Free speech could come under attack, not just in pubs and bars but also in universities, as the Labour government plans to extend employment laws.
The provisions of the Employment Rights Bill mean that equality laws will be updated to make employers liable for employees who are offended by “third parties”, such as customers or members of the public, writes The Telegraph.
Free speech campaigners have warned that this measure is the government’s “latest salvo in the ongoing war on freedom of speech” and that it will result in pub staff having to act as “offence police” and ban guests who tell “inappropriate” jokes.
In practice, this means that you can be monitored when you’re sitting with a couple of friends in a pub, chatting about anything and everything. Between good friends, the conversation tends to flow fairly freely after a pint or three.
If, in such a relaxed setting, you express an opinion or a joke that someone might consider offensive, you risk being excluded from the pub.
In this day and age, it’s hard to say something that isn’t considered offensive by some. Kellie-Jay Keen was heavily criticised for quoting the Oxford Dictionary when she put up a poster reading “woman: adult human female“. She herself has been labelled a right-wing extremist, and has also been physically attacked several times.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said staff in restaurants, bars, pubs and hotels work in a “sociable environment” where “jokes are made and people are loud”.
Researchers also fear that the law will hit academic freedom, as university management will be more likely to give in to calls for stage refusal by controversial guest speakers for fear of being sued by the offence mafia.
Kevin Hollinrake, shadow minister for business and trade, says:
– It’s difficult enough to run a business as it is – even defending yourself in an employment tribunal can cost tens of thousands of pounds. We all know that this agenda is driven by labour and the unions.
– Ronald Regan once said that if fascism ever returns, it will be in the name of liberalism.
Holinrake makes it clear that he is talking about the so-called liberals who are supposedly the greatest defenders of fundamental freedoms, but who are happy to set aside basic rights – be it property rights, the rule of law and freedom of speech – if it doesn’t accord with their own views.
Considering that the Labour government has already removed other protections for free speech at universities, this is a worrying signal.
Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said the proposed extension of harassment laws amounted to a “snowflake charter”.
– All pubs in England and Wales will employ “offence police” who will be tasked with eavesdropping on guests’ conversations and banning anyone who tells an “inappropriate” joke.
For British pubs, this is just one attack of many. First, the Labour government proposed banning smoking in outdoor restaurants. Then they proposed reintroducing the law requiring pubs to close at 11pm.
For what remains of free speech on campus, this could be the final nail in the coffin. Just days ago, Oxford University decided to launch a series of debates to “reaffirm the importance of free speech”. It will be interesting to see if the debate series will be realised.
Also in this field, the opposition from the government is clear:
Education Minister Bridget Phillipson announced in July that she had paused the Higher Education Freedom of Expression Act just days before it was due to come into force, and that she was considering shelving it altogether.
