No, I don't think Jo Brand should apologise or be sacked by the BBC for joking about throwing battery acid at Nigel Farage. Or investigated by the Old Bill.
The clue is in the word 'joking'. Brand is a comedian. She tells jokes for a living. Whether or not you find her funny is a matter of personal taste.
If you don't like her politics or her material you don't have to listen to her. So spare us the faux outrage.
Yes, Jo Brand's made an ass of herself. But spare me the outrage over her battery acid 'joke': RICHARD LITTLEJOHN says free speech is for everyone... even hypocrites
By Richard Littlejohn for the Daily Mail
14 June 2019
No, I don't think Jo Brand should apologise or be sacked by the BBC for joking about throwing battery acid at Nigel Farage. Or investigated by the Old Bill.
The clue is in the word 'joking'. Brand is a comedian. She tells jokes for a living. Whether or not you find her funny is a matter of personal taste.
If you don't like her politics or her material you don't have to listen to her. So spare us the faux outrage.
Nobody with any sense of proportion can seriously believe she was inciting people to throw acid at Farage.
Brand was talking about the fashion for chucking milkshake over Right-wing politicians. Farage was on the receiving end while campaigning in Newcastle. Salted caramel flavour, I seem to recall.
Brand is a comedian. She tells jokes for a living. Whether or not you find her funny is a matter of personal taste
What Brand actually said on Radio 4's Heresy programme was: 'Why bother with milkshake when you could get some battery acid?'
Then, perhaps realising that her clumsy attempt at edgy humour could be deliberately misconstrued in these hyper-sensitive times, she added quickly: 'I'm not going to do it. It's purely a fantasy.'
But that qualification was conveniently overlooked by those now screaming for her head on a pike.
Even Farage himself had a sense of humour failure, demanding that the police take action against her for incitement to violence.
Given the tsunami of abuse, both physical and verbal, he has to endure daily, Farage's reaction was understandable. He can't even go for a quiet pint without a bodyguard.
But, hey, Nige. You're better than that. Rise above it.
Yes, I know that if this had been a Right-wing comic on the BBC (dream on!) joking about throwing acid at a Left-wing politician, Scotland Yard would have scrambled the 'hate crime' squad, complete with armed back-up.
That comedian would find himself banned for life by the BBC and every other mainstream broadcaster.
Social media warriors would force the cancellation of any upcoming tours or bookings, as clubs and theatres were threatened with boycotts and mass pickets.
But that's no reason for conservatives to sink to the Left's squalid, censorious level. The confected fury aimed at Brand's remark has been ridiculous. And those attempting to link it to the tragic murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by a lone lunatic three years ago should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.
It's sheer hypocrisy to complain about the constant hysterical reaction of snowflakes, millennials and assorted Leftists to any opinion they find objectionable, then turn round and behave in exactly the same, deranged fashion when someone utters something not to your taste.
Even Farage himself had a sense of humour failure, demanding that the police take action against her for incitement to violence
Fair enough, the BBC can be accused of double-standards when it comes to deciding whom to defend and whom to dump.
While the Beeb is standing by Jo Brand, it didn't hesitate to sack Danny Baker over his ill-advised posting of picture of a chimpanzee to mark the recent birth of the royal baby.
That's not the main point here, though. If free speech is to survive it must apply to everyone.
Chiselled into the wall of the BBC's London headquarters, there's a famous quote from George Orwell, which reads:
'If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.'
Orwell's words reinforce the maxim often attributed to Voltaire, but actually written by his biographer: 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.'
To be honest, I prefer the Oscar Wilde version: 'I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an ass of yourself.' That's what Jo Brand did. She made an ass of herself. And so are those trying to get her strung up from the nearest lamp post.
Having said all that, here the defence of Brand rests, along with any sympathy I may have earlier expressed.
There's a strong case for saying that she deserves every last drop of the ordure being tipped over her head.
After all, it was Brand (along with Adrian Chiles) who grassed up Carol Thatcher to the BBC and demanded that she was sacked from The One Show over a contentious remark she made in the green room.
Thatcher was accused of racism after saying that a black tennis player looked like a 'huggable golliwog'. That was the end of her career at the BBC.
OK, so the word 'golliwog' has been off-limits since the campaign in the Eighties to remove the golly from Robertson's jam jars.
But the preceding 'huggable' surely indicated that she had no malicious intent. Yet Brand and her detractors chose to ignore it, just as those who would lynch Brand today overlook her assurance that she was only joking and didn't really intend to throw acid at Farage.
And this is where the real hypocrisy kicks in. We live in an age in which free speech in Britain is under sustained attack from all sides.
Social media was supposed to extend freedom of expression, but it has had the opposite effect.
Unwelcome opinions are quickly closed down. Employers and advertisers are pressured to punish alleged offenders. Ludicrous 'hate crime' laws are employed to silence open debate.
Careers are being destroyed and some presumed guilty of 'speech crimes' are actually being arrested, prosecuted and convicted.
Universities 'no platform' speakers whose views might 'trigger' an attack of the vapours in more sensitive souls who are frightened of being exposed to someone with a different worldview.
Our free press, already hampered by some of the world's most draconian libel laws, was subjected to the Leveson show trial and now has to contend with strict limits on what can and can't be printed.
Sadly, some of the more right-on sections of the media buy into this sinister assault on freedom of expression. Boris Johnson was quite right this week to slap down the Sky reporter Eleanor Rigby, who was trying to stir up another daft rumpus over his past remarks about women in burkas looking like letterboxes.
Free speech isn't only for those whose opinions we agree with. It must also be extended to those whose views we abhor, provided they really aren't inciting violence.
As Orwell so rightly said, if liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
So conservatives ape the Left's censorship tactics at their peril.
Free speech must apply to everyone, even Jo Brand.
According to the old nursery rhyme, Solomon Grundy was born on a Monday, christened on Tuesday, married on Wednesday etc. Leonard-Valter Tudor is Romania's answer to Solomon Grundy. He arrived in Britain on Friday, was arrested for shoplifting on Saturday, appeared in court on Monday, started a 16-week jail sentence on Tuesday . . . Presumably, he'll be out by Thursday, granted asylum on Friday, and be living on benefits in a council house by Saturday.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/...OHN-Free-speech-hypocrites-like-Jo-Brand.html
The clue is in the word 'joking'. Brand is a comedian. She tells jokes for a living. Whether or not you find her funny is a matter of personal taste.
If you don't like her politics or her material you don't have to listen to her. So spare us the faux outrage.
Yes, Jo Brand's made an ass of herself. But spare me the outrage over her battery acid 'joke': RICHARD LITTLEJOHN says free speech is for everyone... even hypocrites
By Richard Littlejohn for the Daily Mail
14 June 2019
No, I don't think Jo Brand should apologise or be sacked by the BBC for joking about throwing battery acid at Nigel Farage. Or investigated by the Old Bill.
The clue is in the word 'joking'. Brand is a comedian. She tells jokes for a living. Whether or not you find her funny is a matter of personal taste.
If you don't like her politics or her material you don't have to listen to her. So spare us the faux outrage.
Nobody with any sense of proportion can seriously believe she was inciting people to throw acid at Farage.
Brand was talking about the fashion for chucking milkshake over Right-wing politicians. Farage was on the receiving end while campaigning in Newcastle. Salted caramel flavour, I seem to recall.
Brand is a comedian. She tells jokes for a living. Whether or not you find her funny is a matter of personal taste
What Brand actually said on Radio 4's Heresy programme was: 'Why bother with milkshake when you could get some battery acid?'
Then, perhaps realising that her clumsy attempt at edgy humour could be deliberately misconstrued in these hyper-sensitive times, she added quickly: 'I'm not going to do it. It's purely a fantasy.'
But that qualification was conveniently overlooked by those now screaming for her head on a pike.
Even Farage himself had a sense of humour failure, demanding that the police take action against her for incitement to violence.
Given the tsunami of abuse, both physical and verbal, he has to endure daily, Farage's reaction was understandable. He can't even go for a quiet pint without a bodyguard.
But, hey, Nige. You're better than that. Rise above it.
Yes, I know that if this had been a Right-wing comic on the BBC (dream on!) joking about throwing acid at a Left-wing politician, Scotland Yard would have scrambled the 'hate crime' squad, complete with armed back-up.
That comedian would find himself banned for life by the BBC and every other mainstream broadcaster.
Social media warriors would force the cancellation of any upcoming tours or bookings, as clubs and theatres were threatened with boycotts and mass pickets.
But that's no reason for conservatives to sink to the Left's squalid, censorious level. The confected fury aimed at Brand's remark has been ridiculous. And those attempting to link it to the tragic murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by a lone lunatic three years ago should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.
It's sheer hypocrisy to complain about the constant hysterical reaction of snowflakes, millennials and assorted Leftists to any opinion they find objectionable, then turn round and behave in exactly the same, deranged fashion when someone utters something not to your taste.
Even Farage himself had a sense of humour failure, demanding that the police take action against her for incitement to violence
Fair enough, the BBC can be accused of double-standards when it comes to deciding whom to defend and whom to dump.
While the Beeb is standing by Jo Brand, it didn't hesitate to sack Danny Baker over his ill-advised posting of picture of a chimpanzee to mark the recent birth of the royal baby.
That's not the main point here, though. If free speech is to survive it must apply to everyone.
Chiselled into the wall of the BBC's London headquarters, there's a famous quote from George Orwell, which reads:
'If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.'
Orwell's words reinforce the maxim often attributed to Voltaire, but actually written by his biographer: 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.'
To be honest, I prefer the Oscar Wilde version: 'I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an ass of yourself.' That's what Jo Brand did. She made an ass of herself. And so are those trying to get her strung up from the nearest lamp post.
Having said all that, here the defence of Brand rests, along with any sympathy I may have earlier expressed.
There's a strong case for saying that she deserves every last drop of the ordure being tipped over her head.
After all, it was Brand (along with Adrian Chiles) who grassed up Carol Thatcher to the BBC and demanded that she was sacked from The One Show over a contentious remark she made in the green room.
Thatcher was accused of racism after saying that a black tennis player looked like a 'huggable golliwog'. That was the end of her career at the BBC.
OK, so the word 'golliwog' has been off-limits since the campaign in the Eighties to remove the golly from Robertson's jam jars.
But the preceding 'huggable' surely indicated that she had no malicious intent. Yet Brand and her detractors chose to ignore it, just as those who would lynch Brand today overlook her assurance that she was only joking and didn't really intend to throw acid at Farage.
And this is where the real hypocrisy kicks in. We live in an age in which free speech in Britain is under sustained attack from all sides.
Social media was supposed to extend freedom of expression, but it has had the opposite effect.
Unwelcome opinions are quickly closed down. Employers and advertisers are pressured to punish alleged offenders. Ludicrous 'hate crime' laws are employed to silence open debate.
Careers are being destroyed and some presumed guilty of 'speech crimes' are actually being arrested, prosecuted and convicted.
Universities 'no platform' speakers whose views might 'trigger' an attack of the vapours in more sensitive souls who are frightened of being exposed to someone with a different worldview.
Our free press, already hampered by some of the world's most draconian libel laws, was subjected to the Leveson show trial and now has to contend with strict limits on what can and can't be printed.
Sadly, some of the more right-on sections of the media buy into this sinister assault on freedom of expression. Boris Johnson was quite right this week to slap down the Sky reporter Eleanor Rigby, who was trying to stir up another daft rumpus over his past remarks about women in burkas looking like letterboxes.
Free speech isn't only for those whose opinions we agree with. It must also be extended to those whose views we abhor, provided they really aren't inciting violence.
As Orwell so rightly said, if liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
So conservatives ape the Left's censorship tactics at their peril.
Free speech must apply to everyone, even Jo Brand.
According to the old nursery rhyme, Solomon Grundy was born on a Monday, christened on Tuesday, married on Wednesday etc. Leonard-Valter Tudor is Romania's answer to Solomon Grundy. He arrived in Britain on Friday, was arrested for shoplifting on Saturday, appeared in court on Monday, started a 16-week jail sentence on Tuesday . . . Presumably, he'll be out by Thursday, granted asylum on Friday, and be living on benefits in a council house by Saturday.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/...OHN-Free-speech-hypocrites-like-Jo-Brand.html
