LAST year in the wake of the horrific killings of people working on the French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo, a million people turned out on the streets of Paris to protest for free speech, despite the fact that some of the articles printed by the magazine were utterly salacious and designed to cause consternation and hurt to many in society, including followers of Islam and the Christian faith.

No doubt many were from the left wing fraternity.

It appears however that those same tenets do not apply to Welsh socialists.

Two weeks ago a forum was called by the leader of the Cross Party Group Against Slavery.

As a member of that group and party spokesperson I wished to speak at the event.

Prior to going on the platform Joyce Watson AM asked to view my speech, I duly complied only to be told that some of its content was inadmissible, and that if I did not delete it I would not be allowed to speak.

Jeff Cuthbert, Gwent's Police and Crime Commissioner and Labour Party member, also attending the debate, agreed that I should be debarred.

The content of my speech which caused such consternation in the Labour ranks?

I wanted to point out that the slave industry and the attendant inhumanity largely involved immigrants abusing other immigrants.

This fact is wildly acknowledged by almost all the agencies involved in combatting this crime and one of which Mr Cuthbert should have been well aware.

If Police and Crime Commissioners cannot be trusted to target perpetrators of crime who can?

The industries where exploitation of workers is most prevalent are car wash facilities, nail parlours, ethnic restaurants, and cannabis farms (almost exclusively operated by Vietnamese gangs.)

I pointed out that not addressing the perpetrators of these crimes was redolent of Rotherham, and leaving the victims of these crimes open to continuing abuse.

Despite these assertions I was still denied the opportunity to speak.

I view this as a gross denial of free speech.

This ruling leads me to postulate that those involved in the anti-slave trade in Wales are only interested in pursuing British perpetrators of these heinous crimes.

There appears to be a concerted effort to deny free speech to the citizens of the UK.

Whether it be a discussion of gender issues, immigration, rise of radical Islam or a host of other contentious matters.

We must fight this at every opportunity.