George Orwell’s defence of free speech makes me cringe, says Billy Bragg
ETCHED in stone outside the BBC’s headquarters in London, George Orwell’s quotation on the sanctity of free speech serves as a daily reminder to the hundreds of journalists who work for the Corporation.
But Left-wing activist and musician Billy Bragg has sparked fury by claiming the famous words – ‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear’ – make him ‘cringe’ and have nothing to do with liberty.
He says the quotation, which featured in the preface to Orwell’s 1945 novella Animal Farm, is a ‘ demand for licence’ and that young people now ‘prioritise accountability over free speech’.
Writing in The Guardian newspaper, Bragg, 62, added that the words, inscribed next to Orwell’s bronze statue outside New Broadcasting House, make him shudder every time he sees them.
‘ It’s a snappy slogan that fits neatly into a tweet, but whenever I walk past this effigy of the English writer that I most admire, it makes me cringe,’ he said.
‘Surely the author of Nineteen Eighty-Four would understand that people don’t want to hear that two plus two equals five?’
When it was erected in 2017, BBC chiefs said the statue of Orwell – who worked for the BBC in the 1940s – and the quotation were a ‘reminder of the value of journalism in holding authority to account’.
But the veteran songwriter, who founded the socialist musicians’ group Red Wedge, said: ‘The quote is not a defence of liberty; it’s a demand for licence, and has become a foundational slogan for those who wilfully misconstrue one for the other.’
He added: ‘Although free speech remains the fundamental bedrock of a free society, for everyone to enjoy the benefits of freedom, liberty needs to be tempered by two further dimensions: equality and accountability.
‘Without equality, those in power will use their freedom of expression to abuse and marginalise others. Without accountability, liberty can mutate into the most dangerous of all freedoms – impunity.’
But leading BBC journalists last night mounted a rigorous defence of the quotation and the importance of freedom of speech.
Today programme presenter Nick Robinson said: ‘Almost every morning when I walk into the BBC at 4am, I stop and pause and read the words on the George Orwell statue. They sum up what independent journalism is all about.
‘In response to one Twitter storm, I tweeted my own version of his message. “Do not adjust your set. Normal service from the BBC means you will hear people you disagree with who say things you don’t like. That’s our job.” ’
Fellow Today presenter Justin Webb said: ‘ We try to tell the truth, including when – as Orwell pointed out – it is unwelcome or uncomfortable to governments or to powerful people, including the old Establishment posh white men like me or the new woke warriors.
‘We should be free to bring discomfort to all. I salute the statue and Orwell’s timeless message.’
Presenter and journalist Andrew Neil added: ‘I think the quote is an excellent quote and I think it sums up what free speech is about.
‘Free speech is the right to say things that other people don’t like. Wasn’t it Voltaire who said even if I disagree with you I will defend to my death your right to say it?’
The MoS revealed last year that Bragg had put his £3 million seaside mansion up for sale. Sprawling over almost three acres, the Dorset property – adorned with decorative columns and sitting at the end of a 200-yard shared drive – was subsequently taken off the market.
A protest singer in the 1980s, whose hits include A New England, Bragg played benefit concerts for striking miners and was an outspoken critic of Margaret Thatcher. A prominent supporter of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Bragg helped launch the party’s Charter For The Arts.