Katie’s right to be utterly offensive...
SO KATIE Hopkins, that pesky little boil on the nose of British society, is currently ensconced in the Celebrity Big Brother house playing the role of the ‘villain’. Of course she is. Where else would she be at this time of year? After all, it doesn’t matter how wicked a witch you are, getting back to Winkie Country in this sort of weather isn’t easy.
I despise Hopkins, as many people do. But I’m also a tiny bit glad she’s there. Like a sewage pipe or a warthog, I don’t particularly want to know what she does or why she does it, I just know it’s probably useful to have her around.
I felt that way even after her recent tweet in which she branded Scots ‘little sweaty jocks’.
It was a ghastly remark, crass and insensitive – particularly given that it related to Pauline Cafferkey, the Scottish nurse currently being treated for ebola.
But that doesn’t mean that the correct reaction to what, ultimately, was little more than a cheap shot from a cheap reality star, was to demand she be l ocked up. ‘ Call the police!’ yelled t he Twitter mob. ‘We are offended! She must be prosecuted!’ Police Scotland, who you would think had more pressing matters to attend to in e arl y J anuary, promptly responded, declaring they were ‘investigating’ the matter. Then, in a glaringly Big Brother style tweet, they warned ominously: ‘Please be aware that we will continue to monitor comments on social media & any offensive comments will be investigated.’
Frankly, I find that message far more offensive than anything Katie Hopkins could say.
The right to be offensive is a cornerstone of free speech. I may despise what you have to say, but I stand by your right to say it. That is what democracy is about.
And there can be no clearer message for this than the horrific murders in Paris this week in the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Now I’m not sure, even if my schoolgirl French were up to it, that I’d ever choose to read Charlie Hebdo.
It is a gleefully offensive publication featuring graphic cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. It’s not really my cup of tea.
But I will staunchly defend its right to publish such offensive material because in a grown-up and free society, that is what we do. If I have a wish for 2015, it is that we start focusing our anger – and our police power – on the people who are trying to silence us.
Of course we can be offended. Of course we can get angry. But what we cannot do, what we must not do, is shut it down. Because that is what the terrorists do.