Sir John Battle on expressing an unpopular opinion

Stories of Men: Beneath the Surface

John discusses a particularly intense confrontation caused by the expression of an unpopular opinion. In Leeds in 1981, John was taking part in a local council meeting. The debate that was taking place was in regards to travellers. John would be the only person in that room to stand up for a maligned constituent of the local community and he would be forced to confront the consequences of expressing his views.

 “I felt quite threatened really, you know, I thought, is this guy going to come? And are we going to have an open fight at the back of the council meeting? And I kind of felt, well, we've gone beyond words here.”

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