Rees-mogg: call out ‘snowflakes’ for free speech
PEOPLE should keep calling out “snowflakes” to stop cancel culture, Jacob Reesmogg has urged.
The Leader of the Commons said the “culture wars” dominating some parts of society required a renewed commitment to freedom of speech from individuals and organisations alike.
“I believe very strongly in promoting and supporting free speech,” he said at a Centre for Policy Studies event at the Conservative Party conference. “We must exercise our right of free speech whenever we can and whenever we want. We must protect it in Parliament, we must protect it in unions, we must be willing to say things that are not woke and be willing to use terms such as ‘remoaners’ and ‘snowflakes’.”
Mr Rees-mogg also waded into the debate around freedom of speech on university campuses, hailing the Oxford and Cambridge debating societies for standing against censorship. “The great strength of both unions is that they are independent of their university authorities,” he said. “When these authorities have been less supportive of free speech than one might sometimes wish... the unions are free to carry on supporting free speech.”
In 2019, the Oxford Union voted against a policy of “noplatforming”, which could have banned controversial speakers from appearing if students objected to their views. Proposals that would have required Cambridge staff and students to be “respectful” of different views were rejected last year. An amendment from students instead placed the emphasis on “tolerance” of opposing views.
Mr Rees-mogg went on to describe Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, who branded the Tories “scum” at her party’s conference, as “very spirited”. “We must then stand up for people on the other side who use their free speech to call us scum,” he said. “The thing is, the scum always rises to the top.”