Release Date: Friday 24th March 2006
Release Time: Immediate

Contact Details:
Dr Sean Gabb, 07956 472 199, sean@libertarian.co.uk

For other contact and link details, see the foot of this message
Release url: http://www.libertarian.co.uk/news/nr038.htm

LA DIRECTOR, DR SEAN GABB, TO ADDRESS RALLY IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE IN DEFENCE OF FREE SPEECH, SATURDAY 25TH MARCH 2006

Libertarian Alliance Director, Dr Sean Gabb, will speak in Trafalgar Square this coming Saturday the 25th March 2006 at approximately 3pm. He will be taking part in the "Rally in Support of Freedom of Speech" organised by Peter Risden of the group March for Free Speech (marchforfreeexpression.blogspot.com)

The Rally is called in support of the following statement of principle:

"The strength and survival of free society and the advance of human knowledge depend on the free exchange of ideas. All ideas are capable of giving offence, and some of the most powerful ideas in human history, such as those of Galileo and Darwin, have given profound religious offence in their time. The free exchange of ideas depends on freedom of expression and this includes the right to criticise and mock. We assert and uphold the right of freedom of expression and call on our elected representatives to do the same. We abhor the fact that people throughout the world live under mortal threat simply for expressing ideas and we call on our elected representatives to protect them from attack and not to give comfort to the forces of intolerance that besiege them."

Dr Gabb comments:

"The Libertarian Alliance wholly endorses this statement of principle. We believe in total freedom of speech on all public issues. In this, we go far beyond many of the other groups taking part in the rally this Saturday.

"Either freedom of speech means the right to say anything at all about politics, religion, science or history, among much else - or it means nothing at all.

"There are those who say they believe in freedom of speech, but then insist that the promotion of "hatred" does not come within the meaning of free speech. The Libertarian Alliance utterly rejects this supposed distinction. What some call the promotion of hatred others call telling the truth. In any event, we believe in the right to promote hatred by any means that do not fall within the Common Law definition of assault.

"Whenever the State involves itself in arguments about the truth, disputes between opinions become disputes between opinions and power. And the State has neither special ability nor the right to decide what opinions may be true or false.

"Whatever we may think about what they claim, whatever we may think about the motivation for their claims, the claims about matters of alleged fact by the likes of Nick Griffin, Abu Hamza and David Irving have the same right to legal protection as the publication of the anti-Moslem cartoons in Denmark and throughout Europe.

"We note with distaste that those journalists throughout Europe who are congratulating each other on how brave and liberal they have been over the anti-Moslem cartoons have not said a word for the freedom of racists and anti-Semites to express themselves.

"The Libertarian Alliance believes in freedom of speech for all - WITH NO EXCEPTIONS."

The Libertarian Alliance further believes:

* That no law should be made in the United Kingdom to criminalise sceptical comment on the holocaust;
* That the Race Relations Act 1976 should be repealed;
* That the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 should be repealed;
* That, pending repeal, the Race Regulations subsequent to these Acts should be withdrawn;
* That those sections of the Public Order Act 1986 dealing with speech and publication should be repealed;
* That the whole of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, particularly those sections dealing with "racial aggravation" of offences should be repealed;
* That the Commission for Racial Equality and all similar organisations should be abolished, and their records burned;
* That all those convicted of thought crimes under the above laws should be pardoned and, where appropriate, compensated;
* That the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill now before Parliament should be abandoned;
* That the Terrorism Bill now before Parliament should be abandoned;
* That the Human Rights Act 1998 should be amended to protect the right of people to say anything they like about public issues, and to associate or not associate as they please.

END OF COPY

Note(s) to Editors

Dr Sean Gabb is the Director of the Libertarian Alliance and edits its journal Free Life. His latest book, Smoking, Class and the Legitimation of Power, is available at Amazon. His other books are available from Hampden Press at http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.

Obituaries already published of Dr Tame can be found in The Independent and in Free Life Commentary.

He can be contacted for further comment on 07956 472 199 or by email at sean@libertarian.co.uk

Extended Contact Details:

The Libertarian Alliance is Britain's most radical free market and civil liberties policy institute. It has published over 700 articles, pamphlets and books in support of freedom and against statism in all its forms. These are freely available at http://www.libertarian.co.uk

Our postal address is

The Libertarian Alliance
Suite 35
2 Lansdowne Row
Mayfair
London
W1J 6HL
Tel: 07956 472 199

Associated Organisations

The Libertarian International - http://www.libertarian.to - is a sister organisation to the Libertarian Alliance. Its mission is to coordinate various initiatives in the defence of individual liberty throughout the world.

Sean Gabb's personal website - http://www.seangabb.co.uk - contains about a million words of writings on themes interesting to libertarians and conservatives.

Hampden Press - http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.- the publishing house of the Libertarian Alliance.

Liberalia - http://www.liberalia.com - maintained by by LA Executive member Christian Michel, Liberalia publishes in-depth papers in French and English on libertarianism and free enterprise. It is a prime source of documentation on these issues for students and scholars.