The freedom of the word is under greater attack now than for more than a century. Parliament increasingly subject to autocratic control; local democracy restricted by central government; threat of VAT on books; the press under narrowing ownership; academics fearing restrictions in developing new ideas; proposed privatisation of broadcasting without guarantee of quality or diversity; shift in arts funding towards sponsorship; the changing laws on secrecy; Spycatcher . . . Whereas glasnost in the Soviet Union is the attempt to end a single autocratic state control, in Britain it is this network of interlinked factors that has put the word under threat. Each of the writers analyse the current position and suggest solutions in their own field. They cover a wide spectrum of political and social ideas. But they hold one view in common: that censorship has increased, is increasing and ought to be diminished. That is the theme of this book.

Preface - Acknowledgement - Notes on the Contributors - Glasnost in Britain?; N.Buchan & T.Sumner - Broadcasting: A Catalogue of Confrontation; P.Fiddick - Broadcasting: Silting Up The Channels; S.Barnett - VAT, A Tax on Knowledge; Earl of Stockton - The Predators' Press; T.Baistow - Counter Culture and the Small Journal; P.Kelly - Academic Freedom at Risk; K.Alexander - The Right to Know; M.Frankel - The Secrecy Act Or The Public Interest?; R.Shepherd - Local Government in the Firing Line; J.Benington & G.Stoker - Spycatcher: My Country Wright or Armstrong?; H.Rogers - Whom the Truth Would Indict; M.Ritchie & A.Bonnington - Government and Secrecy: Parliament's Search for Truth; N.Spearing - What Price the Arts?; M.Billington - Danger in the Wings; P.Shaw - Radical Theatre in an Enterprise Culture; J.McGrath - Postscript - Index