The Public Order Act has become Britain’s backdoor Islamic blasphemy law. The Bill Nick Timothy MP has introduced would restore our free speech.
The misuse of Sections 4A and 5 of that Act is the problem. They make it a crime to use “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour” that cause somebody else “harassment, alarm or distress.” Using the Public Order Act in this way destroys our freedom of speech. And it twists the law to make a protestor responsible for the violent reaction of those who will not tolerate criticism of their belief.
Mr Timothy has challenged the Government — repeatedly — on the rise of Islamic blasphemy laws to our country. Protesting outside the Turkish consulate, Hamit Coskun burned a Quran and was then attacked by two men.
He was spat upon, kicked, and allegedly slashed with a knife. But Labour is either in complete denial – or complicit. No religion should be above the law or above criticism. Those men await their trial.
But last week Hamit Coskun was prosecuted under the Public Order Act 1986. The judge even said Mr Coskun’s guilt was proved by the fact that his actions led him to “being assaulted by two different people.”
And the Crown Prosecution Service gave the true game away when they first sought to prosecute him for causing “distress” to “the religious institution of Islam”. Blasphemy laws are back – and back, if we are honest, for Islam alone. Because we are surrendering to those who seek to intimidate us.
Mr Coskun faces an imminent threat to his life and is now in hiding. Just like the Batley teacher who showed pupils a depiction of Muhammad and remains in hiding with his family. And just like the boys from Wakefield who were suspended from school for scuffing a Quran.
The mother of one of them was made to sit through a show trial in a mosque attended by the local police. The Labour Party and swathes of the public sector – including the police – have signed up to a formal definition of “Islamophobia” – a made-up concept pushed by activists to silence criticism of Islam and extremists.
This is wrong. We must say no to intimidation. No to censorship. No to blasphemy laws. No special treatment for Islam. And no surrender to the thugs who want to impose their beliefs and culture on the rest of us.
