Kirk: Free-speech lessons for UK, say teachers

Christian teachers in the UK say the assassination of Charlie Kirk in the United States has powerful lessons for this country.

In a blog on its website, the Association of Christian Teachers (ACT) says: “The shocking assassination of Charlie Kirk, a high-profile advocate for open dialogue, has once again brought the issue of free speech into sharp focus. While his work was centred in the United States, his assassination is a chilling reminder to all of us – especially in the West – that words and ideas are increasingly treated as dangerous in themselves – and that the cost of defending them can be devastating.

According to ACT, the UK’s Global Academic Freedom ranking in 2023 marked its worst position in history, continuing what it calls “a worrying decline” over several years – so much so that it ranks lower than Peru, Burkina Faso, and Georgia.