Having now progressed from its second reading to the committee stage, the Bill to combat racial and religious hatred will no doubt continue its bumpy ride. The stated aim: to protect people from incitement to hatred against them because of their faith, is uncontroversial but the way in which the Government has presented this measure is causing concern.
Under the current race laws, Jews and Sikhs are protected as their religious and racial groupings coincide. The race laws offer no equivalent protection for Muslims. The Government is concerned to provide protection particularly given the rise in anti-Muslim incidents post-9/11. But this opens up a host of other issues. The Bill is wide enough to cover any religion and the concern amongst the artistic community is that the new law could be used by religious groups to stifle freedom of expression and that fear of it will lead to self-censorship.
I feel the argument for addressing the issue by expanding the blasphemy laws is more attractive than expanding the race laws. Currently blasphemous libel covers only the ridicule and vilification of the Church of England and it is logical to expand this to other religions rather than create a new type of offence. The Home Office website is certain that the Bill will not affect shows such as ?Behzti? or ?Jerry Springer ? the Opera? but the prospect of campaigns of private prosecutions remains. It is going to be some time until we see the extent of the amendments to the Bill and whether the Government will have its way. Regardless, the result may well be politically satisfactory for the Government but it is likely to leave unresolved concerns about freedom of expression.