A remarkably coy piece of guidance by the Home Office on the kind of thing that might be prosecuted under the proposed law against incitement to religious hatred provides a telling illustration of just where the government is coming from on this measure. This is what it says:

‘4. What would be caught by the new incitement offence?

Below are two examples of situations where, taking into account all the circumstances, the prosecuting authorities would consider taking action under the new offence:

In response to an extreme racist organisation widely distributing material setting out a range of insulting and highly inflammatory reasons for hating Islam. Such reasons have included suggesting that Muslims are a threat to British people and liable to molest women and that they should be urgently driven out of Britain.

and

In response to extremists within a faith community making repeated threatening statements stirring up followers to look for ways to make trouble for unbelievers saying that God would never ever allow unbelievers to be pleased with them and created them to be enemies.

The proposed offences will be applied with equity, protecting people of varied religious beliefs and of none. They will provide a powerful response and a strong deterrent to extreme political and racist individuals and organisations who target people because of their religious beliefs and also to religious extremists who stir up hatred of others because they do not share their religious beliefs.

Both of these groups of extremists are very small in number and wholly unrepresentative of the communities they claim to speak for. The vast majority of British people, including British Muslims, are peaceful and law abiding and would not advocate hatred against people of other religions or races.’

Notice that in the first example, where Muslims are the hypothetical victims of such an offence, the Home Office refers specifically to Islam and Muslims. However, in the second example – which clearly refers to Islamic extremists who would be committing such an offence – the words Islam or Muslims do not appear. In other words, although the Home Office is anxious to give the impression that the new law would be applied to everyone equally, it is too frightened even to suggest as a hypothetical example that Muslims might ever be the perpetrators, but is only prepared to suggest that they might be its victims. This becomes even clearer in the last paragraph, where it singles out Muslims – as distinct from any other group – as being mainly peaceful and law-abiding. It thus appears to be doing the bidding of Iqbal Sacranie (see posts below) already.

Posted by melanie at January 16, 2005