Check the date at the top of the page: it’s not 1984
Re: “Settle down, kids, and eat your cereal,” Have Your Say, July 21.
Censorship alert! Many times, Dr Frank has questioned The Nation’s editing on this page, casting snide aspersions that certain views (invariably conservative) should not be published, but his recent letter blatantly reveals his Orwellian leanings. He “blames” The Nation’s “determination to publish what it sees fit to allow onto its pages”.
I suggest he departs from Thailand to the “safe space” of his native Yorkshire, where his delicate snowflake sensibilities will be protected by the plethora of Race Relations, Equalities, Public Order, and Investigatory Powers acts of parliament that ban free speech.
As if that lot weren’t enough, the UK Cabinet Office has recently set up a “Rapid Response Unit” whose job it is to interfere with search engine results, driving “alternative news” website stories down the list and pushing the official government propaganda to the top. The Big Brother in charge, one Alex Aiken, got into a flap over recent news reports that violent crime is rocketing in UK: “The Unit activated social media content which helped to rebalance the narrative,” he said. Aiken wants us to know that even though there were 5.3 million violent crimes in 2016-2017, bicycle thefts went down – probably because there weren’t any left to steal.
So off you go, Dr Frank, but watch out. You might get robbed (robberies up 30 per cent since last year), knifed (up 16 per cent), murdered (up 12 per cent), and for goodness’ sake keep your bottom against the wall (rapes up 31 per cent). Don’t choke on your cereal.
Nigel Pike
Phang Nga
