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Insulting the government can get you arrested

Perhaps you think I am talking about Venezuela under the thuggish Chavez?

Nope. I am talking about Britain.

18 comments to Insulting the government can get you arrested

  • John East

    It’s getting more and more difficult to envisage any action, belief, or appearance which Nulabour can’t argue is offensive to some other religion, race, or “70-80 year old woman”. So why do we need even more legislation planned by Blair and Clarke?

  • Sounds like the British police are taking lessons from Americans.

  • susan

    Oh pleez, a ” F**K Bush and His Hilter Mother” t-shirt can be freely worn in America WITH protection from police. A picture of Bush with a gun pointed at his head (an actual act of treason, by the way) can be displayed in museums protected by security guards (most of this crap labeled ART is funded by the American TAXPAYER!!!)

    If an American somehow gets arrested for wearing a “Bullocks for Bush” t-shirt it means the person arrested intentionally planned to get arrested by actually committing some misdemeanor crime as to stage the image of living in a ‘right-wing fascist State’ (a tactic which ironically it seems is rather fascistic)

    But, try to move without a companion around the East Village in NYC, NY wearing an “I Support Bush” and see what happens.

    Ya know Ken Hagler, you either have remained cocooned as a hermit in your home perhaps somewhere in the middle of a desolate southwestern desert reading Daily Koz or you don’t live in America.

    Anyway, HIDE YOUR PIGS! It appears to be offending your ruling populace.

  • This really, really pees me off. Everywhere I look the chav class is walking around with ‘Too tired to FCUK’ and ‘Cool as FCUK’ t-shirts. What do we hear from the authorities? Nothing. Nada, Nichts. Kuch nahi.

    But as soon as somebody slags off Princess Tony in come the heavies.

    Somebody with more entrepreneurial skills than me will design a Walter Wolfgang t-shirt with something suitably insulting on the front. We should stand outside Parliament wearing the damned things and see what Comrade Blair does then…

  • Not to sound like an ignorant American but what does “Bollocks to Blair” mean? Doesn’t sound offensive on this side of the pond.

  • Marty,

    It’s Anglo-Saxon for ‘Balls to Blair’.

  • John East

    Marty,
    On this side of the Atlantic the word “Blair” is extremely offensive to half of the population, and causes them to throw up at the site of it emblazoned on a t-shirt.

  • Maybe it’s because we’re all being so tewwibly rude to politicians and need to have our wrists slapped.

  • David Mercer

    Sounds like she was arrested for what used to be called Lese Majeste, an offense against the sovereign. Guess Tony thinks he’s king now or something!

  • Cheers, Aegir, very bloggable 🙂

  • Johnathan

    I always thought Blair had his silly empty head up his own arse, but not to such an extent.

    In case any NewLab folk are reading this, bollocks to the whole ignorant bunch of you.

  • Pete_London

    Marty

    ‘Bollocks’ is a colloquial expression for testicals. Some regard is as vulgar, a point repudiated successfully in court involving the Sex Pistols’ album Never Mind the Bollocks. A policewoman arrested a record shop owner for advertising it in his window. It was accepted in court that ‘bollocks’ stems from Anglo Saxon English and is not vulgar. Charlotte Denis should be informing the Chief Constable that her arrest was wrongful, has no basis in law and that she’ll be sueing for wrongful arrest in the absence of a swift, public apology.

  • RAB

    OY Pete_London,
    Fancy starting a firm of Solicitors?
    I think we could do well.

  • Pete_London

    RAB

    Even with Her Cherieness feathering the Blair nest, the way Her Majesty’s Constabulary are doing business means they’ll be plenty of pickings to be had.

  • Verity

    Pete_London – Her Cherieness! What a hoot!

  • RAB

    Pete_ Sorted!
    I’ll start drawing up the two sets of books.

  • More of this type of thing: I’m a bit late but I don’t think anyone here has pointed this out here so far. From the Guardian, via Scott Burgess:

    Another protesting octogenarian felt the brush of section 44 last week, though he was searched. John Catt was wearing a T-shirt proclaiming “Bush Blair Sharon to be tried for war crimes torture human rights abuse” and, lower down, “the leaders of rogue states”.

    The stop-and-search form filled out by the police officer stated, under grounds for intervention, “carrying plackard [sic] and T-shirt with anti-Blair info”. The purpose of the stop and search was stated as “terrorism”. So now we know. For the Sussex police, at any rate, an anti-Blair slogan is a ground for suspecting terrorism.

  • Luniversal

    A commercial mail order firm called Expert Verdict is selling a statuette of the Dear Leader of Our Western Way of Life in his flying jacket. He can repeat any of 20 characteristic pronouncements, e.g. ‘A vast majority of our imports come from outside our country’. All for £24.95, batteries not included.

    Surely such mockery of the Emperor of Modernity is nothing less than an act of lese majeste?