ABSTRACT
The upturned soap-box at Hyde Park Corner is a highly significant symbol in British political life. It provides us with familiar and reassuring evidence of the continued existence of the abstract rights and freedoms to which democratic citizenship entitles us - the freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and so on. Of course, we all recognize that to some extent our freedoms are fettered and our rights are restricted. We enjoy freedom of speech only insofar as what we say cannot be construed as seditious, treacherous, blasphemous or inflammatory, and our rights to free assembly may be waived by chief constables or stunted by the increasing use of nebulous and ill-defined laws of conspiracy. Nevertheless, the recurring Sunday spectacle at Hyde Park Corner serves to demonstrate that, despite the restrictions, our basic liberties remain intact.
