Monsieur l’abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire. — Voltaire
The above quote is usually rendered in English as, “I disagree with what you write, but I defend to the death your right to say it.”
As observed in an earlier post, Free Speech is under major attack in the UK: a whole series of right wing speakers and commentators have been prevented from speaking there. With residents of other countries, all the British government needs to do is deny them entry (they even wanted to ban Donald Trump, but decided that banning the US President would be going a bit too far).
With British citizens, however, there is the police force to use in the same way as the KCDC has done with Cr David Scott — and it’s been every bit as nasty and outrageous. After Donald Trump retweeted statements from the Britain First Party, the government moved against its leaders, throwing them in jail. Tommy Robinson is just the latest to fall victim.
People must have the right to criticize and oppose government policies. If the government (including a local council) takes measures against their opponents, it is a major abuse of power.
Originally posted on peoples trust toronto: Thousands of Tommy Robinson supporters and free speech advocates around the world took to the streets for a second week of protests against the imprisonment of the UK journalist and political activist. Robinson was arrested on May 25 outside Leeds Crown Court for reporting on a pedophile grooming trial. After a…