After ‘Thought Police’ called on grandmother over online criticism of Labour councillors at heart of WhatsApp scandal… Imagine the police response if Helen had reported a burglary, writes LEO MCKINSTRY_Nhy
The flag of liberty is flying low in modern Britain. The country that introduced Magna Carta, pioneered parliamentary democracy and defeated Nazi tyranny has seen an alarming erosion in free speech.
Censorship by the institutions of the state is becoming routine.
Expressions of opinion are monitored to check compliance with the ruling orthodoxy.
Ineffectual in confronting real crime, the forces of law enforcement can be zealous in tackling invented political crimes.
At times it really feels as if our once liberal nation is sliding towards the authoritarian culture envisioned by George Orwell in his epic dystopian novel 1984, complete with the concepts of ‘groupthink’ and the ‘thought police’.
Anyone who believes such a claim is exaggerated should consider the treatment of Stockport school administrator Helen Jones, who had done no more than discuss the disgraced former minister Andrew Gwynne on a Facebook forum.
He has been sacked after The Mail on Sunday exposed his foul-mouthed rants on a local WhatsApp group.
This was a major political story. Yet that did not stop two detectives making a heavy-handed visit to her home.
Stockport school administrator Helen Jones was investigated by police for discussing disgraced former Labour minister Andrew Gwynne on Facebook
The action of detectives was an appalling waste of time and money. It is highly unlikely Mrs Jones would have received the same attention if she had reported a burglary (file photo)
On finding she was out, they later called her on the phone, saying, to her fury, that they had received a complaint about her Facebook postings – even though they admitted that no crime had been committed. The intervention was a disgrace.
Mrs Jones’s exchanges with other social media users are absolutely none of their business. Our society is meant to be a beacon of tolerance and openness, not a land of intimidation and indoctrination.
The sinister knock on the door is utterly alien to our values.
Moreover, the action of the detectives was an appalling waste of time and money.
It is of course far easier for officers to scroll through online media posts than to go after genuine criminals.
It is highly unlikely that Mrs Jones would have received the same attention if she had reported a burglary. Tragically, her experience is hardly an isolated case.
As the machinery of the state becomes more emboldened, its scope for oppression widens.
We see the double standards of two-tier policing in today’s Britain, where certain types of demonstrators – pro-Palestinians or environmentalists – are treated with kid gloves, whereas others are dealt with harshly.
Pro-Palestinians or environmentalists are treated with kid gloves, while others are dealt with more harshly, under the two-tier policing in today’s Britain
The same impulse to crack down on ‘inappropriate’ views can be seen all around us, like the fashion for the police to record so-called Non-Crime Hate Incidents (NCHIs), which are usually triggered when an individual or organisation simply wants to voice an opinion about a comment or gesture they find offensive.
Typical was the case of businessman Harry Miller, whose online statement of biological fact – that trans women are not real women – landed him with a visit from the police and an NCHI against his name.
Last week, US Vice-President J D Vance, at the Munich Security Conference, expressed his concern about the loss of liberties in Britain and Europe in the face of woke ideology.
There was widespread outrage at his address. But, as Helen Jones’s story shows, he was right.
