RAPID RESPONSES
Vive la difference
[Re: Marc Sidwell’s column, Licensing the press – it’s just not very British, last Friday] The title of Sidwell’s column was apt. We only need to look across the channel to see the difference between Napoleonic prescriptive freedoms and British liberty. The French law of 29 July 1881 purports to guarantee freedom of the press and freedom of expression. But, as with all state-backed freedoms, the hand that giveth can easily snatch away. What French newspaper would expose an expenses scandal in the Sénat with the same relish as its British equivalent, for fear of upsetting its benefactors? While injurious actions should be open to recourse to compensation, the British press should maintain its liberty from state licensing – it took the Glorious Revolution to be freed of the licensing order of 1643 – once lost, this liberty cannot be easily grasped back.
David Snow