New Clause 1 - Protection of freedom of expression
Racial and Religious Hatred Bill
1:30 pm
Dominic Grieve (Shadow Attorney General, (Assist the Home Affairs Team); Beaconsfield, Conservative)
I hope that the Minister will forgive me when I say that I find his answer slightly depressing because he clearly understood the force of the argument that I was making in the new clause. However, he highlighted the Government’s dilemma—which I understand—that accepting what appears to be a straightforward and, to my mind, rather anodyne statement of freedom of speech might lead to the intentions behind the Bill being subverted. I find that extraordinary, although it does not surprise me, because it is inherent in the manner and the loose terminology evident throughout the whole Bill, and in the fact that we are touching on areas that are so complicated.
This is a Bill about criminalising tone of discussion. People will be criminalised if the tone of their discussion is seen to be too hostile or confrontational. That is a very difficult thing to analyse, and it leaves the individual in a quandary as to what is supposed to happen to him. On top of that, we know that the quandary will be greater because it is the Attorney-General who will decide whether the hammer should be brought down on their head. The truth, I fear, is that the Minister’s reluctance to accept new clause 1 highlights the internal inconsistencies in the Bill as a whole.