Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Abusing the Tories
I was once told that a reasonable defence to a slander action was that the words used were commom abuse. I have no idea if that is the case and, of course, it will all depend on context, but it seems that in recent years the ability to effectively abuse people, particularly politicians, has been severely curtailed by the police and the courts.
This week's judgement by the High Court, therefore, upholding the acquittal of two protestors who called Iain Duncan Smith “Tory scum” outside the Conservative party conference, seems to be a turning point.
The Guardian reports that Lord Justice Popplewell and Justice Fordham said no fault in law was made by a senior district judge last November in finding Ruth Wood, 52, and Radical Haslam, 30, not guilty of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent:
In response to a request for a judicial review from the director of public prosecutions, the high court found that Judge Goldspring, who is also described as a chief magistrate, had made the important finding that “the use of Tory scum was to highlight the policies” of Duncan Smith, and that this was relevant to the “reasonableness of the conduct” in relation to the rights of freedom of expression and assembly.
There was nothing to undermine Goldspring’s conclusion that criminalising the words “Tory scum” would be a disproportionate interference in the two protesters’ rights, the high court ruled.
Tom Wainwright, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers representing Wood and Haslam, said the judgment represented an important defence of the right to freedom of expression.
He said: “Just the idea that someone can be convicted for saying this is bizarre in the first place. The director of public prosecutions was trying to put the burden on the defendants to show that they hadn’t crossed the line – the crucial question of when free speech crosses the line into something that is criminal.
“What this judgment confirms is that it is not for the defence to show that, but it is for the state to show that there is a good reason to restrict free speech and that a conviction is the only way that could be done.”
Of course anybody who has waded through a collection of political insults will know that the most effective are witty and cutting ripostes that undermine one's opponents credibility or arguments. Perhaps now that 'Tory scum' has been legalised protestors might consider developing a more sophisticated vocabulary.
N.B. Some of my favourite quotes are below:
Former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating on John Hewson: “He’s like a shiver waiting for a spine.”
Winston Churchill on Prime Minister Clement Attlee: “An empty cab pulled up to Downing Street. Clement Attlee got out.”
Adlai Stevenson on Richard Nixon: “The kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree and then mount the stump to make a speech for conservation.”
MP Jonathan Aitken on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: “She probably thinks Sinai is the plural of sinus.”
This week's judgement by the High Court, therefore, upholding the acquittal of two protestors who called Iain Duncan Smith “Tory scum” outside the Conservative party conference, seems to be a turning point.
The Guardian reports that Lord Justice Popplewell and Justice Fordham said no fault in law was made by a senior district judge last November in finding Ruth Wood, 52, and Radical Haslam, 30, not guilty of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent:
In response to a request for a judicial review from the director of public prosecutions, the high court found that Judge Goldspring, who is also described as a chief magistrate, had made the important finding that “the use of Tory scum was to highlight the policies” of Duncan Smith, and that this was relevant to the “reasonableness of the conduct” in relation to the rights of freedom of expression and assembly.
There was nothing to undermine Goldspring’s conclusion that criminalising the words “Tory scum” would be a disproportionate interference in the two protesters’ rights, the high court ruled.
Tom Wainwright, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers representing Wood and Haslam, said the judgment represented an important defence of the right to freedom of expression.
He said: “Just the idea that someone can be convicted for saying this is bizarre in the first place. The director of public prosecutions was trying to put the burden on the defendants to show that they hadn’t crossed the line – the crucial question of when free speech crosses the line into something that is criminal.
“What this judgment confirms is that it is not for the defence to show that, but it is for the state to show that there is a good reason to restrict free speech and that a conviction is the only way that could be done.”
Of course anybody who has waded through a collection of political insults will know that the most effective are witty and cutting ripostes that undermine one's opponents credibility or arguments. Perhaps now that 'Tory scum' has been legalised protestors might consider developing a more sophisticated vocabulary.
N.B. Some of my favourite quotes are below:
Former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating on John Hewson: “He’s like a shiver waiting for a spine.”
Winston Churchill on Prime Minister Clement Attlee: “An empty cab pulled up to Downing Street. Clement Attlee got out.”
Adlai Stevenson on Richard Nixon: “The kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree and then mount the stump to make a speech for conservation.”
MP Jonathan Aitken on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: “She probably thinks Sinai is the plural of sinus.”
