The murder in the US of the charismatic right-wing campaigner Charlie Kirk has sparked angry exchanges about the possibility of America descending into a frenzy of violence based on sectarian-grade political animosity (viz. BBC2’s Newsnight last evening).

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But Britain too might be facing its own crisis of political intolerance. A powerful essay by  Radha Stirling the influential founder of Detained in Dubai, suggests that this country is being steered into a regime of intolerance  

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“Britain is criminalising speech on the vaguest of grounds, what is deemed ‘offensive’, ‘grossly indecent’, or politically inconvenient,” she declares. “This weaponisation of law has turned public discourse into a minefield, where journalists fear publishing, comedians fear performing, and members of the public fear even pressing ‘share’. The chilling effect is unmistakable and devastating for democracy.”

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It would take a social psychiatrist to work out how this has come about. But Stirling points the finger at the Prime Minister. “I warned years ago of the danger of electing a prosecutor as Prime Minister,” she says. “A prosecutor does not naturally champion liberty, they specialise in convictions. The machinery of prosecution, once turned against free speech and dissent, corrodes democracy itself. Free speech is not a luxury, it is the foundation of an open society. To see Britain importing the worst habits of authoritarian regimes is a betrayal of its people and its history.”

 

Five police officers arresting one comic writer is not a laughing matter. But maybe until the authorities recognise how ludicrous it is we can only fear for the worst.