Hello kids,
After being just too busy with work to write home about, it looks like I may be able to post some column inches again over the next few weeks... and with the election now imminent, that's very good news.
I thought I'd start, though, by drawing your attention to the fact that Simon Singh wrote his last column for the Guardian today. The libel action brought against him by the British Association of Chiropractors almost 2 years ago has left him with not enough spare time to continue writing a column.
These laws need changing, and fast. See (and sign) the Libel Reform Campaign's petition site for the details on this. Of the major parties, only the Lib Dems have really cottoned on to this so far, though.
For now, the best solution is probably mass blog attacks on the perpetrators of these libel actions. For example, if (say) a million bloggers all published strongly worded pieces alleging that organisations such as the BAC were a gang of cheap conmen, it would be extremely difficult for any legal system to process libel actions against every single blogger. Without turning everyone into the country into a lawyer... which is maybe the idea.
In the end, the lawyer state could be every bit as destructive of free speech as the police state.
Good luck in your future career Simon and I hope we see you back in print real soon.
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