The author of this article chose to remain anonymous.
Photo by Alex Motoc on Unsplash
When I was growing up, conservative meant minimal state intervention in our lives, the rejection of the nanny state, and the prioritisation of individual freedoms. It’s the liberal snowflakes who are supposed to be the ones who get triggered whenever you say something in a way they don’t like. The Conservative Party now has a majority of 80 MPs, so we finally have the power to retract the meddling hand of the state.
Instead, Boris Johnson’s government is going in the exact opposite direction. Making it so citizens can be fined £2,500 for being noisy enough at a protest, that someone nearby might feel uneasy, is a major violation of everything a conservative party is supposed to stand for. And what’s worse? They all know it!
During the Parliamentary debates, Conservative MP David Davis said the bill poses “a grave threat to the fundamental right of protest that this country has had enshrined in our national fabric for some 800 years.” He reminded everyone that “It hasn’t just been the lefty liberal legal fraternity that has been worried about this”, citing that police chiefs do not want these powers either. He also expressed fear that one day an “extreme left government” might be able to use these powers.
Conservative MP Steve Baker made a blog post explaining how the bill creates “uncertainty by giving far too much discretion to the police,” and reminding us that “in a free and democratic society, the right to protest is fundamental.”
What happened?
We’ve got the snowflake censor brigade telling us the Conservatives are the ones opposing free speech. If the Conservative Party lets this bill become law without getting rid of the clauses which effectively make it illegal to be noisy or annoying at a protest, based on the subjective opinion of whichever ranking police officer happens to be on duty, conservative values are dead.
The Conservative and Unionist Party has a lot to do to become worthy of its name again.
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