.... What is remarkable is how many Establishment figures of the time expressed their displeasure at Mr Rushdie, even if they strongly disagreed with the death sentence. Roald Dahl suggested he’d been deliberately insulting in order to send an “indifferent book on to the top of the bestseller list”. John Le Carré argued that nobody has a right “to be impertinent to great religions with impunity”. There was an unavoidable tension between defending conservative Muslims from what they regarded as profound insult to their faith and the freedom of Mr Rushdie to speak his mind.
Britain, however, made the right choice: the Conservative government offered protection to one of its most strident literary critics. The UK stood decisively on the side of artistic liberty and should be proud of that.
.... As a rule, the British would prefer to leave each other well alone. But sometimes, as in 1989, movements arise that assert their right to shut other voices down, and the Government has to take a decisive stand. The present Tory Party has does some sensible things – such as issuing guidance to ward off no-platforming at universities – but the clarity of the Eighties has been lost. Back then, Margaret Thatcher’s Methodist belief in free will provided a philosophical direction that is now sorely lacking. At the time, her politics were certainly controversial, and Mr Rushdie disagreed with them mightily. But years later, he acknowledged that she had offered protection in an hour of need. [The Telegraph] Read more
