Professor David Nutt asked to resign after his claims that ecstasy and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol

Garside added: “I’m shocked and dismayed that the home secretary appears to believe that political calculation trumps honest and informed scientific opinion. The message is that when it comes to the Home Office’s relationship with the research community honest researchers should be seen but not heard.
- via Government drug adviser David Nutt sacked | Politics | guardian.co.uk.

To criticise a person for their race is manifestly irrational and ridiculous but to criticise their religion, that is a right. That is a freedom.

The freedom to criticise ideas, any ideas — even if they are sincerely held beliefs — is one of the fundamental freedoms of society.

- via Rowan Atkinson, BBC NEWS | UK | Politics | Atkinson’s religious hate worry.