Dear Oxford University,
No doubt you are feeling a little bruised after the media mauling you have received over the last few days over your decision to let David Irving and Nick Griffin appear at the Oxford Union in a debate on freedom of speech. I am not surprised nor sympathetic on this matter.
I think a lot of people underestimate the important role that freedom of speech plays in this country (see ‘Why I write this blog’). I see it as a core value in the UK and our government has let down the entire nation and everything we stand for by passing laws against freedom of speech, such as making it a criminal offence to make anti-homosexual remarks. It will therefore come as no surprise that I genuinely believe that David Irving and Nick Griffin are fully entitled to their views and they should not be banned or censored unless they go as far as inciting violence against other people (which the BNP has come very close to in the past).
Consequently, one would be forgiven for thinking that I would welcome their appearance at the Oxford Union, but I don’t. There is a big difference between letting someone have an opinion, and giving them a famous platform on which to share it. Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, labelled your actions as “juvenile provocation” and I completely agree with him. Inviting controversial figures is fine with me but why pick people who have nothing useful to contribute to a debate, seeing as their views are more the result of attention-seeking than a collection of rational and empirical evidence?
Yours in bemusement,
A.Tory
6 responses so far ↓
More on BNP at Oxford « The Secret Person // November 26, 2007 at 11:52 am
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secretperson // November 26, 2007 at 11:56 am
It is not Oxford University, but the Oxford Union, who have invited these speakers. This is a private debating society, although it draws heavily on Oxford University students for its membership. The original invite would have been a mistake, but to rescind it once offered would have been a bigger one.
If as you say “their views are more the result of attention-seeking than a collection of rational and empirical evidence” they should have no trouble being rebuffed. I think inviting two people close on the political spectrum was a mistake, but both have been in trouble with the law for their speech, and can surely bring something from that POV to the debate. More here: http://secretperson.wordpress.com/2007/11/26/more-on-bnp-at-oxford/
PS. I respect your opinion and writing a letter, but you really should address it to the Oxford Union, not the University.
Letters From A Tory // November 26, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Ok, fair enough, it should have gone to the Oxford Union instead.
Having said that, I disagree that they can bring something interesting to the debate. When I said “their views” I was referring more to their political and historical opinions. In terms of freedom of speech, I doubt they can offer something that a genuine supporter of freedom of speech like myself could not. They both seem to spend too much time seeking the limelight rather than making a clear and concise argument in favour of freedom of speech.
redandwhitestripes // November 26, 2007 at 3:23 pm
All I can say is this, if you the debate does go ahead and you get to see or read it then take hat chance. You might just be impressed by Griffin. He is a very good orator and can reason very, very well.
Here is a link to his very good speech in America. If you look at the other videos, you will see the ones from Michigan MSU were the left terrorised him, outnumbered him about ten to one and he still made his points far better than them.
Given our usually similar viewpoints, I’m also surprised you didn’t mention how disgraceful the usual far left suspects were in their behaviour on this issue. As usual they tried to bully the union, censor the debate and shout down anyone (Griffin in this case, but also you and I) who does not hold the same views as them.
Letters From A Tory // November 26, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Well, I try to ignore Lefties as much as possible. When they start moaning about things and trying to get them banned/censored, I just ignore them and hope they go away.
Sadly they often get their way with an increasingly spineless government at the helm.
redandwhitestripes // November 27, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I see. By the way, I’m not dyslexic, I just type too fast and forget to check sometimes
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