Sir Keir Starmer has opened the door to an Islamophobia law, sparking a row over free speech. The Telegraph has the story.
The Prime Minister was asked in the Commons by the Labour MP Tahir Ali if he would commit to “prohibiting the desecration of all religious texts and the prophets of the Abrahamic religions”.
Sir Keir responded by maintaining that his Government was committed to tackling all types of hatred including “Islamophobia in all its forms”.
“Desecration is awful and I think it should be condemned. We are committed to tackling all forms of hatred and division including, of course, Islamophobia in all of its forms,” he told MPs.
Labour has not ruled out adopting a controversial definition of Islamophobia. Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, told the Commons in September that the Government was “actively considering our approach to Islamophobia, including definitions” and would “provide further updates in due course”.
A definition of Islamophobia would not be legally binding, but organisations would be urged to adopt it in a similar way to the anti-Semitism definition accepted under Theresa May in 2016.
Campaigners say the concept must be clearly codified amid rising prejudice towards Muslims, including attacks targeted at mosques in the wake of the Southport killings.
However, critics fear it could amount to a “blasphemy law“ and senior Conservatives have insisted it must not be allowed to stifle legitimate criticism of Islam.
At the centre of the controversy is a definition of Islamophobia that was adopted by Labour’s national executive committee in 2022. It was based on one proposed by an all-party parliamentary group (APPG).
This defined Islamophobia as being “rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness“.
However, any adoption of the definition is likely to provoke a backlash from senior Tories.
David Davis, the former Cabinet minister, tweeted: “For centuries, one of the most important features of Britain’s freedom of speech is the absolute right to criticise religion.
“Freedom of speech is fundamental to everything we have and everything we stand for. I regret that Keir Starmer did not make that clear to Mr Ali at PMQs.”
Toby Young, the founder of the Free Speech Union, said: “The APPG’s definition of Islamophobia is ridiculously broad. It includes saying the religion of Islam has, at various points since the seventh century, been imposed on populations by force, which is historically incontestable.”
Worth reading in full.
You can read the essay we published on the shortcomings of the APPG’s definition of ‘Islamophobia’ here.
