Britain has a historic and international reputation as the home of free speech.
Yet in recent times it has been developing an altogether contrary reputation as the country where free speech is being steadily suppressed, courtesy of the English legal system and in particular the law of libel.
The latest victim of this phenomenon is a Danish radiologist, Dr Henrik Thomsen. At a scientific congress in Oxford, he claimed that some kidney patients at his hospital had contracted a potentially deadly condition after taking the drug Omniscan.
As a result, he found himself being sued for libel by the makers of the drug, a subsidiary of General Electric called GE Healthcare.
The company has denied that it suppressed information about the drug and said it is safe for 99 per cent of patients.
This is merely the latest in a string of alarming cases in which the English libel law has been used to gag debate that is overwhelmingly in the public interest. Several of these cases involve scientific or medical issues.
Simon Singh, a science writer, is being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association for describing some of its treatments as ‘bogus’.
