Censorship of blog post ‘proves Tories are terrified of independence’ – The National

THE deletion of a blog post which talked up the economic prospects of Scottishindependencehas sparked further alarm calls about the Tory government endangering freedom of speech.

The SNP have condemned Downing Street suppression and say the episode underlines that Boris Johnsons administration is terrified of growing support for a Yes vote.

It comes after a high-profile scientist warned the removal of the article, co-authored by a UK Government adviser, spelled danger for academic freedoms.

Published on the London School of Economics (LSE) website, the blog was co-written by Geoffrey Chapman, who works with the Department for International Trade. The analysis concluded that there are no reasons to suggest an independent Scotland would not succeed economically.

The article was removed on April 1, shortly after The National published a story on it. On April 2, a message appeared on the website stating: We have been asked by the authors to take this article down temporarily. We will be making it available again as soon as we are able to and apologise for any inconvenience caused. As of yesterday, it was not available.

READ MORE: UK adviser's blog post arguing Scotland could thrive after indy is deleted

Downing Street has not denied that it ordered the deletion, stating only: This is not the view of the Department for International Trade or the UK Government, and the matter is being looked into. Officials stressed that Chapman is a civil servant who is duty-bound to adhere to standards of impartiality and integrity.

But the SNP have now voiced concerns about the incidents implications for democracy in the UK.

SNP candidate for Paisley, George Adam, told The National: This is a chilling glimpse into the mind of a UK Tory government which doesnt even deny that it is trying to curtail academic freedom by censoring these views. But all they have succeeded in doing is demonstrating how terrified Boris Johnson and his colleagues are at rising support for Scottish independence.

There are only so many times the Tories at Westminster can try and hide the reality of a prosperous and fair independent Scotland. The report by Geoffrey Chapman highlighted how Scotland needs the full powers of independence to maximise our potential.

But the serious questions this episode raises serious questions about protecting freedom of speech will not go away. In a free democracy, people should be allowed to express their opinions and suppression like this tells you everything you need to know about Boris Johnsons government.

The SNPs intervention follows that of Dr Mike Galsworthy a visiting researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and co-founder of Scientists for EU. He expressed fears about academic freedoms being suppressed and warned the paranoid behaviour of the UK Government was a particular threat to Scotland.

He said: There are an increasing number of areas where we should have the capacity for free and open debate and democracy where we are not getting it in the UK as a whole and I think theres a danger of seeing that more acutely in Scotland.

He added: Given the behaviour of the Government under the control of the Conservative Party ... I would say that democracy of the Scottish people is under threat. It will take a very robust rearrangement of some sort in order to set that right.

The National has so far been unable to reach Chapman or his co-author Richard Mackenzie-Gray Scott, for comment.

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Censorship of blog post 'proves Tories are terrified of independence' - The National