In February 1989, five months after the publication of The Satanic Verses, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against its author Salman Rushdie. It is often seen as a pivotal moment in shaping the landscape of contemporary Western society. So, 20...
A new book attempts to cast the crisis in civil liberties as a left/right issue. But ultimately it is the timid, compliant climate of UK politics that is to blame, says John Kampfner The 12 years of New Labour have seen an erosion of civil...
Sky News has informed the Disasters Emergency Committee that it will not be broadcasting an appeal for humanitarian aid for Gaza. John Ryley, the head of Sky News, said: 'The absolute impartiality of our output is fundamental to Sky News and its...
Author and barrister Sir John Mortimer died this morning at the age of 85. Sir John was a great champion of free expression, defending many writers and publishers against obscenity charges in the 1970s. In one of his last interviews, he talked to...
Government data retention plans will make life difficult for Britain's investigative journalists, says Bill Thompson The UK government’s decision to press forward with implementation of the European Union directive on data retention by...
Senior MPs from all the major parties will tomorrow ask the government to end the practice of wealthy foreign people using British libel law and British courts to silence investigative journalists. In a debate to be held tomorrow morning former...
The raid on a leading historical research centre in St Petersburg is an attack on freedom of expression, writes historian Orlando Figes Yesterday, on 3 December at 1 pm, a group of masked men from the Investigative Committee of the Russian General...
The Damian Green arrest confirms fears about a vengeful government and a supine media, says John Kampfner A few years back, when I was a full-time political journalist, I had a chat with a colleague who had just become a government information...
The shadow immigration minister, Damian Green, was arrested last night over his alleged involvement in a series of leaks from the Home Office. While the move has been condemned by the opposition, the Home Office has denied any ministerial...
Civil disobedience is sometimes the only way of making a democratic point, says Leo Murray of Plane Stupid ‘Sir, it is with very great regret that I must ask leave to visit the toilet as a matter of some urgency.’ Acting as my own lawyer had...