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WELCOME to the third in our series of articles looking at the various indigenous peoples of the world. At the start of the year we highlighted the cause of the Aboriginal Australians. We followed this up mid-way through last month with a look at the plight of the Aché People. This time around we’re featuring the Ainu People.

The idea behind this series of articles from Nations without States – NwS – is twofold:

Firstly, tohighlight the plight of peoples who aspire to nationhood. These might be based on peoples or tribes based within a state or even across borders that may or may not have been independently organised in the past. They might have a linguistic or historical separateness from their neighbours or fellow citizens. All will aspire to recognition, autonomy or independence.

Secondly, to let those interested in Self-Determination (both activists & non-activists) that they cando something constructive to support the various indigenous peoples of the world. And that is to help our friends and comrades of the National Liberal Party select up to 25 candidates to fight the Greater London Authority elections (scheduled for this May) under the sloganSelf-Determination For All!

However, before we get into the nitty-gritty of the elections, let’s briefly rewind and take look at the Ainu People.

The Ainu are an indigenous ethnic people of Japan. Japan itself actually consists of nearly 7,000 islands, the main five being Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku and Okinawa. The capital of Japan (Tokyo) is located on Honshu. The Ainu live in Hokkaido – and also formerly in North EasternHonshu. (They also live in Russia (the Kuril Islands,Khabarovsk Krai, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Sakhalin).

They tend to have fairer skin and more body hair than the Japanese. They have a different language and culture – where men wear earrings and women have prominent facial and body tattoos. They were notably a hunter-gatherer-fishing people with animistic beliefs. (Animalism is the belief that all things have a spirit or soul, including animals, plants, rivers, mountains, stars. The moon, and the sun.) The Ainu were conquered by the Japanese in the 9th century. This led to inter-ethnic conflict between differing groups – indeed, the Ainu rebelled against Japanese authority on several occasions.

The Ainu were laterforcibly & brutally assimilated into Japanese society – so much so, that whilst the official population is around 25,000, it’s thought that the real total could be around 200,000 as many Ainu people have no knowledge of their ancestry.

Indeed, it was only in 2008 that Japan formally recognised the Ainu as an indigenous group. However, like many other indigenous people they still suffer from social & social discrimination. Despite this, and as this article – https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/cnngo-travel-hokkaido-ainu/index.html – from five years ago shows, positive efforts are being made to keep theirdistinct language and culture alive.

With the above in mind, our friends in the National Liberal Party would like to bring the plight of the Ainu people to a wider audience. As we noted earlier, the NLP intends to fight the Greater London Authority elections under the slogan Self-Determination For All! It’s now 7th March and the elections will be held on 7th May. We acknowledge that this is a tight schedule, but it still gives some time for those who support self-determination to help out. Here’s how you can help power the campaign:

a) Sponsor a candidate at the election (contact natliberal@aol.com).

b) Make a donation (or pledgetowards the campaign via

http://nationalliberal.org/the-party-organisation/donate. This will be used to support a social media campaign. Nearly £2000 has been raised towards the target of £3000. Please be generous but any amount will be gratefully received!

c) Activistsare urged to join theSelf-Determination Day Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/events/302376780647582/ Please invite your friends too. Please also promote all of the NLPs election literature/posters which’ll be viralled out via the Self-Determination Day site.

Nations without States understands that there are about 50,000 people of Japanese heritage living in the UK. We also know that London hosts several Japanese cultural and friendship festivals every year – the best known being London Japan Matsuri. As we’ve previously noted, there’s every possibility that some ‘Japanese’ may not be aware that they’re originally from Ainu stock.

If you know of any Ainu living in London – or anyone (no matter what their race or ethnic background) who has a special interest in their plight, tell them about the NLPs plans to fight the GLA elections on the basis ofSelf-Determination For All!

• ALSO check out

From The Liberty Wall – Nations without States – Calling AllAborigines… http://nationalliberal.org/from-the-liberty-wall-–-nations-without-states-–-calling-all-aborigines-…

From The Liberty Wall – Nations without States – CallingAché People … http://nationalliberal.org/from-the-liberty-wall-–-nations-without-states-–-calling-allache-people-…

IN FOUR DAYS TIME – on 14th February – it’ll be Valentines Day. Also known  as Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, it’s generally considered as a celebration of romance.  With thin in mind, and to mark Valentines Day itself, our friends and comrades at Free Speech: How Do We Protect It? have just produced a special Love Free Speech poster (pictured at top right).  This follows the example of our friends and comrades from Nations without States, who produced a Love Your Nation – Love Your People poster last year.  It can be seen at above left.

For those who don’t know, Nations without States – NwS – is a pressure group which was established to highlight the plight of peoples who aspire to nationhood.  As the NwS Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/184919468292372/– notes, these ‘might be based on peoples or tribes based within a state or even across borders that may or may not have been independently organised in the past.  They might have a linguistic or historical separateness from their neighbours or fellow citizens.  However, all will aspire to recognition, autonomy or independence.

As Self-Determinists, the group NwS will support the right of all such peoples to determine their future whatever they wish that to be. This includes for example the Kurds, Flemish, Sikhs and Tamils. A genuine Self-determinist supports the right of self-determination globally where it is based upon a sound and just position and is supported by the majority of its ‘national’ community. The slogan ‘what is right for me is right for you’ simplifies why genuine nationalism is actually an inter-nationalist creed, quite separate to chauvinism which seeks advantage for one nation at the expense of others.’

We feel that the NwS poster reinforces the positive message that Self-Determination is all about love of one’s own & not hatred of others.

The poster produced this year by Free Speech: How Do We Protect It? is a positive one as well.  It reflects the concept of ‘free thought, free speech & free assembly for all,’ which should be a universal principle.  Their Facebook site –  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1607711629485795/ – expands on this idea by stating:

‘We believe that Britain should have a formal constitution and bill of rights, based on the concept of civil and religious liberties for all. We also feel that a civil rights watchdog should be established to protect the people’s ability to make use of these rights.

We believe in absolute free speech with very few exceptions to this rule – say for those who promote violence. Either we all have rights – or none of us has rights. We support civil and religious liberties for all.’

Free Speech is particularly interested in cases whereby ‘elements of the State’ are ‘trying to curtail free speech.’  However, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that a bizarre combination of Big Tech multinational capitalist corporations and woke Metropolitan ‘socialists’ are doing the bidding of the State in terms of censorship.

Both Nations without States & Free Speech should be congratulated on their positive Valentines Day-related posters.  Fighting for Self-Determination & freedom of speech can be a daunting prospect, as both causes involve dealing with powerful vested interests – particularly in terms of the State & multinational corporations.  Fortunately, however, neither group is interested in simply moaning or, even worse, acting in a purely reactive manner.

Whilst many people would be downbeat and disillusioned, those involved with NwS & Free Speech remain upbeat.  Both groups are working to a strategy, which involves the building the infrastructure of an alternative mass media of news, views, information, culture, sport  & entertainment.  The production of these respective posters is a both a reflection of their positive outlook for the future and a strong conviction in respect of their ideals.

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‘Real democracy does not mean the democratic part of the people. It means all the people; even that disgusting part with which we do not agree.’

GK Chesterton

IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE that so much time has passed – and so much has happened – since our BreXit Now! article. Way back in May of last year we discussed how the Remainer (or Remoaner – take your pick!) British establishment was trying to control the Brexit narrative by demonising those who voted for Brexit, and, in turn, the vote itself. You can read the article here:

http://nationalliberal.org/liberal-future-carmarthenshire-denbighshire-flintshire-youth-say-…-ignore-the-establishment-media-narrative-–-brexit-now

We’ll continue with this theme in a future article as the subject of ‘narrative control’ is an important and ongoing one. However, Liberal Future would like to use this article to look at what’s happened Brexit-wise in the last eight months.

With the above in mind, it cannot have escaped anyone’s attention that Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party absolutely walked the general election of 12th December. We’d highly recommend this National Liberal Party – our parent organization – post-election analysis of the result: 2019 General Election Result – Never Trust A Tory! http://nationalliberal.org/2019-general-election-result-–-never-trust-a-tory

As the article notes, the clear driver of the election was Brexit – so much so that it became known as the ‘Brexit election.’ And as much as it pains us to say this – as we dislike all of the pro-capitalist Establishment parties, especially the Conservatives! – the Tories played an absolute blinder.

Labour’s famous ‘Red Wall’ (where it’s said that votes were weighed as opposed to being counted) turned Tory blue. This was especially so of ‘Leave’ constituencies across Northern England and here in Wales.

Here the Conservatives took six seats off of Labour (giving them a total of 14 seats) and gained 36.1% of the total vote, an increase of 2.5% from 2017.

Some people thought that Plaid Cymru (PC) might have got more of a hiding but as this report indicates – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2019/results/wales – voter loyalty meant that they held onto their four seats. In doing so PC obtained 9.9% of vote (down 0.5%).

It’s now more than a month after the election – and Plaid are still probably counting their lucky stars. As everyone knows Wales voted ‘Leave’ during the EU Referendum of 23rd June 2016. Here 854,572 (52.5%) voters supported Brexit, compared with 772,347 (47.5%) who wanted to remain within the EU.

Plaid Cymru – along with other ‘socialist’ and ‘nationalist’ parties like the Scottish National Party & Sinn Féin – campaigned to stay within the EU. All bizarrely want to leave a relatively small union (the UK) yet they’re more than content to remain chained to a much larger union – the EU. (Another thing that really concerns us about PC, the SNP and SF is their petty nationalism – in that they all appear to hate the English more than they love their own people.)

In respect of Wales, Plaid Cymru’s position doesn’t make sense to us. If four Plaid MPs can’t exert any influence over 650 MPs at Westminster, how on earth could Jill Evens – its sole MEP – ever hope to achieve anything within the EU?

To further put things into perspective, the 2011 census found that Wales had a population of just over 3 million. This is a fraction of the UKs population of nearly 68 million. It’s an even smaller fraction of the EU’s population of around 447 million. In terms of wielding power & influence, the numbers simply don’t add up. It’s simply delusional to think that the likes of Germany or France will be interested in what Wales has to say for herself.

The only way that Wales would even be noticed is if we were of some use to the EU – maybe in the form of some sort of bargaining chip. However, we’d be dropped like a hot potato once we’d outlived our usefulness (and we have a sneaking suspicion that this, sometime down the line, will happen to Éire once the UK leaves the EU for good). With all of this in mind, it begs the question why PC are so pro-EU?

So where does this all leave us respect of Brexit? To answer this we can do worse that take another look at the NLPs article from late December, 2019 General Election Result – Never Trust A Tory! Here we noted Boris Johnson’s lack of ideology and the fact that he’s miles away from the Thatcherite ‘small state, leave it to the market’ brand of Conservatism. He’ll also be different from Cameron and May.

With Brexit specifically in mind we noted:

‘To be honest, we think that the only real interest Boris has is in himself and how he would go down in history. With this in mind we think that he’d like to be known as the man who got Brexit done. It’ll now be his number one vanity project.’

In the month since the general election, Liberal Future hasn’t seen, read or heard anything that that has made us change our view. Therefore, we’re more than confident that we’ll formally leave the EU at 11pm on Friday – irrespective of whether Big Ben bongs or not! Indeed, we believe that many Welsh freedom lovers will be celebrating here. Others may even travel to London to join the main Brexit celebrations which’ll be held in London’s Parliament Square. We understand that some of the celebrations will be televised, so we’re hoping to see a few Red Dragon flags – Y Ddraig Goch – flying.

So far so good. However, Liberal Future wouldn’t trust Boris or the Tories as far as we could throw them. We intensely dislike the idea of a Tory Brexit – but frankly we have to blame the Labour Party for this. Why? Because Jeremy Corbyn originally said that they’d respect the referendum result. But when the vote went against the Establishment line, the back room political manoeuvring started and Labour altered its position. In fact, they altered their position so much so that – in the run up to & during last month’s election – nobody really knew where they stood.

So a Tory Brexit it is then. Serious horse trading has probably already began behind the scenes. The best we can ask for is to be fed the odd morsel of how negotiations are proceeding. Until we actually finally leave the EU, we’ll still continue using its BreXit Now! slogan as nobody really knows what way we’re leaving – and crucially what’ll be discussed and agreed behind closed doors.

With the above in mind Liberal Future would like to state that we’re not naïve enough to believe that once we’re out of the EU everything’s suddenly going to be Hunky Dory.

If we’re reading the Runestones correctly, a Tory Brexit will see the UK probably joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO) once the transition period is complete. As we understand it, the WTO grew out of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, together with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Therefore, to some extent, we’ll be jumping out of the fire into the furnace. However, we’ve never shared the jingoistic & over-simplistic view (mainly promoted by what we’d term as the ‘reactionary right’) that getting ‘our country back’ will be a simple matter of leaving the EU.

On the contrary, LF believes that the road to National Freedom & Social Justice would be an extremely long and hard one. We accept that – in this age of globalisation – we can’t achieve total sovereignty overnight. We also concede that we might have to leave one trading bloc – like to EU – only to have to join another one – like the WTO – until we do achieve total sovereignty.

We understand that this sounds counter-intuitive or even contradictory. However, we have to understand that Wales simply doesn’t have the capacity to become anything like self-sufficient overnight. Ironically, it would probably take something like another World War to achieve this!

Sadly, it’s a fact of life that we have to rely on imports for many every day items. These are goods that could, and should, be made here in Wales. Whether this reliance on others has occurred by accident or design is a question for another day. However, in the meantime, if we want true National Freedom & Social Justice we’ll need to start moving towards becoming as self-sufficient as possible – with a particular emphasis on food sovereignty.

Liberal Future will examine these ideas in future BreXit Now! articles. We’ll also return to the theme of how the Remainer British establishment were attempting to control the Brexit narrative by demonising those who voted for Brexit, and, in turn, the vote itself. We also anticipate reporting on the continuing twists and turns on the road to freedom. This’ll be particularly important because, as we’ve noted above, we’re now into the real nitty gritty of Brexit negotiations – and this will be carried out well away from the press and public.

Finally, we also feel that the time is right for LF to set out its own stall. Here we’ll provide some details of our (post-EU) social and economic vision for the future. Briefly stated, we have absolutely no problem with European Solidarity, in terms of the Nations of Europe co-operating with each other (indeed, we have no problem with the Nations of the world co-operating with each other). But this must be done on the basis of truly free & sovereign Nations co-operating with each other. However, to achieve this we feel that the EU has to be replaced with what we would describe as as something akin to a European Confederation of Nation States.

• THIS ARTICLE should be read in conjunction with the following:

Liberal Future: For A Europe Of Free Nations – BreXit Now!
http://nationalliberal.org/liberal-future-for-a-europe-of-free-nations-brexit-now

Liberal Future: County Londonderry, County Antrim & County Down Youth Say … Independence From the EU – BreXit Now!
http://nationalliberal.org/liberal-future-county-londonderry-county-antrim-county-down-youth-say-…-independence-from-the-eu-–-brexit-now

Liberal Future: Anglesey, Brecknockshire, Caernarfonshire & Ceredigion Youth Say … Blood Over Gold – BreXit Now!
http://nationalliberal.org/liberal-future-anglesey-brecknockshire-caernarfonshire-ceredigion-youth-say-…-blood-over-gold-–-brexit-now

Liberal Future: Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire & Flintshire Youth Say … Ignore The Establishment Media Narrative – BreXit Now!
http://nationalliberal.org/liberal-future-carmarthenshire-denbighshire-flintshire-youth-say-…-ignore-the-establishment-media-narrative-–-brexit-now

SEVEN WEEKS AGO the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) –https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/ – declared that December 5th 2019 was Democracy Day!

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The date was chosen as it was only a week before the general election. The ERS were concerned that the main political parties were ‘worryingly silent’ about vitalissus relating to democracy or political reform. Indeed, the ERS noted that ‘This general election was called because the Westminster system had left the country in a deadlock. Yet too few are talking about how to fix it.’

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The ERS also declared that ‘This has to be the last election held under Westminster’s ‘unjust and undemocratic First Past the Post system’. But for that to happen, we need to make the biggest noise possible for reform.’

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Total Democracy– since day one – has shared the view of the ERS that there’s something thoughly undemocratic about the current voting system. And like the ERS we believe that ordinary people should reclaim politics.

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With the above in mind, our first campaign has been to popularise the idea of having aNone Of The Above (NOTA) option available in all elections. The main aim of NOTA is to allow voters to withhold their consent to be ‘represented’ by any of the candidates listed on their ballot paper.

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Witholding consent is completely different from either not voting at all or spoiling ones vote. To not vote is to ignore – and even potentially dishonour – the memory of those who fought to establish a modicum of democracy. Here we think of:

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• The signing of the Magna Carta – the Great Charter of the Liberties of England –at Runnymede in 1215 (whichset down the principle that the King is also subject to the law of the Land.)

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• We also look to the Glorious Revolution of 1689 which finally vanquished the doctrine of ‘the Divine Right of Kings’, as practised in France by the ‘Sun King’, Louis XIV. Louis was the absolute dictator of France and James II wanted to have the same dictatorial powers in England, Scotland and Ireland. In England, the principle had become well established that elected representatives of his subjects should check the King’s actions and that those representatives should be able to make laws. It was by no means truly democratic, but it was a significant step away from absolutism. It is not surprising that James encountered strong opposition, which led to his removal by William of Orange and his defeat at the Boyne.

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• Another example would be the Chartists, an organisation thatexisted in Britain from 1838 to 1857. Probably best described as a working-class malesuffrage movement, they campaigned for democracy via mass petitions and meetings. They had six demands, the main one being a ‘vote for every man twenty-one years of age, of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for a crime.’

• We also look toEmmeline ‘Emily’ Pankhurst (1858 – 1928) who formed the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903. The WSPU was an all-female political movement which launched a militant campaign for ‘Votes For Women’. This was eventually granted via the then Conservative goventment’s Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act of 1928.

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Those who throw their vote away should also bear in mind that many people lost their lives in the pursuit of democracy. Many of the above important and defining moments in our our history involved violence. (This is particularly so of state violence towards suffrgettes – it’s thought that Pankhurst died as a result of ill treatment she reveived whilst imprisoned.) However all were eventually successful in their ojectives to advance democracy. They all effectively said to establishment of the day: You’ve had our blood – now give us our rights!

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With the above in mind – and as we noted earlier – there is a need to recognise the importance of consent to be ruled by others. As the pro-democracy group None of the Above UK (NOTA UK) have noted:

‘Consent is central to the concept of democracy – if you cannot withhold it, consent is immaterial. Abstaining does not constitute withholding consent, it is simply not participating and can be dismissed as ‘voter apathy’ with no further analysis. Spoiling the ballot is not withholding consent either as all spoilt votes are lumped in with those spoilt in error, the corresponding figure is therefore meaningless as a measure of voter discontent. The only way to meaningfully and formally withhold consent is via a formal NOTA option on the ballot paper. As such, it is a democratic pre-requisite.’ (1)

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Total Democracy believes that NOTA UK have hit the nail on the head here. In addition, we feel that the First Past The Post – FPTP – system is probabably one of the worst voting sytems available. (In fact, it’s absolutely shameful that its used to elect any representatives, let alone for Westminster elections. We believe that it could be reasonably argued that FPTP is effectively an elected dictatorship – and that’s not even taking into account the corrosive influence of the Money Power!)

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The inclusion of a None Of The Above option on the ballot paper will be a very first small step in the right direction. But Total Democracy means just that – so in future articles we’ll also be looking at ways that we can make politics more representative of the people. Thus we’ll look at Proportional Representation, Referendums, Preferendums and Voter Recall. The current electoral system is a sham and is not fit for purpose. It needs to go. It needs to be made truly democratic.

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1. https://nota-uk.org/2014/08/30/nota-uks-policy-proposal-to-be-debated-by-ers-at-their-agm/ • TOTAL DEMOCRACY was established in 2012. We describe ourselves as a body of like minded small parties, groups and Independents co-operating together to reclaim democracy for the nation. Check us out here: https://www.facebook.com/TotalDemocracyUK/

   • THE ELECTORAL REFORM SOCIETY campaignsfor democratic rights and a democracy fit for the 21st century. They work across the political divide with all the parties and civil society to put voters at the heart of British politics. Check them out here: https://www.facebook.com/electoralreformsociety/

A BELFAST-BASED Free Speech advocate recently sent us an article from the Belfast Telegraph of 2nd January. The article – by Fionola Meredith – mirrors our view that, and as Salman Rushdie has noted, “What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.”

Fionola Meredith’s article was based on an interview given to the Times of London by Sir Alan Moses towards the end of last year. Here Sir Alan – a Former Lord Justice of Appeal and outgoing chairman of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) – defended freedom of speech, and insisted that the media should be allowed to discuss sensitive subjects, such as religion.

As advocates for free thought, free Free & free assembly for all, we welcome Sir Alan’s comments and Fionola Meredith’s article. This is particularly so when one thinks of the suffocating (yet powerful) woke and Politically Correct times in which we live.

We’d appreciate it if other supporters would keep an eye out for articles which especially appear in the mainstream media (MSM) that support the general idea of free thought, free speech and free assembly for all.

It goes without saying that there are no official links between Fionola Meredith, the Belfast Telegraph and Free Speech: How Do We Protect It?

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There is no right not to be offended: why we must heed the outgoing Ipso chief

Sir Alan Moses is correct, says Fionola Meredith. Freedom of speech is more important than hurt feelings

There is no right not to be offended: that’s according to Sir Alan Moses, the outgoing chairman of the UK’s main press regulator, Ipso. Moses stated that it was vital for democracy that the media be allowed to discuss sensitive subjects such as religion and gender without fear of being censored.

Hurray for Sir Alan! Somebody had to stand up and say it.

We live in a world where people act as if being offended is like kryptonite to Superman: deadly for their personal wellbeing.

Frequently this victim mentality is attributed to snowflakey millennials who have been brought up with an unprecedented level of privilege, entitlement and an overweening sense of their own importance.

There’s no doubt that this toxic seam of intolerance – for that is what it is – runs like a sore through many British and Irish universities, with absurd attempts to ‘no-platform’ speakers that certain students dislike.

However, I’ve seen many old geezers get just as exercised about repressing, shunning or otherwise obliterating stuff they don’t approve of.

If I don’t like it, ban it: that’s the prevailing message.

To be fair to Sir Alan, a former lord justice of appeal, he didn’t come out and say ‘suck it up, cry-babies’.

Admitting that dealing with complaints about offence was one of the most difficult aspects of the Ipso role, he said: “If you’re the victim of something that is deeply offensive, it is the most unpleasant, uncomfortable thing that you can imagine. But what we have to acknowledge is that, in striking the right balance in this country, there is no right not to be offended.”

This message cannot be repeated too often. The novelist Salman Rushdie has more reason than most to take a personal interest in it, given that a fatwa – or execution order – was declared on him in 1989 by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, after the publication of his book, The Satanic Verses.

Mass book burnings, bannings and death threats followed. It was nine years before the author came out of hiding, but Index on Censorship has noted that as recently as 2016, funds were being raised to add to the fatwa.

Rushdie said: “Nobody has the right to not be offended. That right doesn’t exist in any declaration I have ever read. If you are offended it is your problem and frankly lots of things offend lots of people. I can walk into a bookshop and point out a number of books that I find very unattractive in what they say. But it doesn’t occur to me to burn the bookshop down.”

Similarly, if somebody writes, says or tweets something that conflicts with your own beliefs, you don’t have to go into public meltdown and immediately try to organise a huge social media pile-on, where reason and balance gets trampled into the dirt by the howling mob.

You have options. You could express your disagreement. You could enter into a discussion. Or hey, here’s a radical idea, how about simply ignoring it and walking away?

True, Rushdie’s persecution is an extreme example. Here in Northern Ireland, where offence-taking is practically a national sport, there are numerous instances of self-indulgent huffing about them’uns on the other side. Most of this is low-level yapping and whataboutery.

But one of the most astounding examples that came to light last year was the case of Lee Hegarty.

According to the former Ulster Unionist MP Ken Maginnis, speaking in the House of Lords, Hegarty – previously a Northern Ireland Office (NIO) worker, who then took up a role with the Parades Commission – made a complaint under human rights legislation because he was so offended by portraits of the Queen adorning the walls of his workplace.

The alleged price of poor Mr Hegarty’s hurt feelings? Ten grand in compensation.

That’s a hell of a lot of money to salve Mr H’s wounded emotions. I really hope he didn’t get PTSD or anything from having to see pictures of HRH every day.

If I got a tenner for each time I’ve been insulated or offended as a result of the work I do, I’d be an extremely rich woman. Maybe not as rich as Mr Hegarty though.

I’m no royalist, but to me there’s something almost obscene – yet entirely typical of the way such things are done in la-la-land Northern Ireland – about pandering to outraged political sensibilities in such an extreme way.

There is no right not to be offended. As we enter not just a new year but a new decade, we must reaffirm this fundamental democratic truth.

• READ the original Belfast Telegraph article here: https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/fionola-meredith/fionola-meredith-there-is-no-right-not-to-be-offended-why-we-must-heed-the-outgoing-ipso-chief-38829708.html

• READ the original interview with Sir Alan Moses in the Times here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sir-alan-moses-free-speech-means-freedom-to-offend-press-watchdog-insists-nzcsfzj6z?wgu=270525_73669_15797131443162_a22283a29e&wgexpiry=1587489144&utm_source=planit&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_content=30828

• CHECK OUT the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) here: https://www.ipso.co.uk/

• ALSO CHECK OUT Index on Censorship here: https://www.indexoncensorship.org/

• SUPPORT Free Speech: How Do We Protect It? here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1607711629485795/