Whenever some regulation comes along, the Twitter libertarian push — Phelps, James Morrow and the like — go into their peanut gallery chorus. “Nanny state!” “Nanny state!” “Free minds, free markets!” Blah, blah.
This is a position which can only be held by ignoring what has been going on in the UK under Tory governments for the last eight years: the uninterrupted extension of police powers over speech.
Thus, South Yorkshire police have recently launched a campaign to encourage people to report racial etc hate-based speech to them, even if those reporting it do not believe it reaches the status of a hate-crime. The force’s aim is for their remit to be total, with the sort of ideology that entails.
Thatcher started it — as part of inaugurating neoliberalism; Blair continued. By the mid 2000s, everyone could see that it was out of control. A government containing self-styled freedom warriors such as Boris has had no interest in winding back such practices; they need them, to control a society they’ve torn apart, so they can continue to bang on about the Nazi-like horror of charging for plastic bags. How dumb can this get? Over to you, Rita Panahi:
It’s a sign of just how soft and coddled we have become as a nation when an entire industry is sent into chaos thanks to the actions of one, or a few, demented drongos inserting needles into strawberries …
Yes, she’s bloody done it: created the right-wing hot take that is indistinguishable from self-parody. “Eee-oppp when I were a lass we dreeeamed of having a needle pierce the roof of our mouth, we did. Eat up, our girl, its only blood …”
Boldly go, scourges of the nanny state — nanny’s main role being of course TO STOP YOU PUTTING SHARP OBJECTS IN YOUR MOUTH — and defend our right to bleed internally, while people are jailed for joke tweets, and stateless humans rot in our island camps. Cry, freegahhhh, what just went through my cheeks?
Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed?
LOL Currently sitting down to a feast of strawberries, with Neil Young singing – Needle and the Damage Done
Needles in the roof of the mouth? Luxury!!!!
One hell of an overreaction methinks.
Went out yesterday to buy some strawberries – not one available anywhere.
Surely anyone with any gumption would cut the ones they were about to eat, in half, first. If kids are around cut them on arrival home, or keep the kids away.
Nah, forget it! Too much risk and we don’t want the Hired Liars making a fortune. Can a bankrupt strawberry farmer claim newstart?
Thank you for explaining why the culture war will never be allowed to end.
Adding to pinkocommierat there does not seem to be any substitute to sensationalism to sustain the nutters. In point of fact, and contrary to your perspective the quotation is particularly apt and I’m grateful for the reprint and hence the edification. The matter is for the constabulary.
In our modern world, there ought to be a means to identify the source of any particular item that is sold under the Sale of Goods Act. By way of a comparison every nut and bolt on an aeroplane (more accurately : any aircraft) can be traced to its source – and has been the case for multiple decades. Legislation directed elsewhere is idiotic.
You’re worried about needles Guy. Lucky it wasn’t KCN.