Speakers' Corner

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For the Canadian television series, see Speakers' Corner (television series).

Image:Speaker's Corner - Hyde Park - London - 020504.jpg 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), however it is decades since any of these have been used for public speaking.

In Hyde Park Speakers' Corner is generally considered to be the paved area close to Marble Arch but 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.

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, 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.

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 climb down; the demonstration was the largest in British history, with over 1 million people attending.

The nearest tube station is Marble Arch.

1 Other Countries
- 1.1 Singapore
- 1.2 Trinidad, Port of Spain
2 Media references
3 External links

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Other Countries

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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.

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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". The speakers topics are divided by interest and known as "classes".

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Media references

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 speaks in the market, which was obviously inspired by Speakers' Corner.Template:Fact
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..."