Clause 1 - Hatred against persons on racial or religious grounds
Racial and Religious Hatred Bill
11:45 am
Philip Davies (Shipley, Conservative)
I thank the hon. Gentleman and suggest that he reads new schedule 1. It would deal with what he is talking about. Religious attacks are made as a thinly veiled attack on people’s race, and that is exactly what the new schedule would address.
I return to the point that I was trying to make and that the hon. Member for Rhondda was misrepresenting—I am sure unintentionally, as I was obviously speaking with a forked tongue. I was not suggesting that free speech includes people saying things that incite hatred, and we all agree that that is covered by new schedule 1 or existing legislation. My point was that people who hold legitimate views and intelligently criticise other people’s religious beliefs will feel that they can no longer speak out. If we get into a situation in which people feel that they cannot speak out on important issues that they feel strongly about—not hatred, but legitimate views—the problem will go underground and they will feel that they have no other option than to vote for extreme parties that make the problem worse. Allowing people to speak freely helps to solve some of the problems that Labour Members have highlighted.