Saturday, 28 November 2020

The Law Commission following in the footsteps of the Soviet Union's Stalinist authorities? A cautionary tale!

I came across this letter in The Week (November 14) which illustrates what may happen if the Law Commission’s proposals on hate speech come to pass.  And they say an Englishman’s home is his castle!

Lethal home truths.

To The Times

The Law Commission’s proposal to extend the jurisdiction of hate speech to private homes has unhappy parallels.  In 1932 Soviet, propaganda had it that a 13-year-old dedicated Young Pioneer, Pavlik Morozov, did the “right thing” by denouncing his father, Trofim, to the Stalinist authorities.  Trofim was said to have been executed as a result.  Members of Pavlik’s family, somewhat unhappy with this, then murdered the youth.  In turn they themselves were executed.  Pavlik was lauded in the USSR as a martyred hero, an example for Soviet youth to follow.

Michael Olizar, London.

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