Sat 24 Mar 2018, 09:35 AM | Posted by Mark Langabeer
While attending a hospital appointment, I began reading that Daily Express which was left lying on a table. The paper had a column written by Ann Widdecombe, a former Tory MP and Cabinet Minister. The headline was, “Now Corbyn would deny me free speech”. She claim’s that Corbyn is not just a Marxist, but an out-and-out totalitarian. The truth is that Corbyn is neither of the above. Later, in her article, she admits that he didn’t actually threaten censorship of the media.
I have a short story about Widdecombe’s claim to free speech. During the 2017 General Election campaign, I handed out Labour Party leaflets outside Newton Abbot Train Station. After around 45 minutes, a taxi pulled up and none other than Widdecombe gets out. After a brief exchange of views she enters the Station. Within minutes, a station supervisor came out and requested that I leave because I was on private property.
Widdecombe does believe in free speech, however, only for the rich and powerful in our society. The Labour Movement must begin to address the bias against Labour by having its own printing press. Many moons ago, Labour and the unions owned a national newspaper. It was sold due to falling sales. This in my opinion was a big mistake as the readership was still around the 1 million plus. As a young activist during the 70s, we had the Labour Weekly and the youth wing had a monthly called the left, (later renamed socialist youth). Papers like these should be re-established to counter the lies and smears of the Tory-supporting press.
Genuine free speech can only be established when Labour includes in its programme the nationalisation of the major media corporations under the control of its workforce. This is the only guarantee of free expression in Britain today and in the future.
