Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I disagree with my hon. Friend. I am not suggesting that at all. The main purpose of the amendment is merely to seek reassurance. I know that my the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Garston (Maria Eagle), has met some Christian groups and sought to assure them that infringing the freedom of speech and of religion is not the purpose of clause 107. However, without the necessary words in the Bill, concerns will remain. It is particularly worrying that a police officer or CPS lawyer who draws a comparison between religious hatred and homophobic hatred will see that free speech is specifically protected in one but not the other. The joint Church submission also drew attention to the possible chilling effect on free speech, saying:"““Uncertainty in the law has the effect of inhibiting behaviour which may not in fact be illegal. People holding firm opinions on sexuality will generally be reluctant to risk the emotional and financial costs of being challenged by a neighbour or colleague and investigated by the police, even if this does not lead to prosecution or conviction. We are not encouraged by some examples of over-zealous action by the police, apparently under current legislation, against Christians who have publicly expressed traditional views on sexuality.””" I shall list a few examples shortly. The Churches welcomed the narrow focus of clause 107 on threatening words or behaviour that are used with the intention of stirring up hatred, but they pointed out that in earlier debates on incitement to religious hatred a further safeguard was considered necessary to protect freedom of expression. Section 29J of the Public Order Act 1986, as inserted by the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006, states:"““Nothing in this Part shall be read or given effect in a way which prohibits or restricts discussion, criticism or expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions or the beliefs or practices of their adherents, or of any other belief system or the beliefs or practices of its adherents, or proselytising or urging adherents of a different religion or belief system to cease practising their religion or belief system.””" The Churches have used that as a basis for drafting the amendment that I have tabled. However, the amendment is narrower and less far reaching, and the Churches have restricted the free speech protection to ““discussion””, ““criticism”” and ““antipathy””.