As freedom of speech in Britain comes under open attack, it’s worth remembering the place that once stood as its purest symbol: Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park. A thread 🧵 
📍 Speaker’s Corner sits at the northeast corner of Hyde Park, beside Marble Arch. Since the mid-1800s it’s been the stage where anyone could speak, protest, or debate in public.
The right was secured after the Reform League riots of 1866. Parliament responded with the Parks Regulation Act (1872), designating Hyde Park as a lawful ground for free assembly and speech.
Here, history’s heavyweights sharpened their words: Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Marcus Garvey, George Orwell. A century before Twitter, London ran its own live feed of ideas.
On Sundays the tradition lives on. Preachers, activists, eccentrics, comedians, conspiracy theorists all show up. The crowd argues back. It’s raw, noisy, unfiltered democracy.
The principle was simple: you could offend, shock, provoke. What mattered was that you had the right to be heard (and to be challenged)
Contrast that with today: in 2025 comedian @Glinner is detained at Heathrow by armed police over three posts online. Whatever you think of him, that should alarm everyone.
Speaker’s Corner was created to protect the right to speak without fear of the state. Today, the same country prosecutes its citizens over social media posts. When a country arrests comedians for tweets, it hasn’t just lost its humour. It has lost its way.
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