Wednesday, March 25, 2015

The retreat from freedom

I had meant to put a post about the new measures against "extremism" announced by Conservative leadership candidate home secretary Theresa May a few days ago.

In what sounds like the measures used against the IRA's cheerleaders in the 80s there are to be all sorts of arbitrary bans on extremist preachers ( by which they mean - to start with - Islamic preachers ). That just made the government of the day look stupid as the measures were easily circumvented.

I think its worth just noting what this is a retreat from.

It means that we are abandoning debate and the battle of ideas to reply instead on measures that the Chinese Communists or East Germans would have approved of.

We no longer hold freedom as our ideal, but something sinister called British Values.

Also we have created a system which will allow, just by adding a few words to the home secretary's British Value list, the arbitrary oppression of whole classes of people.

If you see the style of no-platform debate used by the left in Universities these days you'll realise how our future politicians will use these powers.

The Conservatives have created the instruments for our own oppression - and just for short term political gain.

There is a lack of courage and vision in those grabbing at the purple of Conservative party leadership as freedom lies bleeding out into the sand.



1 comment:

rapscallion said...

I don't have time for preachers (islamic or otherwise), but they must still be free to peddle their dogma, however unpleasant. The same goes for "greens" and socialists. Once you start curbing free speech where do you stop?

The words of Pastor Niemoller springs to mind.