

World War II was the most destructive conflict the world had ever known, and its course was decided to a large extent by three men: FDR, Josef Stalin (aka 'Uncle Joe') and Sir Winston Churchill.

At the Yalta conference in February 1945, one of a series of conferences between 'the big three', Roosevelt's health was failing. When Roosevelt retired one evening, exhausted, he complained to an aide that the day's meetings had taken a long time, because Churchill gave such long speeches. The aide said that nevertheless, they were good speeches. Roosevelt replied, 'Winston doesn't make any other kind.' 1


Winston Churchill was an exceptionally talented wordsmith. He earned a living a a war correspondent before he entered politics, wrote a multi-volume history of World War II that is essential reading for anyone interested in that period, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 'for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.'2

The highly acclaimed historians Sir Max Hastings and Laurence Rees often cite Churchill's history of the war in their own books.3 If it is reasonable for writers of that calibre to rely on Churchill's written work, then it is reasonable for British citizens with an interest in world history to do the same.

Note that Section 4a of the Public Order Act 1986 states that it is a recognised defence for anyone who has been accused on the basis of that legislation to show that their conduct was reasonable.4 It is difficult to see how anyone could argue that reading one of Winston Churchill's books is an unreasonable act. Perhaps, playing devil's advocate, it might be said that Winston Churchill was, after all, a mere mortal and could not possibly have been right all the time, so Churchill's opinion cannot be regarded as the final word on any given subject. As anyone familiar with John Stuart Mill's On Liberty will attest, this is not an argument  that supports having the Winchester police arrest someone for reading one of his books - quite the contrary!

The "bobbies" who arrested a British citizen for reading the words of Winston Churchill must face the fact that this applies to them too - and to their political masters. (Or are they not human after all?) As John Stuart Mill said, we are all fallible, and the only way to set yourself right when you are wrong is to hear opposing views, articulated by people who truly believe what they are saying.5 So if politicians or police officers in England today think that Islam is a religion of peace, and nothing else, ever, then they need to hear the views of Sir Winston Churchill, whether they want to or not.

Is it possible that Winston Churchill is right, and an entire crop of run-of-the-mill British politicians is completely wrong? Well it's happened before. And if it has happened once, then it can happen again.


Maybe Paul Weston can read that passage next time?



2. The Nobel Prize in Literature 1953, Nobelprize.org, http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1953/ (accessed 06/05/2014)

3. Hastings, Max (2009-09-03). Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord 1940–45 (Kindle Locations 11744-11746). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition;

4. Public Order Act 1986, Section 4a, legislation.gov.uk, http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/section/4A (accessed 07/05/2014)


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