Its been a momentous week where we honoured the sacrifices of a generation who stood against tyranny, who fought and died so that Britain could remain a free nation—a beacon of liberty, of democracy, and yes, of free speech.
But as we look around today, I have to ask: what have we done with that freedom?
What kind of country are we becoming when reports say a young generation no longer feels proud to be British – even saying they wouldn’t go to war for this country – and, at the same time, ordinary working people feel they can’t speak their minds without being branded, silenced, or shamed?
Labour peer Lord Glasman has argued that his party, founded by and for working-class Britons, has created what he calls a “hostile environment” for those very people.
Matt Goodwin says free speech is in a dire state
GB. NEWS
Labour, he says, has become a space where if you speak plainly, if you voice concerns about immigration, about Brexit, about the loss of community or nationhood, you're no longer seen as someone in pain - you're labelled far-Right, racist, sexist.
We are witnessing a kind of thought policing that is chilling. Entire swathes of opinion - especially those held by the working class - are deemed unacceptable.
Keir StarmerPAWe've replaced open discourse with corporate HR-speak, political orthodoxy, and a culture of fear. Even historic Labour heroes like Ernest Bevin would be considered too unprogressive to stand today.
This cannot go on.
Britain’s strength has always been in its ability to host disagreement, to tolerate dissent, to be a place where people of all classes and creeds could argue their case without fear of persecution. That’s what VE Day is about: freedom won, and freedom maintained. But we are drifting from that heritage. Glasman calls for a working-class insurrection - not of violence, but of voice. A reassertion of the values this country stands for: sovereignty, security, family, and above all, the right to speak freely.
It’s time to get a grip. We need to remember that freedom of speech isn’t some culture war buzzword - it’s the very essence of British democracy. We didn’t defeat fascism just to muzzle ourselves with our own self-censorship.
So on this week of remembrance and reflection, let’s ask ourselves honestly: Are we still a free people? Or just pretending to be? If the answer is the latter, then it’s time we made ourselves free again - not just in law, but in culture, in politics, and in everyday speech.
Let’s be the Britain our grandparents fought for.
