Truth is so vitally important, particularly in a world that has become astoundingly filled with lies and deceit, and morals have gone to the dogs.

This is where free societies become failed societies. They are suffocated into weakness and wander around bumping into things, hitting their heads until the brain becomes just a lump of some sort and smooth like a pebble. These bizarro world declarations began with the crackpot lies about Israel and its non existent "apartheid" which rode on the backs of the anti America hyenas who screech "racist" and point fingers like the pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Free speech to these clowns only exists to agree with their ugly hateful vicious rejection of real meaning.

Not only in countries where democracy hardly exists, religious fundamentalism is strong and intellectual progress is suppressed, but also in western countries which claim championship of democracy and freedom of speech, expression of some ideas is becoming a taboo. For example, in social media, opposing views on gender preference, Covid-19 vaccination is harshly banned. A meticulous censor prevails in media as a whole even for expression of views on global problems, such as climate change, politics, economy, ideology and even religion. In contrast to rapid technological advances, it appears that dominant mentality is going backwards.

As a 72-year-old woman I am deeply saddened by the polarised, simplistic, profoundly ignorant attitudes prevailing today, and the toxic rage and spite that accompanies them. People who disagree, often mildly, about a fraught subject; who ask that that subject be discussed or debated, or who state an unfashionable truth, are accused of hate speech and viciously attacked; in fact the hate speech is all in the brutish, menacing, deeply dishonest responses to their comments. But that is what happens when ideologies prevail. They are based on emotion, not reason, and are as a result built on sand. This is something that those caught up in the ideology often know deep down - hence the fury of their reaction. This fear and hatred of free thought has always been with us; but social media has vastly enabled it. I take comfort, though, in the fact that common sense prevails in great numbers of people; and they are speaking out. I hope, and want to believe, that this will pass.

"Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad"

What has happened to pragmatic common sense, I despair of what Britain is becoming. The people at best seem to be spineless politically correct sheep who won't speak out for fear of offending someone who is an unnaturally warped minority making up less than 1% of the population.

Why has this happened, I guess the logical people to blame are the politicians, who worry about the votes of a vociferous minority that seem to carry more weight than the votes of the silent majority.
If you don't agree with what is happening speak out, make your MP fear for his political career if he/she goes along with the madness - If you are too afraid to speak out then don't complain about the inevitable consequences.

Think, while armed conflict is pending between Russia and Ukraine, the British Army is concentrating on Diversity training; that says it all about modern Britain, but King Boris is talking tough leading a country whose Armed Forces have been so hollowed out and run down to a level of near zero credibility, but are all diversity trained.

Why has Britain descended to the nadir it has, because the politicians chose for it to happen through misguided priorities, and the people let them do it.

A country gets the Government it collectively deserves, it didn't happen overnight, the rot has been going on for years, and nobody with any clout did anything to call it out.

And all this over a group of individuals with gender dysphoria.

"The DSM-5 estimates that about 0.005% to 0.014% of people assigned male at birth and 0.002% to 0.003% of people assigned female at birth are diagnosable with gender dysphoria. According to Black's Medical Dictionary, gender dysphoria "occurs in one in 30,000 male births and one in 100,000 female births."

Which means that here in Israel, roughly 150 males & 50 females suffer from it.

So why is everyone stressing about it?
Because it is the latest cugel with which the Global 'Progressive' [sic] Left can attack the free, democratic liberal Judeo-Christian West.

Notice that they DON'T attack Autocratic Russia, Communist China or Islamist Iran about it.
Why not?
Because that won't serve their underhanded purpose, to weaken and then destroy the West.

This is a great and timely article. Identifying the problem is great. But how to win the war is another thing as the enemy have been practicing for years. The Free Speech Union is a successful organization in New Zealand. It was started by some lawyers and other academics. The leaders of both opposition parties were quick to join and it has chalked up several successes including one for an organization called "Speak up for Women". Little girls and women should be protected from "Men in drag" who try to enter female toilets.

Thanks Ms Judith. "Straight shooting" as always, to use an old cowboy adage from the States here. Even that 'complimentary' old term could find some resistance from Cancel types here.

Thankfully here there is pushback growing. I hope it spreads across the western countries. It is among the multi-faceted attack on Democracy in Western countries my opinion, from the neo-Marxist Left. Creating victim group after victim group in their quest for power.

As you have written about many times, they have chosen one victim group that will destroy them in the end if it is not recognized and dealt with properly.

It is a successful massive experiment in brainwashing, my opinion again.
It blinds people to important Truths in many areas of life.

The guys in the girls sports problem, is one I couldn't get a good friend to acknowledge, who is a former tri-athlete, missed an Olympic swim team spot 10 by ten people ahead of him, coaches our high school girl's swim team for years and finally, is an RN Nurse! His two kids are very athletic also, a Boy and Girl.

I imagine he could lose the coach spot, which he is very good at and enjoys tremendously if he spoke out publicly. In ten minutes of coaching from him I doubled my distance in swimming for the same amount of time once I got the concept, remarkable.

I'll stop here. I think Truth will win out in this area. The climate will have its say in that argument, and the girls I hope will continue to gain courage to speak out for themselves against the injustice, as they are already doing here in the states. Our tremendous Governor of N Dakota, Kristie Noem, has codified into law, legislation not executive order, "no biological males in women's sports." Others will follow her example soon I hope.

Thanks again.

Why does Rowling after saying what she said felt she had to get liberal and add " I know a lot of trans people and I love them " ?
Well I don't know any and certainly would not particularly love them if I did !
Dostoyevsky said a long time ago " Tolerance will reach a level that intelligent people will be banned from thinking so as not to offend imbeciles ! "
Dr David Salinger

Since the sewers were blasted , the contents are the Establishment .
And with a "Queen" never to raise her small finger in the slightest protest or advice .

'The next and worst fascism would be that of the liberals'
Winston Churchill