Written evidence to be reported to the House
Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill
2:15 pm
Gareth Crossman: There is a range of criminal law that can be applied to those who incite those who commit crimes. We are talking about incitement to hatred. There may be many things that you wish to do against those who sing foul, homophobic nonsense. You may wish not to allow them into the country if they are from overseas because you believe that they are not conducive to the public good. If you run a venue where they are booked to play, you may decide that you and, as far as you are concerned, everyone else should not be giving them a platform. What we are talking about is the criminal law and whether it is a crime to incite someone to hate.
I will come back to the same point that I have made before. If we are determining that some areas are suitable for that to be an offence, then unless you can show a logical reason why you should not extend it to any other area where somebody could be discriminated against, then it has to be piecemeal and slapdash. Let me make this absolutely clear. I am not saying—please let me make this absolutely clear—and nor is Liberty saying, “Do away with all incitement to hate law. Do away with all speech offences.” What we are saying is that the way that the law is developing at the moment is undesirable.