‘I’ve never been political...i just get frustrated by censorship’
FORMER Premier League star Matt Le Tissier has warned that assaults on free speech are making Britain more akin to communist China.
In a frank interview, Le Tissier – one of the nominees for the Premier League’s Hall of Fame – admitted he had not had much interest in politics until he was “awakened” to the threat of cancel culture during the coronavirus lockdown.
The former striker said: “I’ve never been political. I don’t think I have ever voted in a general election.
“All I wanted was let me live my life how I live it, leave me alone, I pay my taxes; I’ll do my bit to help people; I’ll do my bit for charities for people far worse off than me; I do my bit for society and make this world a better place; just don’t encroach on my life.”
As a footballer, Le Tissier scored 161 goals in 443 appearances for Southampton and won eight England caps.
But he says he has found it harder to tackle some of the attempts to sideline free speech in the last two years, particularly around the coronavirus and lockdown
‘It might cost me, but I felt I had to speak out’
debates. He has been very critical of policies which have forced people to have the vaccine and locked down the country.
But he found that this led to him and others being shut down and he argues that it is important to have an open debate and be able to disagree.
“I have always enjoyed interacting with the public,” he added.
“I don’t mind differences of opinion. I like learning.
“If someone disagrees with me I am happy to listen and if what you say is better, I am happy to change my mind.
“I felt I had to speak out even if it cost me work, then so be it. It might cost me a few friends. I don’t think I have upset anyone to that point yet.
“I didn’t like what I was seeing, which was the stifling of any debate that went against the Government narrative.”
He went on: “That’s what is frustrating me, the censorship.
“When I was growing up, that’s what we were told was bad about China. Now we are living right through that in this country here and I don’t want to live in that world.” Le Tissier, who played for Southampton for 16 years before becoming a regular on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday show, spoke to the Sunday Express to announce his new livestream show on the GETTR social media platform.
He joined in January after becoming disillusioned with people being cancelled and censored on other social media platforms, such as Twitter, “for innocuous things”.
“I like to have a bit of a laugh, I love to express my opinions and I like to hear people’s different opinions as long as it doesn’t come with abuse.
“The content on GETTR is very respectful,” he said. “It has been a very different experience and far more enjoyable than being on Twitter.”
He said that the end of his contract with Sky Sports was an example of cancel culture. “It’s fairly simple. Our programme was five middle-aged white men,” he said.
Matt is keen to stress: “I don’t have a problem with diversity”. But he says he is frustrated that raising his concerns has meant “you get labelled as a racist and they shut you down. I’m not comfortable with that because I’m not a racist.”
He added: “I got labelled as an anti-vaxxer. I have had every vaccination I could have had until this one.
“Because I have chosen to wait a bit for some long-term safety data, which there was none of, because I took that decision suddenly I’m an anti-vaxxer. Just get real!”
He also warned against the Government’s Online Harms Bill, suggesting that it could be used by extremists to shut down free speech further.
He said: “There’s a lot of things I see that look good on paper but when you see the ramifications of it you get scared of how it could be used.
“They give you all the good bits that they think will keep you safe but they don’t talk about how the infrastructure of that agreement can be abused and for someone to use it in a very bad way.”