Issue 95: 2017 03 09: Oxford (Chin Chin)

09 March 2017 Oxford – An Education For The Feeble Minded? Safe spaces scores should sort the sheep from the goats. By Chin Chin We all like reading about witchcraft and that is one of the main reasons why, when I saw that Michael Gove’s article Silencing dissent will blight our universities in Friday’s The Times… Continue reading Issue 95: 2017 03 09: Oxford (Chin Chin)

Issue 87: 2017 01 12: University Rankings and Free Speech (Lynda Goetz)

  12 January 2017 University Rankings and Free Speech Universities and students past and present. by Lynda Goetz The old black and white photograph of 14 young men in bow ties was at first glance unremarkable – until you realised that this photo, taken on the occasion of Ken Clarke’s presidential debate at the Cambridge… Continue reading Issue 87: 2017 01 12: University Rankings and Free Speech (Lynda Goetz)

Issue 82: 2016 12 01: Week in Brief: UK

01 December 2016 Week In Brief: UK Government BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS: Guy Verhofstadt, the chief EU negotiator on Brexit, has suggested that, following the UK’s secession from the EU, individual Britons should be able to pay an annual fee in return for personal EU membership, an idea unlikely to appeal to “leave” MPs.  According to reports in… Continue reading Issue 82: 2016 12 01: Week in Brief: UK

Issue 51: Freedom of Speech (Lynda Goetz)

28 April 2016 Freedom of Speech Have we lost the understanding of what this means? by Lynda Goetz Free speech is generally understood to be fundamental in a democracy. It has been enshrined in international and regional human rights law, although it has a long history which predates such legislation. Most would probably consider ancient… Continue reading Issue 51: Freedom of Speech (Lynda Goetz)

Issue 35: 2016 01 07: Mounting the Soapbox (Lynda Goetz)

07 January 2016 Mounting the Soapbox Free speech in the 21st century. by Lynda Goetz “Sir, I detest your views, but would defend to the death your right to continue to express them.”  These words (or various similar translations of them), generally attributed to the 18th century French writer and philosopher, Voltaire, may or may not… Continue reading Issue 35: 2016 01 07: Mounting the Soapbox (Lynda Goetz)

Issue 30: 2015 11 26: Stone Him!

26 November 2015 Stone Him! Those who express the wrong views must be punished by John Watson One commentator has written that the debate about dropping David Starkey from the Cambridge University fund-raising video is not about free speech.  I’m not sure that is completely right but it is probably fair to say that free… Continue reading Issue 30: 2015 11 26: Stone Him!

Issue 28:2015 11 12: Ban it (part 2)

12 November 2015 Ban It (part 2) I’m not going to argue about it, so shut up! By Neil Tidmarsh Last week I wrote rather jealously and wistfully about the power enjoyed by authorities in various advanced civilisations out there to simply ban whatever annoys or upsets them. Imagine my amazement and delight this week,… Continue reading Issue 28:2015 11 12: Ban it (part 2)

Issue 24: 2015 10 15: Week in Brief: UK

15 October 2015 Week in Brief: UK LEON BRITTAN:  The Metropolitan police have apologised to Lady Brittan, the widow of Lord Brittan of Spennithorne, for their failure to inform the Brittans that rape allegations against Lord Brittan had been abandoned before Lord Brittan’s death from cancer. An investigation by the BBC’s “Panorama” programme has cast… Continue reading Issue 24: 2015 10 15: Week in Brief: UK

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