The Parliament Square camp

There has been lots of discussion about the eviction of protestors from Parliament Square that has now been put on hold pending an appeal. This issue has had me tied up in philosophical knots as the right to protest is not far down the list from the right to free speech in my personal list of fundamental freedoms. But this doesn’t feel to me quite as if it it is an attack on that. Whether you subscribe to the Mayor’s position that the camp gets in the way of other protests or not I there is just something nagging at the back of my mind that thinks you can start your protest as early in the morning as you want and stay as late as you like but you must go away at the end of it.Of course this could just be the conditioning from growing up at a seaside resort where all the car parking spots had signs prohibiting overnight stays.

The rights and wrongs of this probably won’t matter in the longer run, what will matter is quite how well it is handled. Perhaps Boris and the Met should do their best to learn from Newbury District Council who come out much worse than the USAF does when the legacy of the Greenham Common peace camp is totted up. To the extent that the camp remained after the missiles left to get the land back into the hands of the public.

Freedom of typing

I know I haven't been posting much here recently, but I value my ability to use the Internet to let people know what I think.

Guido is highlighting the increasing threat to online freedoms as apparently all the appropriate laws are not enough to deal with any problem on the Internet, we need regulation as well.

While it would be quite amusing to see a few of the more manic bloggers dragged of to the cells I really do feel this is the perfect time to re-iterate my belief in free speech, no matter how hateful that speech is as long as it is not actually incitement.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

Anonymous V Scientology

You would think with all the furore over the Tom Cruise YouTube video recently that protests outside the offices of the Scientologists would be worth at least a small piece. Seems to be the case everywhere but England. Google news search has 47 hits round the world, including Edinburgh but London doesn't get a mention.

So given that even a little read blog like this spreading the news makes a difference have a blog account and another, oh plus some flickr pictures.

Now I will admit that I haven't personally looked into scientology in any depth so don't want to argue that what these people are doing is a force for good. But currently any protest against any issue or group you feel strongly against has to be encouraged to remind the government that we value it as a right. I hope that V for Vendetta masks don't get over used in this manner, we should of course save them for if we have to oust Gordon from number 10 when he throws away the next election but doesn't feel like leaving. I just have this feeling of impending doom that he will make Mrs. T's exit look utterly dignified.