



We are deeply concerned about the letter “We cannot allow individuals to be censored and silenced” on 15 February, which contained serious inaccuracies. For example, neither Kate Smurthwaite nor Germaine Greer were no-platformed; poor ticket sales were a factor in the cancellation of Smurthwaite’s show and Greer’s talk went ahead.

The letter uses the idea of “free speech” in defence of the rights of academics and commentators to speak without being held accountable or challenged for their complicity in oppressive systems. For people who have ample opportunities to speak elsewhere, being “no-platformed” by student groups does not equate to being persecuted. The letter works to obfuscate and distract from crucial struggles on campuses around freedom of speech. Recent years have seen university management and police respond increasingly punitively to student political protest. Staff are under growing pressure to report on student activity in the name of counter-terrorism. University workers who organise against casualisation face victimisation at work. It is disappointing to see so many people with institutional power and prominent platforms take sides against grassroots feminist organising, including transfeminisms and sex workers’ rights. There are some very harmful ideologies circulating under the banner of feminist “debate”, some aimed at removing vulnerable people from public space and discourse.

As feminists, we do not agree that freedom of speech is freedom to speak unaccountably. We do not agree that academics and commentators are victimised or censored by trans women, sex workers or survivors of sexual and domestic violence objecting to “debates” which rehearse hateful misrepresentations about their lives.

Sara Ahmed, Naomi Beecroft, Petra Davis Abbie Sadler, Abbie Salter, Abby Rutherford, Abigail Brady, Agata Pacho, Aimee Challoner, Aisling Gallagher, AJ McKenna, Alan Hooker, Alexander Andrews, Alex Baker, Alex Brett, Alex Dymock, Alisdair Calder McGregor, Alison Phipps, Alon Lischinsky, Andrea Brady, Anelda Grové, Anneke Newman, Annette Behrens, Anwen Muston, Ashlee Christoffersen, Aura Lehtonen, Azeezat Johnson, Bahar Mustafa, Belinda Brooks-Gordon, Beulah Maud Devaney, Blake Gutt, Brendan O’Malley, Caitlin Doherty, Caitlin Light, Caoimhe Mader McGuinness, Cariad Martin, Caroline Leneghan, Carolynne Henshaw, Catherine Baker, Catherine Tomas, Cathy Wagner, CeCe Egan, Cel West, Charlie Kiss, Charlotte Hamilton, Charlotte Jones, Charlotte Morris, Charlotte Richardson Andrews, Charlotte Skeet, Cheryl Morgan, Clare Moriarty, CN Lester, Constantine Sandis, Cornelia Prior, Creatrix Tiara, Daniel Blanchard, Dani Anderson, Daniel Baker, Daria Ramone, David Bell, David Hobbs, Dawn Foster, Dean Peters, Eleanor Roberts, Ellen Yianni, Elizabeth Vasileva, Ellie Slee, Elliot Evans, Elliot Folan, Ellis Suzanna Slack, Emily Nunn, Emily Reynolds, Emily Thew, Emma Bennett, Emma Felber, Erin Sanders-McDonagh, Esme Cleall, Eve Livingston, Felix Genting, Gabriel Balfe, George Walkden, Georgia Mulligan, Gianfranco Bettocchi, Gillian Love, Ginger Drage, Grace Hagger, Gregory White, Hannah Boast, Heather Berg, Heidi Hoefinger, Howard Littler, Ian Sinclair, Jackson Jesse Nash, Jacq Kelly, James Butler, James Mackenzie, Jamie Bernthal, Jane Bradley, Jane Pitcher, Jay Levy, Jaye Ward, Jennie Rigg, Jennifer Kirk, Jenny Chamarette, Jenny Slater, Jessica Gagnon, Jessica Stacey, Jim Higginson, Joel Wallenberg, Jonnie Marbles, Josephine Shaw, Judith Wanga, Julia Downes, Juliet Jacques, Juno Roche, Justin Baidoo, Kate Hardy, Kate Hutchinson, Kate Renwick, Katy Price, Kiona H Niehaus, Kirsty Murdoch, Kitty Stryker, Laila Kadiwal, Laura Chapman, Laura Lee, Lauren Hall-Lew, Leila Whitley, Lexi Kamen Turner, Linda Stupart, Lisa Jeschke, Lizzie Reed Luc Raesmith, Luca Stevenson, Lucy Neville, Lucy O’Riordan, Luke Brunning, Lyndsey Moon, Magdalena Mikulak, Manishta Sunnia, Marie Thompson, Margo Milne, Martha Robinson, Marika Rose, Martha Dunkley, Mary Macfarlane, Matt Lodder, Matthijs Krul, Meg John Barker, Megan Chapman, Melanie Kampen, Melissa Gira Grant, Miranda Iossifidis, Molly Smith, Murray Robertson, Naomi Bain, Naomi Beecroft, Natacha Kennedy, Natalia Cecire, Natalie Garrett, Nicki Kindersley, Nick McGlynn, Nicola Mai, Nina Power, Ntokozo Yingwana, Olivia Ouwehand, Onni Gust, Petra Davis, Rachel Mann, Ray Filar, Rebecca Winson, Reubs Walsh, Rey Conquer, Rhianna Humphrey, Robert Stearn, Rosanna Singler, Ruth Kinna, Ruth Pearce, Sally Hines, Sam Ambreen, Sami Wannell, Sam McBean, Samuel Solomon, Sanj Choudhury, Sara Ahmed, Sarah El-Alfy, Sarah Brown, Sarah Dorman, Sarah Noble, Sarah Savage, Scot Pep, Scott Long, Seán McCorry, Sex Worker Open University, Shakti Shah, Shane Boyle, Shruti Iyer, Simon Hitchcock, Sofia Helgadottir, Sophie Jones, Sophie Lewis, Sophie Mayer, South London Anti-Fascists, Stacey White, Stella Gardiner, Surya Monro, Susuana Antubam, Taha Hassan, Tamsin Worrad, Tanya Palmer, Tasha Tristan Skerman-Gray, Thea Bradbury, Thomas Clark Wilson, Thomas Sissons, Toni Mac, Tristan Burke, Vonnie Sandlan, Wendy Lyon, Zara Bain, Zoë Kirk-Robinson, Zoe O’Connell Zoe Stavri, Zowie Davy.

Gagging whistleblowers

Of course provide more protection for whistleblowers, and freedom of information to ensure the whistle can be heard (“To speak out takes courage. Let’s protect those who do”). But that is only half the answer. Whistleblowers are up against “a corrosive problem of fear”. But all too often the people responsible for that fear get away scot-free. The people who force those who speak up out of their jobs, and conspire to keep them unemployed, continue to draw comfortable salaries, hold comfortable pensions, and stay at liberty in comfortable lifestyles. Until the people who seek to shut down whistleblowers and conspire to punish them know that they face draconian penalties if they are found out, the harassment will continue..

Kevin McGrath

Harlow, Essex

Concert pitch

“…if we want to tempt the giant of classical music back for good from Germany, we might need to give him a world-class concert hall” (Simon Rattle profile, last week). How many concert halls does one man need? Could I be the 94th to point out that the citizens of Birmingham built him one in 1991. The Symphony Hall is still as good as any in the world. If he were to ask I doubt he would be denied its use.

Bob Pike

Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire

France

Falling tribunals

Vince Cable is concerned about the dramatic fall (90%) in the number of sex discrimination cases being heard in employment tribunals (“Cable clashes with Tories over effect of employment tribunal ‘tax on justice’”). He is concerned that the introduction of fees is creating a barrier to justice. You also report that all employment tribunal claims have fallen by 81% from 44,334 to 8,540. It seems clear that a major part of this decline is due to the introduction of fees.

This will hardly surprise those with experience of employment claims. When an employee has a dispute with his employer he frequently ends up unemployed and in financial trouble; he will not in most cases risk further financial loss and pay legal fees.

The decline in tribunal claims will also have been worsened by Mr Cable’s 2012 increase in the qualifying period needed for most unfair dismissal claims, from one year to two. This is also unsurprising and returns employees to the position under the Thatcher government.

Unfair dismissal was initially introduced to encourage good management practices, resolve employment disputes, prevent arbitrary dismissals and discourage industrial action. After initial reluctance, trade unions embraced the system by advising and representing members in internal hearings and tribunals. To undermine the system which protects all employees, union members or not, will only encourage a hire-and-fire culture in management and not the intelligent participation which a successful economy needs.

Dr Michael Bennett

Winchester

Bad-mouthing

I agree with Catherine Bennett (“The private life of a public figure can be very illuminating”) that it is unacceptable for Mrs Angela Merkel to be referred to as “an unfuckable lard-arse”. A pity, then, that she herself finds it acceptable to refer to Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn as “a fat old man”. Speaking as a fat old man myself, I find it regrettable that terms like this should be used as insults.

Dr Malcolm Ostermeyer

Lancaster

Bags of money

Life & Style (Magazine) describes two bags as being “worth” £602 and £378 respectively. This is what they cost: worth is a matter of judgment, mine being that you can keep your Kristin and your Romola; my two Hatties (Jacques and McDaniels), bought for a couple of quid each from Oxfam, fit the bill for this bag lady.

Carolyn Mitra

Yateley, Hants