We must stop this lunacy threatening freedom of speech
FREEDOM of expression is a central pillar of our democracy. But this noble ideal is now under mortal threat as a mood of political intolerance sweeps through Britain. In a climate of oppressive censorship, the social justice warriors seek to crush dissent and silence debate. Like the witchfinders of the 17th century, they treat any challenge to their dogma as a form of heresy. Vilification, humiliation and intimidation are their weapons. Submission is their goal.
No one and nothing is safe from their bullying.
Even JK Rowling, the author of the globally renowned Harry Potter series, is now in their sights for daring to question the fashionable transgender ideology, among whose shibboleths is the belief that a man should be regarded as a woman if he just self-identifies as one.
A distinguished feminist and survivor of domestic abuse, Ms Rowling rightly sees this doctrine as a danger to women’s identity, security and autonomy.
“It is not hate to speak the truth,” she says. But it certainly is, according to the deranged zealots who seek to turn this British legend into an enemy of the people. Not only has she been denounced by ungrateful Harry Potter actors, led by Daniel Radcliffe, but also this week it emerged that some employees at her publisher Hachette are refusing to work on her latest book.
SO FAR Hachette has stood up to this crude attempt at political blackmail. “Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of publishing,” declared a statement by its management. But others have surrendered before the radical mob. The Weald School in Billingshurst, West Sussex, has just announced that it has dropped plans to name a house after her.
This is cowardice taken to the point of lunacy. With her epic achievements in the literary world, she should be hailed as a superb role model for girls.
Tragically, the Weald School’s shameful conduct is all too indicative of today’s Britain, where the acrid stench of cultural revolution hangs in the air.
Reason is lost, hysteria rampant. Statues are destroyed or defaced. The Labour front bench demands the removal of “imperialist” murals from the magnificent interior at the Foreign Office. At Manchester University, Rudyard Kipling’s poem If was recently scrubbed off a wall by students who claimed the writer was “a racist”. This atmosphere is as bewildering as it is unBritish. Several factors can be blamed, like the Left-wing takeover of our civic institutions, especially the education system where too many university courses amount to a form of indoctrination.
The same is true of the broadcast media, neurotically fixated by identity politics. Toxicity has been further fuelled by the Labour movement, which paints its opponents as not just wrong but immoral.
Notoriously, John McDonnell even gloried in calls from supporters for Conservative MP Esther McVey to be “lynched”.
But a key role has also been played over recent years by diehard opponents of Brexit.
Through a refusal to accept the result of the 2016 referendum, they poisoned the well of public discourse. By arguing that their own feelings of rage should count more than the verdict of the ballot box, they provided a template for today’s narcissistic ideologues who think their own opinions are the only ones that should count.
It is little wonder that there is now such contempt for democracy and debate when the Remainers fought so energetically to delegitimise Brexit.
They did so through endless court actions, relentless propaganda, and cynical manoeuvres in Parliament. They invented wild conspiracies, like the phony claim that the outcome was manipulated by Russia, while they also hounded prominent Brexiteers such as Darren Grimes, an influential young organiser who was subjected to a campaign of character assassination until his name was cleared by police and courts.
That was entirely in keeping with the Remainers’ eagerness to demonise their opponents.
PEOPLE who simply wanted Britain to be a sovereign nation once again were painted as dangerous idiots, full of bile and prejudice. The London Major Sadiq Khan called the Leave campaign “Project Hate”.
Labour MP David Lammy compared the sceptical European Research Group to Nazis and South African white supremacists. The metropolitan elite was relentless in spreading discord and intolerance.
“Racism and misogyny run so deep in this country,” wailed the singer Lily Allen after the result.
The Remainers posed as the champions of enlightenment. But through their undemocratic antics, they have helped to drag our country into a dark place.
‘Like 17th century witchfinders a challenge to dogma is heresy’