To tweet or not to tweet?

A Tory councillor in Brum has come a cropper:

“Birmingham councillor Gareth Compton has been suspended from the Conservative Party after making a ridiculous and offensive comment on Twitter. Coun Compton made his remark after journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown appeared on Radio 5 and appeared to question whether Western politicians had the right to take the moral high ground over human rights abuses in other countries.
He said: “Can someone please stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death? I shan’t tell Amnesty if you don’t. It would be a blessing, really.”

“This wasn’t enough to placate Conservative headquarters. I also understand the police are taking a complaint they received from Ms Alibhai-Brown seriously.”

Although I sometimes don’t agree with her, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is one of the most thoughtful, compassionate commentators out there and deserves freedom of speech to air her views.

The Twitter response was not free speech, but may be a crime (allegedly), as the Sky News story suggests.

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