No major UK newspapers have so far published any of the infamous 12 Mohammed cartoons. The general consensus amongst UK newspapers was that while freedom of speech must exist and be preserved, simultaneously there is no need to insult and provoke people. In an opinion piece published in the Sunday Times, Simon Jenkins went as far as to say: "These cartoons don't defend free speech they threaten it."

The only visual coverage of the Mohammed cartoons in the UK has been on the internet and television. The BBC broadcast a number of the images, in a bid to "show people the context in which they've appeared and to give them some flavour of the type of imagery but without focusing closely on them." Newspaper websites, such as Guardian Unlimited and Times Online, posted links through which readers could gain access to the cartoons. The only newspaper to publish any of the cartoons was the student paper at The University of Cardiff, the result was that its editor and three other journalists were suspended and the paper recalled. (see previous posting)

In The Sunday Times Jenkins asserts "Nobody has an absolute right to freedom." He opposes both the BBC's decision to broadcast some of the images, and European newspapers' decision to re-print some or all of them. He argues, contrary to the arguments of some of the papers that reprinted the images (see previous posting) that "Every inch of published print reflects the views of its writers and the judgment of its editors .. Speech is free only on a mountain top; all else is editing."

An editorial In The Independent read: "while we defend Jyllands-Posten's right to publish, we also question its editorial judgement. It is not a decision we intend to emulate. This newspaper could have published the photos at the centre of this row to make a point about free speech - as newspapers in Germany, France, Italy and Spain have done - but we believe this would have been a rather cheap gesture. There is no merit in causing gratuitous offence, as these cartoons undoubtedly do. We believe it is possible to demonstrate our commitment to the principle of free speech in more sensible ways."

Source: The Sunday Times (print edition), Media Guardian and here, The Independent