DEMOCRACY: Free speech is under attack

I was interested to read Tony Willis' Viewpoint, (Northumberland Gazette, September 27).

However, I must take issue with his thoughts on the much maligned Donald Trump.

A leader is someone who acts and gives direction, and while I assume Tony disagrees with Donald Trump’s actions, he can not criticise him for not acting decisively.

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Donald Trump, refreshingly, does not seem to be a slave to the opinion of the media. He acts according to the way he thinks is best and seems to do what he says he would do.

I understand that a number of vocal and influential people do not like a lot of what he does, but he cannot be criticised for not leading decisively.

Turning to leadership in our own country, our political leaders have their issues and, personally, I disagree with most of them. However, I do believe that most of them work hard and a significant number are sincere in what they try to achieve.

Perhaps we should listen to Nigel Farage, another person whom the vocal people of influence don’t like, who seeks freedom from ‘the political class’?

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While the debate of political matters continues, an attack on the very foundations of democracy, free speech, is increasing.

With fearful regularity, freedom of speech is being challenged.

How crazy that a feminist group promoting a poster in Liverpool saying ‘women don’t have penises’ should be investigated for a possible hate crime. After the millions of pounds spent on sex education one would have thought the police and lawyers would have understood this simple biological fact.

A student at Durham University who recently tweeted an article on the same subject was criticised by his department and others within his university.

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The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police has allegedly asked the public to report any comments that they find “offensive”.

And, of course, anyone who says that they think an LGBT lifestyle is less than best is likely to have the police knocking on their door.

Our cherished democracy is being pulled from under our feet, with conformity to what ‘they’ say is acceptable fast becoming the law.

It seems our politicians are doing nothing and, frankly, I think there are many people who would gladly vote for a truly independent grouping (I will not use the term ‘party’).

As for a leader, I would suggest that the one leader we can all follow, but whom few do, is, in the words of the great reformer Martin Luther, Jesus Christ.

John Holwell,

Seahouses