John Wilkes's legacy
The cause of free speech has produced some unlikely champions, but none more so than the 18th-century libertine John Wilkes. By all accounts he was an unsavoury character but for all his flaws he embodied the spirit of liberty that is a defining characteristic of this nation, which is all too easily undermined by indifference and ignorance.
Wilkes published an anti-government pamphlet called The North Briton, which in April 1763, carried a sustained attack on the King's Speech. He was arrested and charged with seditious libel – only to be cleared and re-elected to the Commons.
Wilkes fought for the right to publish an opinion, however outrageous it might be, without being told by people in power what to say or prevented from saying what they did not want to hear. Until relatively recently, this was the accepted state of affairs in this country, but no longer.
In the Commons this week, the name of Wilkes was invoked by Sir David Davis, in response to a ruling against The Telegraph by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). We reported remarks about the Muslim Association of Britain made in the chamber by Michael Gove when he was a minister but were censured because denials by the organisation about an affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood were not sought.
As Sir David said: 'Press freedom is a cornerstone of democracy, and for centuries the right to freely report on the proceedings of this House have been protected in British law. Those freedoms allowing the press to report without any hindrance or conditionality were secured as long ago as 1771 by John Wilkes. While IPSO may think it is being responsible, its reprimanding of The Telegraph undermines those fundamental rights.' Indeed so.
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