Speakers' Corner
Speakers' Corner is an area where public speaking is allowed, and is located in the north-east corner of
Hyde Park,
City of Westminster,
London. There are a number of other areas designated as Speakers' Corners in other parks in London, (eg.
Finsbury Park,
Clapham Common and
Victoria Park).
Though Hyde Park Speakers' Corner is generally considered to be the paved area closest to
Marble Arch, legally it extends as far as the
Reform Tree, and also covers a large area of the adjacent parade ground.
Public riots broke out in the park in
1855, in protest over the Sunday Trading Bill which forbade buying and selling on a Sunday which was, at that time, the only day working people had off. These riots were eagerly described by
Karl Marx as the beginning of the English
revolution.
|
Speakers' Corner on a Sunday in April, 2004 |
The
Chartist movement used Hyde Park as a point of assembly for workers' protests but no permanent speaking location was established. The
Reform League organized massive and violent protests in 1866 and 1867 which compelled the government to extend the franchise to include most
working class men.
The riots and agitation for democratic reform encouraged some to force issue of the "right to speak" in Hyde Park. In 1872 the Royal Parks and Garden's Act delegated the issue of permitting public meetings to the Park Authorities (rather than central government). Contrary to popular belief it does not confer a statutory basis for the right to speak at Speakers' Corner. Parliamentary debates on the act illustrate that a general principle of being able to meet and speak was not the intention, but that some areas would be permitted to be used for that purpose.
Since that time it has become a traditional site for public speeches and debate as well as the main site of protest and assembly in Britain. There are some who contend that the tradition has a connection with the older
Tyburn hanging gallows where the condemned man was allowed to speak his last words.
Although many of its regular speakers are distinctly non-mainstream, it has been frequented by such people as
Karl Marx,
Vladimir Lenin,
George Orwell, and
William Morris. Its existence is frequently upheld as a demonstration of the principle of
free speech, as anyone can turn up unannounced and talk on almost any subject, though they are likely to be
heckled by regulars.
It has been argued that the existence of a specific location where free speech is permitted is used as an excuse by the authorities to prohibit free speech in most public spaces in London, including the rest of Hyde Park and all other
Royal Parks, where free speech is explicitly forbidden in written by-laws. In the late 19th century, for instance, a combination of park by-laws, use of the Highways Acts and abuse of venue licensing powers of the
London County Council made it one of the few places where socialist speakers could meet and debate.
In 2003 the Park authorities tried to ban a demonstration set for
February 15 to stop the
war in Iraq. This caused general uproar and forced a climbdown; the demonstration was the largest in British history with over 1 million people attending.
The nearest tube station is
Marble Arch.
Canada
Dedicated by the
Earl of Mountbatten on April 12, 1966, Speakers' Corner in
Regina, Saskatchewan is located on the north shore of
Wascana Lake. It serves as a constant reminder of our heritage of free speech and assembly and a tribute to
Saskatchewan people who have upheld that heritage. The two lanterns framing the south entrance to the main plaza formed part of the Cumberland Screen at the entrance to Speaker's Corner in
London, England. The podia on the main plaza are from the exterior columns of the Old City Hall (1908-1965) and symbolize free speech in democracy at the municipal level of government. Six paper
birch trees were taken from
Runnymede Meadow in
Windsor Great Park, Royal Estate near
Windsor Castle. It was there that
King John signed the
Magna Carta on June 15,
1215. The ten gas lamps surrounding the corner come from King Charles Street which runs from Whitehall to St. James Park, London, England near the Houses of Parliament. They were erected in
1908 during the reign of
Edward VII, whose
royal cypher E.R. VII appears on the base of each lamp.
Singapore
|
An empty Speakers' Corner in Singapore. |
There is an official speakers corner in
Singapore. It was established by the government on
September 1, 2000 at
Hong Lim Park. The small park is notable for the presence of a large police station. Only citizens of
Singapore who have registered with the police at the police station are allowed to speak. In addition to speeches being subject to national laws for example regarding racial and religious hatred (as with Hyde Park) there is a blanket prohibition on religious content -
Home Affairs Ministry SingaporeOpen during the daylight hours of 7 am to 7 pm, 7 days a week, throughout the year. The speaker can only speak in the official languages of Singapore.
The Ministry of Home Affairs passed an exemption under the Public Entertainment (PE) Act to exempt public speeches at Speakers' Corner from licensing requirements.
Initially popular, with 400 speakers registering in the first year, by 2006 this figure was down to 26. The Electric New Paper (Singapore) reported that the area might now be more aptly named "Sneakers' Corner," as visitors are more likely to be playing soccer or just hanging around than listening to a speech. [
1]
Trinidad, Port of Spain
Woodford Square in
Port of Spain,
Trinidad, is a famous Speakers Corner. The corner is also known as "The University of Woodford Square", so named by the first prime minister of Trinidad
Eric Williams who gave many speeches here. Another nickname, "People's Parliament," comes from the
Black Power movement of the 1970s. Flanked by Trinidad's Parliament and Halls of Justice the Square still plays host to speeches of a highly topical and political nature.
In the southeast corner of the square, a blackboard lists the day's discussion as well as other important information. The speakers' topics are divided by interest and known as "classes".
Australia, Sydney
There is a Speakers' Corner in
the Domain,
Sydney, established in 1878. Official outdoor 'free' speech first appeared in the hustings and hanging grounds of Hyde Park Sydney in 1874. Free speech in this form was banned after a serious riot between Catholics and Orangemen. However following the formalisation of free speech in Speakers' Corner in London it was decided in 1878 that The Domain would be the place for free speech in Sydney.
ABC.netUnited States of America
The
United States of America does not have any permanently designated speakers corners and has instead adopted
Free speech zones.
*
The Speakers (
1964) by
Heathcote Williams*
A Summer in the Park - A Journal of Speakers' Corner (
2004) by Tony Allen, foreword by
Ken Campbell* Episode 624 of the
comedy TV series
Married... with Children had the Bundy family paying a visit to Speakers' Corner.
*
Monty Python's Life of Brian has a scene where Brian and other prophets address small crowds in a corner of a market - in a way reminiscent of and presumably modelled on Speakers' Corner.
* In
The Omen series of films, the adult Damien passes through Speakers' Corner and is pointed out as Satan by the priest who speaks there.
* The
BBC produced a program on the Park Police.
* BBC 3 produced a program with Tony Allen on heckling as a lost art for the election in 2005. It was based around teaching two people how to heckle at Speakers' Corner.
* The lyrics of British rock group
Dire Straits' song
Industrial Disease (from the
Love Over Gold album) refer to Speakers' Corner: "And I go down to Speakers' Corner, I'm a-thunderstruck, they got free speech, tourists, police in trucks. Two men say they're Jesus, one of them must be wrong. There's a protester singing, and he's singing a protest song..."
* Speaker's Corner appears in one of the early issues of the
Grant Morrison comic book The Invisibles (later reprinted at the first
Invisibles graphic novel,
Say You Want A Revolution).
*
The Speakers' Corner web site The web site contains radio and video archives of speeches, discussions and soundscapes from Speakers' Corner Hyde Park since 2003.
*
Tony Allen's web site with a diary on Speakers' Corner*
Binaural audio recordings and photography from Speakers' Corner The site contains binaural recordings and photography from Speakers corner since 2005.
*
Speakers' Corner Hyde Park: flickr gallery*
The Speakers' Corner Forum A great German forum
*
History of Woodford Square 
