Opinion

Culture wars: It’s the Right that is trying to cancel free speech

While the powerful try to silence those who speak back to them, working-class cultures all over the world are quietly being erased. Last in a series of four on the culture wars

By Adam Ramsay

Culture wars: It’s the Right that is trying to cancel free speech — Students protest under the statue of Cecil Rhodes outside Oriel College in Oxford University, 9 March 2016 | Eddie Keogh/Reuters/Alamy

Published: December 18, 2021, 12:01 am

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Culture wars: It’s the Right that is trying to cancel free speech

The logo is a fist in the air, clutching a union flag.

Britain Uncancelled, “the campaign to end cancel culture and protect free speech” was launched in October with a website in bright primary colours, and merch to match. It soon gained support from Tory MPs, including the former cabinet minister Esther McVey.

“An intolerant minority of politically motivated campaigners are trying to shut down debates and cancel the views of people they disagree with, and their voice is getting louder because of the platform they’re being given by the mainstream media and big corporations,” the press release declares.

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