Mayor Anderson again

[Juells]

This has nothing to do with feminism, but I found it strange and a bit scary.

uk.yahoo.com/news/liverpool-makes-stand-runs-far-183340268.html

"I want it to be peaceful, but I want people to be out on the streets saying they are not welcome in our city,” Anderson told the Liverpool Echo prior to the march. “Some people on Twitter have said to me: ‘What about free speech?’ Well that comes with a responsibility not to espouse hate.”

Is it normal for mayors to call people out to the streets for counter demonstrations?

“Peaceful people power chased the fascists off our streets"

"If we can squash uppity women we can squash anyone."

Did he really say the quote about ‘uppity women’?

OOps that third post wasn't a real quote, I got carried away

So instead of a “handful of marchers” that the police could easily have handled, there was a much bigger event which resulted in two people being arrested.

I’m not sure how I feel about far right marches. But the actions taken by the Mayor might have resulted in much greater violence than if the police had been left to handle it. It suggests that the Mayor doesn’t trust the city’s police forces and is encouraging vigilante action.

It was a pro-Brexit march, and six people turned up but couldn't leave the station because of the massive counter-demonstration.

It’s possible that the far right group gave up because they realised that they would look pathetic in comparison - and if that was the case nobody took away their right to free speech.

However a Mayor should not be giving the general public the idea that they can decide who does and doesn’t have the right to free speech without legal process.

The march was organised by the Frontline Patriots who are fascists. Liverpool has a proud history of not letting fascists get out of the train station they arrived at to march through the streets.

Sorry x post - didn’t realise they couldn’t leave station.

But bowchic if they are breaking the law shouldn’t the police be dealing with them, and if they aren’t breaking the law who gets to decide who has a right to free speech?

In answer to your question I don’t know if this is normal but Sadiq Khan was pretty vocal around Trump’s visit.

Are pro Brexit marches illegal?

Bowchicawowow
but Sadiq Khan was pretty vocal around Trump’s visit.

Whenever I see politicians whipping up popular opinion against anyone it makes me think of Rwanda :(

Sadiq Khan was very vocal but didn’t tell anyone to take the law into their own hands.

Nothing wrong with counter demonstrations and mayors are political figures, so it's par for the (dis)course isn't it?

I went on many a counter demo against the BNP in my yoof. It's part of democracy and free speech.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with a counter demonstration against fascists. They may dress these things up as pro Brexit to give them a veneer of respectability but essentially they want to get their foul fascist message across. I am pleased that people went out en mass against these people.

And is taking part in a counter demonstration taking the law into your own hands? I really think not.

"I want it to be peaceful, but I want people to be out on the streets saying they are not welcome in our city,”
War is peace.

‘What about free speech?’ Well that comes with a responsibility not to espouse hate.
Freedom is slavery.

He's missed one.

Nothing at all wrong with a counter demonstration.

The problem is this:

“What about free speech?’ Well that comes with a responsibility not to espouse hate.”

A counter demonstration doesn’t in itself prevent somebody having free speech, and it isn’t even clear that this happened on this occasion.

The problem is the implication that somebody’s freedom of speech should be restricted whenever somebody else thinks they are expressing ‘hate’.

We have a legal system that defines and deals with hate speech and laws that define the right to freedom of speech. It isn’t up to the Mayor or the general public to decide when a crime has been committed and the Mayor should not be implying that freedom of speech should be restricted in this way.

Trump thinks CNN is an enemy of the people and somebody sent them a bomb. Without the law ‘hate’ is in the eye of the beholder.

The mayor can bluster all he likes, as Bowchicawowow said, Liverpool has a record for this. Anderson is usually there, telling the press how proud he is that his people won't allow it and demanding absolute rights to ban people he deosn't like. He is very much a Little Dictator in the making!

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/edl-laughed-liverpool-benny-hill-13133627

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08/15/white-man-march-in-liverpool-canceled_n_7992084.html

Let's not forget his views on horrible trans-hating violent women.

Only Mayor Anderson's views are right and proper. Everyone else must be silenced.

Fascists should be fucking silenced.

I think this is another example of "Nothing to do with me" and it sounds reasonable to the man on the street.

Before the venom Joe spouted at women who were concerned about the GRA and it's impact on our rights, I would have just nodded in agreement. Now I feel uncomfortable that free speech is being squashed.

I think that by smothering any kind of debate we force people to extreme positions. There is no middle ground.

I agree that fascim needs to be squashed. But logically by stamping down on middle of the road debates, like the impact of immigration on communities and infrastructure by calling everyone racist or xenophobic is not helpful.

To the point, that I feel I need to point out my DH is not British, and I am positive about migration, for fear of being shot down in flames on this thread!

This is what's happening with the Self ID issue.

I applaud all the people who turned up yesterday to demonstrate against the fascists. These far right groups should never go unchallenged.