Did anyone else hear the interview with Lord Ahmed where he attacked the knighthood for Salman Rushdie? Lord Ahmed suggested that Rushdie “had blood on his hands”, had attacked Islam, and had offended Christians by using offensive language “about Jesus Christ and Margaret Thatcher”. In the past I must confess that I too have used offensive language about Margaret Thatcher. I await international condemnation.
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I thought Lord Ahmed was a (not particularly New) Labour man – and from Rotherham to boot, where offensive language about Margaret Thatcher remains the norm. Who’s nobbled him?
I caught the tail-end of the interview with Lord Ahmed. I thought it was a bit rich that he was criticising any sort of decision about the distribution of baubles, when he himself has been cosily ensconced on the Lords benches for ten years for no evidently discernible reason, other than that he’s a time-served Labour toady. I could ask, but won’t, because I’m too polite, who appointed this man to the legislature and why?
I remember the days when the Labour Party stood up for freedom of speech – “I may not agree with what you say , but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
The whole business with Rushdie opened up a new line in Labour thinking – “It’s all very well to have freedom of speech but you shouldn’t say things that might upset religious believers, because religion is not only beyond criticism, but is also beyond any comment which isn’t entirely favourable”