Tomorrow's England - coming soon

My new book, "Tomorrow's England", is being re-printed to take into account recent events. If you'd like a copy, please e-mail me (nigel@nigelhastilow.co.uk) and I will send you one hot off the press as soon as they're ready(£9.95 plus postage).

Whatever happened to freedom of speech?

Whatever happened to freedom of speech? The question keeps cropping up in the hundreds of the e-mails I’ve received in the past few days.

Last weekend I resigned as Conservative parliamentary candidate for Halesowen and Rowley Regis after a furore over what I said about immigration on these pages last Friday.

My mistake was to invoke the name of Enoch Powell which, despite what I actually wrote, immediately branded me a racist. It also defined the media’s reaction to my article.

Yet to the Great British Voter, I struck a chord by saying the unsayable.

This is an extraordinary position to be in. All I have done is express in plain English what I believe the vast majority of people now think, which is that we must call a halt to unlimited immigration.

Since I resigned, the e-mails have come in thick and fast. There are too many to count and far too many for me to reply to in person. But when you’re under siege it’s very heartening to find you still have friends.

A few – very few – have been rude, insulting or gloating. The vast majority are expressions of support and encouragement.

They have come not just from the Black Country or Britain but from Italy, Dubai, America, Cyprus, Australia – all over the world. Some tell personal stories about the lives and concerns of the writers.

My correspondents say how disappointed they are with Britain today. Some say that is why they have emigrated; others say that is why they are about to emigrate.

An ex-colleague I haven’t spoken to for several years is one such. He had been contemplating a move to France. After what’s happened to me, he says he is now definitely going.

This is a terrible state of affairs. These people are not right-wing nutters or racist loonies.

They are ordinary men and women who are exhausted and exasperated by the way their views are ignored, their opinions are not articulated, their hopes and fears are disregarded.

And many of them ask what has happened free speech. Of course we don’t have the freedom to say whatever we wish – various laws limit our ability to say just whatever we want.

But there are more insidious ways of curtailing free speech than invoking the full fury of the law. They include intimidation and fear.

It is not racist to say this country cannot cope with more and more immigration. Yet the risk of being branded a racist is so great it is career suicide to say so.

My own experience makes that obvious. I am no racist. And while the media have not quite branded me one (for fear of the libel laws, I expect) they have come as close as makes no difference.

And plenty of web-sites have messages describing me as racist. It is not a pleasant situation to be in. Actually it’s terrible.

It is frightening, intimidating and waring to find yourself singled out for vilification for expressing in public views you know full well most people express in private every day of the week.

Because this is what happens, we don’t need laws to keep us in line. Fear and intimidation do that for us.

That is how political correctness works. Mine is an extreme example. Yet it applies in many areas of our lives.

Some of what goes on around us is so patently absurd it makes us scream inwardly. But any public expression of that disgust puts our lives and livelihoods at risk so it’s best to keep schtum. Lie low, put up with it and say nothing. It’s just easier that way.

When I was up for selection as a Conservative candidate in Halesowen and Rowley Regis I said I would always express my opinions even if they didn’t accord exactly with party policy.

I said I believed in the importance of freedom of speech even within the apparent confines of a political party.

I also said – and would still maintain – that one of the reasons why most people are cynical about politics these days is because politicians are seen as slippery, insincere, equivocating and only in it for what they can get.

My argument was that a candidate who spoke his mind would be welcomed by the voters as a rare commodity.

It is clear that I was right. The e-mails and calls I have had over the past few days have overwhelmingly proved the case.

They express real anger that even a political pigmy like me is not allowed to raise one of the most pressing issues of our time without being vilified and hounded out.

I failed to appreciate that the constraints on freedom of speech are greater than I feared.

They include the deliberate twisting and downright nastiness of the political process itself. There’s also the fact that a political party can’t win if its members are not all rowing in the same direction.

But above all the constant self-censorship needed to protect oneself from the wrath of the PC police.

That’s why politicians dare not risk saying what they believe. And why I am clearly incapable of being a successful politician.