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Good morning. It’s been the spiralling media drama of the week, now involving Ofcom. GB News has suspended its presenters Dan Wootton and Laurence Fox after a TV conversation in which Lawrence Fox asked what "self-respecting man" would "climb into bed" with the journalist Ava Evans. The channel called the insult "totally unacceptable" and last night Lawrence Fox issued an apology. Whatever Ofcom decides about the incident, questions about what can and can’t be said in broadcasting and public life will continue to divide those who see this latest fall out as an attack on free speech essential to a liberal society, and those who feel that free speech is often used as a mask, protecting all kinds of unpleasant, even hateful ideas and opinions. I think free expression can often manage its own messy boundaries, but it can’t always mean freedom from consequences, because we don’t live in a moral vacuum where just because we can say something, it’s ok for us to say it. This is why we have laws prohibiting certain types of speech, principles and standards in public life, codes for professional ethics. Even if they seem aspirational, they’re a recognition of other values, alongside freedom of expression which are essential to a good society, one where civility and respect really matter. After all, as it’s often said, our morals may be private to us, but decency is public. Sometimes I wonder when we teach our children the values of respect, kindness and self- restraint, whether we feel we can do away with these same values in our adult lives. I was asked recently about a particular prophetic saying, “Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever lacks kindness has no faith.” The student was genuinely curious as to whether these words carried the weight of a creed along with other Muslim beliefs. I replied that it didn’t matter whether these words had the status of doctrine - kindness isn’t some watered down piety but essential for living a life of hope and generosity. Nor does it lower the robustness of public debate, but it’s undervalued because it often goes unnoticed. In the end, we can’t legislate for everything that we know is important. But if we want our public discourse to be a little more respectful and even a little kinder, we have to stand up for these virtues, and see them not as things that weaken freedom of expression, but fundamental to what we all hold precious in society.