Excerpt from a letter

Anyways a few things that have been on the news that either got me thinking or reaching for my mental affiliation with labour and dousing it in petrol (the match will come soon enough I fear). Firstly, and I think most easily criticised would be the visit of that vile Dutchman Geert Wilders. I wasn't very interested in what a bigot had to say until it turned out he was banned from saying it. The story had been floating around for a few days and I had already formed my opinion. I was glad to see that a majority of comments on the guardian website regarding the incident were criticising the home office's stance on the matter. However after watching Question Time it was clear that 4 out of the 5 panelists thought the immigration ban an excellent thing. The only one who disagreed was a Gardener (no disrespect but he doesn't hold sway over public opinion unlike the editor of The Sun). Geert Wilders' movie which was about to be shown to an invitational audience has probably increase it's viewing figures by hundreds of thousands. I was actually about to youtube it myself but decided that nothing can be gained by watching the documentary/film equivalent of gutter press and BNP propaganda. I just did a quick search in youtube and a recent speech of his has almost 700, 000 views whereas one copy of his movie on youtube alone has 100,000. The government has promoted his career beyond his dreams, and knowing he would be turned away from Heathrow he capitalised on the publicity. Furthermore the government has once again shown it's disregard for free speech and individual liberty. I do not agree with Wilders for one second, and you know my feelings on Islam and religion, but he has the same right to free speech as any man is endowed with by nature. If we simply ban opinion we do nothing to counter it and instead of being blasted away by superior argument it seeps into the public imagination, creates xenophobic outcries by minorities which then play on the minds of more sensible folk when times become hard.