Freedom of speech
How to exploit a crisis
The phrase ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’ is often attributed to Winston Churchill, but it’s something the…
The death of free speech in Britain
In Michel Houellebecq’s satirical novel Soumission, the French elite submits to Islamic rule rather than accept a National Front government.…
Debunking debanking
As I sat down to write this column, an old friend let me know he’d just been ‘debanked’. That is,…
Craic up
When did the Irish lose their sense of humour?
Wrong but not ‘harmful’
Three years ago this week marked my first misgivings about the government’s Covid lockdown. Sure, I was late to that…
A call to arms
I’ve agreed to interview the author and journalist Andrew Doyle about his new book at the Conservative party conference –…
The day I got heckled at Speakers’ Corner
Monday was the 150th anniversary of Speakers’ Corner and, in the hope of drumming up some publicity for the Free…
Will my kitchen be designated a ‘safe space’?
As the father of four children who will be entering higher education in the next few years, I’m worried that…
Deathly silencing
Is there a woke case to be made for freedom of expression? Jacob Mchangama certainly seems to think so. This…
Nicola Sturgeon’s last laugh
I was delighted to discover that the University of Bristol has been advising students how to address those who identify…
Why we should worry about the censorship of the far left
There are many important, principled arguments for free speech. But one of the most convincing is purely tactical. Why empower…
Who’s really being silenced on campus?
The never-ending social justice messaging from our college and university presidents and their legions of diversity, equity and inclusion officers…
Scotland’s Hate Crime Bill would have a chilling effect on free speech
Among the encroachments on Milton’s three supreme liberties contained in Humza Yousaf’s Hate Crime Bill is a cloturing of the…
The fight to defend academic freedom
About 18 months ago, I attended a debate at Policy Exchange, the think tank founded by Nick Boles, Francis Maude…
Dark arts
Welcome to the world you created, J.K. Rowling
The chilling effect
The printed press is not a natural ally of Facebook. Silicon Valley publishers have hoovered up so much advertising that…
Will Cambridge University finally stand up for free speech?
When Dr Priyamvada Gopal, a University of Cambridge academic, tweeted ‘White lives don’t matter’ and ‘Abolish whiteness’ in response to…
The young oppress their future selves
Matt Ridley’s fine recent Times column was hardly the first to raise the alarm about the pseudo-Soviet intolerance of the…
In praise of PC
Here’s another stock joke for your collection: Pembroke College, Cambridge, has cancelled a fancy dress party themed on Around the…
The 5 per cent of people who get to decide everything
What happens when 95 per cent of people like something, but 5 per cent of people prefer something else? You might think…
Diary
So far my responsibilities as the 2016 chair of the Man Booker prize have been rather light. We’ve had our…
France’s new reactionaries
The nation’s intellectuals are being roiled by issues of immigration, sovereignty and freedom of expression
Stop health tourism
Speaking after the Stafford hospital scandal in 2010, the then newly appointed Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, grandly announced plans for…
Censoring Jews
The attempt to ban Jewish men from seeing ‘The Gift of Fire’ sets a very dangerous precedent
Stand up for ex-Muslims
These people are risking their lives for the freedom not to believe – and liberal Britain is betraying them
