That’s Debatable!

The Fight For Free Speech in Ireland

There is a fierce battle for free speech taking place in the Republic of Ireland, where the proposed Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred or Hate Offences) Bill (‘CJB’) is expected to radically extend the scope of hate crime. In that context, we are delighted to welcome Sarah Hardiman, spokesperson for Free Speech Ireland (FSI), to this week’s episode of ‘That’s Debatable’. Top of the list of the FSI’s concerns is the lack of clarity around essential definitions within the CJB, such as the definition of ‘hate‘ itself!  Our discussion touches on several areas that will be familiar to our listeners such as the practical problems of policing hate laws, the tension between lobby groups and individual citizens, and what appears to be the ubiquitous inadequacy of state education systems in relaying the vital importance of free expression in a free society. A significant motivator for Sarah and the FSI is the demonstrable support from individual Irish citizens who, following more thorough reporting in the national and international press, are clearly quite horrified at the more perverse implications of the bill as currently drafted; dawn raids for possession of wrong think documents being a good example. If you would like to support the FSI in this essential fight, then please do visit their website at https://freespeechireland.ie and follow the FSI across their social media channels.

In Conversation With Denise Fahmy

Direct from her recent win at a Leeds Employment Tribunal, we are very excited to welcome Denise Fahmy to this episode of ‘That’s Debatable’. Denise worked at Arts Council England for 15 years but, as you will hear, was subjected to some quite appalling harassment from other council employees when she spoke up for LGB Alliance during an internal staff meeting. After discussing what happened to her, Denise goes on to talk about how the side-lining of gender critical content doesn’t always lead to overt cancellation, but instead causes a general chill in which gender critical output is simply missing from arts shortlists and events. Combined with weak organisational leadership, this frostiness explains why art funding decisions often fail to be impartial and can be so influenced by ideological employee groups. We also explore the general state of the arts in the current woke cultural environment. Denise offers fascinating and measured insight into the arts world including the rise of the art curator, who now operates as the gatekeeper between creator and end consumer. We also wonder whether some interesting art may arise from contemplation of cancel culture itself, a planned July staged reading of the recent Mermaids vs LGB Alliance court battle being a case in point: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mermaids-vs-the-alliance-a-staged-reading-tickets-666999352017 

Banking on Silence: How the Chinese Social Credit System Creeps In

If, in Cher’s immortal words, we could turn back time five years, say, and describe the essence of today’s episode to a group of level-headed UK citizens, we are pretty sure they would label us fantasists and loons. But the fact is that we are now living in a society where a British colonel with an impeccable service record can be forced out of the army for supporting the idea that men can’t be women and women can’t be men. Who runs the British army? Stonewall’s enthusiastic commissars, it seems. We also report back on some headline statistics from the FSU’s cancel culture survey. Cancel culture does affect people’s well-being (at least 75% of those cancelled), it is rarely a surprise to the person being cancelled, and it really isn’t just a right-wing myth. For their next treat, those 2018 Cher fans can hear how the Chinese social credit system is taking root across our banking system, with high street names happily shutting down the accounts of all those pesky customers who think wrong thoughts. Finally, we head back to rather less familiar territory, 2023, and report back on a day out at Pride London. We reflect on the importance of discernment and wisdom when trying to work out what might really be going on.

Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone!

Sadly, recent events at both Rye College and the NSPCC demonstrate that the UK’s free speech woes are affecting the lives of the most impressionable members of society, our children. We discuss how we’ve reached this place and why it is proving so hard to dislodge the controversial philosophies behind Stonewall, Mermaids, and other activist organisations. There are glimmers of hope, though, not least the undeniable fact that parents will not easily accept or tolerate the ideological capture of their own children. We move on to the fact-checking industry and ask ourselves a deeper question behind the phenomenon: what does it take to change minds? In our conversation, we refer to Konstantin Kisin’s Oxford Union address from January 2023 as a great case study in how to speak persuasively: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJdqJu-6ZPo  We only manage to scratch the surface of this important question, however, and will most certainly come back to it in future episodes!   

A Touch of Civic Pride

We were delighted to welcome Angela Kilmartin, a former conservative district councillor for Witham Town and Braintree, to this week’s That’s Debatable podcast. In this refreshingly frank discussion, Angela eloquently recounts the story of how she was formally investigated for expressing on her private Facebook account, her opposition to the flying of pride flags . At the end of the process, the district council’s monitoring officer advised Angela to go undergo Equality Act and ‘emotional intelligence’ training.  As you will hear, Angela is not exactly the sort of person willing to be pushed around in this manner. Far from caving in and subjecting herself to Maoist emotional re-education, she continues to exercise her political voice to great effect from the public gallery at council meetings. After the discussion with Angela, in part two, Ben and Tom round-off the episode by pulling together their own thoughts on the themes covered.

Oxfam & The New Elite

Oxfam is back in the free speech news, for all the wrong reasons. We begin today’s episode wondering why the charity keeps tripping over itself in the culture wars and highlight the deleterious effect these clumsy moves have had on numbers of volunteers and donors, as well as the charity’s finances. The case of an Oxfam employee who felt she had no choice but to resign due to the hostile environment she faced after expressing perfectly reasonable support for JK Rowling leads us into more general discussion of employee speech codes. There is now hardly a workplace without a speech code (often disguised as an EDI policy), and we ponder how a single individual can now be subject to several codes at the same time, yet none of them ever seems to be applied in an even-handed way. It is also very rare to stumble upon a speech code that differs from the new orthodoxy.  We briefly discuss how HSBC has shut down three accounts of the League of Social Democrats, one of the few remaining pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong that dares to protest China’s draconian security law and free speech crackdown.  Finally, we share thoughts following last week’s FSU panel event centred around Matt Goodwin’s new book on the new elite. It was a great discussion, and we were particularly happy to take Matt’s final word to be sure to keep the debate going in the bar afterwards.      

The Dissent of Man

This week we celebrate Anna Thomas’s well-publicised victory over the DWP and Civil Service.  This important win for free speech, which was spear-headed by the FSU, should be a source of great succour to employees in both the private and public sectors who are grappling with some of the more radical diversity, equity and inclusion agendas that have crept into the workplace; a classic case of politics extending its tentacles far too deeply into civic life.  We move on to discuss the origins of what seems to be a stark authoritarianism permeating contemporary youth culture.  The younger generation has always been radical, but is there something different happening today?  We also explore the news that broke over the weekend concerning the government’s counter-disinformation unit. This was deployed to monitor the UK population during Covid-19.  A liberal democracy survives and thrives on dissent, but there appears to have been a tendency to label traditional dissenting voices as dangerous misinformation.  Finally, we remind our listeners of the wealth of support material that is available on the FSU website to manage specific free speech issues. These briefings and FAQ (frequently asked questions) have proved very useful to individual FSU members seeking out help in real life situations.

The Rise of Low Liberalism

This week we are very excited to talk with Dr Thomas Prosser from Cardiff University on the topic of “low liberalism”.  Dr Prosser coined the term low liberalism in a March 2023 piece for his sub stack ‘the path not taken’: https://www.thepathnottaken.net/p/the-rise-of-low-liberalismWe start by clarifying our definitions before trying to fit the idea of low liberalism into the mosaic of other contemporary cultural concepts, such as woke, social justice, authoritarianism, and the limits of politics. We also think about the role social media has played in allowing low liberalism to emerge and thrive.  We then ponder some of the potentially catastrophic consequences of low liberalism and what all of this means for free speech, including the fostering of a chilling atmosphere that forces people to self-censor. Dr Prosser leaves listeners with a final thought on the many similar ideas that are being discussed, and how it is quite possible for them to co-exist, even where they might contradict.

A Free Speech Tsar is Born

This week we celebrate the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which has now received Royal Assent. This new piece of law, brought in following a considerable amount of lobbying by the FSU, will strengthen the statutory protection available to academics and students exercising their free speech rights at university.  At a more micro level, the FSU’s new Mactaggart Programme is already enabling individual groups to fight back against the multiple flavours of ‘pocket veto’ that are deployed both by protesters and university authorities (such as handing on the bill for event security). Salman Rushdie enters the chat with his damning verdict on modern censorship and we discuss how authoritative voices like his underline the fact that cancel culture is a serious problem.  Finally, we ponder a case with echoes of the FSU’s own PayPal troubles last year. Yet another financial institution, this time Tide bank, appears to have shut down its services to TRIGGERnometry, a free speech platform that invites on speakers from across the political spectrum.

How Hitchens Can Save The Left

In this week's episode, we are delighted to be joined by special guest and author, Matt Johnson. We discuss his debut book, "How Hitchens Can Save the Left: Rediscovering Fearless Liberalism in an Age of Counter-Enlightenment". This deep dive into Hitchens' work unearths the nuances of his exploration into fearless liberalism.Join us as we discuss the enduring impact of Hitchens on contemporary liberal thought and how his intellectual courage can rejuvenate the left in today's age of counter-enlightenment. Whether you're a long-time admirer of Hitchens or new to his work, this episode promises to engage and challenge, offering fresh perspectives on the role of liberalism in our society.