By Jamie Bryson
I write this piece in defence of Dee Stitt, who has today been remanded in custody over a Facebook posting. That first sentence, alone, will be enough to earn me the wrath of the ‘liberal elite’. I am, already, guilty of ‘wrong-think’. That man has expressed views the ruling class and elite establishment do not like, therefore anyone who dares to defend his right to free speech should equally be sent to Siberia.
It should be said this is not a love note to Dee Stitt. We have disagreed sharply over the years on many issues. Instead, this is the defence of man, whatever you think of him, who has- in this instance- been wronged. There will be many who will laugh and mock because it is him, but rest assured, it could be you next. It won’t be so funny then.
The disputed Facebook post, which was copy and pasted from a widely circulated message shared by hundreds if not thousands of people, did not have the quality of a well structured argument in respect if immigration policy, nor could it be characterised as an exceptional piece of literary work. It was more akin to the type of ‘pub talk’ that working class men and women would engage in, right across the United Kingdom, on a daily basis.
There are those, particularly amongst the minority liberal elite which disproportionately controls the key organs of the state and opinion forming institutions, who will be appalled at the views expressed. There are however many in working class areas across the United Kingdom who would find agreement at least with the thrust of what was said, which could nevertheless plainly have been formulated better.
But whichever way one looks at it, the views expressed cannot rationally be a criminal offence in any democratic society. It moreover cannot, with any degree of credibility, be suggested that free speech which a new elite find distasteful warrants effective internment by remand. And that is what this is, make no mistake about it.
There is an orthodoxy which has developed and been accepted by the liberal leaning elite, and which now must be imposed upon every citizen. Those who push back are increasingly being jailed. Put simply, there is no space for a legitimate reasoned debate about the effects- as a matter of policy- of mass immigration and multiculturalism. Rather, a small disproportionately influential elite dominating the key institutions have decreed such a discussion ‘wrong-think’ and as such it has become open season on anyone who dares dissent.
Ordinary decent British citizens are smeared as racists or far right, with the Prime Minister of the country acting like a tin-pot dictator issuing decrees to the police to arrest people and seemingly purporting to instruct the Judiciary to remand and convict. He actually literally said that in a press conference.
The Home Office put out a tweet on social media labelling all those who have been arrested “criminals”. It appears the liberal elites love of Human Rights, a fair trial and the presumption of innocence is happily shredded so long as it is those with whom they politically disagree who are having such fundamental rights torn away from them.
There is of course no such smearing of the extreme far left rants being regularly spewed out, and for example those promoting hate against Israel. Those views are ‘right-think’ so therefore raise no issue.
In Court today PSNI expressly accepted that Dee Stitt had not in any way encouraged, supported, advocated much less participated in any violence or disorder in any shape or form. His ‘crime’ was to share a Facebook post calling for peaceful protests, and to express a view on the Islamic religion (and can we stop calling everyone who criticises the religion of Islam ‘racist’; it is not a race).
He, as does every citizen, has the right to call for peaceful protest. It is fundamental right, enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’); in addition, he also has the fundamental right to critique other religions, and to do so robustly and in a manner some may find offensive. If we can only now speak within the limits set by an increasingly authoritarian Government and a disproportionately influential liberal elite, then we are heading for a very dark place.
Today a Judge stated that “anyone who thinks there are some religions which are evil, are the ones who are the threat to our society”. There are of course many people who legitimately take various issues with different religious, including believing some are evil. These views, no matter how offensive some may, or may not, find them, are nevertheless a basic exercise of free speech and open public debate.
There is, obviously, a vast difference between such a critique of political policy or religious beliefs and attacking individuals or encouraging violence against any person. The line appears to have been smudged in that regard, with everything lumped into one.
This virtue signaling from the bench is exactly what the Government and the liberal elite expects; it is entirely on message. There is just one problem, the Judiciary are meant to stand up for the rights of all, including the free speech of those whose contributions may be deemed unpopular or unpalatable to those in power. If the Judiciary determine acceptable speech by reference to parameters set by an unrepresentative elite or the Government, then they aren’t truly independent at all.
It takes courage to stand against the tide. Today, for example, in order for those who want to be credentialled and maintain their status as tolerated or embraced by the liberal elite, it will be important to virtue signal and repudiate Dee Stitt and the views he articulated; that these views aren’t rationally criminal and in fact may well (however clumsily expressed) reflect how many ordinary decent working-class people feel, matters not. He has engaged in ‘wrong-think’ and expressed views the liberal elite dislike; that’s the end of the matter. They’d send him to the gallows if they could.
If they can do that to him, they can do that in the end to anyone who expresses views which all of a sudden becomes ‘wrong-think’ as part of the latest liberal consensus. This is when democracy is truly tested, and the strength of our purportedly independent Judiciary will be measured. It will take brave and courageous people to stand up within those institutions to face down the increasingly totalitarian consensus among what has become the new ruling class of hyper liberals.
First, they came for Dee Stitt, and no one cared because it was only Dee Stitt…. But soon they’ll be at your door, and who will stand up for you?