A very sensible piece-but freedom of speech can only work with respect for others and a reasonable tone. Language and images are very important and care must always be taken. There is a massive difference between reasoned arguments and shouting/abusing etc.
Thank you, Patricia. I agree. As part of our work on disinformation with the APPG for Fair Elections, we have been investigating whether the need for a 'fair hearing' would be a better framing for this debate than 'free speech'. Free speech seems to suggest that *I* should be fighting for *my* right to speak freely and *you* should be fighting for yours. But the requirement to ensure everyone has a fair hearing suggests that *I* have a role in ensuring *you* can get a fair hearing and *you* a role in helping *me* get that same. We sense there is something healthier in the mutuality of this arrangement...but we have not yet bottomed it out fully. If you have time, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts (and anyone else reading this).
I'm sorry for your loss. Hearing such sad and sudden bad news would knock anyone for a few weeks so don't be hard on yourself. Thank you for coming back to continue what is a desperate fight at the moment for our civil and humanitarian rights. Especially when common sense goes out the window with stupidity like the recent supreme court ruling on 'biological men and women' - whatever that is supposed to mean! The last time I looked, I'm sure I wasn't a cyborg!
The UK could very well follow the US down the fascist drain to oblivion unless we can turn our political system around in the next few years (before the next GE). We urgently need to move past FPTP and embrace STV or a similar PR system. Without it we are going to spiral the drain very soon! Mark my words! The UK is in as much trouble as America is in right now - it's just a little less obvious...
Thank you for your kind words, Susanna. And you are quite correct about the relative positions of the UK and the US. We are in the same trouble...maybe just a short way behind them on the curve.
Thanks for your comment, Steven. Anyone who engages in any form of anti-semitism (or any other racism for that matter) needs to be confronted robustly and held accountable. I hope I didn't suggest otherwise. I confess, until I read about Linkeker's repost, I had no idea that rat emoji's were used as code for anti-semitic.
Thanks Mark. Understood. Me neither. That’s why unfettered freedom of speech is a dangerous approach even although I e should err on the side of promoting it. All the best.
We need to stop the hate that is currently filling our politics. From Starmer to Farage to Johnson, Sunak and whoever has the top job currently in the Tories, hate sells. The Tories (since Thatcher in the 1980's) have sowed division and hatred which has now been jumped on by Starmer and the Red-Tory party he leads. Enter Farage who is still spouting his vile lies and saying that he alone knows what the country needs (meaning that he knows what the extremely wealthy are paying him to spout) when he has no decency in his body. What the country actually needs is an elected chamber representing those who vote. As well as a second chamber made up of elected officials to keep the government in check and ensure that democracy continues instead of drying up like the USA.
If only we could have reasoned discussions rather than hate-filled, cancel culture diatribes.
Very well said. It does take courage to speak out, but as Robert Reich said recently 'courage is infectious'.
Thank you Mark. A very thoughtful and lucid response to an increasingly disturbing phenomenon.
A very sensible piece-but freedom of speech can only work with respect for others and a reasonable tone. Language and images are very important and care must always be taken. There is a massive difference between reasoned arguments and shouting/abusing etc.
Thank you, Patricia. I agree. As part of our work on disinformation with the APPG for Fair Elections, we have been investigating whether the need for a 'fair hearing' would be a better framing for this debate than 'free speech'. Free speech seems to suggest that *I* should be fighting for *my* right to speak freely and *you* should be fighting for yours. But the requirement to ensure everyone has a fair hearing suggests that *I* have a role in ensuring *you* can get a fair hearing and *you* a role in helping *me* get that same. We sense there is something healthier in the mutuality of this arrangement...but we have not yet bottomed it out fully. If you have time, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts (and anyone else reading this).
I'm sorry for your loss. Hearing such sad and sudden bad news would knock anyone for a few weeks so don't be hard on yourself. Thank you for coming back to continue what is a desperate fight at the moment for our civil and humanitarian rights. Especially when common sense goes out the window with stupidity like the recent supreme court ruling on 'biological men and women' - whatever that is supposed to mean! The last time I looked, I'm sure I wasn't a cyborg!
The UK could very well follow the US down the fascist drain to oblivion unless we can turn our political system around in the next few years (before the next GE). We urgently need to move past FPTP and embrace STV or a similar PR system. Without it we are going to spiral the drain very soon! Mark my words! The UK is in as much trouble as America is in right now - it's just a little less obvious...
Thank you for your kind words, Susanna. And you are quite correct about the relative positions of the UK and the US. We are in the same trouble...maybe just a short way behind them on the curve.
Thank you Mark. A very thoughtful and lucid response to a disturbing phenomen.
Interesting. As many on the left as on the right try to stop debate. All wrong.
Anyone who uses tropes that Jews are rats (as Lineker did) deserves a harsh response.
Freedom of speech comes with responsibilities too. It’s not binary and nuance is often lost.
Thanks for your comment, Steven. Anyone who engages in any form of anti-semitism (or any other racism for that matter) needs to be confronted robustly and held accountable. I hope I didn't suggest otherwise. I confess, until I read about Linkeker's repost, I had no idea that rat emoji's were used as code for anti-semitic.
Thanks Mark. Understood. Me neither. That’s why unfettered freedom of speech is a dangerous approach even although I e should err on the side of promoting it. All the best.
We need to stop the hate that is currently filling our politics. From Starmer to Farage to Johnson, Sunak and whoever has the top job currently in the Tories, hate sells. The Tories (since Thatcher in the 1980's) have sowed division and hatred which has now been jumped on by Starmer and the Red-Tory party he leads. Enter Farage who is still spouting his vile lies and saying that he alone knows what the country needs (meaning that he knows what the extremely wealthy are paying him to spout) when he has no decency in his body. What the country actually needs is an elected chamber representing those who vote. As well as a second chamber made up of elected officials to keep the government in check and ensure that democracy continues instead of drying up like the USA.