‘UK after curbing freedom of speech’
The UK government has pass laws aimed at banning what it calls "extremist" preachers from campuses. Critics say the move is part of a larger effort to curb freedom of speech in the country.
“These new laws or whatever they are are an attack on freedom of speech in that it appears that they are directed at one side of this whole problem,” Political Commentator William Spring told Press TV.
He called the laws discriminatory noting that they don’t prohibit hatred speeches of British politicians.
“The laws are not supposed to allow terrorist extremists on campus, but they do allow British government ministers like Graham Shapps on campus, and they have not made any ban on Tony Blair, speaking anywhere on a university, even though he’s the master, a repulsive war criminal in human history since Adolf Hitler died.”
He urged the lawmakers to be after passing comprehensive laws dealing with both sides of the story saying: “What’s needed is to isolate the right-wing war criminals who led us to war in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Libya, and killed thousands of Muslims…. they cannot simply say the only thing to do, oh let’s stop all the terrorists, so-called, this is a one-sided debate; it’s a one-sided approach.”
The analysts then stressed that laws on free speech needs to be clear and free of bias. He noted that if laws are not clear, they may turn into a tool at the hand of the ruling parties to suppress their opposition.
He warned that unlike days of World War II, today UK is not in a war state adding that there is no ground for infringing civilian liberties and freedom of speech.
“It is true in WWII we did in turn aliens and in turn people who were supposed to be regarded as extremist and sympathetic to the Nazis such as Sir Oswald Mosley, but that was in a situation where Britain was actually attacked. Now these people who are being, where they want to close down university debates, these are not the people, this is not a situation where we are in a same type of war at all. We are in war that is pretty much created by the British government. And British government should sort it out, without infringing on the liberties and autonomy of universities,” he concluded.
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