Coming in to Broadcasting House this morning I saw for the first time the statue unveiled this week, of George Orwell, with its inscription on the wall behind, \u201cIf liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.\u201d How badly we need that truth today.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been deeply troubled by what seems to me to be the assault on free speech taking place in British universities in the name of \u201csafe space,\u201d \u201ctrigger warnings,\u201d and \u201cmicro-aggressions,\u201d meaning any remark that someone might find offensive even if no offence is meant. So far has this gone that a month ago, students at an Oxford College banned the presence of a representative of the Christian Union on the grounds that some might find their presence alienating and offensive. Luckily the protest that followed led to the ban being swiftly overturned. But still \u2026<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure this entire movement has been undertaken for the highest of motives, to protect the feelings of the vulnerable, which I applaud, but you don\u2019t achieve that by silencing dissenting views. A safe space is the exact opposite: a place where you give a respectful hearing to views opposed to your own, knowing that your views too will be listened to respectfully. That\u2019s academic freedom and it\u2019s essential to a free society.<\/p>\n