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Free speech under threat as advertising company "agrees" to remove UKIP poster
The Commentator ^

Posted on 03/30/2013 8:45:19 AM PDT by UKrepublican

Just hours after a new UKIP poster ad was spotted in Levenshulme, Manchester, a trade unionist-led campaign to have the advertisement removed has apparently led to success, in what opponents have called "a sad day for freedom of speech".

Campaigners online are boasting about the impending removal of a UK Independence Party poster positioned in "deep-red Labour territory".

The poster which reads, "Stop Open Door EU Immigration: Enough's Enough" has recently been posted in Levenshulme, an area of Manchester populated by around 12,000 people. Described as a 'multi-ethnic' area, Leveshulme has a significant immigrant population, with 2001 census figures showing a high Asian population, though little suggests a high EU-immigrant population.

The self-described trade unionist and socialist claiming responsibility for the campaign goes only by the name of "Sue" on Twitter. Her handle is BinTheConDems, a name suggesting the trashing of the Conservative (Con) and Liberal Democrat (Dems) coalition government in the UK.

Over the past few hours, "Sue" has called UKIP members "Nazis" and "racists", and claimed that she and others, "Just got an ad company to take down a UKIP poster where we live. After mass emails and calls from community"

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Free speech under threat as advertising company "agrees" to remove UKIP poster Clear Channel, one of the largest advertising companies in the UK, has reportedly agreed to stifle free political expression by removing a UKIP poster

by The Commentator on 29 March 2013 20:03 Bgjcpvhciaad-vm.jpg-large 77

Just hours after a new UKIP poster ad was spotted in Levenshulme, Manchester, a trade unionist-led campaign to have the advertisement removed has apparently led to success, in what opponents have called "a sad day for freedom of speech".

Campaigners online are boasting about the impending removal of a UK Independence Party poster positioned in "deep-red Labour territory".

The poster which reads, "Stop Open Door EU Immigration: Enough's Enough" has recently been posted in Levenshulme, an area of Manchester populated by around 12,000 people. Described as a 'multi-ethnic' area, Leveshulme has a significant immigrant population, with 2001 census figures showing a high Asian population, though little suggests a high EU-immigrant population.

The self-described trade unionist and socialist claiming responsibility for the campaign goes only by the name of "Sue" on Twitter. Her handle is BinTheConDems, a name suggesting the trashing of the Conservative (Con) and Liberal Democrat (Dems) coalition government in the UK.

Over the past few hours, "Sue" has called UKIP members "Nazis" and "racists", and claimed that she and others, "Just got an ad company to take down a UKIP poster where we live. After mass emails and calls from community".

At around 6pm, "Sue" tweeted, "Levenshulme email and phone call fast campaign means vile #UKIP poster being removed from high street."

Campaigners also threatened to vandalise the poster themselves if their demands weren't met, with one, Rachamuffin, tweeting, "Which one of us has a ruddy big ladder. I've got paint and a head for heights!" While others continued, "Actually we don't need a ladder, just a catapult and paint bombs".

The story will cause great concern to freedom of speech campaigners as the targeting of a particular political party and a legitimate campaign runs contrary to freedom of expression in the UK. Political parties in the UK are not precluded from advertising on billboards, with the decision over content effectively being left to the company selling the advertising space, in this instance, Clear Channel.

Clear Channel is one of the largest advertisement-space networks in the UK, boasting work with more than 300 local authorities in the UK and a workforce of over 5,000 internationally.

A UKIP spokesperson told The Commentator, "There is no evidence to support claims that Clear Channel have agreed to remove any posters. However, if it is true, and I hope it's not, then bowing to extremist, censorious demands like this would make it a sad day for freedom of speech indeed."

The row comes on the back of a spate of recent UKIP defections, and UKIP's rise in national polls as of late.

In November last year, a couple in Rotherham were reported to have been discriminated against when adopting a child because of their support for UKIP. The decision was branded by senior cabinet member Michael Gove MP as, "indefensible".


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: aliens; censorship; clearchannel; eu; farage; immigration; uk; ukip; worldwidemigrants
The irony that this socialist witch could call UKIP supporters 'Nazis' while she is trying to close off free speech just shows how crazy and stupid these people are.

I think it's a great poster:


1 posted on 03/30/2013 8:45:19 AM PDT by UKrepublican
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To: UKrepublican

Really?

There is no freedom of speech in the UK. not as it used to be practiced here, anyway.


2 posted on 03/30/2013 8:50:46 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: UKrepublican

For those in the UK......”Asian” means Muslim.


3 posted on 03/30/2013 8:53:25 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Great vid by ShorelineMike! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOZjJk6nbD4&feature=plcp)
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To: UKrepublican

I don´t think there is any white faces left in Levenshulme.
Having been in Manchester and places like Bradford, Burnley, Oldham I thought I was in pakiland.


4 posted on 03/30/2013 9:06:16 AM PDT by Christian1
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To: UKrepublican

I guess “SUE” is white prostitute, who only get paid by asians for her services...she must be from Withenshaw, south of Manchester.


5 posted on 03/30/2013 9:09:27 AM PDT by Christian1
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To: UKrepublican

Updated - 21:58 29/03/13: Clear Channel has been in touch with The Commentator to state that no decision has yet been taken on the billboards, despite local campaigners stating the contrary. A Clear Channel spokesperson told The Commentator that the company will be reviewing complaints from both sides and taking a decision after the Bank Holiday weekend.

Clear Channel’s Twitter account updated at 22:06: “We have received complaints regarding a UKIP poster in Levenshulme, Manchester. We are currently reviewing these complaints we will provide an update once the review has been completed.”


6 posted on 03/30/2013 9:14:48 AM PDT by the scotsman (i)
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To: Christian1

Agree with ya there about Bradford.


7 posted on 03/30/2013 9:14:48 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Great vid by ShorelineMike! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOZjJk6nbD4&feature=plcp)
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To: Vaquero
There is no freedom of speech in the UK. not as it used to be practiced here, anyway.

American politicians are working hard to ensure that America catches up.

Between the oppressing pervasiveness of mandatory Political Correctness and political actions like "Hate Crimes" they are making very good progress.


8 posted on 03/30/2013 9:16:59 AM PDT by Iron Munro (Welcome to Obama-Land - EVERYTHING NOT FORBIDDEN IS COMPULSORY)
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To: UKrepublican

Somebody has to be courageous enough to stand up to the bullies.


9 posted on 03/30/2013 10:02:21 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("Somebody has to be courageous enough to stand up to the bullies." --Dr. Ben Carson)
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To: UKrepublican

Amen. She should be tarred and feathered.


10 posted on 03/30/2013 10:25:17 AM PDT by Amberdawn
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To: UKrepublican
The self-described trade unionist and socialist claiming responsibility for the campaign goes only by the name of "Sue" on Twitter.

Most likely it is a "boy named Sue." (with apologies to Johnny Cash)
11 posted on 03/30/2013 10:48:40 AM PDT by Nowhere Man (Whitey, I miss you so much. Take care, pretty girl. (4-15-2001 - 10-12-2012))
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What the UK calls “Asian” in the US is more typically known as Pakistani.


12 posted on 03/30/2013 11:06:16 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: a fool in paradise

well it means indian sub continent generally, so could include hindus or sikhs (or Christians actually. Theres a fair number.)


13 posted on 04/02/2013 7:02:46 AM PDT by Vanders9
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To: UKrepublican

I understand I am part of the “problem”i.e. foreigners in Levenshulme.

I’m a materials scientist from Japanese who happens to live in Levenshulme with my wife (civil engineer/architect from Poland).
I have to say this place is like some God-forsaken hell hole in South East Asia with a thick layer of well-mixed social sediment of Taliban and Communists. It is sad, because I can see some remains of what used to be a nice village with a butcher, barber and so forth, but it’s been just painded over by riff-raffs. After paying £1500 to the incompetent UKBA to renew my highly-skilled migrant visa which says “no recourse to public fund”, I find it very enjoyable, masochistically, to pay exorbitant tax to feed the benefit-stealing Romanian beggars and leftist hippie scumbags who urinate on the street, right in front of our house. Thank you very much, Mr. Anthony Charles Lynton Blair.
I’ve been here for well over a decade and have been constantly amazed by the way in which the English have been diluting themselves in their own country so rapidly. The same is entirely unimaginable in Japan or Poland. During my PhD and academic plus industrial career that followed, the number of people who speak no English at all has increased so rapidly that the place has become utterly unrecognisable. I came to see England and ended up in a slum of Manila. I seriously think that those Grauniad-reading idiots calling UKIP voters Nazis, fascists, xenophobes, etc. are seriously misguided orperhaps just plain stupid. The fact that the rise of UKIP is practically the only negative response to such a horrendous level of immigration plainly shows to both of us that the English are truly open-minded and resilient. And we are truly grateful to that. Imagine 600,000 British people migrating to Japan in a period of 5 years or so. Politicians of all political inclinations will be committing seppuku everywhere.

We are moving to Chester before our first child arrives, by the way.


14 posted on 05/03/2013 11:55:12 PM PDT by ykata
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