2024-06-10
Martin has been visiting again, this time in Dewsbury.
What he found disturbed him.
Is it simple "racism", or a more complex cultural clash?
We must all be careful which words we sling about these days lest we are inadvertently deemed to offer offence - but surely offence has to be taken before it can be said to have been given? It's a bit like a contractual arrangement - where no meeting of minds occurs, there is neither contract nor offence ...
In times past the judiciary had a robust attitude to free speech - that free speech without the possibility of offence wasn't worth having - that certainly inculcated a certain necessary robustness in those who are perhaps too easily offended, and permitted them to respond in kind - ie: to stick up for themselves.
Whether that was better than today's situation where offence may be deemed to be given even when not offered is for us all to consider.
All of which has almost nothing to do with Martin's current report. Almost ...
