Thanks. Yeah, I'm not sure how that comparison came to his mind either - I think it's fair to say Niemöller didn't have people like Woods in mind when he wrote that! I guess I just find it irritating because I've seen how many safeguards there actually are in this country and it just strikes me as intellectual laziness to go "OH NOES! THOUGHT POLICE!!!!1" as is so often the case on here. Usually I'm quite mellow when it comes to legal topics!

Hey, I just wanted to say that I'm enjoying reading your posts on the freedom of speech/april jones thread. People amaze me sometimes. I don't know anything about British law (hell, I barely know anything about Australian law). However, It seems like common sense to me that punishing someone for making sexual comments about missing children isn't going to lead to some kind of Orwellian nightmare. Nice to see you back that up with fact.

And btw- glad you shared my thoughts on 'first they came'- I actually couldn't decide whether to be offended or laugh when I saw they posted that. I don't know what goes through someone's mind to make them think that's an appropriate response/comparison. I guess that's what worries me though; first some idiot gets charged for making cruel and sexual comments about a kid and the next thing he's a folk hero who dared to break the rules of PC censorship... get me a bucket!