It's a free country

As a child growing up in London I was as argumentative as I am now. The only way that I would concede an argument was if you battered me senseless.
So, one of my favourite, regular Sunday morning outings was to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park where I could watch Nazi's argue with communists, Methodists with Quakers and atheists with anyone of faith, to my heart's content. I remember, particularly, one black African dressed in traditional robes who harangued the crowd unmercifully on any topic, ranging from colonialism and slavery to the horrible English weather with equal fervour and passion. There was no subject that was taboo or off limits. You would see the occasional bobby on the fringes of the crowd, keeping an eye on proceedings. There was a lot of heckling and name-calling, much of it very personal and specific; but it was all part of the motley.
On Sunday afternoon, on the cobbles adjacent to the Tower of London, you could watch an escape artist struggle free from a tarpaulin wrapped in chains and pierced by various swords and other pointed objects: providing, that is, his pitch hadn't already been high jacked by Lord Soper, standing on a soap box and preaching his own brand of muscular Methodist Socialism to groups of bemused American tourists, argumentative off-duty dockers and occasional snotty little schoolboys like me.
One major boon of being English, planted in my unformed mind by these early experiences was that speech was free: That we all had an unalienable right to say precisely what we wanted on any subject under the sun. "It's a free country. I'll say what I like" was the ultimate clincher used in arguments by everyone from schoolboy to grizzled pensioner . I know, I used it throughout my school years and well into my late forties.
It's not an expression you will hear too much these days. It's not one that I employ at all any more. And for very good reason. England is no longer the home of free speech. People have been silenced, or at the very least reduced to whispers, on a whole range of topics by the insidious creep of political correctness and what is, spuriously, labelled equality legislation.
OK, things weren't perfect in my youth. Freedom of expression probably didn't seem too great a principle if you were black or Irish and subjected to racial insults; or a homosexual on the end of some queer-bashing vitriol. It was easier for a landlord to post a notice saying " No, blacks, Irish or Jews" than it was to get hold of a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover back then. But, the boundaries of "correctness" were a mixture of what was customary and generally accepted by the majority. This didn't mean that minority views or opinions weren't tolerated, they were, because the tradition of freedom of expression was breathed in along with the rain and the smog.
If people got hurt and offended, I am genuinely sorry. But, freedom of expression is not something that can be doled out in carefully weighed portions. Governments do not have any greater sense of what is right or correct than the rest of us. In fact, because they are vested interests with very specific congregations to succour, they tend to be much narrower than the public at large in their range of beliefs.
Witness the current administration, which has gradually eroded the rights of the majority in order to protect those of some very small, specific but highly vocal minorities.
This political correctness has manifested itself in all aspects of our lives; not least in people's reticence when it comes to speaking their mind. "You can't say that" is an expression heard in offices, pubs and homes whenever someone voices an opinion that strays from the conventionally acceptable on a raft of subjects ranging from immigration to homosexuality. The stick of multiculturalism has been used to beat people into submission and stifle grown-up, informed debate on whether or not it is sensible for a country with the highest population density in Europe - England - to encourage ever greater numbers of immigrants to come here.
There have been recent instances of sincere Christians, picketing a homosexual conference with posters containing biblical quotes, being arrested and convicted of hate crimes. Earlier this year, a couple who run a hotel was charged with a similar crime for debating Islam with a female convert to that particular religion. She, objected to them questioning her belief and called in the police. To their eternal shame, they reacted by arresting the couple under hate crime legislation.
Now, Harriet Harman is clouding the issue still further with the Equality Bill due to come into law in the autumn. Among other things, this will make it possible to charge a health club worker with discrimination if he - or she - offers a woman a lighter set of weights that they might offer a man. Protected religions will include any faith system including atheism and Jediism - if there is such a thing. Presumably, telling someone that Luke Skywalker is a comic character and doesn't actually exist will constitute an assault on the beliefs of a Jedi and result in some sort of criminal charge.
It sounds comical when considered in that light. But it's not. It is sinister and evil: Yet another brick in the wall imprisoning freedom of speech and expression.
If we continue along the same path and fail to counter the forces of political correctness no one in this country will ever win another argument by saying , " I can say what I like. It's a free country".

NB. Since writing this article, I have read a piece with a similar theme, written by PhilipJohnston in the Daily Telegraph, which is an extract from his latest book, title "Bad Law". Click on the link to read the article:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/philipjohnston/7494131/How-do-we-win-back-our-freedom.html