Freedom of speech: absolute, or absent.
"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two equals four. If that is granted, all else follows." (Orwell 1984) Ignoring the handful of idiotic maths "teachers" in California and Ontario who recently claimed 2+2=4 to be a statement of white supremacy, the absolute veracity of 2+2=4 is agreed on by all. 2+2=4 lacks the controversy of emotion and opinion; it is a statement of fact provable a priori. So, we are free to accept two plus two equals four. But what are we to do with uncomfortable truths, or statements of opinion, some of which have fuelled disgusting scenes such as those recently seen in Rotherham? Merriam Webster defines freedom as "the quality or state of being free, such as the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action." By definition therefore, the moment speech is qualified, it is no longer free. On Sunday Jessica Simor KC took to Twitter (yes, we are still free to call it that) to politely remind us that limits on ...