Mark Dolan: Today is a good day for free speech

Today is a good day for free speech.

The decision by the broadcast regulator Ofcom not to punish Piers Morgan and GMB for his remarks about Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview, is good news not just for Morgan, but for anybody, seeking to speak truth to power.

Ofcom were not saying he was right, but that he was entitled to his view and that other, opposing views were expressed in the self same show.

Today matters, because if broadcasters and journalists have to self-censor for fear of punishment, or if they get thrown under the bus by their employers for simply doing their job - then major questions would have to be raised about whether we have a free speech at all.

The Ofcom regulators suggested that to stifle free and balanced debate around any issues of national importance would be chilling. How right they are. High profile, powerful, influential millionaire celebrities like the Sussexes, cannot seek to insulate themselves from public scrutiny.

This verdict is one in the eye to the woke warriors and the cancel culture caliphate. Here at GB news we probe every public figure, make them accountable and hold their feet to the fire.

No one enjoys diplomatic immunity on this channel and on my watch. And with this important judgment from Ofcom, we can now speak truth to power, on your behalf, for many years to come.

Today is a victory for all journalists, all broadcasters. We have a free press in this country, and in my view it’s the best in the world. In print, in broadcast and online. This verdict, for broadcasters in particular, protects that legacy for many years to come.

In my view Piers was right to exercise journalistic judgment and question the royal interview. The cracks in Meghan Markle’s story emerged more quickly, than the roses on Oprah Winfrey's coffee table wilted.

This is a bad day for the likes of the Sussexes, who have discovered that you can't cancel British broadcasters and journalists, from the luxury of your 16 bathroom Hollywood mansion.

It turns out that this self obsessed pair of whingers, do not dictate the terms of British broadcasting. To uphold these let’s be honest - politically motivated - complaints about the Piers episode, would be a direct challenge not just to free speech and a free press, but it would be a clear and present danger to our democracy itself.

I've had my run-ins with Piers Morgan, and we disagree about many things, but I defend his right to the death to have his view, and I can have mine. And you can have yours. That's what living in a free country looks like.

Today is a major setback for the woke mafia, the swivel eyed keyboard thumping cranks, who want to shut down debate and shrink the national conversation down to their ever-changing, ever more narrow ideological narrative.

With this positive decision, freedom has been restored and cancel culture is well on its way to being cancelled.