“Criminalizing Dissent”

Not so long ago we went to politicians for politics and comedians for comedy. Today, like many others, I watch politicians for amusement and listen to comedians for their political insights.

Whenever I want cheering up, I watch Kamala Harris riffing on a theme of her choice, or sometimes a Labour politician trying to explain why a woman can have a penis. By contrast Joe Rogan analyses political questions better than any of them, as does Noam Dworman, of New York’s Comedy Cellar.

Rowan Atkinson on free speech a few years ago, “When I heard of some of these more ludicrous offences & charges I remembered that I had been here before, in a fictional context…” 👏🔥 pic.twitter.com/BMuPcN4vf7

— Elena (@Xerendipitist) June 4, 2023

Barely a month after the elections, and the new Labour Party government is dragging Britain into serious civil conflict, while destroying the preciously little that remains of British freedoms, especially freedom of speech.

The teenage son of a Rwandan migrant family stabbed three little girls to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in Southport, a city near Liverpool, on July 29. The murders triggered protests and riots by Britons who have apparently had enough.

h/t Kiki9

The top prosecutor in England and Wales has warned that hundreds more people involved in the riots that have swept the country will be hauled before the courts in the coming days, with the most serious offenders facing up to ten years in jail.

Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions, said the number of charging decisions is expected to soar with a “new phase” of cases being brought by police.

Many of those charged so far have been prosecuted for violent disorder, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. However, Parkinson said the more serious offence of rioting — which carries up to a ten-year penalty — was now under consideration.

The UK establishment is interested not just in clearing the streets of rioters, but clearing the political battlefield of opposition views.

We have witnessed two types of rioting here in the UK since three little girls were murdered in the northern English town of Southport on July 29th by the son of Rwandan immigrants.

There have been physical riots in assorted towns and cities; local outbursts of brick-chucking violent unrest involving clashes with police, and some reprehensible attacks on hostels holding migrants or mosques. These riots pose an immediate problem of public order; they may have abated, at least for now.

And then there is the national counter-riot of political prejudice staged by the Labour government, the mainstream media, and the rest of the liberal establishment, left-handedly hurling brickbats at everybody from Nigel Farage to Elon Musk.