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How Britain invented freedom - and why we need to save it now

British prime ministers today have powers like monarchs, and EU laws sideline primary legislation — let's repatriate our revolution

23 November 2013

9:00 AM

23 November 2013

9:00 AM

The single most common reaction I get from Americans when they learn that we’re placing our newspapers under our politicians is: ‘Y’all need a Bill of Rights’. You can see their point. Absolute freedom of expression used to distinguish the English-speaking peoples from the run of nations. The restrictions which even other western democracies applied — prohibitions on Nazi symbols, for example — were inconceivable in the Anglosphere.

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How We Invented Freedom and Why It Matters, by Daniel Hannan, will be published by Head of Zeus on 25 November.

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