The UK government has never shown its racist and oppressive face with such clarity. It has never revealed its fear of difference and challenge so plainly. You might think I am talking about the coalition attack on Iraq - and that event would have been the golden cup winner until a few days ago. But actually I am talking about the attempt to strip Sheikh Abu Hamza of his British citizenship.

Don't get me wrong, he is not a nice guy and I do not support any of his calls for a Muslim uprising. I do not share his world view. I wish he did exist. Unlike the Home Office, I know that he does exist and has every right to.

Is free speech only the freedom to speak only about the things most people want to hear? Is it the freedom to speak of things only in terms that the government approves of? Is free speech the freedom to speak nicely and pleasantly at all times....or else?

Or is free speech exactly what the term indicates? Free. speech. The freedom to say anything you want to say. To express any opinion you want to express, with the only comeback being the things that other people want to say in response to you. This is what free speech means. This is not what the British government is willing to allow.

Good gracious me, Sheikh Abu Hamza speaks about wanting to kill westerners, about to overthrow the western domination of the world, about his dislike of the British government, about being a Muslim, about the Christian God, about wanting others to think these things too and to act upon their thoughts. Who will protect us from these WORDS? Who will shield us from their sharp edges and daggers of hate? Are we really so fragile that breath and air can kill us or damage us, that they can make us forget our standards of justice and liberty? Are we that afraid and weak that we must remove or destroy anything that is challenging? Would it kill us to hear what this man is saying? Do we need protection from words?

Well no, I think we don't. We're not going to be hurt; words do not tear our flesh. They wont kill us.

Saying you wished to kill someone does not mean you are going to do it and it does not result in a conviction for murder. It may make you at least a bit of a git, but you shouldn't go to prison for SAYING it. you would only go to prison for DOING it. And one of the reasons for this is that unless you DO it, unless you go get a weapon and use it to take another's life, then there is no death, no proof and no crime.

It does not matter if we like what we hear people say. Being offended or worried or upset does not mean we have any right to stop anybody - ANYBODY, British citizen or not - from speaking. It does not mean that we can try to remove the offending speaer, by any means whatsoever.

The British government does not have the right to strip this man of his citizenship. I dislike him, I dislike what I hear him say. But not half so much as I dislike our high-handed, terrified, fragile and reactionary government and their oppressive policies.