Amendments to Religious Hatred Bill Tuesday 25 October 2005

The Muslim Council of Britain has called on the House of Lords to reject the amendments proposed on 25th October by those opposed to the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. Their effect is to deny British Muslims the same level of legal protection that is given to some racial and religious groups including Jews and Sikhs under existing racial incitement laws.The MCB believes that some opponents of the Bill have been engaged in a campaign to misrepresent its purpose and have misleadingly claimed that it will prevent criticism or ridicule of religion. This is demonstrably untrue as will be clear to anyone who has read the actual wording of the Bill.MCB Secretary General Iqbal Sacranie noted, "the opponents of the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill have yet to provide a credible answer as to why we can trust our judicial system to be able to make a distinction between criticism of the Jewish and Sikh religions and incitement to hatred against Jews and Sikhs, while not being able to do the same in the case of other faith groups, including Muslims," added Sir Iqbal. Existing incitement laws in England and Wales and Northern Ireland have proved that it is possible to give protection to people without infringing on the right to free speech and the right to criticize religious beliefs. 25th October 2005, Press Release