Go Forth and be Irritating

A JUDGE yesterday championed freedom of speech for "the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome and provocative".

Ruling that a Christian fundamentalist had the right to preach outside Wakefield Cathedral, despite the annoyance she caused, Lord Justice Sedley said: "Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having." [...]

WE regret that by letter dated Tuesday, December 12, 2000 a Ms. Louise Hayman, the head of legal services at The Independent newspaper, requested that this article be removed from this website. We have adjusted the masthead accordingly.