On Saturday I was live on the ‘Debate Desk’ segment on Peter Cardwell’s programme on Talk. One of the issues we discussed was free speech and what its limits should be, indeed if it should have limits.
I’m not a free speech absolutist. Whilst being able to express ourselves freely and enjoy robust debate (as I do on the national broadcast airwaves most weeks) we all, and quite rightly, have limits on our speech. There are laws, for one thing, and beyond that there are cultural norms which, you hope, most people abide by not because they have to but because they want to. Because they respect minority groups, for example, and would never want to do anything to cause offence.
Sadly, however, it would seem that a sizeable minority are happy to not only cause offence but say things quite openly which are likely actionable by law. For example I saw a video on social media from the truly dreadful ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally in London at the weekend in which one ‘protester’ said, quite freely, openly, and apparently proudly, that Prime Minister Keir Starmer should be ‘assassinated.’
Words cannot express how truly vile that is, especially coming at the end of a week in which we saw a political assassination in the brutal killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk when he was debating students on a university campus in America. A wife denied her husband, two young children denied their father.
However much you may disagree with someone (and some of what Kirk advocated was beyond awful) the answer is to take him on in debate not to engage in political violence which is always, always, unacceptable. We, as Liberals, must guard the ability to express yourself robustly but also defend the all important guardrails of speech and cultural niceties.
I despair the views of an increasingly sizeable fringe but I cling on to the hope (perhaps naively) that most people are good, decent, and liberal.
Are Reform UK just New Tories?
As I write these words on Monday lunchtime leading the radio news headlines is the defection to Reform UK of Tory Shadow Minister Danny Kruger. In his speech, sat alongside Nigel Farage grinning like a Cheshire Cat, Kruger says the Conservative Party ‘is over.’
Well, I can certainly agree with him on that. It would appear the Tories are a party in its death throes. But, sorry, how can Reform both say that it condemns the Tories whilst at the same time taking on all these Tory retreads… Kruger, Nadine Dorries, Jake Berry etc etc etc? And how does that make any kind of sense in terms of economics?
Farage’s rabble are committed to massive public spending should they, God forbid, form the government next time… without any detail of how on earth it would all be paid for. Is that now what Kruger, Dorries, and Berry now stand for? Really? I think it’ll become increasingly difficult for Farage to hold the disparate parts of his party together.
As for the Tories, however, well, this defection is another hammer blow. I wonder if we will see defections to the Lib Dems, as the few remaining ‘One Nation’ Tory MPs realise that their party is increasingly trying to be ‘Reform Light’ and no longer has room for its moderate wing.
Only time will tell.
I have more on this on ‘Mathew on Monday-The Video Edit’ over on my YouTube channel.
We must do more to champion voting reform!
Today is the International Day of Democracy and I can’t let this day pass by without mention of the need for a change to a proportional representation voting system for all elections, including those to Westminster. A Liberal cause for a century or more, it has never been more needed than now.
We’re currently governed (if you can call it that) by a party which got just 33.7% of the vote yet has a massive majority and can (in theory at least) do as it pleases. Just another example of how broken our precious democracy is.
As with all too many other lessons, when was the last time you heard a senior Lib Dems give a major interview/speech on the need for a fairer voting system? We should have, as a central part of our offer to the electorate, a suite of changes to our democracy should we form (part of) government next time – PR for all elections, an elected House of Lords, proper citizenship classes at schools, etc.
If I had my way we’d also commit ourselves to a referendum on the future of the monarchy and championing an elected Head of State, but I don’t expect that to happen any time soon.
But fair votes in all elections must be a deep red line for any future negotiation for us to enter government!
Dignity in Dying
As this is the last column before Lib Dems Autumn Conference in Bournemouth at the weekend, it’d be remiss of me not to highlight the fringe I’m chairing on Sunday morning. It’s entitled ‘Assisted Dying: a catalyst for patient power at the end of life.’
On our panel will be:
- Andrew George, the Lib Dems MP for St Ives
- Sarah Wootton, the CEO of Dignity in Dying who are hosting the fringe.
- Joe Phillips, A senior Clinical Nurse Specialist, and
- Catherine Eden, who will tell the personal story of herself and a family member
It takes place from 11.30am-12.30pm on Sunday, September 21st, in the Branksome Suite, at the Bournemouth International Centre.
I’m really honoured to be chairing this event, as a big supporter of the need to give people at the very end of life, who are enduring/facing intolerable suffering the choice of a dignified death. If you are at Conference, I hope you’ll pop along.
See you there!
* Mathew Hulbert is a former Councillor, is a regular commentator on TV and Radio, and is Co-Host of the Political Frenemies podcast.
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13 Comments
Hi Mathew,
You say “We must do more to champion voting reform!” Well I will sign up for that once I meet a cogent argument that persuades me that it will do more than anything else to help Build and safeguard that fair, free and open society that we all aspire to do.
Currently, no UK party has ever shown any indication it wants to implement it once it is in power. So to me, by far the best thing we individually and collectively can do is to do everything we can to get more and more Lib Dem MPs elected and re-elected and re-re-elected.
There is no quick fix as those youngsters like Nick Clegg found out in 2010 and 2011, and that’s because championing voting reform barely registers as a significant influencer over voting intention except for the less than one percent who are real constitutional reform geeks. For the vast majority of voters the main reaction is “Why the heck are you taking about voting reform when [insert any five topics of choice from a list of 30 that include :-
1) The economy,
2) Immigration,
3) The NHS,
4) Crime and policing,
5) Defence,
6) Housing,
7) The environment,
8) Tax,
9) The EU,
10) Benefits,
11) Education,
All YouGov ratings usually over 10%
Plus other specific issues/causes
12) Gaza, Israel, Palestine
13) Scottish Independence
14) Reform, Farage, British Values
15) Water Companies/Energy Bills
For my vital Lib Dem ones see later.
The limit to free speech should be when the speech becomes criminal, such as when it incites violence. It should not be limited by the fact that people may claim to be offended by what is being said.
Potentially being offended by other people’s opinions is a price we pay for living in a free society.
Plus a few Lib Dem ones not included above:
16) Social Care and Carers,
17) Approach to US Relations and Trump (Really the wider field of International Relations, but …),
18) Localism and Real Devolution,
Plus two of mine – One of which I think we are very good at but don’t think we promote enough
19) Competent Government – i.e. Us as opposed to Con (2015 to 2024), Lab (July 2024 to Sept 2025), Welsh Labour, Scot Nat (anything other than Independence), Reform (absolutely everything) and even the Greens (when you look at Brighton now),
and one that I think is close to a deliberately targeted existential threat to our Local Government Base
20) Elected mayors (designed to totally cut us out of power) and wider Local Government Reform (designed to massively reduce the number of councillors, give them much more work to do and take those that remain ever further away from their local communities).
With all these issues out there, I just don’t see any return to us as a political force from putting effort into promoting Electoral Reform at all.
Sorry.
When the Batley Grammar School teacher can walk around that town freely – and not in fear of his life. And when an East Sussex university lecturer no longer requires a security detail to escort her to and from her place of work – then I know that we live in a free liberal society.
It’s almost unthinkable that a man recently released from jail can organise a march which attracts a six figure turnout – Trevor Philips from sky reporting on the march that it was much larger than 100k . His take on the whole day is well worth a listen.
@Greg Hyde – those are talking points for the far right. Simply hiring security, as many people choose to do, does not actually show you are in physical danger, any more than wearing sunglasses does not guarantee it will be sunny.
The Batley story has been mythologised by the far right. The teacher in question can, and does, walk around Yorkshire quite freely.
Thanks Lyell, but your response to Greg’s question really isn’t helpful. The area of Batley is less than 10 square miles, with no part more than 4 miles from any other. The area of Yorkshire 4,600 square miles, over 100 miles North to South and 130 miles East to West.
You are right when you say “The Batley story has been mythologised by the far right.” However I think you are badly misjudging things if you think that being able to walk around the biggest county in the UK is in any way relevant to not being safe living in the town he lived in.
The Khan Review has now reported and has pointed out how certain websites on both sides attempt to exploit and push their own narrative, undermining cohesion. It also pointed that “he faced an online and offline campaign of intimidation and abuse. Threats and harassment included incitement to violence against both him and his family” and that pictures of him, his partner, his home, car and name were circulated online. It concluded he was let down by all the agencies involved, most notably Kirklees Council, West Yorkshire Police and the Batley Multi Academy Trust.
Hardly something that even a walk around God’s Own County would be sufficient to address.
A schoolboy and his family were forced to flee their home due to violent threats stemming from false claims spread by Tommy Robinson. I wonder why Greg Hyde and others of his political persuasion don’t show the same concern for him that they do for the Batley Grammar school teacher.
Why does a former councillor from Leicestershire who has never been close to the party mainstream keep getting invited onto the telly? We have 77 MPs / members of the devolved legislatures, 80 peers and dozens of council leaders.
Does Mathew just accept invitations that nobody else will touch?
@David Evans – I am aware of that, thanks. I just don’t see what any of Greg’s whinges have to do with free speech.
Lyell, your question about Mathew is in one sense valid, but I have know Mathew as an active Liberal Democrat who has campaigned very much within the party to raise and keep up the cause of youth work and youth clubs, getting support for that among the party heirarchy. So your reference to him not being mainstream (whatever that means in practice) is way off the point.
Hi Lyell,
I understand your post now. Thank you.
I think I can point you in the right direction on what Greg was responding to and it wasn’t free speech. While the headline to Mathew’s article was Free Speech, he also split his post with a section on “Are Reform UK just New Tories?” another on “We must do more to champion voting reform!” and a final one on “Dignity in Dying.”
I responded (at length) with a post that could have been titled “Oh no, not another article on electoral reform.” because all too often some of us here keep referring to voting mechanisms almost as being the most important thing of all ever. However, there is no way to get it until we win a general election and I believe we need to stop repeatedly wasting our time down that unproductive rabbit hole, and do something that is actually useful.
And bringing it back to where Greg got his whinge (your word) or point (my choice) from was my reference to “Build and safeguard that fair, free and open society that we all aspire to.”
So misunderstandings all round! Greg was having a go at me/us all. You responded. I had a go at you.
Sorry,
All the best,
David
University of East Sussex was fined £585k for failing to uphold free speech. Point being one of its lecturers had to be escorted to and from work by the universities secure guards. A gay mother of two subjected to a hate campaign for having an windy held alternative view.
Some on here might not think it’s relevant – many would beg to differ
@Greg Generally this party is more concerned with the rights of the trans community than those who are attacking their right to exist.
@Nigel Yes, my point is valid. I am mystified as to why Mathew appears routinely on LBC, Talk TV and other right-wing channels instead of an elected MP, council leader, etc.