leyton.org

Sometimes I wish I was still living in London. Tomorrow sees the March for Free Expression taking place in Trafalgar Square at 2pm. If like me, you can’t attend, you may be interested in the petition.

Freedom of expression, and freedom of speech, are important rights that seem to be under sustained attack by various groups (see here, for example). Some groups seem to be actively seeking out offence, and parading their supposed insult as a justification to further restrict liberties, whilst at the same time using the selfsame rights and liberties to ensure their opinions are heard when it is convenient or expedient for them to do so.

I am not saying people should have a right to deliberately and gratuitously say what they want without retort. Criticism and open debate on matters are important in an open democracy, and with rights come responsibilities; a right to speak doesn’t imply a right to be heard. Yet it is in my view becoming increasingly important that we stand up and defend our historic and hard-won rights, notably to freedom of speech, expression and privacy, in this increasingly edgy - and intolerant - climate.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 24th, 2006 at 11:17 am and is filed under Atheism, Campaigns, London, Media, Personal, Politics, UK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.