One of the things I most dislike about living in Britain, apart from the shitty way Britons are governed is having to live with Britain’s appalling culture of ‘speech crimes’. As someone who is vehemently opposed to the very idea of having any sort of ‘speech crime’ that goes beyond criminalising provable, direct and immediate incitement to violence, I too often find myself having to defend people with whom I may strongly disagree who have been victimised by the State over speech issues. One such person is Steve Laws who was arrested for a ‘speech crime’ a few days ago. Now I find that although I don’t share many views with Mr Laws, who is a fervent Ethnonationalist, I do find I have to defend this man’s right to speak his opinions freely and without fear of arrest or imprisonment. I take a similar view to the state oppressing those on the centre-left who have been silenced as well. Free speech should be for everyone with the exception of those who credibly incite immediate violence, which is the position that Americans are in under the First Amendment to their Constitution.
As much as I may disagree with some of the ethnonationalist and other views expressed by Mr Laws, that does not mean that those views should be criminalised. He and indeed every Briton should be allowed to speak freely in a similar manner to how our American friends are allowed to speak.
Not only has Mr Laws been arrested he’s also been bailed with what look to me like draconian conditions such as not speaking publicly about his case. Whilst I accept there may be Contempt of Court Act issues following an arrest, to ban Mr Laws from speaking publicly about his arrest stops him from publicising his own case with the aim of raising money to put on an effective defence. Although I’m not a lawyer I can see how such bail conditions with overly harsh restrictions about an accused speaking about their case, could put the defence very much on the back foot and is a situation that might be welcomed by the Establishment. If the ‘wrongthinker’ cannot garner support from the public then the ‘wrongthinker’ will be at a disadvantage.
Here’s what Mr Laws said on X regarding his arrest:
INSERT IMAGE HERE
https://x.com/Steve_Laws_/status/1971491986927648979
All Britons should have the right to speak freely, no matter what their opinion. I encounter many people whose views I strongly disagree with or even reject utterly so repellent are they but I would still support their right to express their views and for others to be able to challenge those views if needs be. All Britons need to be able to speak freely and without fear of harassment or punishment from the State. Britain needs its own version of the First Amendment that guarantees freedom of speech, such a path towards greater freedom of speech and opinion should not be seen as something ‘nice to have’ any more but seen as something essential for Britons to have. Without all Britons, including those who I might disagree with, having freedom of speech then we cannot debate how best to fix the utter and complete mess that Britain is in.