Stephen Fry, Tom Holland and Ian McEwan are among a group of over two dozen top authors who have signed a letter telling the Government to end “cancel culture” by implementing the university Free Speech Act without delay. The Times has the story.
Some of Britain’s most eminent authors have told ministers that literary freedom is being “eroded” by their failure to stand up to “cancel culture” on university campuses.
In an attack on the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, more than two dozen authors accused the Government of failing to safeguard “humane and liberal values”.
They called on her to drop her opposition to implementing legislation that would, for the first time, force universities to protect the right of legal free speech on campus or face sanctions.
Those signing the letter include the novelists Ian McEwan, Lady Antonia Fraser and Lionel Shriver. They have been joined by the philosopher A.C. Grayling, the actor and author Stephen Fry and the former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion.
Others signatories include Tom Holland, co-host of The Rest is History podcast, the literary agent Neil Blair and the former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies.
Grayling said that he believed in promoting the causes that “wokeism” defended but regarded most “cancelling” as a “mistaken strategy” that could have “a chilling effect on the freedom of expression”.
“A university is a place where every idea, every point of view, however disgusting some might be, should be aired, discussed, analysed, understood and whenever necessary challenged,” he said.
“It is as tough to engage with the views of those with whom one emphatically disagrees as it is to engage with racists and sexists, but to lock them in a box is never more than a temporary solution.”
He added: “Defending free speech in universities, which involves not shutting down dissent and protest, requires using better free speech than the free speech of others when harmfully used.”
The authors join over half a dozen Nobel laureates and more than 600 academics who have already demanded that Phillipson implement the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act without delay.
Worth reading in full.
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Hey guys, good move but it is not just literary freedom we are concerned about.
The Anti-white Party and our Anti-white government denigrate free speech because the anti-white agenda requires and mandates that free speech be replaced with government-approved speech. Without the abolition of free speech the madleft would have much greater difficulty proliferating its endless fake phobias (e.g. islamophobia, transphobia) and its fictional heresies (e.g. “white supremacism”).
Since anti-whitism is hate, and the madleft alleges to itself that it hates hate, anti-whitism can only be promoted by means of censorship.
I certainly don’t agree with all the opinions of some of those signing the letter – but that’s the whole point of Free Speech. Without Free Speech all you are allowed to hear is the ‘Approved Narrative’, agree with it or not.
I remember some time ago thinking that AC Grayling was an idiot, and this line reinforces that belief;
“It is as tough to engage with the views of those with whom one emphatically disagrees as it is to engage with racists and sexists…”
Where is the equivalence between engaging with racists and sexists and engaging with someone with an opposing view? This is the mindset of The Left. They are society’s poison.
“Legal free speech”…..With the bar forever getting lower, and it’s the Government who gets to decide what is legal speech, and what is not.
” A.C. Grayling”….Had tickets to see him at Hay Festival back in 2018. What I didn’t realise is what a rabid remainer he was!
Aint gonna happen this is sixty years in the making. It would interfere with the whole administration of the university these days so deep is the corruption. You would have to remove arts and humanities subjects altogether and it can’t be done. Rejection of most of canonical art music and literature of the last hundred years. Obviously sociology, psychology, anthropology would be gone. And that is before you even start on gender studies, queer studies etc. There is no retracing your steps and avoiding the excrement.
The Dearly Be-Luvvies have waded in …obvs civilisation is at stake 🤣