The Friesians and Jutlanders who gave my country its political structure believed that the state does not exist, and may not be allowed to exist, except as the expression of the communal will of its inhabitants. Hence 'Habeas Corpus', 'An Englishman's Home Is His Castle', and - eventually - Magna Carta. The North Sea coast peoples had an aversion to central government. They tolerated no leaders unless they needed them - in time of war, threat or famine. Their leaders were appointed temporarily, and knew it. Once the problem had been solved, they went back to their farms or boats, content with their honours.

Roll on rapidly through the ups and downs of English history, and you find a curious institution in Hyde Park: a zone in which anyone may say anything at all, standing on the proverbial soapbox and prepared to defend his or her case against all comers. 'Speakers' Corner' became a symbol of English-people's freedom of speech, quite out of proportion to what was said there and who said it. England had The Establishment, Press Barons, D-Notices and all the accoutrements of a centrally-organised communications clamp-down - particularly in times of war and civil unrest - but it had Speakers' Corner...



Roll on a few more decades and Euan Edworthy, a friend of mine living here in Prague, had the bright idea that a symbol of free speech might be just what the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe needed. So he set up Speakers' Corner Trust, and I went to London last week to attend the Trust's international launch in the Canary Wharf tower of Clifford Chance, a huge law firm which has given the Trust legal and technical help pro bono.

Euan had got Vaclav Havel to be the worldwide patron of the Trust - who better? - and one of Havel's great admirers, Jack Straw, came to Canary Wharf to tell us why he thought that free speech on a soapbox was the essence of democracy. What he said was that addressing crowds in public, and handling the questions they threw at him, had been his personal political cornerstone since his early days as a local candidate, and he still kept at it, even though he has been UK Foreign Secretary and is now Justice Minister.

Speakers' Corner in Prague has had a short but sad history. Used as the starting-point for marches by both 'good' and 'bad' causes, it has come to be seen as the utensil of the far right. No-one likes these guys, neither in England - where they are seen as a joke - nor here, where they are not seen as a joke at all. The result is that Speakers' Corner in Prague is not wanted; even if the concept of Free Speech is treasured, the physical manifestation of that principle is too troublesome.

If you go to Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park today, you will hear the most outrageous slanders against England, the USA, religions of all hues, women, sexual freedom, books... anything and everything which make up a free and tolerant society. You will probably turn to the next soapbox, hoping to hear something more enlightening... or you may choose to take issue with the speaker and defeat him or her in free, fearless public debate.

It's not just a symbol. London's Speakers' Corner provides a platform where anyone can say anything and anyone else can prove them wrong... the crowd decides who has made the more convincing argument.

Prague, please don't give up on your Speakers' Corner. It matters more than it might seem. There is a famous quotation, which I dimly remember: 'I hate what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it'. This North Sea coast idea may appear to weaken civic integrity, but it doesn't; it gives it, instead, extraordinary strength.