New UK law curbs the last remaining free speech

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New UK law curbs the last remaining free speech

Postby Class316 on Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:18 pm

A new law has passed the UK vote. This law, dubbed “Religious Hate Law” is basically aimed at forbidding the BNP from speaking out against Islam!

The law does not apply to Muslims, and that is in fact stated in the article. It is aimed at all those who criticize Islam. In fact, if it applied to Islam in any way you can bet Blair would crush it in a second!

Also, this bill was put on hold before the UK elections in May. But now after the elections it has passed!

It is saddening that given where the interests of new Labour lies, the BNP does not have majority support in Britain.

(CNSNews.com) - In a victory for British Muslim campaigners, the House of Commons Monday passed a bill aimed at curbing religious hatred, despite critics' warnings that it could worsen relations between religious communities.

The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill passed its third reading by a 301-229 vote, just hours after Prime Minister Tony Blair's press secretary declined to rule out using the measure, if it becomes law, against Muslim figures who may incite violence against Christians and Jews.

Spokesman Tom Kelly told a Downing Street press conference he would not get into hypothetical speculation about individuals, but the law would be there and it would be applied correctly.


They argued that while Jews and Sikhs were already protected by race-hate laws -- because they are seen as ethnic groups as well as religious ones -- Muslims were not covered in this way, hence the need for a specific religious hatred law.

Two previous attempts by the Labor government to get the law passed since 2002 failed, the first running into strong opposition in the upper House of Lords, and the second running out of time earlier this year when parliament was dissolved ahead of elections.

After Monday's Commons vote, the bill now goes to the House of Lords where it is again expected to face tough objections.

If passed, the legislation will create a new offense, applying to written material and public verbal comments "that are threatening, abusive or insulting [and] likely to stir up racial or religious hatred." Anyone convicted under the law could be jailed for up to seven years.


In an earlier Commons debate, a Conservative MP raised the possibility that the law, if passed, could outlaw the reading of passages of the Koran that called for harsh treatment against Christians and Jews.

Following those assertions, a delegation of prominent Muslims held talks last week with the government minister responsible for the bill, Paul Goggins, to check whether the legislation could affect reading and quoting from the Koran and other Islamic texts such as the Hadith -- the traditional sayings of Mohammed and other early Muslim figures.

There were concerns in the Muslim community "that dawah [proselytizing] and propagatory practices may be curtailed under the new legislation," the Muslim Weekly reported.

The delegation suggested that it may be preferable to "totally exempt" Islamic texts from the bill.

"The minister assured the Muslim community that there was nothing in the bill that would prevent scholars from delivering their sermons or from reciting from the Koran," the Muslim publication said.

Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) Secretary-General Iqbal Sacranie, who headed the delegation, said afterwards he was glad the confusion had been cleared.

"Muslim scholars may proceed uninhibited in the performance of their duties," he said.


http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBurea ... 0712a.html
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