There’s a chance that the outdated law of seditious libel could be abolished today. Dr Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP, has tabled amendments to clauses 5 and 37 of the Coroners & Justice Bill. The move has support accross party lines, is welcomed by campaigning groups like Liberty, Index on Censorship, and English PEN, and by campaigning comedians Mark Thomas and Rowan Atkinson.

Unfortunately, there’s a chance that MPs may not get to vote on the amendment, since only a short time (45 minutes, I believe) has been allocated to debate such things.

The crimminal defamation and seditious libel laws crimminalise any statement which brings into “hatred or contempt” the monarch, the government, or parliament – a concept entirely at odds with the free and fierce nature of current political discourse. As such, they have rightly fallen out of use in this country, although up until the ’80s those in power would periodically attempt to revive it to silence dissent (including, in 1974, anti-apartheid campaigner and future Cabinet Minister Peter Hain).

Not only is there a risk that, in these paranoid and illiberal times, a Government could resurrect the laws to suppress dissent, the fact that the laws remain on the statue books sets a poor example around the world. Sedition laws are widely used overseas to suppress opposition and to persecute free thinkers. It is very difficult to argue that such laws should be abandoned elsewhere, while they remain law in the UK.

Its worth a short e-mail to your MP. E-mail them today and request that they support Dr Harris’ amendment.

About the author
Robert Sharp designed the Liberal Conspiracy site. He is the Campaigns Manager at English PEN, a blogger, and a director of digital design company Fifty Nine Productions. For more of this sort of thing, visit Rob's eponymous blog or follow him on Twitter @robertsharp59.
· Other posts by Robert Sharp
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   New post: Abolish Seditious Libel http://tinyurl.com/dju2fn

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