Debate is not an invitation to demean

MR Mercer is concerned about the future of the freedom of speech due to pressures of the ‘woke snowflakes’ who are presumably too fragile to deal with robust debate.

I appreciate the variety of opinions in the WMN and surely if your response is based on fact, it is not racist, sexist, gender-ist, disable-ist not libellous or inciting insurrection you are probably OK.

The problem I see is not what it said but the veracity of the supporting evidence, highlighted by the spectacular demise of Trump and the sorry disaster that is Brexit.

Too many ‘alternative’ facts have been spouted as a substitute for manifest truth.

The quality of debate is in our hands. It is a precious hard-won right in our democracy but not an invitation to lie, demean or belittle. Catherine Pickles

Buckfastleigh