Mick Hartley

Keith Porteous-Wood of the National Secular Society:

Yesterday marked a new low for democracy and freedom of expression in the UK. Not only was Geert Wilders not intending to incite violence, he is an elected politician of a sovereign state of the European Union and had no criminal record. The Government’s ban on him entering the UK should have been a clarion call for all those who cherish freedom of expression, the bedrock of democracy that underpins every other Human Right.

So there should have been thousands marching outside Parliament last night to protect this, led by politicians and organisations devoted to our rights. Where were they? Nowhere. Were there even statements of outrage from these politicians and organisations at the Government’s shameful and cowardly act? None that I saw.

This compounds the Government’s grave error many times over. It sends the signal that what they did was acceptable and that all that the Islamists – even Islamist Parliamentarians – have to do to shut down our democratic system is to say there will be ten thousand Muslims marching on Parliament. Just one such threat and the Government caves in, far less saying – as any democratic one should – that threats of violence are unacceptable and will be met with the full force of the law.

And, after the arrest in India of the editor and publisher of the Statesman for "hurting the religious feelings" of Muslims, here's Johann Hari's response.