Monday 3 October 2011

Glasgow Speakers Corner

Glasgow's first ever "Speaker's Corner" will launch on the 10th of July, and every Sunday thereafter, located at the fountain (near the Skate Park) in Kelvin grove Park in the West End of Glasgow; between the times of 12pm - 4pm.


A Speakers’ Corner is an area where open-air speaking, debate and discussion are allowed. Members of the public can stand up and make a speech on any subject as long as it is considered lawful - this is the same right to free speech which applies to everyone in Britain. The one in the north-east corner of Hyde Park, next to Marble Arch in the centre of London, is more than 150-years-old and is renowned throughout the world. Throughout history orators to frequent Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner included revolutionaries Karl Marx, George Orwell and trade union leader Ben Tillett. Other cities in Britain are now known to have their own Speakers’ Corners including Leeds, at Victoria Gardens in front of the Leeds City Art Gallery, and in Nottingham at the Old Market Square. But no UK cities have been as successful as London in their quest to create an open-air speech area for the public. The debate spots also exist in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and in Sydney, Australia. Glasgow has never had its own Speakers’ Corners but organisers hope it will capture the imagination of the city.


Our aim is to promote public debate and active citizenship, which is essential to rebuilding trust and participation in Britain’s civil society and developing vibrant civil institutions. The Glasgow’s speaker’s corner should become an influential and long lasting aspect of Glasgow.

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