SARAH VINE: Censorship at the pub! Welcome to Starmer's brave new world, where diversity means shutting down conversations over drinks in case you offend some eavesdropping snowflake
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Arguably the last Labour government’s most memorable slogan was ‘education, education, education’.
If I had to come up with one for this lot, it would be ‘legislation, legislation, legislation’. But then what do you expect if you elect a nit-picking human rights lawyer as Prime Minister?
Forget common sense; it’s all about shiny new directives that may sound great on the face of it, but more often than not mask a sinister agenda.
The Government’s proposed workers’ rights legislation, which is expected to come into force next year, is a case in point. It places a duty on bosses to protect their employees from harassment in the workplace.
Sarah is bemused that 'ethical veganism' is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act
Hurrah, a fine sentiment indeed. But examine the proposals more closely and it quickly becomes clear that the repercussions could be far more serious and far-reaching than anticipated.
For example, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), one of the consequences of this Act would be that pubs would find themselves forced to ban customers from discussing ‘contentious’ topics such as religious beliefs or transgender rights if there’s a risk that their views might constitute ‘harassment’ of staff.
A conversation would count as harassment if it ‘has the purpose or effect of violating the recipient’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment’.
This is compounded if it is an opinion about a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, such as religious beliefs, views on women’s and transgender rights, political philosophies and (astonishingly) ethical veganism.
Starmer's brave new world is an impressive example of double-think, even for him
In other words, if you want to have any kind of discussion, serious or otherwise, about any of the important or controversial issues today, stay at home lest you accidentally offend some eavesdropping snowflake.
Welcome to Starmer’s brave new world, where diversity means shutting down free speech and censorship and dogma are promoted in the name of tolerance. As an example of double-think, it’s quite an impressive one, even for him.
The irony of this isn’t lost on most intelligent people, not least the writer Julie Burchill. Last year, she and a group of middle-aged women were ejected from a pub in Hove because they were having a discussion about the rights and wrongs of teaching gender ideology in schools.
Julie Burchill and friends were kicked out of a pub in Hove for discussing gender ideology
Apparently ‘a complaint’ was made about the subject matter, and as a result the landlord requested that they leave.
There was widespread outrage at their treatment. Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, claimed the pub did ‘not have a leg to stand on’. Under this new legislation, the opposite would be true. In fact, the landlord would be under a legal obligation to ban them.
But there is another, more prosaic reason for objecting to this nonsense. The hospitality industry, and pubs in particular, have not had an easy time of late. Covid, the cost of living crisis, the recent NI hike – they’ve all taken their toll. The last thing they need is another set of bureaucratic hoops to jump through. Something like this could be the last straw for many landlords.
And that would be a great shame. Pubs are a quintessential part of the British identity, vital social hubs, especially in rural areas (perhaps that’s why the Government are doing this: they clearly hate the countryside). One of the great joys of life is meeting friends in your local, sinking a few lemonades and putting the world to rights over a packet of pork scratchings (no doubt also soon to be banned – let’s not forget those ‘ethical vegans’).
Pubs occupy a unique social space somewhere between your own front room and an actual restaurant, less formal and more familiar than the latter but more social than the former. There’s nothing quite like the buzz of a packed pub. All human life is here: it’s somewhere you can go with the dog, where it’s fine to be on your own or with friends, where no one minds if you get slightly over-refreshed and make a fool of yourself.
The upper classes have their swanky members’ clubs; ordinary people have pubs, places where people of all ages and social persuasions can and do mingle.
Inevitably, there are differences of opinion; inevitably, there are customers who sometimes step out of line. But generations of landlords and landladies have always known how to police their own premises, without the need for interference from the state.
No employer, especially not one who’s serving alcohol for a living, can guarantee the rights of their staff not to be offended. It’s just in the nature of the beast.
If this legislation comes into place, it will be another nail in the coffin of the great British pub.
But then perhaps that’s just what this joyless, sanctimonious Government wants.
Melania Trumps her husband
All eyes will be on Melania Trump next week, as her husband is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States of America.
Melania admits in an interview for a documentary that she doesn't always agree with Donald
Has there ever been a more enigmatic First Lady than this feline creature? ‘I don’t always agree with my husband,’ she said this week, in an interview promoting a ‘behind the scenes’ documentary about her life.
Perhaps not. But something tells me he ALWAYS agrees with her.
The Spanish government’s proposals to slap a 100 per cent property tax on Brits looking to buy a home in Spain is a classic example of socialism cutting off its nose to spite its face.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez claims he’s doing it to make housing more affordable for Spaniards.
But given that the population of Spain is almost 50 million and the number of properties bought by foreigners in 2023 was less than 30,000 (most of whom were not British, rather Asian and American), it’s not really going to make any difference.
By contrast, all the builders, restaurateurs, shops and others whose livelihoods depend on foreign investment will feel the pinch keenly.
Social media is full of influencers and content creators bleating about America’s proposed TikTok ban. Poor loves. God forbid they should have to get a real job.
The Prime Minister has been extolling the virtues of AI, but then he’s not about to be replaced by a robot (although how would we know?). Comedian Jenny Eclair, on the other hand, is. She’s furious about a new podcast featuring a deep fake version of Michael Parkinson, who died in 2023, interviewing modern-day celebrities.
‘There are living people like me who’ve still got mortgages,’ she told Good Morning Britain. Quite.
News that Netflix has overtaken BBC1 in the UK will no doubt send shivers down the spines of executives at Broadcasting House.
But they’ve only themselves to blame.
The BBC has a huge archive and a worldwide reputation for excellence – and yet none of it is available outside the UK because of restrictions attached to the licence fee. If the Corporation could just muster the courage to detach from the taxpayer’s teat and launch its streaming services worldwide, I have no doubt it would be more than a match for the likes of Netflix.
But that would take courage and vision, something successive Director Generals have been distinctly lacking.
Wonderful news that the Princess of Wales is cancer-free. She looked radiant as she visited the Marsden Hospital in London. Amazing too that she managed to endure treatment without it affecting her famous mane. It will be a great encouragement to fellow sufferers.
Elon Musk is said to be in talks with China to buy TikTok’s US arm ahead of America’s planned ban of the app on security grounds. If he succeeds, that would not only make him the richest man in the world, but also the most powerful. I don’t subscribe to this whole ‘Musk is evil’ nonsense. But even I can see that might be worrying.
