Nick Griffin is the purveyor of a loathsome ideology, but anyone who values the British tradition of liberty must feel the deepest disquiet over his arrest.

Mr Griffin was not arrested for inciting violence against members of a racial group, or for inciting their murder, but for allegedly inciting hatred; that is, he was arrested for what he allegedly encouraged his listeners to think and feel, not what he encouraged them to do.

The chilling fact is that Mr Griffin is being accused of inciting the thinking of proscribed thoughts, of inciting thought-crime.

The test of a country's commitment to freedom is the degree to which it upholds our natural right to express even the ugliest ideas. Our country has just failed that test.

Yours sincerely

Jamie Young