A warning to Minnesotans and the US about politics and censorship—from the UK

Mark Burkes, a citizen and resident of the U.K., joined Liz Collin on her podcast—after watching Collin on Tucker Carlson’s show—and noticing more than a few troubling similarities between the U.K., the U.S., and Minnesota.

For Burkes, who describes himself as an everyday, ordinary “bloke,” political censorship is a major concern. “The one thing I think a lot of people know is that freedom of speech in Europe, generally, and in the UK has eroded dramatically over the course of the last 10 years,” he explained.

Politics and online censorship

Burkes detailed how changes in U.K. law have led to a rise in identity politics and decline in personal freedoms.

“We’ve had 10 different statutes that have come into play since Tony Blair was in government back in the Bush-era. All of them have eroded civil liberties,” Burkes said.

“First of all, they separate you into groups. So you’ve got identity politics, then they have to protect those groups, supposedly, some groups more than other groups … then at the end of it all, you end up with with a pernicious effect where people are either scared to speak or — and this is where we are in the UK at the moment — most people just aren’t aware that they don’t speak out for things that are important to them a lot of the time, because they’re worried that what they say might be unlawful,” Burkes explained.

As he also pointed out, the consequences have been significant, as dozens of people a day have been arrested for “offensive” remarks they’ve posted online.

Media manipulation: Parallels between George Floyd and ‘the Southport Stabbings’

Last summer, in the U.K., three young girls were stabbed and killed and 10 others were injured. Burkes points to how mainstream media tried to manipulate the facts to portray sympathy for the suspect as they first reported that the teenage boy responsible was a “young welsh lad.”

A photo of the suspect, 17-year-old Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, dressed in a school uniform was widely used by the media. However, comparing that photo with his mugshot photo tells us a much different story.

Burkes recalled how the “police originally came out and said, it’s a Welsh lad, under 18, so a child. It’s a Welsh child, he’s in custody.”

“First of all, there was a photograph of him as a 10-year-old or 12-year-old boy in a school uniform, an angelic looking little lad. He was the photograph they used in the press. And then after about several months, it came out when he was finally charged and went to court, there was an artist impression of him in the court and he looks like a totally deranged monster. And he is a totally deranged monster. He was found guilty of murder,” Burkes said.

The importance of the free press

Burkes also offered a warning for Minnesotans and other Americans.

“You need to pay attention because the left uses language very cleverly so they will use hate speech to regulate all speech. They then define speech as hate speech if they don’t like it. So think about these things, think about politicians and what they’re saying to you. I would say in terms of, try and see through the messaging and look at what they’re doing,” he cautioned.

He also offered some advice about paying attention to not only politics and politicians, but the media as well.

“Pay attention and either participate in politics at some level or alternatively support those that are prepared to do it. And also support the non-corporate media—the media that’s prepared to do the job of the journalist,” Burkes advised.

He warned that “once you lose the free press, everything else goes.”

The post A warning to Minnesotans and the US about politics and censorship—from the UK appeared first on Alpha News MN.