The UK Labour government is pushing ahead with its plan to criminalise the vast majority of comment about the ideology of Islam. Labour, in an attempt to win back Muslim voters who have deserted the party for more robustly Islamic alternatives such as the Greens or the various ‘Gaza independents’ or similarly Islamic sectarian parties are going to criminalise criticism of Islam.

In my view whilst no person should be physically attacked because of their faith I also believe that no ideology whether religious or secular should be shielded from either criticism or debate. The Free Speech Union and some of our more free speech friendly Tory and other MP’s have come out fighting against this plan to incorporate an anti-’Islamophobia’ guidance into public life, This guidance which although the government claim will not be statutory will be treated by our public and voluntary sector as if it is statutory. If this comes into force it will gut whatever small bits are left of free speech in the UK.

The Free Speech Union said:

“Andy Burnham has met Muslim community leaders in Downing Street and accused his political rivals of using ‘unacceptable’ language when it comes to Islam.

At the meeting yesterday, the Prime Minister was accompanied by Angela Rayner, the Communities Secretary, who began work on the Islamophobia definition, since repackaged as ‘anti-Muslim hostility‘.

Speaking to Muslim leaders around the Cabinet table, Mr Burnham said:

“We want to counter any form of hatred, discrimination, Islamophobia, wherever we find it and work with you to bring forward an agenda that says that to the community.”

“And I think perhaps the way the political debate is at times, Angela referenced some of the positions of opposition parties to us anyway, they are completely unacceptable.”

“And some of the language that they use about the community is unacceptable.”

“We just need to find ways with you to demonstrate that more and more.”

This is shameless, and another example of Labour accusing those who legitimately criticise Islam, its history, and its practices. It is also another sign of Labour chasing voters who have deserted the party in recent years — and sacrificing free speech on the altar of electoral ambition.

Labour MPs have repeatedly branded opposition politicians who criticise Islam “Islamophobic”. Earlier this year, twenty-six Labour MPs reported Reform UK to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) over its comments about Islam.

Additionally, Labour MPs also reported the Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary, Nick Timothy, to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and branded him “Islamophobic”. He even faced calls for his sacking from the then Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, after criticising a mass Muslim prayer event in Trafalgar Square. Sir Keir also claimed at the time that the Conservatives had a “problem with Muslims”.

But that was not the only thing to come out of the meeting. It has been reported that Angela Rayner told Muslim community leaders that she was set to announce the appointment of an “anti-Muslim hostility” tsar this week. This was a promise made by her predecessor, Steve Reed, when he announced the publication of the non-statutory definition in the House of Commons in March.”

I dread to think who is likely to occupy the post of ‘anti-Muslim hostility Tsar’ as bearing in mind Labour’s handling of this issue so far it’s unlikely to be someone who respects freedom of speech and freedom of debate. If it’s someone like the wretched and appalling Baroness Warsi then it’s likely to be game over for free speech in Britain.

The whole plot to forbid Britons from criticising Islam has been extremely murky indeed with the government hiding the identity of those who have taken part in consultations about this plan. The suspicion is that the Government has hidden this data as it exposes some of those involved in this consultation over the anti-Muslim hostility definition have connections to extremism or organisations that many would class as extremist.

The Free Speech Union continued:

“We must remember that Angela Rayner appointed five people to the working group tasked with drafting the definition, all of whom were already sympathetic to the case for one. The Free Speech Union also revealed that each of these five individuals had troubling links to Islamist organisations, including the Muslim Council of Britain and Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND), with which successive governments have maintained a policy of non-engagement because of concerns about extremism.

Since the publication of the “anti-Muslim hostility” definition in March, it has been weaponised to silence people who wish to legitimately criticise, debate or mock Islam — including private citizens, politicians and comedians.

It has also made it harder to speak about issues such as Islamist extremism and the grooming gangs scandal.

When the working group launched a consultation to inform the definition, it did not invite the Free Speech Union or the EHRC to respond, despite both having raised concerns about the definition’s impact on free speech.”

MEND is an organisation that should never be allowed any influence at government level whatsoever and that goes for those who are or were associated with such a group. The fact that organisations like this are involved in determining what Britons can or cannot say about Islam should scare the pants off of Britons. It’s like getting the extremist cultists of the Westboro Baptist Church, the nutbags who went around with placards displaying anti-gay and anti-American messages at US military funerals, deciding what Britons can or cannot say about Christianity. It’s monstrous.

We should all be extremely concerned about this anti-Muslim hostility definition as even though it does not have a statutory basis it will be consulted and treated as statutory by police, schools, the NHS, social services and many other local and national government agencies. It is also likely to make our mainstream media, which is already noticeably supine when it comes to matters Islamic even more supine. It shuts down the right of Britons to voice legitimate complaints about the ideology of Islam or the behavior of some of its followers. The government know that this is likely to be the outcome or they would not have excluded from any consultations those with an interest in preserving freedom of speech such as the Free Speech Union.

Once this anti-Muslim hostility guidance is out in the wild it will create a class of people, Muslims and an ideology, Islam that cannot be criticised even if those criticisms are legitimate and needed. Britons had to fight hard against Parliamentary and Aristocratic tyrants to gain freedom of speech but Labour is throwing that all away in a frenzy of Islamopandering.

Link

Free Speech Union article

https://freespeechunion.org/news/burnham-accuses-political-rivals-of-unacceptable-language-as-rayner