The owner of a hotel dedicated to an influential free speech thinker bemoans the current state of Britain under Keir Starmer.
Gez Chetal, 57, from Peterborough, is the proud owner of the Thomas Paine Hotel in Norfolk.
Located in the quaint market town of Thetford, the birthplace of Thomas Paine, the hotel takes its name from the 18th-century political thinker and revolutionary.
Paine’s impassioned defence of the ideals of free speech in his pamphlet Common Sense (1775–76) influenced the American Revolution.
As a result, many Americans regard him as one of America’s founding fathers.
A hotel owner is railing against what he sees an ‘attack’ on free speech in Britain
Gez Chetal, Getty Images
It’s fitting, then, that the owner of a hotel dedicated to one of the foremost critics of censorship and tyranny is appalled by what he feels has been a coordinated “attack” on free speech in the wake of the summer riots sparked by the Southport killings.
“He’d be rolling around in his grave. Our justice system and government need a total overhaul. People are so scared to say anything because of the repercussions,” he told GB News.
While Chetal is keen to stress that the actions of the rioters themselves were unconscionable, the lengthy sentences handed to people with no prior convictions for posting incendiary comments on social media set a “terrifying” precedent.
“Free speech – where is it then?” He asks rhetorically.
He’s encouraged by Donald Trump’s executive orders, which include beefing up free speech laws and individual liberties against the state.
“I am 100 per cent with Mr Trump on that. What he’s doing, we should be doing the same,” Gez said.
His fears about free speech in Britain comes after a leaked report commissioned by the Home Office sparked fears of a clampdown on free speech.
“Rapid Analytical Sprint” was commissioned by Home Secretary Yvette Secretary in the wake of the Southport killings and the summer riots in August to determine the Government’s policy on extremism.
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Gez is encouraged by Trump’s executive orders, which include beefing up free speech laws and individual liberties
Gez Chetal
The unpublished Home Office document, which includes Sprint’s full recommendations, was recently leaked to the think tank Policy Exchange.
In their damning review of the leaked report, authors Andrew Gilligan and Dr Paul Stott concluded that Sprint downplays the role that Islamist ideology has played in fuelling the rise of extremism in Britain and that its recommendations risk “diverting police resources” and risk stoking “anger” over free speech.
Free speech advocates expressed particular concern at the recommendation that the definition of extremism should be expanded to include ideologies espoused by conspiracy theorists and extreme forms of misogyny.
The backlash forced Yvette Cooper to publicly reject the internal Home Office advice recommendation and insist that the government will focus its anti-terror efforts on Islamist and far-right extremism.