UK Nanny State Law Would Force Pubs to Employ ‘Banter Police’

[727Sky]

I guess we should be glad the UK is disarmed and a peaceful country.... I really am glad I am old and do not have that much longer to watch the world turn into a secret police state where people are disappeared by their own government.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/10...advocates/

UK Nanny State Law Would Force Pubs to Employ ‘Banter Police’, Warn Free Speech Advocates

Apparently not content with merely policing speech on the internet or on the streets, the leftist Labour Party government in Britain is reportedly looking to pass legislation which would crack down on supposedly offensive comments made in pubs.
The government of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, in its impending Employment Rights Bill, would change equality laws in Britain to mean that employers would be held responsible for their employees being offended by “third parties” like their customers or the general public.
The law would require businesses and public institutions to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent harassment based on so-called “protected characteristics” from happening within their premises, The Telegraph reports.
Free speech advocates have argued that the law would force business owners, such as publicans, to employ Stasi-style speech police to comply with the government diktats.
General secretary of the Free Speech Union Toby Young warned: “Expect every pub in England and Wales to employ ‘banter cops’ who’ll be tasked with eavesdropping on customers’ conversations and barring anyone who tells an ‘inappropriate’ joke.”
Others warned that the law would have disastrous consequences for already struggling companies in Britain. Shadow Business Secretary, Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake said that the “agenda is being driven by wokeness and the unions”.
“Ronald Reagan once said if fascism ever returns it will be in the name of liberalism. The people who are supposedly the greatest defenders of basic liberties and quite happy to jettison basic rights – be it over property, the rule of law and free speech – if it doesn’t accord with their own views.”

The potential introduction of speech police in pubs is just the latest attack on the industry by the leftist Labour government, which is pushing forward to ban smoking in outdoor areas such as in pub gardens. There have also reportedly been some within the government pushing for a new limit on pub hours to supposedly prevent alcohol-related illnesses.
Commenting on the attack on pubs, Reform UK MP Lee Anderson told The Express: “Once again this government are clamping down on free speech and hammering our publicans in the process.”
“With 50 pubs closing every month in the first half of this year, they need more support than ever not this nanny state nonsense.”
There have also been warnings that the proposed legislation would have a “chilling effect” on campuses as universities could potentially face lawsuits if students are offended by speakers who they disagree with. This comes after the Labour government already scrapped legislation specifically laying out protections for freedom of speech at universities.
Legal director at the law firm Doyle Clayton James Murray explained that the new law would likely mean controversial speakers would face even more difficulty speaking to students.
“If we think about a speaker that has been invited – say it’s a controversial gender critical speaker, like Julie Bindel or Kathleen Stock – someone might somewhat disingenuously say ‘I am an employee of this university and I find what she says deeply harassing’.
“The concern is that this will shift the balance away from free speech and universities will be more risk averse as they won’t want to be held liable for third-party harassment.”

[Infolurker]

Seems 1984 wasn't fiction but a goal.

[Cvastar]

The "Leftists" are quite eager to shut down the "Pub" culture as they view Pubs as places where like-minded people (conservatives) gather to share ideas and to discuss their politics. As well, many Pubs are family owned, "independent" operations.  The Leftists hate private small business operators.

The "smoking" ban wasn't enough apparently so now.....this.

[sailorsam]

bit by bit, politics is eroding free speech.

these people have come a long way from 'I may not agree with what you say but I will fight to defend your right to say it'.

now it's 'that offends me shut up'.

or, more likely, 'that might offend a politically allied special interest group that I'm not a part of but am sympathetic to, so shut up'.

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

Some might say that this is Great Britain they are talking about, that they don't have the same protections for freedom of speech that we have here in the States, that this doesn't apply to anything in the U S of A, and so there is nothing to worry about. Or is there?

If you've been around long enough to know, you will realize that our trends here in the States often start in Europe, specifically the United Kingdom. Countries like Canada are certainly going to follow the UK, then states like California or New York will follow Canada's lead, then . . . The slippery slope is a real thing folks.

[gortex]

Pubs are dangerous places for unpopular governments as historically all the best plots have been hatched in the local tavern , Kier Stalin has more to fear than most as the majority of the population didn't vote for him or his armature hour cohorts and  nearly 60% of British public think he is taking us in the wrong direction which after just over 3 months in power is quite an achievement.


Kier has a dirty little secret that in the coming months could be exposed , it should be his downfall when it's exposed.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls kier , it tolls for thee.

[Ninurta]

I think the path for pushback is to dose the Left with their own medicine. Right wingers need to start getting mightily offended at Left-wing "hate speech" as well, and start bringing suits of their own against it.

Use their own rules to bind their hands behind their backs. It's what the Left has been doing successfully against the Right for decades now. It's about time to turn those tables on them.

.

[ancientlight]

Obviously 1984 and Nazi Germany before the start of WW2. 
If people are still oblivous to the similarities, they are hopeless.

Pub owners need to be very careful in who they hire.

[F2d5thCav]

Obviously 1984 and Nazi Germany before the start of WW2. 
If people are still oblivous to the similarities, they are hopeless.

Pub owners need to be very careful in who they hire.

Germany has already mandated that employers have informers to report on other employees making "anti social" comments.  Of course, "anti social" is anything critical of Left-think.  Europe is getting on a bad track (again).

Cheers--