Religious hatred bill clears Commons

Tuesday, 12 July 2005 12:00 AM

The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons last night despite criticism from opposition parties and religious groups.

About 1,000 individual churches signed a petition against the bill, while hundreds of Christians demonstrated outside parliament yesterday, arguing that the proposed legislation would prevent them from criticising other religions.

But ministers insist only those whose comments about religion incite hatred will be prosecuted under the legislation, and the attorney general will be responsible for deciding when the bill applies.

They insist the bill, which was passed by 301 votes to 225, simply closes a loophole by extending existing protection afforded to Jews and Sikhs under the racial hatred offence to all religious groups.

However, they did concede an amendment last night that prevents the so-called "malicious" use of the legislation by aggrieved members of the public making a citizen's arrest.

Anyone who believes they witness an act of incitement to religious hatred would now have to call the police and let them deal with it rather than enforcing the law themselves.

"I agree that it is important that we put in place safeguards to ensure that no over-zealous interpretation of the new offence, or of specific circumstances in which it may occur, inadvertently adds unnecessarily to tensions that may exist," said Home Office minister Paul Goggins.

But critics argue that the bill is still badly thought out, with shadow attorney general Dominic Grieve calling the proposed legislation "catastrophically flawed".

And as it includes no official definition of religion, some fear that it will protect groups such as Satanists, those believing in the need for human sacrifice and those believing in the supremacy of one race.

"We have to face the fact that under the bill as drafted, one of the consequences, perhaps unintended, of the government's approach is that such groups would enjoy a measure of protection and that people would be told that they are not allowed to incite hatred against those who hold such beliefs," said Mr Grieve.

He concluded: "If the government really wants to tackle this issue, it is going to have to get away from the promises made to various people of some equal playing field, accept that religion and race are different, start to look at the real nature of the problem and try to come up with some constructive solutions."

The bill now passes to the House of Lords, where it is likely to face severe scrutiny.

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