Politics

Dominic Raab claims democratic debate is being 'whittled away by wokery'

Dominic Raab claims democratic debate is being 'whittled away by wokery'
LBC caller struggles to explain to James O'Brien what ‘woke’ means
Indy

Dominic Raab has been immediately ridiculed after he claimed democratic debate in this country is being "whittled away by wokery".

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, the deputy prime minister and justice secretary announced free speech will be given legal supremacy over other rights as part of replacing the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights.

He said: "Effectively, free speech will be given what will amount to 'trump card' status in a whole range of areas.

"I feel very strongly that the parameters of free speech and democratic debate are being whittled away, whether by the privacy issue or whether it’s wokery and political correctness. I worry about those parameters of free speech being narrowed.

"The thrust is going to be making sure that when we balance rights, whether it’s the right to free speech and the right to privacy or other rights, we make sure that the greatest overriding importance and weight is attached to free speech."

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His comments come after Jacob Rees-Mogg claimed the war in Ukraine is stopping people from caring about "woke stuff". Oliver Dowden has also spoken out on the "issue" but it is controversial to say the least and many critics say the idea Brits don't have adequate freedom of speech is a myth, as is cancel culture.

Raab continued: "We will still be clamping down on those who try and use either media or free speech to incite violence, to radicalise terrorists, or to threaten children. All of those safeguards will be in place.

"But we’ve got to be able to strengthen free speech, the liberty that guards all of our other freedoms, and stop it being whittled away surreptitiously, sometimes without us really being conscious of it."

But reacting to him, MPs, journalists and other members of the public used their free speech to say they found his views a bit ridiculous.

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