Why is the City Council of Bath UK suppressing the right to freedom of speech in 2022?

Council gatekeepers cancel old Better Way Conference venue. Still going ahead at a new venue this May.

The Better Way Conference with over 60 thought leaders from around the world was thrown a curveball last week with a venue cancellation. The inaugural conference hosted by the World Council for Health, is still going ahead, 20-22 May in Bath, UK. 

This isn’t the first time Bath city authorities have attempted to restrict or restrain the right to free speech. We will get to that later in this exploratory piece.

When I first heard about the old venue cancelation, I had four key questions:

Q1. Why did the venue cancel?

The email from the city council mentioned that the conference would bring their ‘name and reputation disrepute’. Of course there are multiple and sound arguments against that. They also mentioned that the conference would somehow affect Bath’s vaccination drive.

Q2. What back up plans are in motion? 

Thankfully, the WCH's sterling conference organisors did have a backup plan in mind, and the new venue is a beautiful space where attendees look forward to connecting and Co-Creating the better way.

Q3. What funding influence may be involved?

Now, here is where it gets interesting. In between co-producing extraordinary panel discussions for the conference, I decided to do some focused research.

Here is what I found.

A. The City of Bath is fully invested in the C19 vaccination campaign. From drive through vaccine centres, to pop up injection clinics, to temporarily housing and vaccinating the city’s homeless, to this headline: Mass coronavirus vaccine centre to be set up at Bath. “The Royal Bath & West of England Society said it welcomes the opportunity to be part of the "largest peace-time project since the war years". Is this a hyperbolic statement? Residents would know better.

B. The University of Bath has one of its key vaccine research programmes co-funded by the Gates Foundation. The €28 million initiative was aimed at the licensing and assessment of future new vaccines for whooping cough (pertussis). The consortium also includes Sanofi Pasteur and GlaxoSmithKline as industrial partners. “The pan-European initiative PERISCOPE sets out to accelerate improvement of prophylactic vaccines and vaccination strategies for pertussis. The project is funded with a total budget of €28m over the next five years by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a joint undertaking of the European Commission and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Additionally, PERISCOPE is the first IMI project to receive funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation." Unfortunately, jobs, careers and lives depend on this lucrative funding.

C. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested $100 000 into Bath’s river energy networks. There is no further information available about this mystery project. If you find any leads, please drop a comment. The BMG Foundation has also made significant investments in Bristol. While this is not the City of Bath, there is certainly a lot of funding being pumped into the UK through controversial ‘private-public partnerships.’

D. As of 2020, the BMGF, the world’s largest private and influential foundation, invested over $11.6bn in funding to 471 universities and higher education institutions in 66 countries over the past 10 years. That's a lot of influence. “The biggest non-US beneficiary is the University of Oxford, followed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine ($344m).”

E. Well, this all makes more sense now. The UK Government is preparing to sign up for the WHO's industrial takeover of health and autonomy. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/no-government-can-address-the-threat-of-pandemics-alone-we-must-come-together

Of course I'm not stating that these are some of the reasons the old, taxpayer funded conference venue was canceled by Bath council. I'm just sharing some interesting facts. You are welcome to connect the dots and research more.

My fourth key question - What does this say about the right to freedom of speech?

My fourth question about Bath Council’s stance on the Better Way Conference was what does it say about freedom of speech? Here is what the highly lauded British constitution says:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.”

This isn’t the first time Bath Council tried to suppress free speech. In April, claims were made that Bath and North East Somerset Council is preventing free speech and censoring speakers. In the Bath Chronicle newspaper, public letters highlight a recent change in council meeting procedures. Previously, speakers would submit their speeches to the council for the purpose of having accurate minutes taken.

Bath residents are claiming they are told to edit their speeches before reading them out. Bath and North East Somerset Council has said this procedure is in its constitution and it is just reminding people. Yet, according to incensed residents like Bob Goodman, previous meetings did not see this speech rule strictly followed.

Gill Kirk, a Widcombe resident said “You know, it’s often only at the doorstep or in a mass public meeting that public voices get heard. So without a doubt, this new requirement to submit your speech in advance is an extra hurdle and new barrier to democratic participation. Neither select committees in Parliament nor the courts ask for full advance text when they hear evidence.”

"Yet the set-up, experimentally and psychologically for people not used to council, isn’t so different. I would have hoped our council’s chief executive and leading councillors would put equity of democratic access at the front of their minds. This forgetful, thoughtless slip - because I hope that is all it is - is disappointing and exclusionary.”

"I very much hope you will reconsider. Of course, this isn’t about party policies, and the council officers are above that. It’s much more important - it’s about democratic access. I ask you to apply a simple litmus test- will this change increase democratic access? If not, it is wrong."

Article 10 protects your right to hold your own opinions

Article 10 of the UK Constitution protects your right to hold your own opinions, and to express them freely, without government interference.

This includes the right to express your views aloud (for example through public protest and demonstrations) or through:

• published articles, books or leaflets

• television or radio broadcasting

• works of art

• the internet and social media

The law also protects your freedom to receive information from other people by, for example, being part of an audience or reading a magazine.

Are there any restrictions to this right to free speech?

Here is the limitation: Public authorities may restrict the right to free speech, if they can show that their action is lawful, necessary and proportionate in order to:

• protect national security, territorial integrity, or public safety

• prevent disorder or crime

• protect health or morals

• protect the rights and reputations of other people

• prevent the disclosure of information received in confidence

• maintain the authority and impartiality of judges

Further, an authority may be allowed to restrict your freedom of expression if, for example, you express views that encourage racial or religious hatred.

However, the relevant public service authority must show that any restriction is ‘proportionate’, in other words that it is appropriate, and no more than necessary to address the issue concerned.  This is an important protection for democratic values.

Promote Free Speech - Join the Better Way Conference

One of the most important actions we can take to defend free speech is to support those speaking truth and those providing platforms for dialogue and debate. This Better Way Conference is all about ideas, change, and co-creating the better world. Shabnam Palesa Mohamed.

I will be co-hosting stellar panels on Reclaiming The Science, as well as Law, Justice and Human Rights. There are 5 other superb panels with brilliant speakers on the role of media and activism, managing the consequences of C19, addressing environmental challenges, and new pathways to health through integrative medicine.

From what my friend and colleague Dr Tess Lawrie shares, Bath is a a truly beautiful place for sightseeing and healing. Whether in person or online, I hope you will join the World Council for Health in lighting up our way to health, human rights and freedom. The Better Way for The Better World. That's the conference mission and slogan.

As we say in Africa, Ke Nako. Its Time.

If you appreciate my articles here at #TakeBackPower, feel free to send me coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shabnampalesamo

Also check out my articles and interviews at independent and uncensored health science platform www.TrialSiteNews.com