The publisher of best-selling author Sally Rooney has announced that her books will no longer be published or sold in the UK. This means that popular titles like Normal People and Conversations with Friends have effectively been banned from sale.
This is due to a block on all proceeds going to the author, under Section 15 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Apparently, there is a danger of that money funding terrorism!
One may wonder what grave crime Rooney must have committed to face such a legal blockade: Buying and selling arms used to kill children? Building weapons of mass destruction? Funding genocide and mass murder?
No – that would actually be the UK Government. Rooney’s ‘crime’, according to that same government, is expressing support for Palestine Action, a direct action group which opposes the brutal genocide in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of men, women, and children.
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This will backfire
Rooney, a self-avowed Marxist and vocal critic of Israel, declared when Palestine Action was proscribed, that she would pass on funds to the group in solidarity. This has made her and her work a target of the ruling Labour Government.
However, as Starmer discovered when his government attacked theIrish hip-hop group Kneecap, such attacks have a tendency to backfire.
The response from the public has been one of overwhelming anger and disgust, with young people and fellow authors taking to social media to condemn this draconian attack on free speech and expression.
As Callie, a revolutionary communist who was interviewed by Al Jazeera astutely commented, “I wouldn’t be surprised if her book sales actually go up.”
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Rooney is one of the most popular authors amongst young British readers. Normal People – which has sold over a million copies – is an iconic book for ‘Gen-Z’ youth in Britain and Ireland, capturing those common sentiments of insecurity, heartbreak, and the struggle to find your place in a world that seems to make increasingly less sense.
Now young British readers are being told that the government funding wars they hate and pursuing policies that inflict pain upon them also wants to dictate what they can (and can’t!) read.
Meanwhile, countless ‘public figures’ and politicians – from Piers Morgan to Nigel Farage, to the Labour front bench itself – have free rein to spout all sorts of genocidal or racist nonsense on the airwaves without reprisal.
Free speech for who?
Under capitalism, free speech is clearly not an enshrined ‘democratic right’ – as the system’s defenders claim – but a class question.
In practice, freedom of speech applies wholesale to the warmongering ruling class, who have the whole of the media at their disposal. But for those who bravely stand against the imperialists and their lies, they are met with censorship, suppression, and legal attacks.
Responding to the situation, Rooney stated “I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions, and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences”.
She may lose her royalties, but Rooney has won the respect of millions, with her principled and courageous stand. In stark contrast, Burnham’s government appears increasingly absurd, weak, and diametrically opposed to the interests of young people.
