15/01/2004 00:00
TW
0
By Jason Moore MUCH as I dislike Robert Kilroy Silk and his outrageous and racist comments, I do believe in free speech. This is one of the reasons we allegedly went to war in Iraq and it is one of the pillars of our democratic way of life. Take away free speech and there isn't much left. I have been appalled by statements which I have heard on British television but at the end of the day it is just the opinion and thoughts of the person who says it, whether they be a pundit or a presenter and also they are entitled to their opinion. I don't have a problem with that, after all it's democracy. Robert Kilroy Silk has made his vile comments about Arabs and Arab states TWICE. The first time his column appeared in print during the Iraq war not a word was said which doesn't say much for the author. The second time it appeared, allegedly by mistake, it took four days after its publication for any comment to be passed. Also, the views he expressed are not new. He made similar comments to the leaders of various Arab states when he was a Labour MP twenty years ago.

Mr. Kilroy Silk's views were known. The sad state of affairs is that the BBC, the champion of free speech and “free journalism” chooses to axe Kilroy's awful morning show. Instead of giving viewers the chance to punish Kilroy and his views he becomes a sort of “tabloid champion of Middle England.” Kilroy Silk did not make his comments on the BBC, they were made in a privately owned newspaper with the full consent of the editor and publisher. As I have said they were not new views. It was a difficult decision but his show should not have been axed. It would have allowed the small number of viewers to see Kilroy Silk, for what he is, a rather poor presenter with some very unsavoury views, but who was using his democratic right to express his known opinions.