Quote of the day 12th January 2015
"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all"
(Noam Chomsky)
(Noam Chomsky)
Nick Herbert on his visit to flood hit areas of Cumbria
Please note that the post below was published more than ten year ago on 21st November 2009 Nick Herbert MP, shadow cabinet member for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, was in Cumbria this morning to see the areas affected by the flooding. He writes on Conservative Home about his visit. Here is an extract. I’ve been in Cumbria today to see the areas affected by the floods. I arrived early in Keswick where I met officials from the Environment Agency. Although the river levels had fallen considerably and homes were no longer flooded, the damage to homes had been done. And the water which had got into houses wasn’t just from the river – it was foul water which had risen from the drains. I talked to fire crews who were pumping flood water back into the river, and discovered that they were from Tyne & Wear and Lancashire. They had been called in at an hours’ notice and had been working on the scene ever since, staying at a local hotel. You cannot fail to be impressed by the...
Comments
For the avoidance of doubt, freedom of expression means that you should be free to express your views in conversation, or at a meeting you organise, or in a book or magazine you publish, or on your own blog or website, without being murdered for it, or prosecuted.
It does not mean that you should be forced to include my views on something which you as a private citizen are publishing, or that I should be forced to include yours. As it happens I do often allow people to post views I disagree with here, occasionally views I despise. That's my choice.
One the rare occasions where I do decide to block someone from expressing a view from putting it on this blog, that does not mean that I am interfering with their freedom of speech unless I also try to stop them setting up their own blog or website and expressing their views there.