A brave, principled and decent man

Wilhelm

''he was the only person in western Europe to stand up to Robert Mugabe’s vile regime in Zimbabwe''.

Ian Smith, prime minister of Rhodesia and former RAF pilot warned England that Mugabe was a psycho, Jim Callaghan and the liebour goons imposed Mugabe on Rhodesia , the bread basket of Africa, the rest as they say is history.

Merry Christmas Rod

Fogcole

Oh dear, there goes another shred of Tatchell's credibility - to be supported by Liddle!

I suspect Tatchell is too good for the Left or the Greens though.

Philip Edwards

Absolutely spot on Rod. Peter has always been on the money. Those "friends on the left" he's lost ought to be ashamed. I might be straight and a bloke, but his struggle for the rights of gays and women (rights some believe apply only to people with white skins in the west) make me feel immensely proud.

Austin Barry

A wonderful chap, Tatchell even resembles El Greco's Saint Sebastian.

Unhappily, the current face of politics is that epitomised by the Prime Minister's: hideous, venal and porcine: that of Napoleon from Animal Farm. We all deserve better.

More power and good health to Mr Tatchell.

Harley Seacole Wyatt

Rob, thanks, this column was one of your best

toby forward

I agree with all of this, without reservation. Thanks for writing it.

Jeremy

I am not going to pretend that I either know a great deal about Mr Tatchell or that I am an especial fan of his, but for attempting to arrest that monster, Robert Mugabe, in Brussels and suffering violent and - surely - illegal consequences for so doing, has he not in fact done enough to earn himself a medal for valour?

raf

www.thesamosa.co.uk is where the actual article by Peter is.

daniel maris

Yes, I'd already paid tribute to him on the Coffeehouse Wall.

Whatever your politics I think one can admit his physical and moral bravery. I didn't agree with all his targets - or wanting to turn London's parks into licensed buggery zones - but there is no doubting he took on some of the worst thugs in the world and showed himself a courageous fighter for liberty.

Dixon

I agree with all of this. When Tatchell started to appear in the news sticking his neck out over broad, not-specifically-gay issues like Mugabe, I at first couldnt figure it out. An "activist" who wasnt a one-dimensional caricature but had a fully rounded set of views! Thats almost, if not actually, unique.

But I want to paraphrase your opening line: "Anyone notice Obamma launched two cruise missiles at Yemen this week, killing dozens of women and kids?"

No, I thought not. Dont get me wrong. I dont criticise the action ( aimed at Al Qaida camps ) but find the media silence sickening. If it had been Bush the media would be buzzing with shrill condemnation. Even Clinton, when he did something very similar, came in for opprobrium. But as its Obie-One Himself, it has been totally omitted from the merest mention in the broadcast media. Aided by the cunning ploy of his timing the attacks to coincide with his save-the-world speech at Copenhagen ( it was almost simultaneous ).

Carl

He certainly never takes the easy way out and never backs down from the principles he holds.

David Lindsay

He wants to lower the age of consent to 14.

And what was "homophobic" about his campaign against Hughes? Except perhaps in homosexual subcultures, "straight" only meant "honest" in those days, and indeed for a long time thereafter.

Andy Carpark

'His commitment to the principle of freedom of speech is absolute…'

You forgot his climbing up into the pulpit while George Carey was preaching. There are no absolutes.

Brave man, nonetheless.

EyeSee

Hmmm. You get the idea that he is what you say, but then you hear what he says and see what he does and, well just a litle extreme for me, and too self-absorbed.

Michael Sweeney

Great post Rod. I once read that he lived simply in a run-down area of London. There is an appealing integrity, consistency and humanity about his campaigning. I wish him well.

GaryO

Do Balochis know he is gay? I very much doubt it. But hey!

In these days of stifing freedom of speech we need Peter Tatchell more than ever.

I hope he'll get well soon and be back fighting and screeming.

Paul Weston

Quite agree Rod

Went to site you mentioned, but wrong link.

You need to take off the full stop after "net" as in www.petertatchell.net

jon ryan

Applause.

Tatchell epitomises what a politician should be - indeed can be - and what so few are. He'd be a wonderful addition to the House of Lords.

rod liddle

Dixon - precisely, and same here.

David Lindsay - I donlt know what you're talking about. The campaign was Hughes against tatchell, not the other way around. A gay man attacking a gay man for being gay.

rod liddle

....and yes, Michael Sweeney, the bloke lives in the Elephant and Castle, in what the Americans would call a social housing project.

jon ryan

Dixon says:

"But I want to paraphrase your opening line: "Anyone notice Obamma launched two cruise missiles at Yemen this week, killing dozens of women and kids?"

No, I thought not. Dont get me wrong. I dont criticise the action ( aimed at Al Qaida camps ) but find the media silence sickening."

Umm, this story appeared in the Times, Telegraph and Guardian, as well as the New York Times and Aljazeera from the 18th, Dixon old pal. It was also broadcast on BBC (World Service), CCN and Fox.

Do try to keep up.

Sir Graphus

I remember, years ago, he was a pretty hard left parliamentary candidate who was drummed out of a standing for a safe seat in favour of someone whose views represented the constituents a tad better.

I wager if power had come his way, he wouldn't be so universally admired, certainly by the Right, as he is here. Power, I wager, would have made him a thoroughly intolerant minority rights monster; Hatty Harperson's attack dog.

Alternatively he'd have been a cross between Millie Tant and Dennis Skinner.

cuffleyburgers

Why do people like Tatchel and indeed yourself Rod describe themselves (yourslef) as lefties when in fact you seem to me to bemore like libertarians.

Except that standing for the green party doesn't sound very libertarian .

Brave and a man of principle - it is a shame he didn't make it to parliament whatever party he is standing for

Chris

Try a bit harder to convince us your IQ is higher than your age, please, David Lindsay. Hughes's campaign against Tatchell was homophobic, not the other way round, you stupid man.

Craig Strachan

Exactly right.

anne allan

I assume the Mugabe thugs claimed diplomatic immunity?
Until that episode, I had viewed Tatchell as solely a gay activist. He has since proved to have a much greater agenda than that one narrow campaign.

MikeF

Up to a point Rod. But there are a few caveats. I haven't forgotten Peter Tatchell's assault on the Easter Day service at Canterbury Cathedral either. That was not the act of a 'principled, decent' man, but of a self-righteous exhibitionist utterly indifferent to the effects of his actions on other people's feelings. If he disagrees with the CofE's attitude to gay priests, then there were options open to him that did not involve causing offence and pain to people for whom the occasion in question was genuinely sacred. He could, for instance, have simply picketed the place and handed out leaflets just like the man you describe as a 'bigot'.

Now let's have a look at that word. It is a nasty one, not one to be used lightly. Yet the fact is that these days it is little more than a catch-all term of abuse used by the liberal-left for anyone who dares to defy the current dogma on any issue that touches however vaguely on personal morality or sexual conduct. I would argue it is a word to be used, if at all, only on the basis of a strict definition. Mine would be that bigotry is self-righteous intolerance of other people's freedom of expression. In other words it is the belief that you are so utterly morally and intellectually correct on an issue that you are entitled to impede other people's freedom to express contrary opinions or act, within the law, according to different principles. To put it bluntly bigotry is not defined by what you believe, but by the extent to which you tolerate other people thinking differently. It is certainly not defined by the exent to which your opinions accord with the policy objectives of the EHRC or the editorial columns of The Guardian or The Independent newspapers.

That seems to me to be a pretty good working definition of what the word should imply. As for this fellow Green whose beliefs on homosexuality I do not share, well as you say yourself he was handing out leaflets and you also talked to him. A 'bigot' who does no more than hand out leaflets and with whom you can actually have a conversation - I am not convinced.

As for Peter Tatchell's injuries - I can see why it is possible to view him as brave. But there is another way to look at them. Perhaps Peter Tatchell made the mistake of thinking that Mugabe's minders would treat him in the same way as those nice, gentle Christian people whose Easter service he disrupted i.e with restraint and tolerance. Unfortunately for Peter Tatchell and the rest of us the world is not like that.

Tom Pride

Thank you Rod for this post.

David Lindsay
December 21st, 2009 2:57pm
“He wants to lower the age of consent to 14.”

This is what the tabloids quote. Some clarification is required here. Peter Tatchell wants the current age of sexual consent laws overhauled. The current law is absurd. A sixteen year (and zero days) old boy is guilty of statutory rape should he have sex with his fifteen year (and 363 day) old girl friend or boy friend and will be entered on the sex offenders register. Whereas a sixty year old man having sex with a sixteen year old boy or girl commits no offence. Or how about a fifteen year old and a fourteen year old? Or, two eleven year olds experimenting – should the law even be involved here?

Peter Tatchell wants an X+ system – for example 14 and 15 would not be a criminal offence whereas 14 and 50 would be. He is one of the few willing to discuss this issue – just look what has happened to him for daring to do so – distorted and maligned. Before condemning him, parents should ask themselves what their feelings would be if a 50 year old seduced their 16 year old child. Compare that to the situation if their 15 year old had sex with another 15 year old – would they want them both children arrested and charged by the police?

* * * * *
Michael Sweeney
December 21st, 2009 4:23pm
“I once read that he lived simply in a run-down area of London.”

True. He has to have a metal door and frame and the letter box had to be sealed to protect him from the attentions of the local bigots.

logdon

Agreed. Tatchell has more integrity in his little finger than Brown or any other of his supposed 'gay friendly' Labourites.

Their only interest in minorities is the votes and an unhealthy obsession with hugely divisive multiculturalism. (See Neather as evidence.)

This hypocrisy reached the peak of absolute madness during the fall out from C4's 'Undercover Mosque' where, although undeniable hate crime was committed and caught on film, 'throw the homosexuals off a mountain', being one choice epithet, not one prosecution emerged.

Rather, and undeniably outrageous as it was, a Muslim plod attempted to prosecute the film makers.

I hear that the MCB's Abdul Bari is being considered for a peerage.

Why?

Wouldn't that sort of honour be better going to someone like Tatchell whose interests lie in making Britain more tolerant rather than someone who is intent on making us all shariah compliant?

Not forgetting it's attendent consequenses of bundled up women, honour killing and homosexuals living in fear for their very lives.

fagged@eton

"He tried to arrest Mugabe ..."

What authority did he think he had to do this?

Dixon

Wilhelm says:"Ian Smith, prime minister of Rhodesia and former RAF pilot warned England that Mugabe was a psycho, Jim Callaghan and the liebour goons imposed Mugabe on Rhodesia..."

Thats complete rubbish. It was our old heroine Mrs Thatcher who shafted that deal home!

And dont forget that she also shafted the rest of us with this Global Warming hysteria, being the only repectable politician on the planet to give it credence at the time, thereby starting the ball rolling.

Two counts on which she effectively betrayed her followers.

Wilhelm

''wanting to turn London's parks into licensed buggery zones.''

When Danny Maris comes onto the blog, you know its time to exit stage left.

C Cole

A genuine respect for the principle of freedom of expression a rare thing indeed. Rod has it; so does Tatchell. It's one of the reasons they are worth paying attention to.

Seafog

logdon raises an interesting point: a peerage for Tatchell?

Yes, this sounds like a great idea - a far more deserving candidate than many of the sorry chancers on all sides of the Chamber including the cross-benches.

Bill Corr

Wilhelm is not quite right; the ever-opportunistic and principle-free Tories were every bit as determined to get rid of the Rhodesia-Zimbabwe mess as Sunny Jim was.

In reality, there weren't many options; the vile Joshua Nkomo [the man who giggled and chuckled when interviewed about the surviving airliner passengers being murdered in cold blood] was every bit as nasty a piece of work as Mugabe.

Could a coalition government under a benign bishop have survived for even six months? No.

Verity

Fagged@Eton wants to know what authority Tatchell had for trying to arrest Mugabe, and I, too, would like to know.

Dixon

"jon ryan
December 21st, 2009 5:17pm
Dixon says:

"But I want to paraphrase your opening line: "Anyone notice Obamma launched two cruise missiles at Yemen this week, killing dozens of women and kids?"

No, I thought not. Dont get me wrong. I dont criticise the action ( aimed at Al Qaida camps ) but find the media silence sickening."

Umm, this story appeared in the Times, Telegraph and Guardian, as well as the New York Times and Aljazeera from the 18th, Dixon old pal. It was also broadcast on BBC (World Service), CCN and Fox.

Do try to keep up."
--------------------------

What I ACTUALLY wrote ( in the comment which you only selectively quote and which anyone can scroll up to check )was "...it has been totally omitted from the merest mention in the broadcast media..." Yep, "broadcast media". Since when are a bunch of broad-sheets "broadcast media". It was broadcast by the BBC only in its world service ( you admit )...which absolutely confirms my assertion. It wasnt reported anywhere in the mainstream British broadcast media.

You understood this perfectly well ( unless your powers of comprehension are exceedingly small ). But you have done what you have previously on other threads. Its called "trolling".

Thats your troll for this thread accomplished Ryan. I know from your efforts in earlier threads not to waste time reading any more of your comments.

Paul B

Peter Tatchell is a very brave man for whom I have total respect.If he is attempting to open up a debate on the age of consent, as reported here, then more power to his elbow. The 16 year old good, 15 year old bad law with which we are saddled, is a total nonsense, which our young people ignore. Its a false man made construct, that flies in the face of nature and needs root and branch revision along the lines as outlined by Tom Pride.

Our present age of consent laws are directly comparable to our drug prohibition, ineffective in what they are setting out to achieve,cause more problems than they solve, are widely ignored and for those who try to enforce them,become a source of ridicule, causing even further problems

Sarah

I fully agree with Rod Liddle (for once). I probably have more sympathy with Peter Tatchell's views than the average Spectator reader, but what I find really impressive about Tatchell is the way he seems to avoid knee jerk responses and instead thinks through all the implications of each issue, sometimes reaching conclusions which differ sharply from those of others on the Left - his firm criticism of Hamas is a good example.

Sir Graphus

I regret being a tad rude about the fellow earlier. Certainly he shares many of the views of the nutty loony left, and could have been one of the worst of the interfering equality-means-minorities-are-more-equal-than others brigade.

It reflects well on him that he turned away from this. He has campaigned tirelessly for what is right.

His virtually lunatic attempt to arrest Mugabe was instrumental in changing perceptions of Mugabe's regime (mind you, wasn't the old rogue in Copenhagen last week being applauded for his harangue that the evil capitalist west should give him more money to embezzle?)

Guy

@ Mike F

But I think Tatchell had a pretty good idea how Russian neo-Nazis on home soil would react...

mcboo

Maybe this government could do one really decent thing as it leaves power and ask Peter Tatchell to sit in the Lords as an independent. I'm not sure he would accept which would be a pity as we could do with someone there as brave and as principled as he.

.....maybe we're making progress. 10yrs ago PT would still have been seen as an extremist, here he is on the Spectator comments page being rightly lionised.

alan

Excellent post. I must admit my first thoughts on Tatchell was influenced, heavily, by Simon Hughes's campaign.

That said, over the years I have been highly impressed by his bravery in his campaigns. I am very sorry to read that he is still suffering from his injuries but that has made his present campaign that more impressive.

I wish him well for the future and I agree with you that Parliament would be far the better with him in that chamber. A real man of principle.

hadrian

Whilst I am unable to bring myself to find open gay lifestyle that the gay lobby are ever after at all acceptable, nevertheless the one and practically only man who always reminds me of the rule of Voltaire- defend to the utmost your opponent's right to say what you most disagree with- it is Peter Tatchell. He is indeed a courageous man in many respects. As for Stephen Green, his style of harangue rather than engage with the argument is decidedly infelicitous. Nevertheless it doesn't mean his warnings can be just simply dismissed, just because we don't like the message or the style.

rod liddle

Verity and others - it was the authority of a citizen's arrest for crimes against humanity. Enough for you?

jon ryan

Dixon informs us that:

"What I ACTUALLY wrote ( in the comment which you only selectively quote and which anyone can scroll up to check )was "...it has been totally omitted from the merest mention in the broadcast media..." Yep, "broadcast media". Since when are a bunch of broad-sheets "broadcast media". It was broadcast by the BBC only in its world service ( you admit )...which absolutely confirms my assertion. It wasnt reported anywhere in the mainstream British broadcast media."

1/ So as you yourself state, it has not been "totally omitted from the merest mention in the broadcast media..." (check out the meaning of `totally`) has it?

2/ What do you think the 2nd `B` in `BBC` stands for?

3/ What do you think Fox, CNN, Aljazeera and the BBC are if not mediums of broadcasting?

4/ Happy Christmas and I hope you get better next year

martin

I agree 100%. I've always admired him for his
courage & Integrity.

I was so disappointed that he aligned himself with the Greens, who I regard as more dangerous & sinister than the BNP
(just think out the Green agenda carefully).

I do hope PT continues to be a lively, (non party)
political presence. We need more of his sort.

Rhys Burriss

He is very El Greco looking ! [ Apparently the poor thing subsists on raw vegetables and tea - this might have more to do with his brain problems than even the Mugabists et al.

Anyway, the point is: he certainly is the kind of person the H of L needs ( in not too great numbers but as he's a one-off not much danger there ).
I don't see anything absurd about the idea at all.

It would redound to David Cameron's credit if he were to use his nominating rights to get him there.

Graeme Thompson

There is definitely much to admire in what Peter Tatchell does, but disrupting Christian services because the Church doesn't share his views on homosexuality had nothing to do with free speech.

Roger Dodger

"Verity and others - it was the authority of a citizen's arrest for crimes against humanity. Enough for you?"

I am not sure crimes you did not witness are eligible for citizens arrest.

Either way, a man of integrity and balls. How many of those left in our public life? I see him on the underground a fair bit. How many MPs still travel amongst their constituents.

george

I suspect that the self-annointed patron saint of poofs misjudged he vigour with which
Mugabe's goons would re-act.I imigine he thought he would be as safe as houses whilst satisfying his ehibitionistic streak in a Western country. Big mistake. Oh dear,too bad, what a shame, never mind.Freedom of speech does not mean "freedom of action". Not that there was anything wrong with someone protesting against the vile Mugabe .I think Thatchell just wanted to broaden his portfolio.