The gold medal for censorship and appeasement goes to the British Olympic Association

It is quite incredible that the British Olympic Association has decided to ban British athletes from making any criticism of the Chinese regime before or during this summer’s Olympics; effectively turning every British Olympian into a propaganda tool for Beijing. The Sunday Telegraph reports that any of them who do so will either be banned from travelling to the games or, if they are already there, sent home.

We can debate whether or not a human rights abusing dictatorship should be allowed to host the Olympics or not, but it is surely wrong for British athletes to be prevented from speaking their minds. One can only hope that all Britain’s best medal hopes call the British Olympic Association’s bluff by speaking out collectively. This kind of totalitarian censorship must not be allowed to stand.