Maybe Sparkles knows the abortion pro/anti ratio among women better than Vin ...ONE WHOLE WOMAN in favour of a singer/songwriter telling HER story(presumably that of a woman who'd aborted) may not be any great thing...but Vin says that was the ONLY personal reaction he recalls from his last gig at Cambridge, and presumably he'd remember if he'd been, say, booed off. If he's right, one up for the Cambridge crowd's tolerance.

I disagree, as do many, with Vin's views. As it happens, he knows that, and once complained that I'd called him (in print) self-opinionated; opinionated wd have been OK with him.

But I disagree a lot more with anyone who'd stop him holding and expressing his view. I would fight as hard, whatever my private thoughts for or against, for Danish cartoons mocking Islamist fanatics, Robb Johnson's hard left views, Leon Rosselson's attacks on Zionism (despite being a London Jew) and even, if they chose to put their thoughts to song, Right wing columnists like Simon Heffer and Borin Johnson.

Britain is meant to be the land of free speech, but often it seems anything but. That depresses me, but it doesn't surprise.....