Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Britain has a blasphemy law in all but name

People gather outside the gates of Batley Grammar School, after a teacher was suspended for showing an image of the Prophet Muhammad (Getty images)

Anyone outraged by Labour MP Tahir Ali calling on the government to introduce blasphemy laws has clearly not been paying attention, for there are already blasphemy laws in this country. All Ali wants to do is make them official. When he urges Sir Keir Starmer to prohibit the desecration of the Qur’an and other Abrahamic religious texts, as he did at Prime Minister’s Questions, he will be aware that people are already punished for desecrating the Muslim holy book, including children.

The Prime Minister is too progressive to allow himself to disagree with a religious reactionary

In March 2023, a 14-year-old boy was suspended from school in Wakefield after a copy of the Qur’an was ‘scuffed’. So great was the indignation that his mother eventually went before the local mosque, her sinful hair covered, and pleaded for her son’s safety.

In this country, we’re tough on blasphemy and tough on the causes of blasphemy.

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