So, instead of a 'right to' free speech, rather we _would_ have no laws restricting freedom of speech (libel and incitement excepted). This was the understanding that would've permeated Parliament, the courts, the palace, and the hearts and minds of everyone who understood it.
More or less, until 1997.
> _would_ have no laws restricting freedom of speech (libel and incitement excepted)
This is optimistic ahistorical nonsense; the UK had a censorship regime until the Lady Chatterly trial. There has been intelligence service related censorship as long as those have existed, as well (see Spycatcher, Zircon). And let's not get into Northern Ireland. Nobody old enough to remember "Gerry Adams has his voice read by an actor" would claim the UK used to be a bastion of pure free speech.
https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/ourrolesandp...
"The British Government will complete incorporation into Northern Ireland law of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), with direct access to the courts, and remedies for breach of the Convention, including power for the courts to overrule Assembly legislation on grounds of inconsistency."
The UK doesn't have it, which makes it a lot less stable, as seen in 1997
So we ended up with the Communications Act (2003) and its dreadful Section 127. As well as admission to PRISM, and making ourselves one of the CCTV capitals of the world.
And he's still taking aim at freedom from beyond the grave: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/does-tony-blair-think-fr...
The Online Safety Bill is the brainchild of a Conservative government, included as a flagship commitment in a Conservative manifesto aiming to appeal to conservatively minded voters, a successor administration to the Conservative government who brought us the national porn block. Nothing makes it easier for such legislation to be passed more than revisionist nonsense about how the wonders of negative liberty meant we never needed any of the positive protections this law specifically supersedes and it's all the left's fault anyway.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/treaty/pdf/amst-en.pdf
The UK Human Rights Act landed in 1998. Schedule 1 Part I Article 10 covers "freedom of expression"
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/schedule/1/part...
