GRANVILLE Moore (BEN September 6) offers the most extreme libertarian position in defence of total freedom of speech, and quotes the usual tatty-looking piece of Voltaire in defence of his argument.

In general terms, I do not agree with political correctness in any of its forms, but there are other reasons for limiting freedom of speech. Winston Churchill once said -- "I find it impossible to be neutral as between the fireman and the fire."

No assertion of the right to free speech can justify preaching hatred, hostility or bigotry about minority groups in society, in a way which encourages others improperly to discriminate against them. John Stuart Mill, a philosopher normally thought to be both liberal and libertarian, said -- "It is one thing to preach in the marketplace about the wickedness of greengrocers, and quite another to do it to an enraged crowd outside the house of the local greengrocer."

A more recent philosopher (me, actually) once said -- "My right to swing my fist around is limited by the proximity of your nose." No one has the right publicly to advocate homophobia, xenophobia, or any other phobia in order to demean and diminish another human being. That isn't freedom -- it's an abuse of freedom.

Cllr Peter Johnston

Kendal Road

Bolton