A zany but prominent piece in this morning’s Guardian, asserting that the newspaper has been ‘prevented for reporting Parliamentary proceedings on legal grounds’:

Today’s published Commons order papers contain a question to be answered by a minister later this week. The Guardian is prevented from identifying the MP who has asked the question, what the question is, which minister might answer it, or where the question is to be found.

The Guardian is also forbidden from telling its readers why the paper is prevented – for the first time in memory – from reporting parliament. Legal obstacles, which cannot be identified, involve proceedings, which cannot be mentioned, on behalf of a client who must remain secret.

The only fact the Guardian can report is that the case involves the London solicitors Carter-Ruck, who specialise in suing the media for clients, who include individuals or global corporations.

The Guardian has vowed urgently to go to court to overturn the gag on its reporting.

The report mentions the various battles of John Wilkes in the eighteenth century to keep the public informed over what went on in Parliament.

Indeed.

A summary of this lively fellow’s life and work is here.

The point is that Wilkes several times went to prison to defend and champion and advance his and our liberties.

Not our brave Guardian friends. They apparently have been served with some sort of injunction against writing a story. They are quite free to ignore it and publish anyway, battling it in the courts subsequently.

You are only gagged if you let someone gag you – without fighting back.

Luckily we have the Internet to help us find out what is happening.

Enter Guido and Mr Eugenides. And yes, one MSM stalwart – the Independent.

The point?

Namely that in this country the liberties we have were gained incrementally over hundreds of years, usually by people fighting for them and often paying a price.

Likewise these liberties can be rolled back incrementally.

The more so if people who usually claim to make a fuss about Liberty give a sad sigh and lean forward in a resigned fashion to receive the gag as the gagger comes along.