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Wednesday 8 July 2020

Free Speech Union’s Bigotry Problem

While the Free Speech Union, domain of the loathsome Toby Young, announces the presence of a “Terrific we-the-undersigned letter in [Harper’s Magazine], decrying the new Maoist climate of intolerance”, and continues to push its self-promoting but false narrative that free speech is being eroded, it has a problem rather closer to home.
And that problem is Bigotry. Free speech includes the freedom to express any view one likes: the flip side is that everyone else is free to express adverse comment, including choosing freely not to do business with those whose freely expressed opinions it considers deleterious to business, law and order, or even public safety. Bigotry can be freely expressed. No-one prevents bigotry being expressed, or, indeed, being called out.

In that spirit of free expression, I have to tell Tobes that the list of those associated with the FSU has passed before my inspection and found wanting. Take two of his directors, Doug Murray The K and Nigel Biggar. Murray’s Islamophobic bigotry is well known, as is his bleating that his free speech is under attack. Likewise Biggar, an apologist for colonialism who makes the same protest, before running to the Daily Mail for assistance.
It gets considerably worse when we come to the FSU’s “Media/PR Advisory Council”, where we see the presence of self-promoting TalkRADIO host Julia Hartley Dooda, who the FSU correctly identifies as a past political editor of the Sunday Express. There, in 2006, she penned an article titled “Don’t draw a veil over free speech”.

I’m bored with Muslims. Bored with being told what I can and cannot say about Islam … the professional Muslim complaints brigade … the rest of us are just tired of having Islam thrust in our faces day in, day out … [The Muslim population] is just three per cent of the country. Yet these days we seem to spend 90 per cent of our time worrying whether or not they are offended about the latest innocuous remark about their religion” she whined.
Had Ms Hartley Dooda said that about Jews, she would rightly have been run out of mainstream journalism. That she was prepared to stand by the article as recently as March last year merely confirms what Sayeeda Warsi said about Islamophobia becoming increasingly “acceptable”. And talking of Islamophobic bigots, Allison Pearson is there too.

Yes, Allison Pearson, who claimed that Muslim girls were not being educated, when 25% of Muslim women aged 21-24 have degrees, as opposed to 21% of Muslim men. The same pundit who claimedShamima Begum may have been born here, but she was never British”. She’s just another bigot. And then comes the FSU Pièce de Résistance.
OH WHAT A GIVEAWAY

Further down that list is one name that positively leaps off the page: David Starkey. A bona fide, no-holds-barred, full-on, unequivocal racist. And that just about sums up Tobes’ enterprise: it’s not about free speech, which is not under attack, but about the freedom to be a bigot and remain part of the mainstream. The FSU Twitter feed gives that game away.

The Free Speech Union has written to the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge asking him to clarify what speech the University regards as protected under its free speech policy. On the face of it, it appears to be one rule for Dr Gopal and another for Dr Starkey”.

Free speech for whites, but not for uppity brown people. Priorities, priorities.
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8 comments:

J said...

Isn't it strange how all these freeze peach absolutists... really fycking hate it when others use their freedom of speech to criticise them and call them out for the fycking alt-reich neo-fash racists they are.

J said...

Its also interesting how these freeze peach absolutists also reach for the lawyers screaming "libel" when others use their freedom of speech to call them nonces/fascists/racists/cynts/perverts/kiddy fiddlers/etc... its as if they do think that limits must exist, just not when its them speaking. Heck, its as if they are massive fycking hypocrites who are only upset because they didn't get a job because of of their penchants for tweeting really disgusting shit. Oh wait, that is why Tobes started this freeze peach absolutism bollocks...

Anonymous said...

It's these same clowns whose gammon followers try to shut down the free speech of others who disagree with them with online bullying and death threats!

Anonymous said...

"Allison Pearson, who claimed that Muslim girls were not being educated..." which is weird because I would assume all those Muslim girls training to be doctors in my local hospital are very well educated. Educated to the point where they can expertly discuss and treat a medical problem such as coronavirus unlike Pearson who should be chucked into jail for endangering public health with her inane ramblings and twitter bot army followers.*

Between her and Parsons, Late Review in the 90s seemed to be a petri dish for dipshits. Tho ironically Pearson (like Mad Mel) often whinges about the crazy leftist BBC. So either she turned into an alt-right loon over time or (more likely) was like that all along but pretending to be a lib for the lucrative work it ensured.


*was looking at one yesterday where apparently their kid had drew a picture in thick black felt pen with 'I am sad' helpfully written on the side to demonstrate her existential despair about having to social distance in September. Quite impressive for a six year old and not at all fake like those mommy blogger letters from 'Emily, aged 5' talking about sexism in the toy industry.

N said...

That's the Harper letter signed by rich and influential people like JK Rowling, who regularly threatens to sue people for accurately reporting her actions, yes?

"Free speech*"

*Except for anyone who disagrees with the letter signers

Anonymous said...

If the right cared one jot about free speech then they'd happily let socialists/greens/anarchists write regular pieces in the newspapers and media organisations they own. They would also allow and not censor/mass downvote comments critical of the current brainlets in charge.

In reality they don't give a toss about free speech, they simply want to vomit their ideology onto a populace who long bypassed fascism & treating their fellow human beings like chattel and who want the world to be more bearable for everybody.

Anonymous said...

Toby Jug just couldn't resist the Latin.

A language as dead as his brain and jazz-hand bullshit.

M T Cicero said...

O tempora! O mores!

Sinistram autem super mortuo, lactaverunt eum !

scurra Atticus . .. ...