This article was first written for the Free Society in April 2010
So far freedom has failed to become a hot issue in the general election despite numerous curtailments to individual and collective liberties over the past five years from anti-terror laws to the ban on smoking in pubs. In fact, the election itself is appearing to damage another one of our most fundamental freedoms, our freedom of speech. As the election draws closer and debate heats up, both Conservative and Labour candidates have started to refuse to debate the BNP. This is something that we should all challenge as it demeans us – the public – and our democratic election process.
The rest of this article can be found here: http://www.thefreesociety.org/Columnists/Suzy-Dean/why-no-platform-is-incompatible-with-freedom-of-speech
This book review was first published with the Free Society in March 2010
Few would dispute that government regulation has come to seep into almost every corner of our once-private lives. Brian Monteith’s The Bully State: The End of Tolerance (published by The Free Society) is rich with examples of how our homes, cars and pubs have become the target for government regulation.
While his development of the concept of denormalisation is useful and identifies ‘whats new’ about regulation today, his analysis of the how and why lifestyle regulation has come to be so widespread leaves more to be desired, as does his recommended antedote to over-zealous regulation.
The rest of this review can be found here: http://www.thefreesociety.org/Columnists/Suzy-Dean/the-bully-state-another-view
This article was first published in Feb 2010 for the Free Society
The shocking thing about the John Terry case is not that Terry cheated on his wife with another player’s then-girlfriend. It is not even that his lover allegedly aborted their child. What is shocking is that Terry was able to gag the press using a ‘super-injunction’ from reporting on his story. How did it come to be that a very rich individual, some lawyers and a High Court judge acquired the power to rule on what the press can publish and by extension what the public can read? This is a dangerous trend which undermines free speech and adult rationality, the basis of our democracy.
The rest of this article can be found here: http://www.thefreesociety.org/Issues/Free-Speech/free-speech-and-the-court-of-public-opinion-let-the-people-decide
This book review was first published in October 2009 for the Spiked Review of Books
Martin Bell’s account of the expenses scandal has insights, but his willingness to embrace infringements upon parliamentary sovereignty in the name of restoring trust denigrates democracy.
British news headlines have been dominated for months by the MPs’ expenses scandal at Westminster. A large number of politicians, including the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, have been accused of over-claiming expenses for such trivialities as cleaning and gardening. In a few cases, the behaviour of politicians has been borderline fraudulent. The whole affair has brought parliament into disrepute.
The rest of this review can be read here: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/reviewofbooks_printable/7647/
First published for Spiked-Online in June 2009
This week, the new head of the UK Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Professor Terence Stephenson, suggested that adults should be banned from smoking in cars when accompanied by children under the age of 16. Following in the footsteps of Steve Ryan, medical director of Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, Stephenson argued that: ‘You can’t inflict [smoking] on your colleagues any more. Why should we treat our children’s health as a lower priority?’ (1)
You can find the rest of this article here: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/7050/
First published in May 2009 for The Times
Dunno, really” was the reply I got when I asked a fellow protester at the G20 demonstrations last month why he had come out on the streets. It wasn’t the most auspicious start to a conversation, particularly when you’re supposed to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder demonstrating for a better future while surrounded by police in riot gear.
Other platitudes followed: “I think there should be less poverty and we should look after the planet more…” These generalised moans are fine as a bit of pub philosophy but hardly clear political demands. In fact, what is so striking about recent “anti-capitalist” demonstrations is the absence of a shared purpose
The rest of this article can be found here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6282593.ece
This article was first published for the Free Society in Feb 2009
Last month, adventure holiday company, Activities Abroad, boasted that they could offer holidaymaker’s chav-free holidays by stopping individuals with names like Britney and Shannon from flying with their airline. In response, travel operator Travel Republic offered 10 percent discount on holiday bookings for anybody with one of the listed ‘chav’ names.
Aside from being a clever marketing gimmick from both companies, the chav/anti-chav holiday charade does tell us that perhaps the distaste for cheap flights is about more than saving the environment – it is as much about a dislike for the type of people taking advantage of cheap flights.
The rest of this article can be found here: http://www.thefreesociety.org/Articles/Features/everyone-should-have-the-freedom-to-fly
This article was first published on Open Democracy in Feb 2009
The Heathrow expansion project, which will see a new 7,200ft runway built and support a new terminal capable of handling 35 million passengers per year, is about to be seriously debated. This Thursday both Campaign against Climate Change (CaCC) and Modern Movement will be demonstrating outside Parliament. While CaCC will continue to make a case for abandoning plans to build a third runway at Heathrow, Modern Movement, a new organisation set up which campaigns for greater mobility, will be supporting the expansion.
You can find the rest of this article here: http://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/ourkingdom-theme/suzy-dean/2009/02/16/why-we-need-a-third-runway-at-heathrow
This article was first published for Spiked-Online in Jan 2009
Debate about whether working mums or stay-at-home mums are doing the best by their children got a new airing when French justice minister Rachida Dati recently returned to work just five days after giving birth to her first child by caesarean section. Since walking back into the Élysée Palace on 7 January, Dati, known for her sharp tongue and killer heels, has been the source of feverish moralising in the French and UK media alike. While some have celebrated her as a Superwoman, others denounced her as a Bad Mother – and a bad example to other women.
The rest of this article can be found here: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/6110/
