I have been quoted in a couple of articles recently, both relating to free speech issues in the UK.
First, I was interviewed by The Booksller magazine, about the government’s proposed law on Criminal Memoirs:
Robert Sharp, campaign manager for English PEN, said publishers still had time to intervene, as the law would not be voted on until after the summer recess. “We have time to play for,” he said. “We would advise that people concerned about this should lobby the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, or Maria Eagle MP, to revist the bill, to run wider consultation, and come up with more clearly defined, narrower proposals.”
…
He also warned of “mission creep” arising. “You [could] have a law supposedly about mad gangsters boasting about how they stabbed someone, suddenly being used against someone writing about their harrowing journey through the criminal justice system.”
PEN will be refining these arguments for a campaign in the autumn.
I was also interviewed on the subject of UK libel laws by De Nieuwe Reporter, a Dutch magazine. Here’s the money quote (literally):
‘Zelfs als ze zeker weten dat ze geen fouten hebben gemaakt, dan nog worden kranten en uitgeverijen gecensureerd door hun verzekeringsmaatschappijen omdat de financiële risico’s te groot zijn’, zegt Robert Sharp. ‘Het stelt rijke mensen in staat om een spelletje ‘High Stakes Poker’ te spelen, waarbij degene met het meeste geld uiteindelijk altijd wint.’
The article is in Dutch, but Google gives an English approximation.
