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Well, that's certainly disturbing. Arrested for burning a paper poppy. I always thought Great Britain was rather more progressive than us colonials.
by R_Edward 14y ago
Well, that's certainly disturbing. Arrested for burning a paper poppy. I always thought Great Britain was rather more progressive than us colonials.
- EliRivers 14y agoIf I understand correctly, it's actually not the burning of a poppy that's the crime, but (in this case) the posting of it online with associated commentary. I don't know if that's better, worse, or more of the same.
- NickPollard 14y agoUnfortunately we don't have an equivalent of the First Amendment in the UK, so people aren't quite as used to Free Speech being thought of as an unalienable right. Whilst generally speech is fairly free, and we have a pretty diverse media, there have been numerous laws impeaching upon Free Speech, particularly recently, generally in terms of avoiding obscenity and protecting children. It's a worrying trend, and one I wish we could revert. I've been wondering a lot recently what the best way is that I can help campaign against this - it's my biggest bugbear with UK politics currently, far more than the economy or other social issues. Any suggestions?
- maratd 14y agoThe UK and most of the colonies have legal systems that are based on common law. Which means precedent is everything. If you really want to do something about this problem, break the law, get arrested, and defeat the law in court. Or make friends with somebody who did that and assist that in their legal fight, assuming they decide to fight. Of course, your probability of success is slim, but that's a quick way of getting rid of something profoundly stupid by a sole individual.
- richy_rich 14y agohttp://reformsection5.org.uk/ http://reformsection5.org.uk/