Are people are only prepared to support freedom of speech and assembly when they already agree with the opinions of the people they are defending? In recent weeks I’ve wondered if this is true. With the renewed outbreak of the Israel-Palestine conflict and an increase in strong public feeling on both sides, some of the most vocal Conservative defenders of a free society in the recent past seem to have suddenly decided they aren’t such fans of these central democratic freedoms anymore.
Take Rishi Sunak, who last May defended my right to appear at the Oxford Union and to express my criticisms of the political demands of trans activists there — including my rejection of the idea that trans women are literally women. “A free society requires free debate,” he said at the time, continuing: “We should all be encouraged to engage respectfully with the ideas of others.” He also claimed a “tolerant society is one which allows us to understand those we disagree with”.
