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I have mixed views on what happened. I hope I'll be able to express them reasonably succinctly.
The facts:
82 year old Walter Wolfgang was physically removed from the Labour Party Conference this week. He shouted "Ridiculous!" while Jack Straw was speaking on Iraq. His pass was confiscated and he was refused entry to the Conference the next day under the Terrorism Act. Tony Blair has since apologised & Mr Wolfgang was given his pass back.
Opinion:
There is a history of heckling at Labour Party Conferences, and certainly in the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Question Time. So general opinion seems to be that the Labour Party are trying to ban free speech, and that the Govt is unable to handle dissent, Cabinet Ministers are not capable of dealing with hecklers etc etc etc
Personally I don't think shouting "Ridiculous" is political debate, anywhere. Heckling is usually just an attempt to steal someone else's limelight. Of course there is an issue with his age and the feeling that the security were a little too threatening. I agree.
I'm hazy on why the Terrorism Act was invoked. Perhaps they took the pass first and had to find a legal reason for it afterwards? I certainly haven't seen any claim that Walter was engaged in terrorism. But of course it is frightening to realise how easily the law can be invoked.
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