Oppose no platforming and defend free speech.

 

The Oxford Union

I remember when they tried to stop the Roman Catholic mother Victoria Gillick, speaking at the Oxford Union, because she opposed contraception being given to under-16s without parental consent. It must have been in 1985/86. I was in the bar the night after, and the manager, Brenda, had a black eye. She told me that a young woman had hit her with a stiletto heel. 

They probably tried to stop Charlie Kirk from speaking at the Oxford Union and now some people are trying to no platform Tommy Robinson. This isn't the first time that Robinson as addressed the Oxford Union but there will be a speaker opposing him. I don't care for Tommy Robinson or his vile politics of hate, but neither do I care for no platforming. 

At one time they tried to stop the suffragettes from speaking and people beat the women up. As George Orwell said, "if liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." 

It seems strange that both Charlie Kirk and Malcolm X were assassinated not long after they addressed the Oxford Union. That was done to silence both of them.