This Should Terrify You If You Believe in Freedom of Speech

Yesterday, just like everyday, there was a bit of a brouhaha on Twitter. This particular 'storm' emanated from a post by South Yorkshire Police. It was an appeal. Not for information that could help them solve a crime, no, this was asking people to report on their friends, neighbours, family or anyone guilty of 'non-crime hate incidents'. Let that sink in for a moment...yes, the police are now wanting to monitor your thoughts by inviting people to grass on you if you have the 'wrong' opinion. This is the same police force who admit they don't even attend and investigate most household robberies now. The same police force who let organised rape gangs abuse thousands of vulnerable young girls for years because they were too scared to investigate because of cultural sensitivities.

It appears from the replies to the tweet that the citizens the tweet was aimed at would much rather the Old Bill concentrated their time and resources on trying to solve actual crimes. Who has the right to tell someone how to think? We live in a frightening world where someone can be hounded and investigated for their opinion.

We have a marvellous tradition of lampooning and deriding religion in this country. Life of Brian, Father Ted, Dave Allen....all would be reported to the 'Hurty' police today. You mustn't criticise or say anything that might hurt someone's feelings. Who at South Yorkshire Police thought that asking people to report non-crimes was a good idea when they obviously cant even solve the real crimes on their manor.