* In theory, 150 countries grant free speech to their citizens. That’s the current number of countries that have signed and bound themselves to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which grants free speech “unambiguously” to the citizens of the signatory countries.

* It should not have surprised me, but there are several international non-profit groups that rate countries by how free citizens are to speak their mind, and not all of them agree. Rankings, therefore, do vary, but some countries – the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Finland, and Sweden) – are always in the top 10.

* On the bottom of most rankings, I found Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Afghanistan. But the other slots were taken up by an odd mix of seemingly random (or perhaps biased) selections, including China, Nicaragua, and Russia. I’ve spent time in and had businesses in all those countries and have a good sense of how free I felt to speak my mind, compared to the four others mentioned or any of the North African countries or really any of the Muslim countries. And what about Singapore?! I don’t know.

* England and the US used to be in the top 10 in the rankings I found that were publishing in 2010. Since then, they have both been moving down. And by some ranking systems, neither is in the top 20.

Those are some facts. Here is my opinion: The UK, right now, is actively policing not just speech but thought. By Orwellian standards – or any reasonable standards – a government can’t be more restrictive than that.